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

[yep-sure]

Instead, the new headphones are likely to come with a carrying case that doubles as a rechargeable battery to juice up the headphones when they are not in use.

Now we'd need a battery case for headphones. It feels wrong, like technology is moving in a funky direction, perpendicular to the real progress and utility for the consumers.

Why not leave the headphones and wait with the release until you are ready? When you could invent better batteries or think of a more elegant way to overcome this shortcoming?

You know, even when you can do it, like with the phones, why are you doing the opposite? What could be easier of making a phone with a good battery which you perfectly can make, but for some reason you keep making phones thinner and thinher and then give us an ugly and bulky battery pack.

Then MacBook with a single port requiring adapter for any single thing. And now that removing of standard audio port on the iPhone and we get another adapter to deal with. What's the point of all of that, where's there the innovation, how it's supposed to be better for the users?..

No one else in the market is going to switch to Lightning port for headphones. There will be some headphones released for iPhones, but the rest of the world will use the old standard.

It would be great if you could make transparent phones or something like that, where such obsession with thinning and removing could be justified, but you can't. So why?

Yep, I've also said this in another thread, but soon there will be a gap in the market for someone to come along and sell us the original iPhone again. A device that has the handful of essential features the majority of users require, a headphone jack, LTE connectivity, decent battery life, a fast, intuitive operating system. No adapters, no battery cases, no "innovative features" that bloat how it functions and require us to make sacrifices in other more essential areas.

We need a new Tech startup to come along and build a simple, reliable, fun to use smartphone that puts user experience at the core of their design the way Apple did for the first few iterations of the iPhone.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Sounds so incredibly dangerous. Sounds like a whole new way to be a victim of theft.

How's that? The payments and details would be stored exactly the same was as ordinary Apple Pay payments are made, double ended full encryption. No reason why it would be incredibly dangerous.

 

[gaximus]

A wireless only iPhone would render the phone useless on a plane...

Can't listen to the audio...

Hopefully any wireless headset would be better than Apple's first attempt at a bluetooth device - which also had poor battery life.

Apple forget that a consumer device can be a few mm larger to accommodate a bigger battery to ensure good battery life...

Not really for most people, they will pick up the phone at the store and compare the thickness. Thinner phone will be the deciding factor for many. Most people can make it through a day on a single charge so better battery isn't a concern.

 

[Karma*Police]

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

Trust me, you're not the first and won't be the last to say that. There was a chorus of people who said the same thing about the 30 pin connector and a bunch of other changes.

Yet, every year, Apple sells more and more devices. If you go Android, you'll only delay the inevitable. Trust me, Samsung and Google are already working on similar changes now that the cat's out of the bag.

 

[justinhu8]

The difference is that Lightning is proprietary and inferior in almost every aspect to USB-C.
No amount of bickering over everything else is going to get you far if you don't confront that. People will still use wired headphones, regardless.

Apple needs to adopt USB-C over Lightning

 

[Fattytail]

The difference is that Lightning is proprietary and inferior in almost every aspect to USB-C.
No amount of bickering over everything else is going to get you far if you don't confront that. People will still use wired headphones, regardless.

Apple needs to adopt USB-C over Lightning

Agreed but it ain't happening.

I can just see the negative publicity now if Apple does end up going without a headphone jack.

 

[apolloa]

Bring on the change!

Don't worry, Samsung, will make sure their 2017 devices have no headphone jack. I expect a commercial around September/October 2016 saying how the Note 6 and S7 can connect to any headphones, while your new iPhone cannot. Lol.

Actually Samsung will be FAR too busy bringing a REAL revolution to mobile tech with foldable screens, which Apple will no doubt completely rip off, just like the idea of bigger screens, and then all the apologists will come up with a load of BS why its perfectly fine for Apple to copy Samsung... And I bet it still has a headphone port too.

 

[Pakaku]

Maybe it will come with a new AC charger requiring you to change the outlets in your house. All this old technology waiting for Apple to show the way.

I was beginning to pass that off as just an absurd remark, but then I remembered the Macbook charges over USB now...

 

[yellowscreen]

Every time we sling these old Henry Ford quotes: the above and the the one that goes "if I asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse"... we're basically calling our grandparents stupid... in support of a concept that only Henry Ford could know what consumers wanted.

When we do it in support of apparent Apple "innovations"(?) in 2016 as you're apparently doing relative to this topic, you're basically calling all of us consumers stupid such that only Apple can know what we want.

When Ford's competitors started rolling out cars in colors other than black, Ford is also famously quoted for saying, "they <buyers> can have any color of car they want... as long as it is black." Genius. He stuck with that right up until the masses started buying cars in other colors from those competitors, at which time he compromised on knowing what customers want better than customers and started making Ford cars in colors other than black.

