New iPhone SE Could Launch in May With Touch ID and A10 Fusion, Without 3.5mm Headphone Jack

[Mr. Heckles]

Perhaps we should ditch the wheel and find something better? That is so Stone Age...

Cones in speakers have been around forever! Let's bin that junk and think of something new!

Old does not equal bad.

To your next point, the choice of port is entirely irrelevant to sound 'quality'. No-one who bought an iPod every complained about the damn port making their music sound bad. No-one.

But if you'd like to compare ports....

Lightning is an expensive proprietary, single-company port. It doesn't rotate so twists cables reducing lifespan.

3.5mm is a cheap, universal standard connector used in products the world over. It rotates 360 degrees relieving cable stress.

You have no argument.

Aren’t they making self driving cars? So yes, the steering wheel is being replaced eventually.
Cone speakers use to be made out of paper, now they are made out of better material. Speakers are being used, just made out of better material.
Everything is expensive when it’s new. Remember how much a 512 MB SD card costed 10 years ago?

I will say this. I don’t care what they use as long as I can listen to my music. So debate all you want, I just don’t care about the 3.5 jack at all. I have no feeling either way on the lighting port as well. I plug my radio into my Apple Car play and listen in my car.

If the jack means that much to you, there are other options out there.

 

[jellyjeff]

Death by 1000 cuts under Cook. I got the SE because of the size and the 3.5mm jack. I use wired headphones literally all day every work day. If they remove it, that's it - end of relationship with Apple. I'll move over to Samsung when my phone dies, and Microsoft when my Macbook dies. It's sad - i've been a committed Mac user for more than 15 years but if you take away all the little usability elements that make something "just work", there is no reason to stay. I'd already decided that my current Macbook is my last when they removed the magsafe connector. That thing has saved my laptop's life times than i care to remember. Without it, i may as well have something with more grunt for the money.

 

[lec0rsaire]

********, A10>A11 is much bigger than A9>A10
A11 10500 multiscore
A10 6000
A9 4500
[doublepost=1524299277][/doublepost]
100 year old technology that still sounds better than bluetooth junk.
[doublepost=1524299386][/doublepost]
explain how s9 and v30 have headphone jacks and IP68?

The S9 is Android so I really don’t care if they had the 300m resistance of a Rolex Submariner.

 

[redfirebird08]

I hope it will have the headphone jack, but obviously we can't be surprised if they ditch it.

 

[buklauu]

I really hope it does include a headphone jack. I've been minorly inconvenienced by the single lightning port a few times when I wanted to listen and charge at the same time, but it's never been a deal breaker for me. However, I've seen plenty of people where the headphone jack is a must-have. It might be slightly inconsistent in their philosophy, but I feel the SE is the most lauded form factor by the Apple-reluctant. Taking out the headphone jack would be passing up a market segment they could easily capture.

 

[ignatius345]

" without 3.5mm Headphone Jack"

I hope that means Apple will jack the battery capacity up with the space that the Jack once occupied.

No, they'll use the extra space to make the device thinner.

See also: literally every other Apple hardware product in the last 10 years of Jony Ive's design anorexia.

 

[gnasher729]

The SE sells in the third world countries like India, Nigeria, etc... as the primary target market and in North America as a "budget" phone for people who cannot afford a regular iPhone and as a giveaway phone for carriers to sign up new customers to service contracts.

"For people who cannot afford a regular iPhone". That's stupid. Utterly stupid. It's for people who want a small phone. "People who cannot afford a regular iPhone" can just buy a more expensive iPhone and use it for four or five years instead of two. An iPhone X used for five years isn't very expensive.
[doublepost=1524354003][/doublepost]

There is an entire market of cheap Bluetooth headphones I’ve seen some as low as $8 on amazon. Not to mention each phone would come with lightning headphones

The problem is that with Bluetooth headphones, you need new batteries all the time. My headphones last 80 hours with one battery.

 

[Tozovac]

Honestly, that's not the most common use case. Having a port would be beneficial to you, but you're making mountains out of molehills. If you can carry around headphones, you can carry around headphones with the adapter as per my second point. Then you'd always have the adapter needed to plug in.

I think the issue for me and many others is: We have cables & headphones left all over our work & home environment so we don't have to carry them around. Buying multiple $40 y-jacks to keep at various places is expensive and just making a previously-simple task more difficult and more expensive. So why not a more elegant solution instead of this port/jack genocide on phones & MacBooks?
[doublepost=1524363975][/doublepost]

Apple made the decision to delete the 3.5 MM Jack. Again, if it inconveniences that much, you have options. It’s one of those decisions that you have to make that either you move on to something else or use the alternative where you can use an adapter that allows you to charge and listen to your headphones at that same time, and of course there are Bluetooth options.

And what's wrong with the option to keep discussing here about Apple's constantly reducing user usability via reducing ports on their hardware under the guise of "forcing advancement?" I give feedback to Apple often and others do too. Maybe more will by reading a particular post. None of my complaints would negatively affect your experience. Maybe the price would raise by adding a 2nd lightning port to an iPhone, or magsafe or additional USB ports back onto MacBooks, but it would be a lot less than the cost I'm expected to endure by buying bluetooth or AirPod headphones, so it would be fair right?
[doublepost=1524364719][/doublepost]

Conspiracy? It’s the most transparent business move ever.

They clearly removed the jack to boost wireless headphone sales. Removal of jack occurred at launch of airpods.

