How Apple Dropped the Ball in Handling the Removal of the Headphone Jack

[scrtagntman]

I tend to agree with the OP. Not that Apple is doomed by any means, but they are taking an industry that end users are very big on open standards, music, and carving themselves out a proprietary corner. For example, many people, myself included, only buy or rip to MP3's. If I would ever decide to leave apple, I am not going to give up my music collection for that. And Apple gets it and fully supports MP3's.

The same could be said for headphones. Most people have a go to pair or two and consider them to be universal across all their devices. They probably don't want duplicates for Apple and non-Apple listening situations.

Sure there is the dongle, but dongle's are a stop gap and Apple agrees. Apple is not promoting a 3.5mm jack by including it, they are merely appeasing those not ready to move yet. One day it will not be there.

All of this goes away with wireless, but as many have said... it still has some work to do. Maybe Apple overcame it with their W1 technology and perhaps it even allows a proprietary protocol for better sound. But then we are back to an Apple only solution on headphones that most people consider very universal.

I definitely see Android pressuring the bluetooth standard to adopt a single "hi-fi" standard very soon now, that is not optional on future versions, like APTX. Then headphone makers will start supporting both protocols, making them a little more expensive for us, but to what avail for Apple or us?

And while I do agree with the OP on many points, I also agree with many others that regardless... the needle on iPhone sales isn't going to swing wildly over this.

 

[shaunp]

They will do both.

2. At first they will actively market themselves as an alternative to the iPhone, which Apple has completely left themselves open to by not providing the same functionality over Lightning and BT as they had with the 3.5mm jack. Then,

1. They will most likely hold onto the headphone jack until Apple jumps to contactless wireless charging, and removes the Lightning port. Once Apple goes port-less, no phone manufacturers will want to miss that boat, because it will make manufacturing so much easier. But until that last port goes, Samsung has the edge with the headphone jack crowd.



There are more than two issues, but let's unpack yours. I agree with the first one. It was a short-sighted move to remove functionality offered with the headphone jack and not replace it with Lightning. Apple shouldn't rush to add proprietary inductive wireless charging just to have it, as there are third party alternatives that can offer that for the iPhone now. But they didn't have to, since they already offer Lightning passthrough technology in their external battery case they could have easily included for free in the box integrated into the Lightning cable. A bulky $40 dongle was a marketing blunder.

USB-C is not an issue in this transition, especially since USB-C has virtually no market penetration at this point. Lightning is just fine as long as Apple supports it on other devices. But they haven't. I can't use the Lightning headphones included in the box on anything but some newer iOS devices. Lightning is probably coming to new Macs in a month or two, and hopefully by then there will be adapters for Lightning to USB-C, -A, and Thunderbolt, for which there are none now. For $9, Apple should have had the courage to exclude the 3.5mm adapters from the box and instead promote Lightning use with a 3.5mm source to Lightning headphone adapter -- at least that way customers could immediately begin using their Lightning headphones with every device they own, rather than encourage the continued use of old 3.5mm headphones. Even if Apple included a USB-C to Lightning headphone adapter, it would only work on one Apple product at the moment, not to mention few other products worldwide.

The point is Apple chose a proprietary connector when they brought out lightning in the iPhone 5. should have been an open standard. This will be my last iPhone - I don't want an adaptor that will break or get lost, as I will have to unplug it to use my headphones on other devices, and there's no point getting lightning headphones as they won't connect to anything but Apple kit. As for wireless headphones, just something else to charge. I'll stick with the 3.5mm jack and drop the iPhone when I need an upgrade as the apps I want are available on Android.

 

[Mac 128]

I tend to agree with the OP. Not that Apple is doomed by any means, but they are taking an industry that end users are very big on open standards, music, and carving themselves out a proprietary corner. For example, many people, myself included, only buy or rip to MP3's. If I would ever decide to leave apple, I am not going to give up my music collection for that. And Apple gets it and fully supports MP3's.

The same could be said for headphones. Most people have a go to pair or two and consider them to be universal across all their devices. They probably don't want duplicates for Apple and non-Apple listening situations.

