Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
If the DAC is in the phone and everything is going to be analogue, then why the hell to drop the headphone jack?
Unless they also remove the speakers (hey, a phone that never rings), they still need a DAC inside the phone anyway.
[doublepost=1468445827][/doublepost]
Recently bought cheap (<$40) bluetooth 4.0 Earphones. Clearly not HIFI quality but was surprised how well this worked with both the iPhone and the Watch. If Apple can make one of these with a lightning port, more compact design and equal or better battery live (>4h), think there is zero reason to ever again plug in a headset.
I think 'more compact' and 'better battery life' won't happen both together. I have a Phiaton BT 220 NC. It is rated at 17 h (without NC) but is noticeably bigger.
Screen Shot 2016-07-13 at 23.36.32.png
 
This is not directed at you, so please don't take it that way. I have been getting very frustrated with Apple as of late:

<Rant mode on>

In addition to the options you have pointed out, I also have the option of going with a different phone and computer ecosystem. My wife and I have had iPhones since the first one was released. We also have been using macs since 2006 after switching from the Windoze world.

The DAC in the iPhone is actually excellent, but don't take my word for it: Just go take a look at the headfi forums. Most if not all users on this forum will never be able to hear the difference between any modern DACs in a double blind test.

Considering the current assumed trajectory of App$e, my family is sadly starting to look alternatives considering the fashionista direction of the company.

Case in point, when you consider that all of the devices we use headphones with and that have 3.5/1/4" connections with in our home:

We have three receivers, a 2500.00 professional DAC, a 1000 watt PA, guitar/phone interfaces, 5 computers, and our cars all use 3.5" jacks for universal COMPATIBILITY . That is just off the top of my head, we probably have more. Count how much money those devices might cost together. 50-100k depending on the price tag of the cars.

Now here comes Apple with a 800.00 phone that requires a proprietary connector... Now all of these devices are going license and add a lightening connector because Apple says the connector is old? Yeah right!

Oh so I can buy an adapter for 19.99!

Adapters do have one universal rule, they get lost easily and usually at the worst possible moment. I outright refuse to buy a dozen or more proprietary adapters from App$e just so they can pretend that they are moving the world forward from a technology that has nothing wrong with it.

I don't boast, but for the sake of this rant, I have been on about a dozen published CDs and many more recordings, many of which have been mixed in or recorded in my home studio. I have a very experienced and trained ear.

In my studio I can currently listen to and record 24 bit/192 Khz music with the crappiest 3.5" headphones with the right music sources and DAC. That is right, you bring me the worst but working analog headphones, and I will play 24 bit/192 khz music through them. Amazing isn't it????!!!! They won't sound anywhere as good as my $600.00 Beyer Dynamics, but they WILL play any bitrate of music available.

Anyone who knows anything about digital audio reproduction knows that going to "digital" headphones is mostly snake-oil when it comes to delivering the best possible audio reproduction. The lightening connector and moving the logical location of the DAC and amplifier will not magically make headphones better, but will in fact shrink the possible use cases for higher end users like myself and make us gallop to the competition. Oh and the competition knows this btw.

It has been a good run with Apple, but I am probably getting off the train at the next stop (Yeah go ahead and tell me good riddance, I don't care. I have music to enjoy and use cases that App$e apparently no longer cares about. I will gladly take my money else ware).

You know what is an older connector than the 3.5" jack? Yeah the three prong electrical outlet. Apple, it's time to ditch those old fashioned outlets. You should come up with a new safer and convenient design that requires us to replace our old fashioned electrical outlets. Oh and you can sell them to us at 79.00 a piece. I know there are a lot of people on this board who will gladly rewire their entire houses for you, then buy adapters for their old fashioned lamps, appliances, and other electricity consuming devices and laugh at me for my old fashioned 3 prongers.

</Rant>
Finally someone here who actually knows how the real world works when it comes to analog and digital audio. And doesn't just repeat the same ignorant diatribe.
 
If this is real it would be classic Apple - provide a pair of headphones that connects through a (questionably) better connection, but make them so cheap and nasty that any additional benefit is lost. Then sell an adapter separately that will enable any headphones to be used.

The earbuds that come with an iPhone, along with the pathetic keyboards they offer on Macs, usually get left in the box.
[doublepost=1468448646][/doublepost]
How are these ugly? Apart from the connector which is thicker (because people don't take care of them so they break and then cry at Apple) they are exactly the same.

They are thicker so they can take more abuse from the people who don't look after them.
Or alternatively, the plug could be thicker so you can't use them with any case on your phone, other than the ones sold by Apple of course.
 
funny how the photo in the first post has that green hue in the middle. what #gate was that, on the iPhone 4 or something?
 
This is yet another reason to stick with my iPhone 6S. Losing the ability to listen to non-bluetooth earbuds or headphones while charging at the same time without a ridiculous dongle is a disincentive to ever upgrade my phone unless absolutely necessary. That is how I use my phone over much of the workday. Just because the analog earphone jack has been around in some form for over a century is not a good reason by itself to get rid of it. I am an aging baby boomer and those jacks have worked fine all of my life. My phone is already thin enough, thank you. I hope Apple gets beat up with bad PR come this fall when the iPhone 7 is released, as unsuspecting consumers buy the phone and discover the headphone jack they take for granted is suddenly gone.
 
this does not look like a typical apple designed cable.
the housing for the Lightning is very non-apple.
why would the housing for this Lightning need to be substantially different from the Lightning one found in the current iPhone included Lightning-USB cord.
even if it is not an apple designed cord. its good to see chinese companies already starting to work on their own versions.

get rid of the 3.5 audio jack. move along. make the device thinner and lighter. much thinner and much lighter. challenge norms. think different.
 
