iPhone 7 and 7 Plus Again Rumored to Feature Smart Connector, but No Stereo Speakers or Thinner Design

[warrior2000]

1. I wouldn't be so sure that people only have a single pair of headphones. I have 3 pair of headphones I use regularly, My Bose noise cancelling headphones that I use when I want noise cancelling, my sennheiser HD598 for when I don't care about noise cancelling, and my apple earbuds when I work out. So, if I want to do as you say and leave an adapter on each, assuming the adapter is $29 it would cost me an additional $87 compared to what I would have to spend today. Even one adapter is money I don't have to spend today for the functionality.

2. Is that number really that important? The point here is that there is a lot of functionality that we used to have without adapters (Ethernet port is a big one, I also still use a DVD drive), that now requires an additional investment beyond the initial purchase. So now the same functionality costs more, and requires keeping track of the adapters. It is a worse experience in every way. In the same way you don't seem to understand why I don't like the idea, I don't understand how anyone is not upset about it. It's a clear money grab. The other big thing here is that they don't need to remove the headphone port to have bluetooth and lightning headphones. You can use those things now, so they are in effect simply removing an option and making it more of a hassle to make compatible again.
[doublepost=1460658928][/doublepost]

The 30 pin adapter is a whole different story. That connector was ~10 years old and had a bunch of legacy connections not used any longer. The lightning was a huge an needed improvement. They are also apple standardized connectors, not industry standard like the headphone connector. In the case of 30-pin -> lightning it was clearly time for a change. In all other times we have moved on, it's because the old is actually on it's way out. This is a case of apple trying to push it out so they can make licensing money on lighting when there is no need, and industry isn't pushing for it either. Sure more people are moving to bluetooth headsets, but the rub here is that you can already use bluetooth and lightning headsets. the headphone jack doesn't need to go away for the features they are touting as the reason. So instead of keeping options people want, they are trying to force everyone to give them more money for the same functionality. Both lightning headphones and headphone adapters will result in more money for apple if everyone just goes along with it. It's Apple's loss if I don't buy another phone from them.

Dude. they will be giving free lightning headphones with each iPhone.

Having lightning headphones will open up all kinds of new features. Lighting can offer lossless digital audio and enabling advanced features such as noise cancellation and digital-to-analog conversion without the use of batteries.

And how many people would not use the included lightning headphones?
And how many of those people use wired headphones?
And how many of those would not be willing to use an adapter?
I'd say very very few.

So the benefits outweight the few who will hate it. The same thing happenned when Apple got rid of the CD/DVD drive on the Mac. People will adjust. IF not, their loss. This is technology. You can't expect things to stay the same for very long.

The 3.5mm jack is old asss tech. Its time to move on to better things.

 

[Mac 128]

1. I wouldn't be so sure that people only have a single pair of headphones. I have 3 pair of headphones I use regularly, My Bose noise cancelling headphones that I use when I want noise cancelling, my sennheiser HD598 for when I don't care about noise cancelling, and my apple earbuds when I work out. So, if I want to do as you say and leave an adapter on each, assuming the adapter is $29 it would cost me an additional $87 compared to what I would have to spend today. Even one adapter is money I don't have to spend today for the functionality.

2. Is that number really that important? The point here is that there is a lot of functionality that we used to have without adapters (Ethernet port is a big one, I also still use a DVD drive), that now requires an additional investment beyond the initial purchase. So now the same functionality costs more, and requires keeping track of the adapters. It is a worse experience in every way. In the same way you don't seem to understand why I don't like the idea, I don't understand how anyone is not upset about it. It's a clear money grab. The other big thing here is that they don't need to remove the headphone port to have bluetooth and lightning headphones. You can use those things now, so they are in effect simply removing an option and making it more of a hassle to make compatible again.