Sure there is the dongle, but dongle's are a stop gap and Apple agrees. Apple is not promoting a 3.5mm jack by including it, they are merely appeasing those not ready to move yet. One day it will not be there.

All of this goes away with wireless, but as many have said... it still has some work to do. Maybe Apple overcame it with their W1 technology and perhaps it even allows a proprietary protocol for better sound. But then we are back to an Apple only solution on headphones that most people consider very universal.

I definitely see Android pressuring the bluetooth standard to adopt a single "hi-fi" standard very soon now, that is not optional on future versions, like APTX. Then headphone makers will start supporting both protocols, making them a little more expensive for us, but to what avail for Apple or us?

And while I do agree with the OP on many points, I also agree with many others that regardless... the needle on iPhone sales isn't going to swing wildly over this.

Apple is indirectly promoting the 3.5mm adapter use by not offering the W1 chip products until late October, and offering no way to use the Lightning headphones with anything but some recent Lightning products. Anybody who wants to do more than use their headphones with their iPhone 7, or ins't already using BT, only has the 3.5mm adapter as an option.

And why would that adapter go away? As long as Apple offers a way to get a wired connection into the iPhone, a 3.5mm adapter will be an option.

As for BT, Apple is on the BT SIG board. They helped design the BT 5 specs. That's likely where the W1 chip came from. In fact, if anybody's pushing BT it's likely Apple implementing what it's learned working with the BT SIG in an effort to influence the board to adopt their implementation as part of the universal standard. We have no idea what the licensing terms of the W1 are going to be. It could well become an open standard eventually.
[doublepost=1473721614][/doublepost]

The point is Apple chose a proprietary connector when they brought out lightning in the iPhone 5. should have been an open standard. This will be my last iPhone - I don't want an adaptor that will break or get lost, as I will have to unplug it to use my headphones on other devices, and there's no point getting lightning headphones as they won't connect to anything but Apple kit. As for wireless headphones, just something else to charge. I'll stick with the 3.5mm jack and drop the iPhone when I need an upgrade as the apps I want are available on Android.

Apple didn't chose a proprietary connector, they created one that would serve their needs as USB didn't offer one, and there was no other standard on the market that came close. If anything USB-C benefited 4 years later from the innovation Apple included in Lightning. And don't forget, Apple helped develop USB-C.

So good for you that you know what you want, and it's available for you. I enjoy all the benefits I get from the Apple ecosystem. I already mostly enjoy using BT headphones as they are far more convenient. Gone are the days of constantly winding, and untangling headphone cables every time I used them; plugging and unplugging them; getting the wires caught on stuff and restricting my movement. I would much rather charge my headphones once a day with the rest of my gear than deal with endless cable management. The beauty of my wireless BT headphones is that they have a 3.5mm jack built into them. So when I want to plug into a device for more critical listening, that option is there. And the cable can stay wrapped up in my pocket for when I need it, no worse than carrying around the wired cable permanently connected to my headphones before. I'm also looking forward to a third party hybrid cable with a 3.5mm plug built into the Lightning cable so I'm ready for anything ... well anything but USB-C, which by the time that becomes a "standard" with any market penetration, Apple will have hopefully moved on to 100% wireless with lossy quality audio and 40 hour battery life.

 

[scrtagntman]

Apple is indirectly promoting the 3.5mm adapter use by not offering the W1 chip products until late October, and offering no way to use the Lightning headphones with anything but some recent Lightning products. Anybody who wants to do more than use their headphones with their iPhone 7, or ins't already using BT, only has the 3.5mm adapter as an option.

And why would that adapter go away? As long as Apple offers a way to get a wired connection into the iPhone, a 3.5mm adapter will be an option.

No. Apple called it a 100 year old legacy standard. There's no indirect anything. That is really direct about their intentions. They are moving on and providing a life raft for those lagging behind. The dongle will not be in the box in a year or two.

As for BT, Apple is on the BT SIG board. They helped design the BT 5 specs. That's likely where the W1 chip came from. In fact, if anybody's pushing BT it's likely Apple implementing what it's learned working with the BT SIG in an effort to influence the board to adopt their implementation as part of the universal standard. We have no idea what the licensing terms of the W1 are going to be. It could well become an open standard eventually.

