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Same

I love apples general design and build quality. The stuff works well, and integrates well.

But damn if I don't appreciate their corporate business practices that are designed to purposely try and milk as much profit out of me, without offering anything significant anymore for those profit margins.
+1 When they actually do something truly innovative, they slap a "Pro" badge on it and ask for another pound of flesh.

They're making being a tech junkie tiresome and boring.
 
Not sure which is worse, that adapter, or the phone the anti-3.5mm jack removal crowd wants is:

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It would be a worse move to encourage customers to continue to use their old 3.5mm products rather than at least investigate alternatives which may offer a better overall experience.

Nonsense. They can include lightning EarPods as well as an adaptor if they really want to look good (which they won't do). To remove such a long standing and ubiquitous port and then make anyone who wants to use it pay £10-£20 to use it would be a mini PR disaster.

This isn't like changing to the lightning port a few years ago, the 3.5mm socket is far more entrenched in technological history and will take time to replace. Given the different charging/data ports used on different brands of smartphones its also not easy to replace as headphones aren't tied to one brand like the lightning port is.

Its debatable if the port should be removed at all but if theres reasons to do that and by including an adaptor they make the transition to new standards as painless as possible.

Personally I don't mind them removing the headphone jack if theres a decent reason and if theres an adaptor in the box but as I already moved on to an alternative that offers a better experience 10 years ago, namely some very nice shure in ear headphones, Id be a bit annoyed having to shell out more money to use them.
 
+1 When they actually do something truly innovative, they slap a "Pro" badge on it and ask for another pound of flesh.

They're making being a tech junkie tiresome and boring.

This "pro" think irks me.

When a product claims to be pro, or for professionals, it implies to me some things.

It's not about what the user does with it. Many jobs can be done with pad and paper. That's not the point.

It's about the potential of the hardware. What is the furthest extent it can be used for. How long it's expected to be maintainable for. Can it grow and adapt to changing workloads. Can it survive in production work environments for long time without needing full replacement. For something to be truly professional from a hardware perspective, it can't be truly niche and aimed at only a small subset of the industry it is aimed for.

The old Mac Pro was a pro device. It checked these boxes right. THe new one isn't. Slapping one new feature on a device and branding it pro doesn't make it pro. If it can't be adapted to meet multiple different work cases, it's not pro


Apple is using it because of marketing only.
 
I'll be upgrading this time around. I started with a 4s, 5s and now I own the 6. If they've publicly said they won't be upgrading on a tic-tok rotation, i rather have Apple's most updated phone with upgraded optics. The family is all on the Apple ecosystem and a lot more difficult to change over.
 
Just what we all need, more dongles. This is so backwards it's not even funny.

How long did it take to kill off CD players in cars and PCs? Except audio jacks are even more widely used.
 
Regarding the bold - that's exactly my point. Consumers will use whatever comes in the box, so it's quite stupid to not include lightning headphones, and instead require the use of an adapter. In an ideal world Apple wouldn't get rid of the headphone jack, but, as they are, it makes a lot more sense for them to include lightning headphones, but the new rumour suggests they won't.
It's not stupid for Apple to include an adapter with non-lightning EarPods. It might look cheap on their part but if they do that it's obviously to liquidate excess earpod inventory and make it look like they are giving users more than they asked for with an adapter inclusion. Like we said, most will use whatever is included so this would be no different. For the record, I do not beleive this rumor or that Apple would do this. It would be seen as a sell off and not forward thinking by the industry which they cannot afford for this particular release cycle.
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I was avoid to say that..with the amount of Apple lovers on here. But someone there truly things this is a good design. FML, even renders done by some ppl online are 1000x better.
You do realize that your opinion of style is no more or less valid than Apple's right? Yet I don't see your ideas or random internet designers shipping billions of devices to happy customers. I'm sure your style revolt is just around the corner and every one will soon leave Apple for your designs.
 
Absolutely. If there is a way to produce quality images that doesn't use "camera" technology, I'd be all for it. Imagine if the entire phone surface could be used as a detector that would allow you to create a high res three dimensional model of your surroundings, then generate the image using software...why would you want to stick with 1800's technology? And batteries? How about capacitors that can be charged in an instant, or a phone that pulls its energy from the environment? How about a lightweight power source that can power the phone for a decade? Why would you need a heavy battery?

The 3.5mm port is one of the last single-purpose ports out there in the consumer computing world. Back in the day, a computer had maybe a dozen unique ports labeled or color coded so you'd know where to connect your mouse, keyboard, modem, printer, scanner, monitor, etc.

Well said.
 
