iPhone 7 May Ship With Lightning-Connected EarPods, New Wireless Earphones Also Under Development

[Elvergun]

It baffles me how anyone thinks a multi-billion dollar technology giant have not though of workarounds!



So what? Did you really expect it will be on devices forever? I have spend lots of money on cassettes, movie tapes and what no and all that money has gone down the toilets also! Do I wish I would have the cassette/video tapes around instead of the digital? Hell no!!

Nope. I'm just saying that people were not terrified by the new lightning connector. Did you read my post? Obviously not. But if you really are one who likes live on the cutting edge of technology...well, lightning should not satisfy you. There are better technologies out there.

 

[Jsameds]

Ha...you are living in a fantasy world. Some of us are not upset because we think the jack is going away. The 3.5 jack is going nowhere. What upsets me is the prospect of being forced to another brand of phone if this rumor turns out to be true. I absolutely hate Android. I hope Microsoft gets their act together soon.

So the headphone jack is going the way of the dodo? Really? Show me some of your old posts where you wrote about this possibility. A year ago most of you Nostradamus wannabees did not give a second though to the 3.5 jack...but suddenly, out of nowhere, all of you have become audio industry experts. Here's an LOL right back at you.

What is your problem? Seriously? You insult me and then ridicule my opinion and for what? Because you love an audio port?

The future is wireless, and if you disagree well, you're wrong.

Jobs was right, consumers don't know what they want until you show it to them.

See you in line at the Apple Store in September

 

[ssong]

I think the 'AirPods' will end up using a different tech, I can imagine that one would need to have them in the charging case and just tap the phone on the case and voila you're connected. Maybe connect using NFC and maintain connection using a different proprietary solution? BT is so crap -_-

 

[OllyW]

The future is wireless, and if you disagree well, you're wrong.

Why are Apple being luddites and hanging on to the wired Lightning port then?

 

[Jsameds]

God help us all on here when the rumours about a completely portless iPhone start to surface..

 

[Roller]

Excuse me sir they are my thoughts. I've been saying this since the beginning, you insult me.

Two out of two broken iDevices of mine were caused by the headphone cable snagging on things, so yeah it's personally a problem. Regarding technology, I am a big headphone wearer, so I am excited to see what the future holds in the area. There are already some pretty cool developments being made. I saw some lightning headphones with adjustable noise cancellation per ear without the need for a battery. Perfect for air travel and travel in general really.

And Bluetooth needs looking at too. We need an "AirPlay for Bluetooth" ie quality matching or even surpassing that of wired.

And finally for the smaller device thing. Yeah that needs looking into, the 6+ is a ludicrous size and the 6 is a touch too wide and tall. The smaller the better IMO, I can't wait! Bring on the future!

I'm with you on your insult comment. It's a shame that some people here can't advance their own opinions or rebutt others' without personal attacks.

I also agree about technology moving forward. If removing the headphone jack has a worthwhile benefit and wired or wireless replacements of similar or better performance exist, I'm open-minded enough to wait and see what Apple does.

I disagree about the iPhone's size, though. I bought my 6 Plus because it offers a large screen in a pocketable device - it works for me. If Apple can achieve the same display in a smaller phone by reducing the bezel size and/or eliminating the home button, that would be good. I'm less concerned with thinness than battery life, and there's a point where a phone can be too thin to handle comfortably.

 

[BvizioN]

Nope. I'm just saying that people were not terrified by the new lightning connector. Did you read my post? Obviously not. But if you really are one who likes live on the cutting edge of technology...well, lightning should not satisfy you. There are better technologies out there.

I read the post and you were saying it's because they invested/spend on stuff that uses 30 pin connector. Well, anyone with a half brain knows that when it comes to technology, changes are made super rapidly and none of the stuff you buy today is guarantee to play well with tomorrows technology. It's just the way it is and the way it has been.

By the way, better is subjective. For the time being, I'm fine with lightning cable on my phone. Totally wireless (if that's possible without compromising speed and quality) would be even better.

 

[Narcaz]

Lol. Sorry that really did make me laugh

The headphone jack is going the way of the dodo. Best get used to it.

Of course there will still be adapters for you luddites, meanwhile the rest of us will enjoy what the future brings, but don't worry, you'll come to your senses one day.

Be careful with your condescending wishes. The future of audio is not solely in Apple's hands. At first there will be adapters for 3,5mm to Lightning, while Android/Win phones still have their jack. If USB C takes off by the end of the year and the first headphone makers create USB C headphones, there will be adapters for Lightning to USB C. And in two years new adapters for Lightning to new thinner Lightning 2. I could easily be iPhone users, who will be the idiots that always have to carry an adapter.

 

[Jsameds]

Why are Apple being luddites and hanging on to the wired Lightning port then?

It'll go in time, I predict with the iPhone 9 or 10 it'll be axed.

 

[Elvergun]

What is your problem? Seriously? You insult me and then ridicule my opinion and for what? Because you love an audio port?

The future is wireless, and if you disagree well, you're wrong.