I hope it's not true. I really really really don't want to purchase and then rely on (and pack around) an adapter for my higher end in-ear monitors or every standard mini plug equipped audio component.
 
why are people saying Apple would never release those ? look at the battery bump case designed by Ive or the camera wart on the back of the iPhone or the mouse with the charging port at the bottom or the iPad pencil with the male connector instead of female or the slippery iPhones surface or the skinny fonts on a bright background or the luck of graphic buttons etc. Jony Ive is clueless without Steve and you haven't seen anything yet. Wait until you see the new apple stores they will be some horrific places. Ive can't lead and doesn't have any taste. He can only execute like a mule from a CEO with amazing taste, courage and intelligence like Steve
 
why are people saying Apple would never release those ? look at the battery bump case designed by Ive or the camera wart on the back of the iPhone or the mouse with the charging port at the bottom or the iPad pencil with the male connector instead of female or the slippery iPhones surface or the skinny fonts on a bright background or the luck of graphic buttons etc. Jony Ive is clueless without Steve and you haven't seen anything yet. Wait until you see the new apple stores they will be some horrific places. Ive can't lead and doesn't have any taste. He can only execute like a mule from a CEO with amazing taste, courage and intelligence like Steve
Careful.. You will anger the Apple zombies.
 
[...] all of the devices we use headphones with and that have 3.5/1/4" connections with in our home [...] might cost together. 50-100k [...]

Now here comes Apple with a 800.00 phone that requires a proprietary connector... Now all of these devices are going license and add a lightening connector because Apple says the connector is old? Yeah right!
First, it's not yet confirmed that they remove the headphone jack. It seems likely, but is not sure as of now.

Second, noone knows how Apple will argue, should they remove it. Perhaps they have a good technical reason, like e.g. including a noise-cancelling circuit in the space that has been occupied by the headphone jack in the past. That "being old" argument came up in the forums, not from Apple.

And finally, I don't really understand your problem. Your machinery park has the headphone jack and you have a couple of headphones to use it extensively. Now Apple _may_ bring a device with a new connector and they pretty sure will include suitable headphones with it. Those may be inferior to your high-end equipment, but at home you have lots of other listening options and on the road you probably won't bring your high-end equipment with you.

Not considering the fact that being on the road usually impairs music listening anyway, due to all the other noise sources around. Or that you should not listen via headphones when e.g. driving.

And even if you insist on listening with high-end headphones while on the move, you will be able to get quality headphones with a Lightning connector. You have invested 50k+ on your equipment already, so I'd assume you could also afford yet another purchase to cope with technical progress. Even though it'd not be necessary for using the new iPhone.

In my studio I can currently listen to and record 24 bit/192 Khz music with the crappiest 3.5" headphones with the right music sources and DAC. That is right, you bring me the worst but working analog headphones, and I will play 24 bit/192 khz music through them. Amazing isn't it????!!!! They won't sound anywhere as good as my $600.00 Beyer Dynamics, but they WILL play any bitrate of music available.
And what does your private music studio have to do with the iPhone potentially switching to Lightning-connected earphones? The iPhone _will_ come with suitable headphones included and those WILL play any bitrate of music available. Amazing, isn't it?!

Edit: Beyerdynamic already offers an external DAC for Lightning with a standard headphone jack, the A200p. Not small enough to get lost easily. And it's probably only a question of time when they offer headphones with a Lightning connector.
 
Last edited:
I think this Earpod Lightening design infringes on a patent owned by a company named: U.G.L.Y!
 
  • Like
Reactions: jpn
I don't mind this honestly, but I definitely would want to be able to listen AND charge at the same time.
I think that Apple lives in a fantasy land where Bluetooth isn't a terrible, unreliable and clunky to use technology. If it wasn't, you wouldn't need wired headphones... But, it is.
 
If these were real then it would be laughable. Pretty much the ugliest design I've seen in a while. Hoping it's fake.
 
Unless they also remove the speakers (hey, a phone that never rings), they still need a DAC inside the phone anyway.
[doublepost=1468445827][/doublepost]
I think 'more compact' and 'better battery life' won't happen both together. I have a Phiaton BT 220 NC. It is rated at 17 h (without NC) but is noticeably bigger.
View attachment 640133

Wow... that's an adapter ? looks more like an mp3 player
 
True story. All four of us at our desks at work use iPhones and all of us charge our phones while simultaneously charging our phones.

Perhaps I'm just being shortsighted, but can anyone explain how users will be able to plug in their headphones and charge their phone at the same time?!
 
True story. All four of us at our desks at work use iPhones and all of us charge our phones while simultaneously charging our phones.

Perhaps I'm just being shortsighted, but can anyone explain how users will be able to plug in their headphones and charge their phone at the same time?!

Really, you can't think of a single way that could happen? I can think of at least 6 using a pair of Lightning headphones and what Apple is likely to give you in the box. The most basic answer you'll find on a typical set of Christmas tree lights ...
[doublepost=1468503318][/doublepost]
I think that Apple lives in a fantasy land where Bluetooth isn't a terrible, unreliable and clunky to use technology. If it wasn't, you wouldn't need wired headphones... But, it is.

Or how about Apple lives in reality where they've been working hard to improve BT audio, and wireless audio in general -- the quality of which will rival wired audio -- and will announce the results of their innovation when the reveal the removal of the 3.5mm Jack?
 
True story. All four of us at our desks at work use iPhones and all of us charge our phones while simultaneously charging our phones.

Perhaps I'm just being shortsighted, but can anyone explain how users will be able to plug in their headphones and charge their phone at the same time?!
Your work allows that? Guessing you don't mean all at the same time? That would be odd to see.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.