Here's my sole decider re the iPhone 7

[stlredbird]

If I can't simultaneously charge the phone and use the Lightning port for a corded headset, I will move to Android. It's that simple.

There are too many times at work when I need to be doing both. And wireless products just don't cut it yet.

So -- assuming the 3.5-mm jack is truly gone, that means there has to be either (1) wireless charging, or (2) some way to simultaneously put power into the phone and get an audio signal out of it, through the Lightning port.

Both seem doubtful.

How do others feel about this?

I didnt even think about this but you are exactly right. I listen to podcasts or music all day on my phone at my desk and half of the time it's plugged in. A definite deal breaker for me.

 

[lagwagon]

I said over and over again. If removing 3.5mm is the trend, then the standard that replacing 3.5mm need to be open standard, hence USB C. If Apple insist forcing us to use Lightning headphone, then Apple will face even more backslash

Just because the Lightning is proprietary doesn't mean it can't become a standard. Not quite the same but look at HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray. One was "open standard" and one proprietary (owned by Sony). We all know which one won there. Again I know the situation isn't the same as a port already on things already, it's just to show you something that is proprietary can become a standard over something else that is more "open".

 

[chrizzz09]

I said over and over again. If removing 3.5mm is the trend, then the standard that replacing 3.5mm need to be open standard, hence USB C. If Apple insist forcing us to use Lightning headphone, then Apple will face even more backslash.

But the new standard Apple is aiming for isn't Lightning. They aim for a wireless standard. That's easily achievable on the mass market.

 

[TallManNY]

If I can't simultaneously charge the phone and use the Lightning port for a corded headset, I will move to Android. It's that simple.

There are too many times at work when I need to be doing both. And wireless products just don't cut it yet.

So -- assuming the 3.5-mm jack is truly gone, that means there has to be either (1) wireless charging, or (2) some way to simultaneously put power into the phone and get an audio signal out of it, through the Lightning port.

Both seem doubtful.

How do others feel about this?

No issue. I've started using bluetooth 4.0 headsets and I'm not going back to using a cord. Since my GF lost my Monster Headphones, I don't even have a higher quality set of headphones anymore anyway. But also I get such good battery life from my 6S, that really all I need to find each day is about 45 minutes of charging time. Now often I charge overnight, like most people, and I'm fine by the end of the day. But even if I was absolutely killing my battery each day, a top of 20 minutes would absolutely be enough to get me through my busiest day.

On this issue, I don't see how you can't find like half an hour during the course of your day to charge and not listen to music.

And presumably the 7 is going to get even better battery life than the 6s, making intraday charging even less necessary.
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I am willing to bet with you. Headphone jack will be there for the long run. There will always be smartphone with headphone jack.

People thought there will not be flip phone anymore. Guess what, there are still many flip phone. People thought there will no CD/DVD anymore, guess what, lots of PC still come with optical drive. People thought there will no tape player anymore, guess what, there are still tape player.

I can guarantee that, if I am looking for it, there will be somethings available. And I doubt 3.5 headphone will be history anytime soon.

I believe I read there are no more VCRs being made now. If you want one, you have to buy a used one now (or at least a new one that has been sitting on the shelf of a store for a long time).

But 3.5 jack is cheap, small and effective. As you say, it isn't going away anytime soon.

 

[LovingTeddy]

Just because the Lightning is proprietary doesn't mean it can't become a standard. Not quite the same but look at HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray. One was "open standard" and one proprietary (owned by Sony). We all know which one won there. Again I know the situation isn't the same as a port already on things already, it's just to show you something that is proprietary can become a standard over something else that is more "open".

With Bluray though, it was backed by several big corporation, namely: Sony, Hatachi, LG, Samsung etc. One cannot become standard of no one backs you.

I highly doubt Android phone maker will adopt Lightning port. Unless Apple makes it open and free of license charge.

When you have Android taking more than 80% of market share and not using lightning, how can you make lightning port as standard port.

The fact is, of all the port Apple introduced, wether FireWire, Thunderbolt or Lightning, none of them became the de facto standard port.