1. Of your 3 headphones, one pair, your Apple earbuds, will be replaced with a new set of Lightning Apple earbuds you will get for free with your new phone. So now we're down to just two pair of headphones. I'm not sure why you have a separate set of noise cancelling headphones, and don't use them for everything, but upgrading them to a Lightning set will power the noise cancellation without the bulky battery pack. That would be my first upgrade purchase before I even bought an iPhone 7. That leaves just one set of good headphones that need an adapter. And that assumes you are not so impressed with Lightning audio that you don't upgrade those too. But for Apple the question is not whether people use multiple headphones, but how many. And of that set, how many use the free Apple earbuds that come with the phones. If the answer skews to many fewer customers have multiple headphones, which don't include Apple earbuds, than don't, then the backlash will overall be minimal; making the time ripe to do this.

2. You have decided that the only reason Apple is doing this is to make a "money grab" so there's really no point in debating with you. There are many other reasons that Apple could be doing this, and it makes no sense to assume the worst, because it would be stupid as none of their competition would be removing the headphone jack. Apple would lose massive sales. That reason alone is why this is not a mere "money grab".

 

[navaira]

I mentioned this before, but Sony Ericsson, when it was still called that, had a proprietary jack for headphones. It was the worst idea ever. I use Sony buds that cost 5 euro on eBay, sound great (really) and since I keep on dropping them into dust, stepping on them etc. I don't really worry if I break them. But of course all Apple buyers are filthy rich, so €119 Lightning buds and €49 adapters are going to serve them just fine.

 

[warrior2000]

Except I'll have to take the adapter off to plug the headphones into EVERY OTHER DEVICE IN THE WORLD.

How many devices do you use to listen to music?
I'd say 99% of the population only uses headphones on one device.

 

[big-ted]

Dude. they will be giving free lightning headphones with each iPhone.

Having lightning headphones will open up all kinds of new features. Lighting can offer lossless digital audio and enabling advanced features such as noise cancellation and digital-to-analog conversion without the use of batteries.

And how many people would not use the included lightning headphones?
And how many of those people use wired headphones?
And how many of those would not be willing to use an adapter?
I'd say very very few.

So the benefits outweight the few who will hate it.

The 3.5mm jack is old asss tech. Its time to move on to better things.

How many of those lightning headphones that you purchase will work in non Apple devices?

Has anyone found a pair of bluetooth earbuds that match the dynamic range of the current free Apple earbuds?

I guess the lightning to 3.5mm jack adapter won't be in the box and will be at the same price point of the current USB to Lightning adapter

 

[HVDynamo]

Dude. they will be giving free lightning headphones with each iPhone.

Having lightning headphones will open up all kinds of new features. Lighting can offer lossless digital audio and enabling advanced features such as noise cancellation and digital-to-analog conversion without the use of batteries.

And how many people would not use the included lightning headphones?
And how many of those people use wired headphones?
And how many of those would not be willing to use an adapter?
I'd say very very few.

So the benefits outweight the few who will hate it. The same thing happenned when Apple got rid of the CD/DVD drive on the Mac. People will adjust. IF not, their loss. This is technology. You can't expect things to stay the same for very long.

The 3.5mm jack is old asss tech. Its time to move on to better things.

1. They can add lightning headphones and all those features without removing the headphone jack.
2. The headphone jack already supports lossless audio, in fact since it is an analog port, it is and always has been lossless. The DAC is already built into the phone so no external batteries required! The only point that makes sense is the noise cancellation, but like I mentioned above, they can do that without removing the headphone jack.

 

[aberrero]

I completely agree with this, I know it's a cliche around these parts but every year that passes I think more and more that Steve Jobs had everything the way he wanted and now Apple is all about the profit rather than the product.

The whole "this would have never happened under Steve" was kind of grating for a while after he died, but now that his influence has actually started to fade, it is becoming quite apparent that Apple isn't the company it used to be. I just really don't think Steve would have let them have a camera bump. Bottom line.

 

[warrior2000]

1. They can add lightning headphones and all those features without removing the headphone jack.
2. The headphone jack already supports lossless audio, in fact since it is an analog port, it is and always has been lossless. The DAC is already built into the phone so no external batteries required! The only point that makes sense is the noise cancellation, but like I mentioned above, they can do that without removing the headphone jack.

