I can't agree more. But wireless in the present means another device to make sure is charged, lower audio quality, and added cost.
Unless Apple has managed to solve these problems for the next iPhone release, wireless will remain in "the future."
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Intel Touts USB-C as Future of Digital Audio as Apple Set to Ditch Headphone Jack
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Unless Apple has managed to solve these problems for the next iPhone release, wireless will remain in "the future."
Man, I just can't believe people are still defending APPLE over the loss of the headphone jack.
You all know DAMN WELL that it's BS.
Apple is deliberately forcing people to use their proprietary products. Period. Even Steve alluded to locking people into their ecosystem more.
It's well past time Apple stopped using proprietary ANYTHING.
Apple keeps making things harder for us users/consumers, and still people defend them when they do this so blatantly.
I want to like Apple's (post-2011) products, but I have to call BS when it drops, man.
And until people stop literally drinking the Kool-aid, Apple will continue to sell us bridges.
You all know DAMN WELL that it's BS.
Apple is deliberately forcing people to use their proprietary products. Period. Even Steve alluded to locking people into their ecosystem more.
It's well past time Apple stopped using proprietary ANYTHING.
Apple keeps making things harder for us users/consumers, and still people defend them when they do this so blatantly.
I want to like Apple's (post-2011) products, but I have to call BS when it drops, man.
And until people stop literally drinking the Kool-aid, Apple will continue to sell us bridges.
Unfortunately, building a better DAC small enough to fit inside an iPhone is very difficult, if not impossible (if nothing else, the size of the power supply will be too big). By choosing the digital output via Lightning or USB-C route, at least we have a choice as to the quality of the DAC we use.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Even that is not a given. Our ears hear analog. However earphones connect to an audio device, the digital file must be converted to analog for us to hear it. An improvement in sound quality is not automatic because the jack changes. There could be an improvement in sound quality if the headphones are better, the DAC & AMP are better, the source file is better, etc. But it's not automatic that this will yield better quality audio if all of those other parts are the same.
A lot of us are presuming that quality will improve on the shoulders of long-term AV pitches for the superiority of "all digital" connections and "preserving the digital signal." But here the preservation is measured in about arm's length at the very most. The cheerleaders might point us to pro-Lightning articles which generally involve listening to music via Lightning on high-end, high-quality, high-priced headphones. What those articles usually don't include is plugging the same quality of headphones into the 3.5mm jack for subjective comparison. And, of course, they imply that everyone will dump the headphones they have and/or buy high-end, high-priced headphones to match that quality upgrade. Is any of that a given? No.
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Same can be argued for Apple deciding to eject the battery & camera once they get away with this. Moving everything inside out to third party accessory sold separately can be argued as a "pro" in support of "thinner". Eventually we buy an empty box and then buy all of the parts that used to be inside an iPhone as separate accessories. Rationalization is the same: at least we will have a choice as to the size of the battery, the quality of the camera, the size & type of screen, the size & shape of the body, etc.
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A headphone jack doesn't allow circuitry in the headphones to do things like noise cancellation, driver frequency response compensation, etc. A powered interface allows headphone manufacturers to incorporate active circuitry without requiring batteries. The most sophisticated noise reduction schemes are digital, and so a digital interface eliminates the need to digitize the audio in the headphone. The digitized and processed microphone information is also easily transported back to the phone over a digital interface.
It was only a matter of time before the analog headphone interface got steamrolled by digital. I don't think Apple wanted to be the last one to do it.
There are other things you can do with active digital headphones that are not yet ready for prime time. By inferring head orientation from sensor data returned from digital headphones, a VR/AR system can simulate sounds that are anchored in the virtual space. The illusion of VR/AR can be broken very quickly by a soundscape that rotates with your head.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Wireless charging and wireless audio have existed for years in competing devices. I'm certain Apple could do both if they wanted to do so.
I will do the same, at least now. I feel like down the line no devices will have the headphone jack, so you'll have to buy a headphone jack-less device at some point
They will add Lightning to Macs as soon as they drop the 3.5mm jack on the iPhone.
Because I have a 4 year investment in Lightning cables and accessories for my iPhones and iPads. Apple will add a Lightning port to all of its Macs to facilitate those who have a need to use wired audio, but Apple's not looking to establish a new wired standard. They are pushing forward to wireless everything. In 5 years when USB-C is finally reaching market saturation as older devices start to be replaced, Apple will be moving to wireless charging, wireless audio, and wireless data almost exclusively. Apple is saving me money by not switching over to a new "standard" that for the next couple of years is going to be even harder to find than a Lightning cable out in the real world, and isn't forcing me to buy all new USB-C accessories and cables, only to toss them out in another 5 years or less anyway.
Right. Let me know when I can buy a USB-C cable at 7-11 at 3AM, the way I can buy a Lightning cable now.
The only buzz would be from people complaining that 4 years after they had to replace all of their 30-pin dock cables and accessories, they have to buy all new USB-C cables, AND and adapter for their old headphones.
