This. Also, if you invest in a good/great set of headphones, they should last years. With Bluetooth, won't the standard change over the years causing them to become obsolete? Not to mention their batteries wearing out and having to keep them charged. Lightning is proprietary, so unless it is opened up for standardization it seems weird.
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Here's What a Headphone Jack to Lightning Adapter Looks Like
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This. Also, if you invest in a good/great set of headphones, they should last years. With Bluetooth, won't the standard change over the years causing them to become obsolete? Not to mention their batteries wearing out and having to keep them charged. Lightning is proprietary, so unless it is opened up for standardization it seems weird.
La tee da for you; no offense, but idgaf what lame headphones you wear.
Man... I actually have NO problem using the adapter with my myriad high-end headphones, but I still had to chime in @ your comment.
What a crock!
The bluetooth market has been around for a decade. Stimulating their industry is not something that we should need to be doing. That's silly.
That's like saying- "oh this car came without a side airbag... that's AWESOME; that should stimulate aftermarket companies to charge me to install one". Lol.
I literally can't fathom the manner in which some people's minds work.
I absolutely LOVE audio.
I own many quality headphones. Most of us (audiophiles) are NOT tripping over one small adapter; shoot, some pro series headphones, like Grado, have only just recently switched from 1/4" plug. We are USED to carrying adapters to get good sound.
Good sound does NOT transmit well over wireless, fyi.
Go to the aforementioned Grado company's site & scour for a bt option, lol.
In a nutshell:
I agree that the 3.5" is dead ON THIN ELECTRONIC DEVICES; not on headphones. I agree that adapters will be necessary and they simply MUST include the first one... & I disagree w/ their rumored use of lightning, rather than USB C, for the same reason others have said.
& I disagree that bluetooth is a viable alternative solution for quality audio.
So in conclusion, Apple is removing a vital feature for many, many people and replacing it with nothing really important other than a $30 adapter. Sadly, I'm not surprised 
It's all about what is the new wave coming in and BT is where it's at for headphones. The headphone jack to LC it just an alternative so I don't expect any adapter to come with this change if it happens. And no car manufacturer was announcing they moved away from CD players to USB drives or Tapes and 8 tracks for that matter. It's just happened and it is what it is. Apple went and ditched the mouse key on laptops for touch track pad, everyone jumped on board. Apple ditched the CD drives and no one cared. In fact they gave me on for free because of a laptop switch. Guess how many times I have used it... zero. Yes, it will sting from some and I have wired headphones too but honestly it's not that big of a deal. If you have some wired beats or $100+ headphones you use with your iPhone then it hurts more. But look at the Beats line up coming in... all wireless.
Ok, after reading the entire thread and thinking this through, how does apple keep an 3.5 mm plug in the mac line-up if they switch on the iPhone 7? If they say lightning is better quality, are they saying that their computers have worse quality than their phones? Are they willing to switch to lightning on the laptops? iMacs? What about the infrastructure of desktop speakers out there? If they don't say that lightning has better quality, how will they justify changing out of the standard. Just not sure how they will market this across the entire line of products without going lightning on everything. Hmmm. Confused.
Just a few facts regarding removal of the jack. If one so desires you can use existing iPhone with external DAC (or BT) so there is nothing magical about iPhone 7 which would somehow allow you to use such a device. The good quality external lighting DAC's will be over $100. To get some sort of benefit be prepared to pay around $300-600 (Audeze Sine + Cipher) for a good quality head phone and lightining DAC combo. One can also get a low cost DAC but then the audio quality will be worse then from internal DAC (which iPhone 7 will no longer have). Naturally there is always the BT option but then the audio quality is worse then from good old jack.
IMHO, Apple is jumping the gun here. If there were some rock solid high bandwidth BT version which would offer comparable sound quality to wired connection then jack should go. However, currently BT is far from that and using external DAC's is expensive, eats away battery and in most cases is just cumbersome. Therefore what Apple is doing is removing something useful and not giving us something better instead. Bad move Apple.
IMHO, Apple is jumping the gun here. If there were some rock solid high bandwidth BT version which would offer comparable sound quality to wired connection then jack should go. However, currently BT is far from that and using external DAC's is expensive, eats away battery and in most cases is just cumbersome. Therefore what Apple is doing is removing something useful and not giving us something better instead. Bad move Apple.
Change for change's sake is just wrong. It's a stupid idea by Apple no matter how much their apologists try to spin it.
I got 3 pairs of headphones that use the 3.5 mm jack. I don't see myself getting an iPhone 7, I'm not going to around with an adapter that I might lose all the time.
