Google Kills Headphone Jack in Latest Pixel 6A Just Months After Parodying Apple

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Has Google dethroned Samsung as lead Ad Mocker?

OR

It proves Apple are truly the real leaders in the technology space.

Apple sure are the true leaders in Profits over Functionality. Yep, let's remove this bit of functionality, so that we can profit more from pushing people onto massively overpriced, and disposable, AirPods, yay. Every other phone company "Ha, what a joke, why would you remove useful functionality?". And then "Oh wait, there are THAT much profits to be made in playing that silly game? Oh wow, ok. No more jack for users, too bad, suckers." Apple are also the true leaders in then getting its fan base to cheer on such greed as some glorious thing that somehow actually makes the device better. FFS.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

I'm old enough to remember Apple getting rid of the 3.5" floppy drive and the shock it generated. Didn't take long for everyone else to follow. When the headphone jack disappeared from the iPhone it probably mostly affected those people using GarageBand on their iPhones, because BT headphones have too much latency. So from that point on you had to use dongles if you wanted to both charge your phone and use a headphone adaptor. Most other people had already moved over to BT headphones I reckon, and were almost completely unaffected.

Yeah sure, the 3.5" floppy drive is actually discontinued tech. But in this case, if hasn't struck you, the jack remains the one and only king of audio connectors. Bluetooth is quality limited. The jack is timeless. The true reality is, that somewhere in the chain, the audio has to switch from digital to analog, as both the ears, and the speakers, run on analog. The jack is the perfect analog audio connector. There is zero reason to replace it, it's here forever.

And omg, don't even give me that ridiculous argument, but but but, then I'd need a DAC in my phone. FFS, there already is a DAC in your phone. It drives the phone's speakers ffs.

Nope, the jack got removed for one reason, and one reason only. To push users into buying massively overpriced, massively profitable, AirPods. It most certainly was not removed in order to improve your phone.

 

[SSDGUY]

Apple sure are the true leaders in Profits over Functionality. Yep, let's remove this bit of functionality, so that we can profit more from pushing people onto massively overpriced, and disposable, AirPods, yay. Every other phone company "Ha, what a joke, why would you remove useful functionality?". And then "Oh wait, there are THAT much profits to be made in playing that silly game? Oh wow, ok. No more jack for users, too bad, suckers." Apple are also the true leaders in then getting its fan base to cheer on such greed as some glorious thing that somehow actually makes the device better. FFS.

Me thinks you're not far off the mark. I was perfectly happy with my high-end in-ear monitors along with my iphone. Got a new iphone, went out and bought that horrible lighting/3mm Apple dongle, with its sharp edges that get caught on everything, or I forget to take it along with me. Ugh. Broke down and bought the AirPods.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Conflating Tim Cook and technological changes why the headphone jack was removed is not mutually exclusive, and shows your intended snark that is clearly misguided and totally irrelevant. That’s not going to fly.

Oh, and what technological challenges, pray tell, caused the jack to be removed?

Waterproofing? As if. Spare us the bulldust.

Space? Oh, spare me, it takes up minimal space. Especially compared to the massive weight and size of the magsafe charger magnets.

It needs a DAC? FFS, the iPhone always has had, and still does have, a DAC. It drives the freaking external speakers of the phone.

Any other of the usual parade of ridiculous moronic arguments I've missed?

No mate, removing the jack was 100% about profits, and 0% about anything else. Removing it pushed people into buying the massively overpriced and profitable AirPods. A highly successful ploy. And for icing on the cake, they convinced fanbois to cheer on this reduction in phone usefulness.

 

[SFjohn]

It’s so funny, all the Apple hate after Google copies them. 😂

 

[I7guy]

Oh, and what technological challenges, pray tell, caused the jack to be removed?

Waterproofing? As if. Spare us the bulldust.

Space? Oh, spare me, it takes up minimal space. Especially compared to the massive weight and size of the magsafe charger magnets.

It needs a DAC? FFS, the iPhone always has had, and still does have, a DAC. It drives the freaking external speakers of the phone.

Any other of the usual parade of ridiculous moronic arguments I've missed?

No mate, removing the jack was 100% about profits, and 0% about anything else. Removing it pushed people into buying the massively overpriced and profitable AirPods. A highly successful ploy. And for icing on the cake, they convinced fanbois to cheer on this reduction in phone usefulness.

(Use of the word "fanboi" shows some out of touch in the real world. I know people really believe the "reality distortion field" exists)

I don't agree with your conclusion as there is no way to ascertain the truth. There are literally dozens of non-apple bluetooth headsets on the market that cost less than the "overpriced" airpods. And some cost more and people bought them. In addition, some (like me) can still use the lighting earpods with the phone. I have my choices, which is why I own lightning earpods, airpods, airpods pro, Cowin e7 and bose qc ii.