 

[elf69]

I would not be upset when in 2 years I upgrade to find no 3.5mm jack.
My fiancee only uses bluetooth on her SE now anyway.

My car has aftermarket radio with Bluetooth, I have Bluetooth speakers in house and even an ipod dock (in conjunction with 30 to lightning adapter as it old) I even have a 30 pin Bluetooth adapter plugged into one dock.

Bluetooth has moved on and got better.

Someone will invent an adapter to plug in your 3.5mm but a lot of rumors suggest the new iphone have wireless charging so if true then just find a neat adaptor and job done.

Seems a daft reason to avoid iphones.
as said before if you don't like it then is 5+ years plus you will be forced to buy the Chinese brands when the big boys all scrap the 3.5mm

 

[Newtons Apple]

If I can't simultaneously charge the phone and use the Lightning port for a corded headset, I will move to Android. It's that simple.

There are too many times at work when I need to be doing both. And wireless products just don't cut it yet.

So -- assuming the 3.5-mm jack is truly gone, that means there has to be either (1) wireless charging, or (2) some way to simultaneously put power into the phone and get an audio signal out of it, through the Lightning port.

Both seem doubtful.

How do others feel about this?

How do you feel that wireless does not cut it? Been using wireless for a while now and it works great!

The jack IS gone but I am betting some 3rd party will make a dongle that will allow you to listen and charge at the same time.

 

[LovingTeddy]

No issue. I've started using bluetooth 4.0 headsets and I'm not going back to using a cord. Since my GF lost my Monster Headphones, I don't even have a higher quality set of headphones anymore anyway. But also I get such good battery life from my 6S, that really all I need to find each day is about 45 minutes of charging time. Now often I charge overnight, like most people, and I'm fine by the end of the day. But even if I was absolutely killing my battery each day, a top of 20 minutes would absolutely be enough to get me through my busiest day.

On this issue, I don't see how you can't find like half an hour during the course of your day to charge and not listen to music.

And presumably the 7 is going to get even better battery life than the 6s, making intraday charging even less necessary.
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I believe I read there are no more VCRs being made now. If you want one, you have to buy a used one now (or at least a new one that has been sitting on the shelf of a store for a long time).

But 3.5 jack is cheap, small and effective. As you say, it isn't going away anytime soon.

Cassette tape is still being used by government agency currently. Cassette tape is more reliable than hard disc drive in many ways. I believe Sony just made a cassette tape with several hundreds of gigabytes of storage space.

 

[MorphMan]

How do others feel about this?

I agree. I can sit on 4-5-6 hour long phone calls at work. Wired headphones and charging at the same is not optional.

 

[5105973]

I wonder if there will be any backlash in the Asian markets Apple is so eager to win over. I was looking at cute Neko Atsume cell phone accessories for my daughter's iPhone for her birthday and found out cell phone charms that plug into the headphone jack are popular there. They have lanyard based ones, too. But the headphone jack ones are pretty clever. I suppose they sell well, here, too as now that I know they exist, I'm finding lots of vendors selling them.

Samsung made a point of showing they still have the headphone jack so I don't think they will be removing theirs for another generation or so.

When I go to craft shows many of the merchants who take credit cards use readers that plug into the headphone jack. It's going to get messy if there are competing standards for all such accessories that have been using the 3.5 mm jack and will now need to be made in lightning or USB. USB-C hasn't even replaced micro-USB, yet.

I've got no complaints about lightning and lightning accessories are ubiquitous in the USA. But I don't know what the situation is outside of my country, because it's been over 25 years since I've had the privilege of being able to take a trip abroad.

 

[douglasf13]

If I can't simultaneously charge the phone and use the Lightning port for a corded headset, I will move to Android. It's that simple.

There are too many times at work when I need to be doing both. And wireless products just don't cut it yet.

So -- assuming the 3.5-mm jack is truly gone, that means there has to be either (1) wireless charging, or (2) some way to simultaneously put power into the phone and get an audio signal out of it, through the Lightning port.