Jobs was right, consumers don't know what they want until you show it to them.

See you in line at the Apple Store in September

No, unfortunately, you are the one who is wrong here. You are just posting what you think is true and you are trying you hardest to convince others that you know what you are talking about.

Read this: http://www.innerfidelity.com/

The editor of that site is at CES 2016. His focus is on new headphone models. Go read some of his reports from Las Vegas...and while you are at it, pay close attention to all the wired vs wireless models being released. For now, wireless is not the future. Do you believe everyone on the planet is wrong and Tim Cook is the only visionary who is right? Or would you have us believe that only Cook and YOU are right?

 

[zhenya]

What is your problem? Seriously? You insult me and then ridicule my opinion and for what? Because you love an audio port?

The future is wireless, and if you disagree well, you're wrong.

Jobs was right, consumers don't know what they want until you show it to them.

See you in line at the Apple Store in September

I'm far from convinced that the immediate future of audio is wireless. Bluetooth headphones have been available for many years and are easily compatible with all current devices, yet they haven't exactly set the world on fire. Untethering a device from the wall is fundamentally different than untethering something you already carry on your person. Sure, everything being equal, wireless would be better. But we are a long ways from that reality. Bluetooth audio sounds noticeably worse, is prone to interference (something as simple as wearing your phone in your back pocket while running is enough to interrupt it - or look at those new ear-pods, they had to give up on bluetooth because they couldn't reliably transmit from one ear to the other.) And now you have a device with limited battery life, limited compatibility with other devices, and another thing to charge. The benefits don't outweigh the downsides for many maybe most people.

I was drawn to Apple in the first place because they took high-quality audio reasonably seriously. Getting rid of the headphone jack is a distinct turn away from that focus.

 

[Jsameds]

I'm with you on your insult comment. It's a shame that some people here can't advance their own opinions or rebutt others' without personal attacks.

I also agree about technology moving forward. If removing the headphone jack has a worthwhile benefit and wired or wireless replacements of similar or better performance exist, I'm open-minded enough to wait and see what Apple does.

I disagree about the iPhone's size, though. I bought my 6 Plus because it offers a large screen in a pocketable device - it works for me. If Apple can achieve the same display in a smaller phone by reducing the bezel size and/or eliminating the home button, that would be good. I'm less concerned with thinness than battery life, and there's a point where a phone can be too thin to handle comfortably.

I get you. Screen size is good, actual body of the phone is too big. Those bezels need to be trimmed down, and not just for aesthetics:

I do think that it's not just thinness that makes something difficult to hold, but the width, height and weight of the object. I can hold a credit card very easily for example and that's very thin. The iPhone 7 will be thinner and also narrower, and because of that I believe it will actually be easier to hold than the 6/6s

 

[dennysanders]

The Apple Watch hasn't got Lightning, how do you restore one of them?

i don't believe you can. you can restore a backup to it. but i don't see how you do a full restore like with an iOS device in iTunes.

 

[Rigby]

Why on earth would that be, BT has way more bandwidth than needed to get excellent sound through, a even small buffer on the receiving end would take care of any connection variance. You just invented stuff bud.

Actually it doesn't. Maximum available bandwidth for Bluetooth A2DP is 768 kbps, which is about half of uncompressed 16-bit/44.1KHz audio as used on CD. It's not quite enough for lossless compression of CD quality sound. Also, power and latency requirements limit what you can do with lossy compression (SBC was chosen as the default codec instead of better and more established codecs mainly due to such considerations).

 

[dennysanders]

It baffles me how anyone thinks a multi-billion dollar technology giant have not though of workarounds!

i was just genuinely curious. no reason to yell at me!

 

[Elvergun]

By the way, better is subjective. For the time being, I'm fine with lightning cable on my phone. Totally wireless (if that's possible without compromising speed and quality) would be even better.

I'm also fine with the lightning cable. No problems there. But I'm also fine with the 3.5 jack. When totally wireless is ready (not half baked) and viable, I'll also be fine with it.

 

[Jsameds]

No, unfortunately, you are the one who is wrong here. You are just posting what you think is true and you are trying you hardest to convince others that you know what you are talking about.

Read this: http://www.innerfidelity.com/

The editor of that site is at CES 2016. His focus is on new headphone models. Go read some of his reports from Las Vegas...and while you are at it, pay close attention to all the wired vs wireless models being released. For now, wireless is not the future. Do you believe everyone on the planet is wrong and Tim Cook is the only visionary who is right? Or would you have us believe that only Cook and YOU are right?

I can't wait to quote you this back in five years to show you how wrong you are.

By then major Android handsets will have also dropped the jack too. Just watch.

 

[Poisednoise]

Gee, it's an ancient 19 century implementation and anyone who thinks Apple is removing it to have a thinner device is really really gullible. I swear, if it was for some people (like some individuals in this forum) we would still be using cassette players ! So terrified of changes some people!!

We've been through this: it's about 38 years old only.

I remember the cries when Apple removed the 30-pin dock connector (funny how the world didn't end). It's all dejavo again!