Apple could have also left the CD/DVD drive on Mac's.

I don't know why people are so in love with decades old 3.5mm jack. Its time to move on. TV has moved on from coaxial, to composite, to S-video, to component, to HDMI. Why the hell is it taking so long for audio to move on?

 

[aberrero]

Lots of people on this forum are ecstatic about the idea of removing the headphone jack, which baffles me. "Please take away features! We want less features!" I also read confessions of people who "don't want to carry ports around" in Macbooks.

The headphone output sucks anyway. I used bluetooth most of the time, and for the rest of the time digital output over lightning has higher quality than an analog out.

 

[Mac 128]

How many of those lightning headphones that you purchase will work in non Apple devices?

Has anyone found a pair of bluetooth earbuds that match the dynamic range of the current free Apple earbuds?

I guess the lightning to 3.5mm jack adapter won't be in the box and will be at the same price point of the current USB to Lightning adapter

I actually think if Apple plays it smart, they will include a set of Lightning earbuds in the box that have a dual Lightning/3.5mm jack on them, so that they can replace that one set of free Apple earbuds many people use, not to mention use them on their older iPads, and Macs. New Macs will come with Lightning ports.

Also, I would only buy a digital headphone if it had multiple interfaces. You can currently buy a good one now with both an 3.5mm connector and a USB-C/Lightning connector/cable. And it's not just digital headphones, it's also BT headphones that offer every possibility, so when the battery runs out, you can plug it into whatever device you have.

BT/wireless tech still has a way to go before it satisfies everyone, but I bet Apple shows the industry how to do it come September with their rumored new wireless earbuds.

I would expect no adapter in the box because it's contrary to Apple's agenda to push wireless/lightning. However, it could be as little as $19, given that their 30-pin to Lightning adapter is only $29 and includes both a DAC and ADC, as well as power and data. A basic 3.5mm adapter doesn't need all of that, much less a 30-pin connector.

 

[aberrero]

Apple could have also left the CD/DVD drive on Mac's.

I still can't believe they went for so long without upgrading the DVD Superdrive to support Blu Ray playback. Although with their push for Apple TV and streaming over iTunes, it is actually making more sense now that I think about it more in hindsight.

 

[nortofthe13th]

No headphone jack? Then we are done with iPhones. Several people (none of them technical) have said they will move to Android if apple does this. They spent too much money on good headphones to compromise with Bluetooth headphones.

I get it, change is difficult. It can be messy and frustrating. But everyone needs to take a breath. When (and a very big IF) Apple decides to remove the headphone jack there will be other solutions besides just Bluetooth. There will likely be a plethora of quality adapters that won't detract from quality headphones, as well as many solutions for other doomsday-like complaints. The benefits go way beyond merely making the device thiner (See: HD Audio + audiophile headphones). Don't let the hardworking horse stop you from inventing the electric car.

 

[Mac 128]

1. They can add lightning headphones and all those features without removing the headphone jack.
2. The headphone jack already supports lossless audio, in fact since it is an analog port, it is and always has been lossless. The DAC is already built into the phone so no external batteries required! The only point that makes sense is the noise cancellation, but like I mentioned above, they can do that without removing the headphone jack.

1. Yes but presumably they need to remove it.

2. True. However, no battery would be required to power the outboard DAC, nor would it require more than it took to power the internal DAC. But now it can power the noise cancellation tech. And while the iPhone hardware can offer lossless audio, you're at the mercy of the Apple DAC and amp which is a compromise that provides generic sound across any device plugged into it. The advantage to moving the DAC and amp outboard is that the headphone maker can improve the quality of the sound giving them a potential edge over the competition. In this way, Apple provides a sound file only, and the sound is shaped entirely by the headphones, unless a person introduces digital equalization through an app or settings. And while this can all be done now, there's no incentive for manufactures to R&D this area because demand is low due to cheap 3.5mm availability.