Both seem doubtful.

How do others feel about this?

I'm going to buy an SE, anyways, but here is what I don't like about it:

- I keep headphones in my home office, in my bedroom, in my regular office and in my studio, so now I'm going to need a bunch of adapters.
- In my wife's car, we plug into the 3.5mm to listen to music and charge via lightening simultaneously (my car uses Bluetooth at least.)
- my friends car also uses 3.5mm, and when we ride together on trips, I'm gonna have to bring another freaking adapter along.
- I have a lightning port guitar interface that allows me to monitor with my studio headphones using the 3.5mm jack. How will that work now?

Now, I'm not opposed to going modular, as I do use a MacBook, but carrying a few adapters around with a laptop in a bag is no big deal. I'm not interested in filling my jean's pockets with adapters for my phone.

 

[2IS]

With the amount of rf going through your body from hundreds of surrounding sources, you clicking volume or changing track is least thing to worry about. You have 1,000 watt volume button transmitter on your headphone?

You misunderstand. I'm not concerned with the RF from a BT heat set, I don't personally think it poses a danger. I'm just correcting you in that it's not merely a receiving device.

And by your own definition of how RF works, the RF all around you doesn't matter since it's not your body that's transmitting it... right? Oh and furthermore, where did you get your 1000 watt figure from? Everything you're saying sounds completely made up. Do you even bother doing any research or just post the first thing that pops into your head no matter how inaccurate it might be?

 

[HEK]

You misunderstand. I'm not concerned with the RF from a BT heat set, I don't personally think it poses a danger. I'm just correcting you in that it's not merely a receiving device.

And by your own definition of how RF works, the RF all around you doesn't matter since it's not your body that's transmitting it... right? Oh and furthermore, where did you get your 1000 watt figure from? Everything you're saying sounds completely made up. Do you even bother doing any research or just post the first thing that pops into your head no matter how inaccurate it might be?

Thank you for the correction about some headphones not merely being receiving devices. The only ones I have are only receiving, as they don't have controls on them nor take calls.

The RF concerns were not directed at you, rather at Gypsy36 that had close their statement with "wireless headphones freak me out from a health perspective"

I never said RF all around you does or doesn't matter. In fact I don't recall defining how RF works, just that it surrounds us from multiple sources. You seem to be making a lot of assumptions about what I am saying. Probably based on your agenda and a perceived agenda you think I have. Course I am assuming that.

The point I was making is that the extremely small RF energy transmitted by you pressing the volume control or the next song button is insignificant to the vast amount of RF surrounding you at all times. Insignificant to the point of not being of any health concern what so ever, given the far greater background RF we are exposed to.

The 1,000 watt figure was obviously pulled out of thin air. And the thing at the end of that sentence is a question mark, not a statement. I was asking what wattage your headphone transmits when you press the next song button. I could have said 10,000 watts or 100 watts just as easily. Obviously the sarcasm eluded you. The sarcasm was based around the very low RF output of any headphone, which is no where near 1,000 or 10,000 or 100 watts. I was basically making light of any concern that a headphone could possibly make to anyone's health, in respect to RF output. Not necessarily what they listen to.

I like most people post what pops into our heads. Based on lifetime of experience, schooling, and the total sum of our accumulated knowledge. When necessary I do research some things where I deem it appropriate to upgrade my knowledge about some topic. Oh, by the way, what research did you perform in answering me back in such a condescending manner. Or did you just post what popped into your head?

 

[fiveainone]

It doesn't concern me whatsoever. Ive been using iPods, iPhones and iPads for a decade. I have never once charged while listening at the same exact time. Never. With that being said, give it a couple of weeks until adapters are out. Problem solved. Who am I to say, but I think that is such a trivial reason to switch to Android.

I've been using iPhone since 3Gs. I charge while listening at the same exact time every day. Every. Single. Day.
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That doesn't appear to be a solution.

When the audio jack removal news was announced, I pictured this. But hopefully wireless charging is available. But I'm guessing that'll go to the anniversary iPhone.