So i won't be able to charge the phone and plug in headphones at the same time? I do this all the time at work. **** you apple
I do this when watching sport like sky sports or BT sport and need to charge it when watching on my break at work so I can see why it's an issue

Luckily I watch sport on my S7 edge now
 
Can't we get analogue audio out of the lightning port? Do we absolutely need a DAC inside the cable or the dongle?

Yes Apple could do that, as Lightning is dynamically assigned. But they won't. If they were going to do that, they would have already done it in the initial move to Lightning and the 30-pin adapter. There is no incentive for Apple to do this, in fact, it would only encourage customers to continue using and investing in their old 3.5mm equipment. In addition, it would be a dongle that only changes the shape of the headphone plug, which will also not make customers happy. At least with a digital adapter, there is the promise of higher quality, and more functionality than they had before. With an analogue output, it comes with all the inconvenience of a dongle, but without any added benefits. Apple has also tried that before with the original iPhone headphone jack which needed an adapter to use with any headphones but Apple's, and it didn't go over well. Neither would this. Analogue or digital, Apple is going to inconvenience everyone who uses headphones. If they're going to do that, then they're going to make sure the customer has the best experience possible, regardless of the cost. And that's going to be digital.

The closest Apple is going to come to analogue output will be an inexpensive analogue pass-through adapter converting from 3.5mm to Lightning, so Lightning headphones can merely bypass the DAC and pass the analogue source from a device straight to the headphones.

Remember: After Apple ships the the iPhone 7 there will still be Android phone available for people who people who want a phone with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Not for long. Intel is pushing USBc audio for mobile, and Motorola has already released a jack-less phone. Many against this move think this is an Arbitrary move by Apple to increase profits, but that makes no sense. The number of customers who would jump to a competitor which doesn't have any reason to remove their headphone jack, will not be offset by increased Lightning licenses and Lightning headphone sales. Apple is most likely doing this because they have to, which means the competition also has to, in order to add new features and remain competitive with each other. There is no doubt in my mind that Android makers will drop the headphone jack on their flagship devices within a year of Apple doing it. The only phones which will have them are Apple's 2nd & 3rd tier, and cheaper, comparable Androids. So as far as that goes, Apple will still be selling iPhones with a headphone jack, but no competitive flagship device will have one in two years.
 
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I love my 6+. Don't see any reason to upgrade to the 7.

IPhones are very good phones. The fact that their resale value remains high may mean that the current models are good enough for the vast majority.

Plus we get free iOS upgrades which means more than the hardware upgrades.

If Panasonic made a minor upgrade to your land line phone. Would you buy it?

I'm not referring to the fan boys but to the bulk of buyers below the tip of the iceberg.
 
This "pro" think irks me.

When a product claims to be pro, or for professionals, it implies to me some things.

It's not about what the user does with it. Many jobs can be done with pad and paper. That's not the point.
[...]
The old Mac Pro was a pro device. It checked these boxes right. THe new one isn't. Slapping one new feature on a device and branding it pro doesn't make it pro. If it can't be adapted to meet multiple different work cases, it's not pro

Apple is using it because of marketing only.
This. It sums up the current state of Apple. And, frankly, I think this will -on the long term- hit them hard, as customers will look into alternatives. Apple always used only matured features to give a solid customer experience and skip those technolgies that were not ready. They never used any non-mature technologie. That was a cut on the feature side of their products, but a bonus on their product experience as all offered features just worked flawlessly. That's what customers highly appreciated since everyone was sick of stuff that only works on the paper. These days, however, Apple is skipping matured technology. Jobs knew when and when not to use a technology. Cook lacks this skill completely. To name a few: Qualcomm Quickcharge, Wireless Charge, fully featured NFC (or at least pair by NFC), aptX, Glance Screen (or something similar),... -and worse than that, they are now cutting the feature list: Magsafe, 3,5mm, a proper keyboard (rMB keyboard becoming standard),... and so on. The new MacPro is the best example for it. "Pro" is no more. And Apple is not even making a it a secret. They discontinued most of their "Pro" software and hardware already, real MacPro and Server alread gone, even MacMini Server gone. As an Aperture user I feel the pain -and this decision of Apple to try sell me "Photos" as a successor made me sell my MBPr. That move made it clear that Apple is abandoning "Pro" for "Prosumer"...
 
Go Go more Apple dongles!!!!!!! Yay!!!! I have now collected over 200 Apple dongles at an average price of $19.95 each! The only thing that could make Apple better now is if they made OS X (oops I mean macOS) even SLOWER, removed all remaining GUI interface guidelines and busy indicators (love Spotlight with no busy indicator; it just sits there looking stupid and I'm never quite sure if my Mac locked up or not) and next removed all support for mice, trackballs, keyboards and gamepads! Let's make it a trackpad and Siri only OS! mAcOs uSeRs shouldn't have to follow spelling or grammar rules or understand what a computer is or how to work such ancient interfaces! Make it like the iPhone (soon to be renamed the phonePhone following the new convention Apple uses). Yo Siri! Where's my pizza?
 