The mayhem that would make, after all the money spent in purchasing dongles for the MacBook and USB-C.
To be honest, they have put themselves in a mess of a situation, and they eventually need to make a choice: either everything uses Lighting or everything uses USB-C.
Well that means you won't be buying an iPhone in the future. Too bad. Just accept the change.
I really, really hope that the industry doesn't follow Apple on this, as usual.
Hopefully, someone is paying attention to the stupid.
Thankfully, Samsung already called Apple out on it, so that's at least one company. Now as for the rest....
Do they ever use the word "amazing" NAAAHHH I've never heard that.
Tim Cook is using ethernet because he needs to be behind Apple's corporate firewall to access the super secret Apple intranet. If he was on wifi, the connection would be slower, and he'd have to be on VPN all the time.
I think Lightning is a more flexible solution that is also a more durable and simpler design. But that's my two cents.
There is a lot of engineering that goes into designing connectors like this and I am willing to bet that Apple has done a lot of great work in this field which continues. USB-C seems to have been rushed out to complete with Lighting. I don't think Apple will move away from the port any time soon, although once more peripherals are created, they may.
Here's a question... is it possible to make a dual purpose port that accepts both?
There is a lot of engineering that goes into designing connectors like this and I am willing to bet that Apple has done a lot of great work in this field which continues. USB-C seems to have been rushed out to complete with Lighting. I don't think Apple will move away from the port any time soon, although once more peripherals are created, they may.
Here's a question... is it possible to make a dual purpose port that accepts both?
I think we need to do what the EU has done and mandate one standard (probably USB C) for all phones, but I think we need to take it a step further than they did and say on models manufactured after a certain date, adapters are not an allowable solution.
Because if they ditched Lightning in favor of an open USB-C standard, there goes the millions they rake in from (plus the ridiculous levels of control they exert over) third party accessory manufacturers via the MFI program.
The Lightning connector isn't going anywhere, at least in the near future. Even with USB-C.
I don't see the big deal with getting rid of the 3.5mm audio jack. It's a big step forward to have the DAC on the peripheral (headphone) side, not the phone side. At least now if people want high fidelity in their music, they aren't limited by their phone's relatively cheap DAC. They can buy headphones with much higher quality DACs.
As for USB-C headphones, all one needs to do is pick up a Lightning-to-USB-C dongle (or even better, a cable, which I hope Apple will offer). Problem solved.
I don't see the big deal with getting rid of the 3.5mm audio jack. It's a big step forward to have the DAC on the peripheral (headphone) side, not the phone side. At least now if people want high fidelity in their music, they aren't limited by their phone's relatively cheap DAC. They can buy headphones with much higher quality DACs.
As for USB-C headphones, all one needs to do is pick up a Lightning-to-USB-C dongle (or even better, a cable, which I hope Apple will offer). Problem solved.
No, other than both of them being small, lightning and usb-c connectors are completely different, including being gender opposite (no pun intended).
No. Lightning requires a completely open port with the contacts located on the inside edges, whereas USB-C has a tab in the middle of it's port that contains the contacts on it's surface and slots into the USB-C plug itself. That tab would prevent a Lightning plug from even being inserted, to say anything about actually making contact.
Not really surprising news as no doubt Intel and Apple had plans for this way back. Stupid plans all the same though.
While I agree you have a point with the battery power and digital signal processing going on in the headphones, but this is going to be a very expensive product compared to what most people spend on headphones. Most people aren't going to buy headphones with that much technology in them, and as I mentioned previously you can already implement that tech with the current technology in an iPhone, so removing the headphone jack isn't necessary for a company to release headphones that do this.
Lightning is a ******** connector. I've had so many lightning connectors from all the Apple devices in the recent years, whose pins get burned easily and then cause issues with charging. Its too small, too fragile...whereas USB C is perfect and sturdy as well, from what I've seen using the MacBook and Nexus devices.
Search Lightning Cable corrosion and you'll know what I mean.
Also the port size is small, so if any dust particles get in, its difficult to clean.
I jumped to Android devices because of Apple not bringing USB C onto their mobile lineup. And if they ever bring Lightning, solely, onto the Mac lineup, I'm leaving Mac for good as well. I've had so many bad experiences with the Lightning port, and I was actually a supporter of them when they launched in 2012, that I will never buy a device that has lightning as sole I/O.
USBC is the way to go, **** this proprietary ****.
Search Lightning Cable corrosion and you'll know what I mean.
Also the port size is small, so if any dust particles get in, its difficult to clean.
I jumped to Android devices because of Apple not bringing USB C onto their mobile lineup. And if they ever bring Lightning, solely, onto the Mac lineup, I'm leaving Mac for good as well. I've had so many bad experiences with the Lightning port, and I was actually a supporter of them when they launched in 2012, that I will never buy a device that has lightning as sole I/O.
USBC is the way to go, **** this proprietary ****.