You can speculate as to why the headphone jack was removed, but your 100% certainty is misplaced, imo.

I guess some believe you can fool all of the people all of the time.

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

Who keeps saying google can’t innovate anymore? Now they are copying Samsung. Great news

All three companies are courageous now! What a beautiful tech landscape.

 

[BvizioN]

While it was idiotic of Apple to remove the headphone jack,

That really depends who you ask. For me it was one of the best things they did. They pushed the industry towards wireless audio, which let's face it - it wouldn't have been where it is now if that didn't happen.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Nope, the jack got removed for one reason, and one reason only. To push users into buying massively overpriced, massively profitable, AirPods. It most certainly was not removed in order to improve your phone.

What’s just as likely is that they removed the headphone jack to irritate MacRumors forum members. And, looks like their strategy is proving to be successful.

 

[ThomasJL]

That really depends who you ask. For me it was one of the best things they did. They pushed the industry towards wireless audio, which let's face it - it wouldn't have been where it is now if that didn't happen.

They could’ve included wireless audio along with a headphone jack, thus giving users an option.

 

[RadioHedgeFund]

They're still charging practically cost for that lightning dongle, by the way. And this nonsense around mfi being some kind of cash cow really has to go - if Apple were making anything relevant from the program, it would show up on their earnings reports.

They should be paying people to take away that lightning dongle; its probably the worst thing Apple have ever made and utterly shoddy. Apple makes about $4 per connector, even when cables go for as little as $8. If this wasn't at least a decent earner they would have put USB-C in the iPhone years ago.

Think about it: Apple normally adopts this sort of technology before everyone else; The Macbook ranges all had USB-C years before it caught on with PC manufacturers and 3 years ago they finally put it on the iPad to increase its utility. Why keep Lightning, effectively an outdated piece of technology with slow transfer speeds? You have Pro iPhones shooting professional ProRes 4K video files and yet transferring them is painfully slow. Why cripple your top selling product unless you are making a healthy margin on accessories?

This is the standard Apple control methodology in action. The USB-C cable market is huge but Apple cannot charge fees for cables sold because there are already millions pouring out of east asia that will work without any bother. They will gloss it over as 'protecting the customer from inferior products' and there is some truth to this as not all USB-C cables are any good. But when you are behind a company that can be as slow top adopt consumer trends as Nintendo with your main product line, you have to start asking questions.

 

[wonderings]

That really depends who you ask. For me it was one of the best things they did. They pushed the industry towards wireless audio, which let's face it - it wouldn't have been where it is now if that didn't happen.

For you it is the best thing they did? Why couldn't you use wireless audio before the headphone jack was removed? Why must everyone be forced into into this? AirPods worked before the headphone jack was gone. It did one thing, it pushed up Apple's revenue stream, I am sure they are making more money now on the various AirPods they sell then they ever did with the wired headphones that came with your iPhone. Again this is all about choice, something Apple is notoriously bad at offering with their anti consumer practices. Personally I like the AirPods, have a set of the original. They really are convenient and work well. Audio sounds fine to me, I am not audiophile though. This is not about what is better but what choices and option the consumer has. I have some wired noise canceling over ear headphones that I can't use with my iPhone 13 unless I go out and buy a dongle. So I am forced (no matter how little a dongle costs) to spend more to do something very basic. There was no reason to remove the headphone jack.

 

[44267547]

That really depends who you ask. For me it was one of the best things they did. They pushed the industry towards wireless audio, which let's face it - it wouldn't have been where it is now if that didn't happen.

Interesting take. In which I agree Apple made the necessary measures to move the industry where they envisioned it was leading, and I suspect other manufacturers probably had a similar vision to Apples, they just didn’t want to be that ‘leader’, where Apple set the precedent. It’s why Apple has the Notoriety they do in this industry, because they’re not the ‘norm’ of how they do things, they’re very obscure, but it’s why they’re so well respected too.

 

[MajorFubar]

There was no reason to remove the headphone jack.

Courage

 

[wonderings]

Courage

courage? In what way was that courageous?

Definition of courage:
mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

I would not apply courage to a for profit company who has successfully duped people into believing they actually care about their well being.

 

[I7guy]

courage? In what way was that courageous?

Definition of courage:
mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

I would not apply courage to a for profit company who has successfully duped people into believing they actually care about their well being.

Why duped? Maybe the underlying philosophy in the company is that they do care about people? Wait... are we discussing google or apple?

 

[BvizioN]

They could’ve included wireless audio along with a headphone jack, thus giving users an option.