I could easily see myself losing this little adapters, or days that you will be, like damn, I forgot to bring it a long. So you basically can't use your headphones, when ever you want, turning something simple into something very complicated.
Also they mention how technology always moves forward, yadda yadda yadda. And people like sheep go and just keep on buying.
I just find odd, that Apple's new MacBook, that doesn't have USB ports, is not selling too well. Could it be some people don't want to buy these computers, for that exact reason. People do need to use those ports, they are not going to throw 1000 plus dollars, and then be, oh, I have to buy and carry, like a couple adapters.
Apple also runs the risk, of Samsung do keeping their 3.5 mm jacks, and they will have an advantage when it comes to selling point over an IPhone 7, without the 3.5 mm jack.
I could easily see myself losing this little adapters, or days that you will be, like damn, I forgot to bring it a long. So you basically can't use your headphones, when ever you want, turning something simple into something very complicated.
Also they mention how technology always moves forward, yadda yadda yadda. And people like sheep go and just keep on buying.
I just find odd, that Apple's new MacBook, that doesn't have USB ports, is not selling too well. Could it be some people don't want to buy these computers, for that exact reason. People do need to use those ports, they are not going to throw 1000 plus dollars, and then be, oh, I have to buy and carry, like a couple adapters.
Apple also runs the risk, of Samsung do keeping their 3.5 mm jacks, and they will have an advantage when it comes to selling point over an IPhone 7, without the 3.5 mm jack.
Others, like John Gruber, aren't bothered by the iPhone 7's lack of a headphone jack. In a rebuttal to Patel's post, Gruber compared the headphone jack to the floppy drive, an argument supported by MG Siegler, who pointed out the fact that there's similar outrage every time Apple retires a feature.Going forward, Apple's decision to drop the headphone jack will likely reshape the headphone market. Companies have already started investing in Lightning-connected headphones like the ones we covered in a recent video, and wireless solutions are also on the rise.
There's one significant difference between dropping legacy technology like floppy disks and the 30-pin connector, and dropping the 3.5mm headphone jack: Lightning is a proprietary connector, so Lightning headphones can only be used on Apple devices. Floppy drives, and open standard, were replaced by USB flash drives, also an open standard. The 30-pin connector is proprietary and was replaced by another proprietary connector. But here we have an extremely universal connector being replaced by a proprietary, Apple-only one. The glib remark that removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack will be met with outrage and then acceptance based on prior examples of doing so doesn't apply here, because it's not a move from an open standard to an open standard, or a proprietary one to another proprietary one.
Not to mention the fact that new connectors or ports over the years have always brought a better user experience, after the brief outrage phase and investment in new equipment. Flash drives with USB are superior in every way to the floppy, and the orientation-free Lightning plug provides ease of use for iPhone and iPad owners. I have a hard time seeing how eliminating the headphone jack makes life easier for the majority of iPhone owners when they now have to use an adapter to use a component that works on many other devices (Apple or otherwise). It's not elegant, which is what Apple is known for.
I would add that, if the rumors are to be believed and this fall's iPhone is going to retain the current chassis, I have a hard time seeing how removal of the jack will give legacy iPhone customers an incentive to upgrade. I think the average buyer is going to evaluate the new iPhone as looking the same as the 6 or 6S they already have and that it won't work directly with their current headphones, so why "upgrade" when it really isn't one? Additionally, we already know that iPhone SE sales are actually doing better than expected, so there are plenty of customers upgrading to what they see as a phone that has plenty of capability at a good price; the SE is a value purchase for many. All of this adds up to significantly lower iPhone sales this fall IMHO.
Bingo.
I'd say it's more like Apple dropping the mains power plug for an Apple-only mains plug.
The 3.5mm socket is on every piece of equipment that deals with audio from consumer to pro. It's synonymous, everywhere, backwards-compatible and universal.
And what's the benefit? All I can see is more cash for Apple.
The phone might be a fraction thinner, but add the additional bulk of the adaptor and it's probably overall a greater mass.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Both are already available... for a LONG time now. Have you already embraced that technological change? If it's genuinely better- and thus worth not "fearing change" (and carrying adapters)- why haven't we all ALREADY jumped on either or both options? Since you are so gung ho for this one, certainly you've already embraced one of the other, right?
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Step over toTV threads. There you'll find passionate arguments against 4K, against audio codecs newer than 1992's Dolby Digital, etc. Apparently "people" argue hardest for whatever Apple has for sale now or is likely to roll out soon. Yes, Apple themselves spin "think different" but that apparently means "when it jives with what Apple has for sale now or soon", not when people convey their aggravation at what can only appear to be a move in the name of proprietary-driven profit and/or "thinner."
