New 11 and 12.9-Inch iPad Pro Models Have No Headphone Jack

[Mac 128]

I realise that Apple is stubborn and will not alter the decision. Having said that, I fail to understand the logic, the lack of commitment to function.

1. Now, if you buy the iPad and are on the road, you need a lighting and an usb-c if you carry iPhone and iPad.
2. iPad battery lasts much longer than any bluetooth headphone, so, I now have to carry a headphone charger and wait while my headphones recharge . . .
3. It is getting time to upgrade the kids' iPads. On the plane, for example, they often share the same device to watch movies together.
4. If I do want to charge the iPad and use wired......?
5. I could continue....

Yes, I know there are dongles. For example, I can purchase the $9 dongle, and attach the headphone splitter. I can buy a separate dongle, I assume that lets me charge and listen. I can buy a dongle . . . . Assuming that no dongles are left anywhere or lost in transit, offices, hotel rooms, etc.

It seems to me that function has become much more complicated.

Yup. I just picked up a rental car this weekend, and in the cup holder was a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter the former renter presumably left behind has they plugged their iPhone into charge, and couldn’t use their headphone jack. They’re probably not very happy when they went to plug in their noise canceling headphones on the plane and realized they were dongleless ...

 

[Playfoot]

Yup. I just picked up a rental car this weekend, and in the cup holder was a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter the former renter presumably left behind has they plugged their iPhone into charge, and couldn’t use their headphone jack. They’re probably not very happy when they went to plug in their noise canceling headphones on the plane and realized they were dongleless ...

Yes, the new design is likely perfect in ideal situations - perhaps a commuter, or an officer worker that only uses their Apple wireless headphones for 30 minutes and places back in the case to charge . . . However, out in the real world, definitely not functional. Or perhaps not as versatile.....

 

[Playfoot]

Likely not the correct forum, but . . . Can the iPad Pro transmit to two sets of BT headphones simultaneously ? The reason I ask is that the kids sometimes share a unit to watch a movie together on the plane, using a splitter. Can this be done with BT?

 

[Strider64]

Likely not the correct forum, but . . . Can the iPad Pro transmit to two sets of BT headphones simultaneously ? The reason I ask is that the kids sometimes share a unit to watch a movie together on the plane, using a splitter. Can this be done with BT?

iOS will only output sound to one device at a time, and that includes the internal speakers. So no, you can't pair multiple Bluetooth headsets and listen through both simultaneously. ... Each use a single earpiece from the same headset. Purchase aBluetooth splitter
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...argid=kwd-343507677077&ref=pd_sl_5b02126g9g_b
Might be the answer to your question?

 

[Mac 128]

Likely not the correct forum, but . . . Can the iPad Pro transmit to two sets of BT headphones simultaneously ? The reason I ask is that the kids sometimes share a unit to watch a movie together on the plane, using a splitter. Can this be done with BT?

Apple didn’t really think this out too well when they removed the headphone jack. Of course, you can still use a 3.5mm adapter with the same wired splitter you have now. The irony is you likely still need that 3.5mm adapter to use one of hose BT splitters mentioned above, especially if you have a USB-C iPad Pro. Also, in order to use a BT splitter for movies, you’ll need to have both an aptx low latency transmitter and headphones that support it, or your audio sync may be off.

Another option would be to have them share a pair of AirPods and listen in mono. Of course they’ll probably need an earplug for the other ear to balance out the sound over the engines. And depending on their age may not be appropriate.

Apple really should have sorted out these common use cases before they removed the headphone jack, much less over 2 years later. There is still no way to share two Lightning headphones with one device, or even use them with any other non-iOS device. At least now you can use a pair of USB-C headphones with an iPadPro and a Mac, though Apple doesn’t make any, nor am I sure if there’s even a Lightning to USB-C adapter that works with them anyway. And there’s still no Apple wireless low-latency solution, for gaming or music productivity apps.

 

[Playfoot]

Thank you both Strider64 and Mac128 for your kind responses.

If we continue with Apple tablets, I think I will stay away from the BT splitter if only because it requires charging . . . Something not ideal on long flights, transfers and travel. So, it seems it would need a dongle, plus an "old fashioned" splitter to listen to music.