I do not need an option I have not use for it on the device I pay for, thank you very much. That is same as saying - include a floppy disc option on the latest MacBook's for the one who may use it, Ok, maybe I am exaggerating there but you get the idea. 3.5mm audio jack on smartphones had to go and I am glad it did.

 

[wonderings]

Why duped? Maybe the underlying philosophy in the company is that they do care about people? Wait... are we discussing google or apple?

I would say people are duped if they believe Google or Apple really have their best interests at heart and not first and foremost their profits and what they can do to get more money out of people. That is what they are there for, they are in business to make money and they do it exceptionally well. It is well documented that Apple does some very anti consumer things with their designs and they justify it for a whole host of reasons. They all really fall short as Apple is designing every aspect of their devices, hardware to software, so they choose to go down this route. I like some Apple products, have used them for years, but I am not blind to what Apple does to keep people buying unnecessarily

 

[svish]

Just like Samsung!! No headphone jack and charger!!

 

[Unregistered 4U]

This is the standard Apple control methodology in action. The USB-C cable market is huge but Apple cannot charge fees for cables sold because there are already millions pouring out of east asia that will work without any bother. They will gloss it over as 'protecting the customer from inferior products' and there is some truth to this as not all USB-C cables are any good. But when you are behind a company that can be as slow top adopt consumer trends as Nintendo with your main product line, you have to start asking questions.

Wait, is Nintendo sending audio over USB-C?

Found from a quick search, article from 2021.
Even though digital audio over USB-C is the way of the future, compatibility across devices remains an issue. For example, one of our testing labs told us that they tested Google’s USB-C headphones with a Huawei phone using the Amazon Music app, and the app would crash whenever the Play button was pressed. This happens because Google’s USB-C headphones are tested to be compatible with their own Pixel phones, but not for compatibility with those from other manufacturers. Why?

Each phone manufacturer implements USB-C audio in a slightly different way, which means not all USB-C headsets will perform as expected.

So, it appears to me that the iPhone with it’s non-standard lightning for charging and audio output actually provides a better experience than USB-C currently can, as every headphone you can buy with a lightning connector (or using the lightning adapter) works in an easy to understand, predictable way.

 

[I7guy]

I would say people are duped if they believe Google or Apple really have their best interests at heart and not first and foremost their profits and what they can do to get more money out of people. That is what they are there for, they are in business to make money and they do it exceptionally well. It is well documented that Apple does some very anti consumer things with their designs and they justify it for a whole host of reasons. They all really fall short as Apple is designing every aspect of their devices, hardware to software, so they choose to go down this route. I like some Apple products, have used them for years, but I am not blind to what Apple does to keep people buying unnecessarily

When I think of profits first companies, Enron and Bernie Madoff come to mind. Apple and google are nowhere in that vicinity and are not profits first companies. Both companies provide a service, a very popular service. From that service, they earn revenue.

I find it difficult to imagine that companies who are anti-consumer, make the kind of revenue that Apple makes. After all, there must be dozens of cell phone manufacturers that are consumer friendly. Why does an anti-consumer company, such as apple, post record revenues?

My guess is, most customers don't really view Apple's control of the ios platform as anti-consumer.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

My guess is, most customers don't really view Apple's control of the ios platform as anti-consumer.

They’re not even anti-competitive. It’s just that FAR so many other companies are REALLY bad at competing. Like, embarrassingly bad.

 

[ThomasJL]

I do not need an option I have not use for it on the device I pay for, thank you very much. That is same as saying - include a floppy disc option on the latest MacBook's for the one who may use it, Ok, maybe I am exaggerating there but you get the idea. 3.5mm audio jack on smartphones had to go and I am glad it did.

That's not a fair comparison. The floppy disc is outdated technology and functionally inferior to current removable storage options. When Apple eliminated the headphone jack, most of the most technologically advanced high-end headphones (in terms of sound quality) were wired headphones with a 3.5 mm audio jack.

 

[Mousse]

That headphone jack takes up more space in a phone than the entire FaceID array. It is not Apple's fault that 1970's technology was still persisting into the present...

I don't understand some people disrespecting old technology just because it's old technology. If old tech endures it's because it is proven and reliable. Paper is old tech, the wheel is old tech.

Bring back the audio jack, Google.

They could’ve included wireless audio along with a headphone jack, thus giving users an option.

Apple pulled a Henry Ford: Customers can have any audio connection they want as long as it is wireless.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

most of the most technologically advanced high-end headphones (in terms of sound quality) were wired headphones with a 3.5 mm audio jack.

High-end headphones don’t use a 3.5 mm audio jack, though. And, even if they did, there’s no way an iPhone is going to be able to push the ohms required to even make them squeak.