 

[DNichter]

Not a big deal to me, certainly not enough to warrant an entire platform change. Seems silly. As others have said, an adapter should suffice if it's that critical. It's not like you would be moving so that should work.

 

[onepoint]

I'm with OP on this one. If there's no wireless charging (or some other convenient way of charging while having a headset plugged in) I may reconsider buying. At work I typically keep my iPhone 6S plugged in, along with EarPods (plugged in mainly because I keep the screen lit all day). EarPods are used for calls throughout the day.

I'd be fine with a wireless mat/dock, or even a lightning "splitter" of some sort that allows both power/headphone use. I wouldn't be happy with having to go the bluetooth headset route, or go without charging. Won't take long to find out!

 

[Gypsy36]

Oh, by the way, what research did you perform in answering me back in such a condescending manner. Or did you just post what popped into your head?

Kind of ironic given the way you responded to me, no?

(Oh, and just for the record, setting aside the back and forth debate over the safety of the transmitters in close proximity to your brain, I've watched a battery cell malfunction in my iPhone. I'm really not crazy about putting something that has a battery in my ear.)

 

[username:]

What?? You asked me if Audio Out and Power In was even possible. I replied yes and posted this link, which proves it is possible. The adapter for 3.5mm/Lightning has yet to be made. But I answered your question by posting the above.
[doublepost=1472690007][/doublepost]

Did I say removing 3.5mm was required for waterproof? No. I said its probably a reasoning Apple is using. Now they only have to waterproof one port instead of two. Probably why iOS 10 includes a lightning water sensor popup.

Yes, you do get better audio experience with Lightning over 3.5mm. Thats a fact. 3.5mm jack is analog, Lightning is digital. Digital will always be higher quality.

Not scientific, but it proves my point: https://www.macrumors.com/2016/05/09/iphone-7-lightning-headphones-hands-on/

Your statement is inaccurate. Lightening vs 3.5mm ports have little to no impact on the sound. The fact that the lightening port is used means the signal must be converted to analog somewhere in the headphones (please correct me if I am wrong!), as audio is out putted digitally. The port really does not impact the sound.

 

[HEK]

Kind of ironic given the way you responded to me, no?

That's why this is a rumor and opinion forum. We all have em.

So what is the RF output from your headphone when you push the play next button? Bet you dollars to donuts you get more radiation holding the phone next to your head When making a call, than from the earphones. Didn't have to look that one up.

 

[douglasf13]

Your statement is inaccurate. Lightening vs 3.5mm ports have little to no impact on the sound. The fact that the lightening port is used means the signal must be converted to analog somewhere in the headphones (please correct me if I am wrong!), as audio is out putted digitally. The port really does not impact the sound.

Yeah, the audio has to be converted to analog at some point, and the quality simply depends on the quality of the digital to audio converters. I guess one audio advantage to using the lightning port is if you want to output from the phone digitally directly into some kind of pro audio gear, but I don't suspect that'll be common amongst most iPhone users.

 

[Gypsy36]

Sure. Some ruder than others.

I don't push play next. I talk.

 

[HEK]

Sure. Some ruder than others.

I don't push play next. I talk.

Still say the phone next to your head would give out more radiation then you talking on earphone mike. Can't help if you think different opinion is rude.

 

[Gypsy36]

Of course it would. That is why I use my wired headphones. And why I'm not loving the idea of wireless headphones. Glad we are on the same page finally!!

Opinion wasn't rude, I love different opinions. It was all in the delivery.

 

[HEK]

Of course it would. That is why I use my wired headphones. And why I'm not loving the idea of wireless headphones. Glad we are on the same page finally!!

Opinion wasn't rude, I love different opinions. It was all in the delivery.

Don't think we were ever on different page. As far as delivery, a lot can be lost in texting, body language, speech inflection, facial expressions. Why you think legal documents are so dry and humorless.

 

[se1000]

Apple lightning dock does this doesn't it?

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MGRM2AM/A/iphone-lightning-dock-white