What color car do you drive? And is it a Ford?

Apple pooh-poohed bigger-screen Phones for years and years... right up until too many customers were voting with their wallets to buy "inferior" "abominations" running Android because they wanted bigger screens. So then Apple actually gave the market what it wanted and sold more phones than ever before.

Even if we can view- and spin- our grandparents as too stupid to know what they wanted, I argue that we're more educated now than they could be... that consumers now are exposed to enough information about topics like this to be able to recognize better or not better... or see through spin for the underlying profit motive.

I know some of us believe that Apple knows best in all things and some of us want to believe that but I believe Apple would be much more successful if it did listen more to what customers want. If we're too stupid so that we can still only ask for buggy whips or faster horses, fine. But I give us more credit than that. And I take offense to the implication my fellow consumers & I are too stupid such that any corporation can possibly know better as to what we want than we know ourselves... AND that our grandparents were too stupid to know what they wanted such that only 1 man could actually know what they wanted.

Personally, if this rumor is true, I think it's stupid. Why? Either way we go, it requires an adapter:

• To make existing headphones with a 3.5mm plug work with this rumored iPhone requires an adapter. OR
• Buy new headphones that terminate with Lightning and we need an adapter to make them work with everything else... including Apple's own Macs.

For what exactly?

• If we want true waterproof so badly, get rid of ALL of the holes, not just one. Jettisoning this one hole is not crucial to making this device waterproof. That's just rationalization spin.
• If we want higher fidelity audio, can we HEAR the difference when we mostly listen to AAC Plus anyway? And if we think we can, we ALREADY have the option of Lightning-terminated headphones. Why make it the ONLY option for everyone?
• If we want to jettison an "antiquated" standard, can it not be replaced by a more modern standard not completely owned by a single company? For example, why not dump Lightning too and go USB here... even USB3C?
• If we want to spin "the future", I doubt Lightning will be Apple's future for more than another 3 or 4 years. Look at the pace of "thinner" and then think about what happens to Lightning on iPhone 13.

its not that we're stupid, we're just unaware of a 5 year roadmap and what certain decisions apple makes mean in the big picture. in a sense, we lack both broad view and facts to relevantly and constructively criticize apple (and other companies). we can do it only retroactively.

and honestly, if it indeed were up to the costumers (majority, some form of democracy) we would have nokias 3310 with googol x googol resolution and googl number of cores. also, a lot of megapixels in camera.

henry was right. people outside of said industry only want more of the same (stronger, bigger, etc.) thats not innovation. i would be very interested in the statistic reporting how many industry defining products were scrutinized at the beginning by both consumers and reporters. almost all wouldnt be too far fetched right?

so yeah, i wouldnt say stupid. just ignorant. thats why we pay them to make choices for us. specialization is the mother of this civilization.
[doublepost=1452294910][/doublepost]

Actually Samsung will be FAR too busy bringing a REAL revolution to mobile tech with foldable screens, which Apple will no doubt completely rip off, just like the idea of bigger screens, and then all the apologists will come up with a load of BS why its perfectly fine for Apple to copy Samsung... And I bet it still has a headphone port too.

you gotta have some nerve saying this

bigger screens are an idea?

so, more megapixels must be also an idea apple stole? **********ers also stole the idea of 2 gigs of ram.

what about geekbench scores?

i mean really, the nerve? get a grip

 

[Jakexb]

USB audio in cars is really hit or miss. Or tries to hijack the phone and will only play from the Music app, not anything else, like Podcasts. That 3.5 jack is the thing that lets me play music/podcasts at all when I have a rental car. This could be genius, but to be honest what I'm hearing so far makes me nervous. Please don't be drinking too much hubris kool-aid, Apple!

Unless there's a really, really mind blowing benefit to lightning audio (like amazing noise cancellation), the media is going to have a field day trashing Apple.

 

[LauraJean]

The fewer ports you have the easier it is to make a device water resistant. I'm going to guess that Apple has pretty reliable data on how many iPhone users are using the headphones in the box (or wireless) vs a 3rd party wired alternative. My guess is that number is high enough for Apple to get rid of the jack.

Do they also have reliable data on how many people plug in SPEAKERS in preference over earbuds/phones? The first accessory I ever bought was a pair of small portable speakers because the interior speakers in their mobile devices are so weak.

 

[Jakexb]

My biggest question is: am I going to need different headphones or an adapter to listen to music on my Macbook and my iPhone? That seems like a bad situation.