W1 is Apple proprietary technology, not a BT standard. So I am not sure what you are getting at. Are you saying that you believe Apple is competing with themselves by developing BT 5 standards that make their W1 technology irrelevant? Cook is no Jobs, but he's not an idiot.

 

[Mac 128]

No. Apple called it a 100 year old legacy standard. There's no indirect anything. That is really direct about their intentions. They are moving on and providing a life raft for those lagging behind. The dongle will not be in the box in a year or two.


W1 is Apple proprietary technology, not a BT standard. So I am not sure what you are getting at. Are you saying that you believe Apple is competing with themselves by developing BT 5 standards that make their W1 technology irrelevant? Cook is no Jobs, but he's not an idiot.

Who cares if the dongle is in the box in a year or two. Apple charges $9 for it. How much do you think an equivalent quality dongle by a Chinese manufacturer not paying for an Apple MFi license will sell them for in a year or two? They will always be available, and they will always be an option.

I'm saying Apple needed technology that BT SIG has not yet adopted as a spec yet. Apple will benefit from the W1 for a few years until the BT SIG adopts similar (if not exact specs). Since Apple is a member, and will likely want to support whatever the BT standard is, then proprietary or not at present, they will ultimately support similar technology as part of the open standard. At a minimum Beats will since they serve a much broader marketshare than Apple ever will. Unless Apple really is stupid then I guess not. Either way, everyone else will have the same features Apple has introduced with the W1, and not owe Apple anything.

 

[tubeexperience]

No. Apple called it a 100 year old legacy standard. There's no indirect anything. That is really direct about their intentions. They are moving on and providing a life raft for those lagging behind. The dongle will not be in the box in a year or two.

And what does that have to do with anything?

Change just for the sake of change is not meaningful.

 

[LovingTeddy]

What 'backlash'? What's the latest ship date estimates for the iPhone 7? November? December?

You make the common mistake of thinking that the people on this forum are a good cross section of consumers. They're not.

The preorder date has nothing to do with actual sales. It is all about how much iPhone 7 Apple actually made and actually how many Apple let out.

Also, beside Jack Black, most are still ready to ship around 2-3 weeks. While 32GB are still available for less than a week.

There is no doubt that iPhone 7 preorder is lot less than iPhone 6 or even iPhone 6S.

The very fact that Apple choice not disclosed preorder figure is indication Apple expecting lacklustre preorder

 

[AbSoluTc]

And what does that have to do with anything?

Change just for the sake of change is not meaningful.

If Apple said by removing the headphone jack, an outmoded technology, they increased the battery capacity by 25%, not many would be whining. Most would be cheering.

So much whining over something you have no say in, no control and every last choice to seek other alternatives. Yet we have a thread that rivals most NFL commentaries. All over nothing. Lol

 

[tubeexperience]

If Apple said by removing the headphone jack, an outmoded technology, they increased the battery capacity by 25%, not many would be whining. Most would be cheering.

So much whining over something you have no say in, no control and every last choice to seek other alternatives. Yet we have a thread that rivals most NFL commentaries. All over nothing. Lol

Except that Apple didn't say that. Apple said that it was replaced to make place for the haptic engine.

 

[dukebound85]

When I wear headphones while working out or doing yard work I have to fish the wires through my shirt so they don't get caught on the machines or in the way of what I'm doing. When I don't do that I've had them catch on door handles and things like that countless times which rips them out of my ears or worse pulls my phone out of my pocket. All of this frays the wires eventually meaning I need to buy new headphones. With Bluetooth headphones I can move around and keep listening to music without having my phone in my pocket.

In my car before I had Bluetooth I had to find the wire and plug my phone in whenever I wanted to listen to music, which was dangerous to do if I was driving. There was also the countless aux cables I had fail on me during the winter from being left out in the cold weather. Now I hit a Bluetooth button on my stereo and it starts playing without having to plug anything in.

Besides battery life and listening to audiophile quality music, what are the benefits of using wired headphones?