All other arguments & spin in favor of this change can be had now and/or realized without 3.5mm having to be jettisoned. In other words, there's ALREADY Lightning-terminated and Bluetooth headphones for those who are spinning the superiority of either option. There's ALREADY products out there with 3.5mm jacks that are waterproof. Apple themselves sell an iPhone-like product that is "thinner" and has a 3.5mm jack in it. Etc.
I think the most interesting thing psychologically is trying to figure out why people want new things but they don't want to adapt to change. New = change. Otherwise you end up with the same product every single year with incremental upgrades that EVERYONE is constantly complaining about. SO basically, to make everyone happy Apple has to figure out a way to keep the same technology forever but just re-introduce it in a different way to get people excited?
I get to but I think it's a matter of what people feel progression is with the move. Removing the jack itself might be a slight set back but if it opens the path for a thinner, lighter phone that needs less power and is water proof it's progression to me. Again, it's a move to have BT be the preferred method and the LC port as an alternative. Or for use in Highend Headphones with digital audio.
I guess I am just not too bent on a company moving forward to create an advanced product. It at times can be at the customers expense but it's really not that big of a deal (at least t me). However, I do agree with you on not buying into it (right away). Apple needs a huge boost for me to buy another iPhone. Personally, I'd go back to a Moto Razr is my career wasn't so reliant on mobile email communication.
What a company does and what I feel is a moral obligation to consumers (yes a business doesn't have such obligations, but Apple praises themselves about being for the consumer, for the environment, etc) are completely different things.
As far as the vehicle analogy, I can, have have,
Replaced taped decks myself many times over. If it was just a matter of slapping a 3.5mm port , or while we are at it a USB-C port, onto an iPhone whenever I feel like it, I could agree to that comparison. This is more akin to said car using an alternate fuel source (though even that isn't the perfect example). In both instances I believe the right thing to do is let the buyer know n
I disagree that blue tooth is the new wave for audio, but that might be beside the point.
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That was a move from a proprietary Apple connector to another proprietary Apple connector. The 3.5mm jack is a universal standard.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Foolish man. Apple is always right. You're thinking this wrong. The correct answer is to throw out that car and buy a new one. Money or consumer utility doesn't matter. What matters is embracing whatever Apple wants to serve. They are always right. Comply. Don't "think different". Resistance is futile.
i'm all for new technology.
removing the headphone port to use a proprietary connector that is non standard is not "moving technology forward". in fact, it's putting us back to the late 90's early 00's where every phone manu had their own proprietary ports.
I actually would LIKE to see us move forward with new analogue standard for a port. I think USB-C audio has the greatest chance of that.
The problem is, the port needs to be ubiquitous. Cheap. easy to use. efficient, and be able to support analogue audio output.
Everyone can't follow; Lightning is a proprietary connector.
There is no other connector in the world that is as widely adopted, easy to manufacture, standardized, reversible in 360º, rugged, tiny and versatile as the 3.5 mm jack. I can go to my local radio parts shop and get a 3.5 mm jack and solder anything to it. I can connect my brand new headphones to a radio from 50 years ago. I can take headphones form 50 years ago and use them on my iPhone. This is not something you get to do very often with technology, yet there is a standard that has achieved this level of versatility. And Apple wants to mess this up, too. Screw that.
Lightning will never, ever be the standard for headphones, because no one other than Apple can adopt it. Even Macs don't have it. If I use headphones for my iPhone, I sure as hell want to use the same headphones with my Mac, not a new pair. It will just be that other weird connector that some expensive headphones use. Get ready to hear "Can I borrow your headphones? - No, they only work on Apple products" or "Sorry, I forgot to bring my adapter with me".
They should rather keep the jack instead of adding dual SIM support, or a second speaker. You will most probably listen to music through headphones, not the crappy speakers anyway. The 3.5 mm jack is thin enough, as its name implies, to fit even the thinnest iPhone you can imagine.
Lightning will never, ever be the standard for headphones, because no one other than Apple can adopt it. Even Macs don't have it. If I use headphones for my iPhone, I sure as hell want to use the same headphones with my Mac, not a new pair. It will just be that other weird connector that some expensive headphones use. Get ready to hear "Can I borrow your headphones? - No, they only work on Apple products" or "Sorry, I forgot to bring my adapter with me".
They should rather keep the jack instead of adding dual SIM support, or a second speaker. You will most probably listen to music through headphones, not the crappy speakers anyway. The 3.5 mm jack is thin enough, as its name implies, to fit even the thinnest iPhone you can imagine.
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