Okay, those 7 Plus camera humps look extremely fake. They're like weirdly flat. Like someone was terrible at photo shop. The shadowing looks weird around them too. The phone, second from the left, the camera hump thing isn't even straight! It has chunks missing and looks dented almost! They look weirdly pixelated too. The camera hump design isn't cohesive with the regular iPhone 7 leaks we have been seeing (and we have an odd lack of iPhone 7 Plus leaks). In this photo, the Plus iPhone with the dual camera has almost a chamfered edge, or separate medal piece surrounding the protruding camera module. The regular iPhone 7 has an accommodating extension of its aluminum housing as a camera bump.

Fake x10000.
 
So i won't be able to charge the phone and plug in headphones at the same time? I do this all the time at work. **** you apple
Of course you will be able to to plug in headphones and charge the phone at the same time, using a charging cable that has a pass-through lightning port or a 3.5 mm port for legacy headphones.

The best thing to do, I think, is leave the special charging cable at work (since that's where you always use it). So you don't have to carry this special cable with you back and forth. Getting a charging dock that performs the same function would also be worth considering.
 
Not for long. Intel is pushing USBc audio for mobile, and Motorola has already released a jack-less phone. Many against this move think this is an Arbitrary move by Apple to increase profits, but that makes no sense. The number of customers who would jump to a competitor which doesn't have any reason to remove their headphone jack, will not be offset by increased Lightning licenses and Lightning headphone sales. Apple is most likely doing this because they have to, which means the competition also has to, in order to add new features and remain competitive with each other. There is no doubt in my mind that Android makers will drop the headphone jack on their flagship devices within a year of Apple doing it. The only phones which will have them are Apple's 2nd & 3rd tier, and cheaper, comparable Androids. So as far as that goes, Apple will still be selling iPhones with a headphone jack, but no competitive flagship device will have one in two years.

Adding audio to USB-C does not mean phone makers have to remove 3.5mm jack. The two may coexist just fine (just like have been doing for many years)
 
Some people use headphones with more than one device (phone) so the adapter should come off in this scenario.
No listening and charging.
How many dongles is too many?
How to you know the hypothetical dongle wont have a female lightning port?
 
Not for long. Intel is pushing USBc audio for mobile, and Motorola has already released a jack-less phone. Many against this move think this is an Arbitrary move by Apple to increase profits, but that makes no sense. The number of customers who would jump to a competitor which doesn't have any reason to remove their headphone jack, will not be offset by increased Lightning licenses and Lightning headphone sales. Apple is most likely doing this because they have to, which means the competition also has to, in order to add new features and remain competitive with each other. There is no doubt in my mind that Android makers will drop the headphone jack on their flagship devices within a year of Apple doing it. The only phones which will have them are Apple's 2nd & 3rd tier, and cheaper, comparable Androids. So as far as that goes, Apple will still be selling iPhones with a headphone jack, but no competitive flagship device will have one in two years.
I take you point. My point was partly one of the strengths of Android is obviously the diversity of phones. While there will be audio over USBc/Lighting on many phones in the next few years, I think that if you want a 3.5mm jack there will be more choice in Android phones, the only iPhones will be older models. While there will be high end Android phones without a 3.5mm jack, like the Motorola, I think there will be some models that keep the 3.5mm jack, like some models still have an SD card slot and removable battery.

Apple don't have to remove the 3.5mm jack, they are choosing to remove it. If Apple had gone to USBc rather than Lighting I would be less worried by this, as USBc is not Apple controlled.

Headphone choice is very personal and personally I like to use the same set with my phone and computer; difficult of they have different ports.
 
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I just bought a 6s without being in urgent need of upgrade.
that's how interested I am in iPhone 7.
when the most focus and rumours and leaks of a phone is it's headphone jack (or lack of it) that means that phone is not worth my time.
 
Don't want the dongle, then its a simple choice. GO BLUETOOTH
Exactly, that's what they're pushing anyway. Hopefully Bluetooth 5 allows for better audio so people can stop obsessing over wired headphones (apart from audiophiles).
Having said that, with the lack of convenience and battery life concerns on both the phone and earphones, I don't think there is a better option to replace the headphone jack yet, unlike the cases where Apple has dropped a standard where there was always a better alternative.
[doublepost=1469331781][/doublepost]Even with the included adapter, there remains more reasons to avoid buying it.
 
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this is the thing for phone wired headphones are so freaking annoying. Certainly in the gym it gets in the way as it does when you are walking. I get that it cost more but they are just frustrating to use at times.
 
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