Those are pretty key things when it comes to music don't you think? I think having bluetooth and wired gives the best of everything.

 

[kmichalec]

What 'backlash'? What's the latest ship date estimates for the iPhone 7? November? December?

You make the common mistake of thinking that the people on this forum are a good cross section of consumers. They're not.

While I'm not that upset about the removal of the Headphone jack, please do not use the shipping dates as a gauge as to how ok/not ok the general public is with this new direction. We all know the shipping date/backorder status is a shell game Apple likes to play to generate hype. They've already said they weren't going to have the volume ready, and then mysteriously decided to not report sales numbers for launch weekend (when they expect sale numbers to be down, like when the Apple Watch launched). Most of us can see right through this by now.
[doublepost=1473732415][/doublepost]

The preorder date has nothing to do with actual sales. It is all about how much iPhone 7 Apple actually made and actually how many Apple let out.

Also, beside Jack Black, most are still ready to ship around 2-3 weeks. While 32GB are still available for less than a week.

There is no doubt that iPhone 7 preorder is lot less than iPhone 6 or even iPhone 6S.

The very fact that Apple choice not disclosed preorder figure is indication Apple expecting lacklustre preorder

Darn it. You beat me to almost every point I made in response to the same post!
[doublepost=1473732611][/doublepost]

For example, many people, myself included, only buy or rip to MP3's. If I would ever decide to leave apple, I am not going to give up my music collection for that. And Apple gets it and fully supports MP3's.

Why would you lose your music collection if you left apple? All Apple MP3's are now DRM free. You can take them anywhere...

 

[toddzrx]

Interesting thread here and good to see people debating without getting overly emotional or dismissive.

My assumption with Apple's removal of the headphone jack and addition of Lightning headphones is that they'll now add Lightning ports to their computers. But it seems to me they should have done this (add the Lightning port) a long time ago, and easily could have, so that there could have been some continuity built into this transition.

I also think that Apple's inclusion of the adapter in the new 7 is telling. Prior transitions by Apple have usually been stark, with no reaching back to the past and full throttle into the new tech. If they think that Lightning (wired) phones and wireless phones are the wave of the future, why include the adapter to even allow the 3.5mm jack to continue to serve a purpose? Forget courage, Apple; how about commitment?

Finally, it seems to me that Apple is just too premature on this transition. I know that sooner or later wireless phones and wired, but digital, phones will take over. But I think Apple should have waited until the right protocol was in place to allow for parity in sound quality to the wired phones that most people enjoy now, with very little hassle. I'll grant that getting wires snagged in things is an annoyance while listening, but other than that, there's really nothing else that detracts from the 3.5mm jack experience, especially for the typical iPhone customer.

Most casual iPhone buyers will look at this and just see it is an inconvenience that doesn't improve their user experience, I think. How that affects sales is anyone's guess.

 

[bounou]

Bring on the airpods - or Bragi dash if I get the feeling they truly work out the bugs.

I just picked up a pair of Dash's yesterday, wanted to try them for a while not but not available in Canada and quite pricy so when I managed to a get a new pair for half price I felt I had to pull the plug.

I was expecting to be very disappointed with all the horror stories about loss of connection but running the current version of the OS (2.1.1) and the connection is very very good, only very rarely skips or stutters.

It's one of the coolest gadgets I have ever owned, obviously not the most amazing sound quality ever but pretty amazing how well they work considering how small they are.

 

[MICHAELSD]

The point is Apple chose a proprietary connector when they brought out lightning in the iPhone 5. should have been an open standard. This will be my last iPhone - I don't want an adaptor that will break or get lost, as I will have to unplug it to use my headphones on other devices, and there's no point getting lightning headphones as they won't connect to anything but Apple kit. As for wireless headphones, just something else to charge. I'll stick with the 3.5mm jack and drop the iPhone when I need an upgrade as the apps I want are available on Android.

Apple set in motion the demise of the 3.5mm jack. We'll see it dissipate altogether over the next decade. Better to embrace it. The next generation will see wired headphones and think of them as being as useless as this generation sees a cassette now. Or a Walkman. Or even an iPod.