 

[warrior2000]

The whole "this would have never happened under Steve" was kind of grating for a while after he died, but now that his influence has actually started to fade, it is becoming quite apparent that Apple isn't the company it used to be. I just really don't think Steve would have let them have a camera bump. Bottom line.

LOL. So you are doing exactly what you said was grating?

The current Apple still has Steve's fingerprints everywhere. But it isn't the same. And thats a good thing. Apple is a much bigger company now with a far larger user base. We are talking about over a BILLION users. So Apple needed to change. Its called growing up.

Remember when Steve said he would NEVER make a larger phone. Or a smaller iPad? That was fine 5 years ago. But not today. Today Apple needs to cater to a much larger audience.

 

[aberrero]

The current Apple still has Steve's fingerprints everywhere. But it isn't the same. And thats a good thing. Apple is a much bigger company now with a far larger user base. We are talking about over a BILLION users. So Apple needed to change. Its called growing up.

Yes, that was my point. It was grating until it started to seem true.

Apple used to pride itself on being a small company, and an underdog that catered to people who wanted the best. The Mac Pro is an example of that. The fact that it hasnt been updated in 2.5 years is an example of how much Apple truly has changed.

 

[warrior2000]

Yes, that was my point. It was grating until it started to seem true.

Apple used to pride itself on being a small company, and an underdog that catered to people who wanted the best. The Mac Pro is an example of that. The fact that it hasnt been updated in 2.5 years is an example of how much Apple truly has changed.

Thats life though.

Apple is a huge company now. It needs to focus on mainstream products.

 

[Eorlas]

I'm getting the vibe that the only way we'll get any attention to the "more battery, less thin" movement is if we get everyone tweeting at Tim cook and some of his people.

 

[HVDynamo]

Apple could have also left the CD/DVD drive on Mac's.

I don't know why people are so in love with decades old 3.5mm jack. Its time to move on. TV has moved on from coaxial, to composite, to S-video, to component, to HDMI. Why the hell is it taking so long for audio to move on?

Because it doesn't need to? All the other upgrades you mention bring with it an improvement in bandwidth that allows for higher quality signal to make it through. the 3.5mm jack is all analog, and bandwidth doesn't mean anything to that connection, which is why it is still used as opposed to all the others you mentioned. It's also an industry standard that is already basically perfect. The fact that it has been around for as long as it has is a testament to it's design. Just because a connector is old doesn't mean it is no longer useful, it is not time to move on. But even if you believe it is time to move on, then go and buy your lightning/bluetooth headphones. They will already work with the technology that is there, why rob those of us that want to use the 3.5mm port of that feature?

Side note: apple should have adopted Blu-Ray and kept the disc drive in all but it's ultra portable lineup.

 

[warrior2000]

Because it doesn't need to? All the other upgrades you mention bring with it an improvement in bandwidth that allows for higher quality signal to make it through. the 3.5mm jack is all analog, and bandwidth doesn't mean anything to that connection, which is why it is still used as opposed to all the others you mentioned. It's also an industry standard that is already basically perfect. The fact that it has been around for as long as it has is a testament to it's design. Just because a connector is old doesn't mean it is no longer useful, it is not time to move on. But even if you believe it is time to move on, then go and buy your lightning/bluetooth headphones. They will already work with the technology that is there, why rob those of us that want to use the 3.5mm port of that feature?

Side note: apple should have adopted Blu-Ray and kept the disc drive in all but it's ultra portable lineup.

Huh? 3.5mm can only deliver CD quality sound. Plus lightning allows noise cancellation without an additional battery. Those two features are enough to delete the inferior 3.5mm.

Space is at a super premium on iPhone. More space means more battery or some other component. Deleting the 3.5mm will add more space for better stuff not a legacy connection that only 1% need.

And because its a fast digital interface in TWO directions it can do things we haven't even thought of yet. Its called PROGRESS.

 

[navaira]

Space is at a super premium on iPhone. More space means more battery or some other component. Deleting the 3.5mm will add more space for better stuff not a legacy connection that only 1% need.