Dèja vu?

Lol. Sorry that really did make me laugh

The headphone jack is going the way of the dodo. Best get used to it.

Of course there will still be adapters for you luddites, meanwhile the rest of us will enjoy what the future brings, but don't worry, you'll come to your senses one day.

No. See my post from earlier. Just because Apple gets rid of the headphone jack does not mean Sennheiser or AKG will.

Huh, what? Most people were listening to poorly mastered CD's on poor stereo systems back then, how was it "better". Even crap bottom heap systems these systems have better sounds than those systems.
AAC 256 if it uses VBR is certainly not worse in any way, it's as good as CD; there was actually a whole thread with references to audio engineers just a month back on this site that says just that.

The chain from producer to listener has been crap through most of the time recorded music has been made.

Where high sampling and bits is most important is in production/mixing, for listening CD and equivalent high bitrate VBR AAC and MP3's is fantastic so says actual legendary sound guys (track the thread). In most cases, considering the type of music played and playback environments, it's way way way over what's actually required.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I suspect you don't either. Link to this thread of yours please. "Even crap bottom heap systems these systems have better sounds than those systems."?? Yes of course. That's why people still use Class A valve amp technology. And electrostatic speakers. And why people still use Pink Floyd's The Wall, Dire Sraits' Brothers in Arms and Orchestral albums from the late 80s-mid 90s to test hifi systems (particularly those from Decca and Chandos). Really, give it a rest.

 

[Elvergun]

I was drawn to Apple in the first place because they took high-quality audio reasonably seriously. Getting rid of the headphone jack is a distinct turn away from that focus.

+1
[doublepost=1452360935][/doublepost]

I can't wait to quote you this back in five years to show you how wrong you are.

Then lets talk about removing 3.5 jacks five years from now.

 

[zhenya]

I can't wait to quote you this back in five years to show you how wrong you are.

By then major Android handsets will have also dropped the jack too. Just watch.

I have a feeling that yes in 5 years we will all have gotten used to whatever change comes, but unlike most of the changes like this Apple has made in the past, I fully expect that this will still feel like an irritation years on because the 3.5mm jack literally has nothing wrong with it, and there is nothing waiting in the wings to better it. I have many sets of headphones that will still be fully functional and highly valued in 5+ years. If I have to use an adapter for them, I will, but my opinion isn't going to change. It's still going to feel stupid using an adapter with extensive electronics in it when the phone that its attached to has those same electronics, possibly better implemented, right inside.

 

[Jsameds]

+1
[doublepost=1452360935][/doublepost]

Then lets talk about removing 3.5 jacks five years from now.

Spurred on by a market which had been accelerated and inflated by the iPhone 7, just like what happened with USB when the iMac came out.

Someone's got to make the first move each time this kind of thing comes to pass, and it's nearly always Apple every time.

 

[xmichaelp]

If this turns out to be the case it's the first decision that's made me think I could look at Android phones.

Android phone makers will be tripping over themselves to copy Apple and drop the headphone jack.

 

[DevNull0]

One less port on my iPhone to collect dust. I'm fine with Apple doing away the 3.5 connector. In fact, I was just thinking the past few months, how much easier it would be to manager a bluetooth set like the LG Tones. Charge it nightly, get a few hours use out of them, I don't use them all day anyway. Just when I take my dog out, for trips, and gym.

So, according to you, bluetooth is good enough for people like you who don't listen to music much (only a few hours a day), and don't care about sound quality (background music in noisy environments like the gym and outside).

And you think Apple should cripple their phones to the point where people who want to listen for long period or have better sound quality are left out?

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Huh, what? Most people were listening to poorly mastered CD's on poor stereo systems back then, how was it "better". Even crap bottom heap systems these systems have better sounds than those systems.
AAC 256 if it uses VBR is certainly not worse in any way, it's as good as CD; there was actually a whole thread with references to audio engineers just a month back on this site that says just that.

The chain from producer to listener has been crap through most of the time recorded music has been made.

Where high sampling and bits is most important is in production/mixing, for listening CD and equivalent high bitrate VBR AAC and MP3's is fantastic so says actual legendary sound guys (track the thread). In most cases, considering the type of music played and playback environments, it's way way way over what's actually required.

Why would you say everyone had poor stereos? If they did it was as much by choice as it is today. CD and the first players had a rocky start. I'll grant you that. But they improved quickly and were fantastic for quite some time until they succumbed to the loudness wars, in my recollection, as MP3 was on the rise. It got bad enough that I stopped buying CDs. The audio experience for me, aside from being able to carry a huge collection, was better before all of that in a number of ways such as dynamic range in the music itself and better quality consumer audio gear. We've had a bit of a race to the bottom and decent gear isn't easy to find.

Even if I take your statement at face value, what does that say about this thread and the notion there is a problem to be solved with how audio is delivered today?

 

[Jsameds]

Android phone makers will be tripping over themselves to copy Apple and drop the headphone jack.

Odds that Samsung will be the first? I'd bet a tenner on it.