 

[Juan007]

Bluetooth is the future, Apple is dragging you there kicking and screaming. Who uses wired phones any more? A few people do, I think the White House phone to Russia is still wired. Niche market.

In a few years, the market will be 90% Bluetooth, 10% wired for audiophiles / professionals.

 

[kmichalec]

For those with a sense of humor about the headphone port. ;-)

http://www.iclarified.com/56790/the-new-iphone-is-just-worse-video

 

[shaunp]

Apple set in motion the demise of the 3.5mm jack. We'll see it dissipate altogether over the next decade. Better to embrace it. The next generation will see wired headphones and think them as being as useless as this generation sees a cassette now. Or a Walkman. Or even an iPod.

Not unless wireless headphones can magically charge themselves without being plugged in to a charger!

 

[OutSpoken]

Bluetooth is the future, Apple is dragging you there kicking and screaming. Who uses wired phones any more? A few people do, I think the White House phone to Russia is still wired. Niche market.

In a few years, the market will be 90% Bluetooth, 10% wired for audiophiles / professionals.

I would say wired telephones are still an office standard- it definitely is for the company I work for and they employ neary 1500 people in officers up and down the UK.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Not unless wireless headphones can magically charge themselves without being plugged in to a charger!

There will definitely be advances. The Beats Solo3 are pretty practical charging-wise as they take 5 minutes for 5 hours of charge and can last up to 40 hours on a full charge. At some point it won't matter.

 

[M. Gustave]

In a few years, the market will be 90% Bluetooth, 10% wired for audiofools / professionals.

Corrected it for you.

 

[shaunp]

There will definitely be advances. The Beats Solo3 are pretty practical charging-wise as they take 5 minutes for 5 hours of charge and can last up to 40 hours on a full charge. At some point it won't matter.

I can appreciate that charging times will take less, but they will always run out of power when you least want them to and you will be forced to carry a charger/cable. Might as well just have the cabled ones in the first place! Besides, Beats are horrible - only the top of the range ones have sound quality that's even approaching acceptable. I'd rather stick with Shure headphones.

 

[Canadia69]

I like that they removed it. I use CarPlay in my car (uses lightning), have Bluetooth speakers and jaybirds for running and I love using the earpods....I know very very rarely charge my phone while listing to musc

So personally I think the phone looks physically better like that

 

[chabig]

There are two issues, the inability to charge and listen to music...

What? I can think of five ways to charge and listen to music simultaneously.

1. Listen to music using the stereo speakers built in to the phone.
2. Listen to music using Bluetooth speakers or headphones.
3. Listen to music using WiFi speakers or AirPlay.
4. Use a Lightning dock to charge while listening over a 3.5mm analog connection.
5. Use a Belkin adapter to charge and use Lightning headphones at the same time.

Just because there is one use case (charge and plug directly into the phone) no longer available does not mean the phone is "unable" to charge while listening.

 

[shaunp]

What? I can think of five ways to charge and listen to music simultaneously.

1. Listen to music using the stereo speakers built in to the phone.
2. Listen to music using Bluetooth speakers or headphones.
3. Listen to music using WiFi speakers or AirPlay.
4. Use a Lightning dock to charge while listening over a 3.5mm analog connection.
5. Use a Belkin adapter to charge and use Lightning headphones at the same time.

Just because there is one use case (charge and plug directly into the phone) no longer available does not mean the phone is "unable" to charge while listening.

All solutions to a problem that didn't exist!

 

[Mac 128]

Not unless wireless headphones can magically charge themselves without being plugged in to a charger!

Nothing "magically" about it. Contactless wireless charging technology is a reality now. Tesla developed wireless electrical transmission 100 years ago. Eventually devices will charge out of the air. I'd expect some short range wireless charging devices in real world use within 3-5 years or less.

I would say wired telephones are still an office standard- it definitely is for the company I work for and they employ neary 1500 people in officers up and down the UK.

Office telephones are the result of cost. Employees are largely seated at desks and do not need to move around. Those who do generally can get wireless headsets for a premium cost. Your department VPs can likely have whatever they want in order to pace around their offices with wireless headsets.