Would you mind quoting some data to support that 1% number?

 

[Arminnn89]

i prefer 20 hrs of battery life and be thicker really

 

[Mac 128]

Would you mind quoting some data to support that 1% number?

Haha, I'd be more interested in having him prove this:

Huh? 3.5mm can only deliver CD quality sound.

 

[HVDynamo]

1. Of your 3 headphones, one pair, your Apple earbuds, will be replaced with a new set of Lightning Apple earbuds you will get for free with your new phone. So now we're down to just two pair of headphones. I'm not sure why you have a separate set of noise cancelling headphones, and don't use them for everything, but upgrading them to a Lightning set will power the noise cancellation without the bulky battery pack. That would be my first upgrade purchase before I even bought an iPhone 7. That leaves just one set of good headphones that need an adapter. And that assumes you are not so impressed with Lightning audio that you don't upgrade those too. But for Apple the question is not whether people use multiple headphones, but how many. And of that set, how many use the free Apple earbuds that come with the phones. If the answer skews to many fewer customers have multiple headphones, which don't include Apple earbuds, than don't, then the backlash will overall be minimal; making the time ripe to do this.

2. You have decided that the only reason Apple is doing this is to make a "money grab" so there's really no point in debating with you. There are many other reasons that Apple could be doing this, and it makes no sense to assume the worst, because it would be stupid as none of their competition would be removing the headphone jack. Apple would lose massive sales. That reason alone is why this is not a mere "money grab".

1. I have the Sennheiser because they sound better than the Bose, and they are nice for using when I do voice chat in games on my gaming PC so I can still hear my roommate through the headphones while we chat (they are open back headphones). This brings up a whole other point that I didn't mention before. What about the headphones working with my non-apple devices. So you think we should all go and buy headphones that only work with our iphones and ipads, or buy an adapter that I would have to remove when I use my current headphones on my non-apple devices making it much easier to forget somewhere and end up having to buy another one? The bose noise cancelling headphones use one AAA battery that lasts many hours. I'll take that battery over being limited to only using them with my ipad or iphone. Lightning audio will probably sound great, but the audio quality isn't really going to be an upgrade from what is already available through the 3.5mm jack. The DAC in the current iPhone is already very good, and that is the only thing that adding lightning will allow people to do, which can already be done today...

2. Sure, it could be more than just a money grab, they will probably use that space to make it thinner. Not worth it. If the competition doesn't remove the 3.5mm jack as well, then the 6S might be my last iPhone. If I do end up making that switch, that will be the first of many products that I will stop buying from apple.

 

[Cole Slaw]

iHump Pro is coming soon!

Yes, perhaps they'll make a tumour case for the 6SS Plus as well as the non plus model.

 

[Mac 128]

1. I have the Sennheiser because they sound better than the Bose, and they are nice for using when I do voice chat in games on my gaming PC so I can still hear my roommate through the headphones while we chat (they are open back headphones). This brings up a whole other point that I didn't mention before. What about the headphones working with my non-apple devices. So you think we should all go and buy headphones that only work with our iphones and ipads, or buy an adapter that I would have to remove when I use my current headphones on my non-apple devices making it much easier to forget somewhere and end up having to buy another one? The bose noise cancelling headphones use one AAA battery that lasts many hours. I'll take that battery over being limited to only using them with my ipad or iphone. Lightning audio will probably sound great, but the audio quality isn't really going to be an upgrade from what is already available through the 3.5mm jack. The DAC in the current iPhone is already very good, and that is the only thing that adding lightning will allow people to do, which can already be done today...

2. Sure, it could be more than just a money grab, they will probably use that space to make it thinner. Not worth it. If the competition doesn't remove the 3.5mm jack as well, then the 6S might be my last iPhone. If I do end up making that switch, that will be the first of many products that I will stop buying from apple.

Good luck to you. I read a lot of baggage in those comments, that assumes things that just aren't true, and others that are solvable. Not worth going into it because you apparently have made your mind up. Cheers.