 

[opfreak]

its not that we're stupid, we're just unaware of a 5 year roadmap and what certain decisions apple makes mean in the big picture. in a sense, we lack both broad view and facts to relevantly and constructively criticize apple (and other companies). we can do it only retroactively.

and honestly, if it indeed were up to the costumers (majority, some form of democracy) we would have nokias 3310 with googol x googol resolution and googl number of cores. also, a lot of megapixels in camera.

henry was right. people outside of said industry only want more of the same (stronger, bigger, etc.) thats not innovation. i would be very interested in the statistic reporting how many industry defining products were scrutinized at the beginning by both consumers and reporters. almost all wouldnt be too far fetched right?

so yeah, i wouldnt say stupid. just ignorant. thats why we pay them to make choices for us. specialization is the mother of this civilization.
[doublepost=1452294910][/doublepost]

you gotta have some nerve saying this

bigger screens are an idea?

so, more megapixels must be also an idea apple stole? **********ers also stole the idea of 2 gigs of ram.

what about geekbench scores?

i mean really, the nerve? get a grip

henry wasn't right.

1921 ford sold 75% of cars in the USA
1927 ford sold 17%

https://hbr.org/2011/08/henry-ford-never-said-the-fast

now who's ignorant?

 

[saudade]

Oh dear...connecting in my car will be a pain in the ass. Or, I'll have to buy a Lightning to 3.5mm cord, if that'll exist.

Hey, buy a new car. Will be easier.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

What you forgot in your list is that as long as people don't have to make a choice, they will continue using the 3.5mm jack. And then there's no demand to give incentive for developers to improve bluetooth, or compete with each other to innovate or lower prices.

Driving change by subtraction is not good change. I don't buy for one second that there is zero incentive to improve something unless the established way is taken away. All subtraction does is makes it URGENT to come up with alternatives to still get the job done. All innovation for all time either solves problems or profits by improving upon what came before.

Yes, subtraction can be a catalyst for the problem-solving piece of that, but proactive subtraction is not the intent. A giant meteor is:

• on a direct collision course with Earth. That's a reactive problem to try to solve to save us all. We all rally and innovate as hard as we can to solve that problem... or we all die.
• not on a direct collision course with Earth. But, since extinction meteor defense is far more important to human kind than the nuance differences that might be realized by 3.5mm vs. Lightning audio connections (or Bluetooth), let's redirect that meteor towards Earth so that we can motivate the innovators to develop that meteor defense system.

If this Lightning rumor is obviously superior, there is ALREADY Lightning-terminated headphones for sale. Why aren't they selling like crazy? Why aren't we Apple fans ALL OVER THEM, lined up around the block to buy the superior way?

Subtraction of utility will just force the bulk of people to urgently problem solve. How? They'll buy adapters. If they buy adapters, the same non-incentive for developers to improve bluetooth will continue.

OR, if Apple bundles Lightning earbuds with new iPhones, the masses might just use them for iPhones. That still yields zero artificial (by subtraction) incentive on the "make bluetooth better" innovators to innovate bluetooth audio.

Does Apple need other computer makers to remove ubiquitous features to make Macs better? Or do they just work on it anyway?

Does Apple need other phone makers to remove ubiquitous features to make iPhone better? Or do they just work on it anyway?

Etc. If we have to subtract utility to drive innovation, apparently the innovation potential is just not great enough to make the innovators want to work on it anyway... just like Apple does.

 

[bonehead]

So you don't have to physically be attached to a peace of equipment to listen to audio privately. The future of audio is wireless. Not being tethered to something, or figuring out how to run wiring to connect devices, is the ultimate evolution for everything. Giving developers incentive to improve current technology, innovate new ideas, and compete with each other will bring this revolution around sooner rather than later, and will drive prices lower, making the convenience of wireless affordable for everyone, without sacrificing sound quality, or causing undue inconvenience over the current hard-wired standard.

You currently have the option to not be physically attached to listen to audio privately. Why remove the option for those who prefer not to purchase and carry an adapter?

Developers already have plenty of incentive to improve wireless technology. Apple isn't going to hasten those breakthroughs by removing the 3.5mm jack on the iPhone.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

MacBooks will all be updated with Lightning ports in their very next refresh after the iPhone 7 debuts.

So rMB will indeed add a second port besides USB3C but it will be a Lightning port???

 

[lucabruno1618]

I know there is that option but my point was that giving in box lightning connected headphones won't be a solution. In any case you will have to buy something in order to make your headphones universal.
Furthermore if you want to charge and listen to music at the same time (something I do often) you only option is to buy wireless headphones. More sales for them and other companies like Beats, oh wait they just bought that brand. I don't think it's a coincidence
P.S I'm in favor of progress and probably will buy their wireless headphones just don't see any real benefits from the removal of the jack, which will cause problems to many.[/QUOTE]

 

[Sea Bass]

The more this rumor is reported, the more I fear it's going to be true.

If that's the case, I think I'll be picking up an iPhone 6C. I would keep my 6 longer but I can't live with 16GB anymore.

 

[oldmacs]

If Bluetooth audio was really as good as people are going on about it, it would be used a whole lot more than it is. Look at Wifi. People switched from Ethernet to Wifi without Apple removing the ethernet port. The ethernet port only disappeared in recent years, well after wifi became fairly standard.

Wifi got better, was innovative etc without users being forced into anything (At least on desktop computers).

Why Why Why on earth would it be an advantage to get rid of the useful 3.5mm port, to add a minuscule amount of battery life which will be consumed by the need to use bluetooth audio, or even worse, leave bluetooth on all the time. As plenty of other people have said, other waterproof phones have a 3.5mm headphone port already.

 

[Mac 128]

I observe that you pretty much understood that there are two opinions on that topic, some — like you — feel that the freedom wireless headsets offer a great asset, while others — like me — feel that having to deal with the necessary limitations of wireless technology is too much of a trade off. As of yet, both of those opinions could happily co-exist, but for some reason Apple decided to go with one of those groups. The problem is not really that wireless technology is completely useless, that's not my point, my point is that for some people it's just subjectively worse than the cabled solution we had so far. What Apple does is just depriving it's customers of choice. This "upgrade" adds nothing.

When Apple released the iMac without a floppy drive, the floppy disk drive was still a universal standard in use around the world everyday. Apple replaced it with nothing. There was no way to write a file to anything built-into the computer for mobile distribution. But it wasn't about whether or not the days of the floppy drive were numbered, or even about whether there was space inside (though it did affect the design), it was about moving people to the internet -- the only way people could move files without adding anything external, and it was over slow, buggy dial up modems. It also cemented the CD-ROM as a software distribution standard. It was also about adding less expensive peripherals to the iMac via USB and making it a standard. When the iMac debuted there were only two USB products available with drivers for the Mac. A printer and a floppy drive, and both were expensive, buggy and hard to get. But because Apple created demand, competition increased, quality and innovation improved, and prices fell, so much so that four years later, Apple finally added a CD-RW as part of the cost of the iMac -- the first re-writable removable media included with the iMac since they dropped the floppy.

You may disagree, but based on every standard Apple has dropped, the same cycle of progress follows, and I contend that as long as the 3.5mm jack remains an option on the Apple products, there will be little incentive for developers to improve wireless technology. And that's why Apple won't include a 3.5mm adapter either. But, the only trade off for die hard 3.5mm legacy equipment users is that they have to use a simple adapter.

I am looking forward to USB-C on as much as possible. Why would I buy my next phone without it? I won't buy a PC without it, now.

Why? What makes you think any USB-C Mac products would be compatible with the iPhone? What else does going USB-C get you?

 

[bluespark]

I'm tired of Apple getting rid of the things I know and love. First it was then command line interface. Then floppy drives. Then DVD drives. Now 3.5mm connectors. I'm going to protest and start listening to music on cassettes (TDK and Maxell, baby!), 8-tracks, and reel-to-reel only. Using 1/4-inch headphone jacks!!!

The problem is that a headphone jack is fundamentally different from the other things Apple has gotten rid of. It is the only way (absent an adapter) to use most of the headphones people actually want to use. Like most people, I rarely use my Apple Earbuds. Instead, I alternate between B&W P5s (very good audio quality) or Bose noise-cancelling headphones (a great option for traveling). These simply won't work unless I carry an adapter with me all the time, which would be ridiculous. For me, then, this rumored change would make the iPhone 7 a significantly less exciting product than any previous iPhone.

Apple, if this rumor is true, please reconsider! This is a change that would hurt anyone who loves traditional wired headphones!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Then MacBook with a single port requiring adapter for any single thing. And now that removing of standard audio port on the iPhone and we get another adapter to deal with. What's the point of all of that

Money. Licensing Lightning to the headphone makers and fat profits on a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapters probably only for sale from Apple for a few months because of something proprietary in the Lighting end of the conversion. IMO, I suspect that MOST of this change is about that (not waterproofing, not even better quality audio, not driving Bluetooth innovation and not really "the future" either).

Oh yeah... and "thinner & lighter" because every thread is full of people griping about how thick & heavy these iPhones are.

 

[Piggie]

So this is going to mean, in reality, you will need to have your phone in your pocket upside down ?

 

[AdonisSMU]

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

Why wait?

if it ain't broke ...

The previous phones weren't broke either.

Eh I really don't care about this change. However what I do care about is the thinness march which is just unrelenting. Keep it the same thickness, pack a battery into that space or something.

Adding more battery doesn't mean that the iPhone/AirPods will automatically last longer. Battery technology doesn't work like that. Bigger is better only if there is a clear benefit. If Apple can't justify the clear benefit then they shouldn't make the battery bigger.