End. Of. Story.

Works for them on multiple levels - main one being it turns AirPod purchasers into repeat ‘subscribers’ (thanks, disposable li-ion batteries). Incredible profit margins, vs 3.5mm headphones which last forever.

No one ever complained about headphone cables - ever.

I never want to have to charge headphones. Ever.

3.5mm jack is a beautifully designed universal standard, found on all kinds of devices worldwide.

The provided dongle is absolutely no solution - what happens when you switch headphones from phone to laptop say....do you leave the dongle hanging from your $1000 phone? Or do you put it in your pocket until you can lose it?

It’s a total joke to think anybody can consider that dongle a viaible alternative to a 3.5mm jack. It’s a ******** gesture from Apple. The experience using a dongle is designed to further ‘encourage’ people to upgrade to their expensive, disposable Airpods.

No one is satisfied with using a dongle to use 3.5mm headphones.

If you have Airpods and like them, i’m pleased for you.

I don’t deny you your Airpods - don’t deny me my headphone jack.

Good design doesn’t get old.

We’re not desperate to ‘upgrade’ the wheel are we?

No one alive can justify the removal of that headphone jack for anything other than profit, and I challenge anyone to attempt to do so.

Amen. Similar critiques about MacBooks/Airs/Pros trending towards removing ports, magsafe, function keys, pleasantly-tactile trackpads & keyboards is because....because....bravery and loss of original & meaningful ideas.

Apple's theme of giving more is now giving less each year. That's unsustainable. Hoping my 2014 MBA will be useful for a few more years, I'll wait it out to the only thing left for Jony to remove are number & letter keys, maybe the spacebar. Let's hope he has a nervous breakdown when there's nothing more to remove and Apple hires Forestall and a truly talented designer who can do more than remove features and who make a headphone jack waterproof.

 

[Sonic]

i need the jack

 

[brdeveloper]

Just bought my SE 128GB, but I needed an iDevice with a physical home button because of my Rode i-XY microphone. I doubt the new SE will have an old-style home button.

 

[Tozovac]

No one alive can justify the removal of that headphone jack for anything other than profit, and I challenge anyone to attempt to do so.

Although I like your post, I firmly believe removing the jack is mostly the result of Jony Ive and other so-called expert designers trying to over-apply Apple’s golden bullet of minimalism too unnecessarily far, and for no good reason other than to challenge and entertain themselves. That’s about it. It was one thing to minimize past the “Intel inside” sticker graffiti and silly multi-colored & textured case designs (by others) when going to a clean-looking unibody MacBook. Similarly for removing optical drives when downloadable software and digital music were clearly the future...generally a win-win for all. This current minimalization war on ports, Magsafe, function keys, home buttons, headphone jacks, removable SDDs (all the things that make a phone or laptop convenient and flexible to use) all seem to have noticeably negative impacts to the customer/user experience while providing no clear functional improvement to the customer that outweigh the negatives. But it lets Apple stretch courageously and make something thinner and lighter. That’s about it.

 

[makingdots]

If Apple believes in a wireless future, they have to include a pair of wireless headphones at some point.

Wireless tech in earphones are still expensive... unless you want more dollars to current iPhone pricing.

 

[geromi912]

Wireless tech in earphones are still expensive... unless you want more dollars to current iPhone pricing.

Then it means it’s still not ready, period.
[doublepost=1524374665][/doublepost]

The S9 is Android so I really don’t care if they had the 300m resistance of a Rolex Submariner.

Keep defending it, fanboy

 

[EightyTwenty]

No, they'll use the extra space to make the device thinner.

See also: literally every other Apple hardware product in the last 10 years of Jony Ive's design anorexia.

The iPhone actually keeps getting thicker and heavier every time it’s redesigned since the iPhone 6. Phones should be thin and light. The industry is moving in the opposite direction with the giant monster phones. Sad.

 

[geromi912]

The iPhone actually keeps getting thicker and heavier every time it’s redesigned since the iPhone 6. Phones should be thin and light. The industry is moving in the opposite direction with the giant monster phones. Sad.

what redesign?

With a lower resolution display to drive, this thing should put up some good performance numbers even on year-old hardware. I don't think a last-gen chip is in any way a dealbreaker.

except the a10 is a power hog and even in the iphone 7 it thermal throttles to oblivion. after 3 rounds of gpu benchmark it is no faster than a9.

 

[dilbert99]

I dislike Apple removing the headphone jack.

Having said that, it makes sense for Apple to remove the headphone jack so that they no longer have to make two forms of headphones, now they only have to make headphones with lightning cables.

I do with they had the courage instead to promote a single standard such as usb-c rather than going it alone with proprietary connections.

 

[manu chao]

What a wonderfully not well-thought, shallow post! No matter its market possibilities in India and other poor countries, the SE is a success in the USA. Without that need for the form-factor, Apple wouldn't have "introduced" the line-up; it was and is doing very well with Android-clone series 6 onward.

What a wonderful post that totally ignores the point. Maybe the SE constitutes 10% of all iPhone sales (which would be a bit more than 20 million units per year), but it only constitutes 1.06% of all iPhone-generated profits. That makes it almost a rounding error in Apple's overall profit calculations.

I clearly said that there are other considerations for offering a product than the direct profit that can be made with it. With the iPhone SE, Apple will sell iPhones to people who otherwise might have stuck with the 5s or would have gotten an Android phone instead, because of the SE was the only phone within their budget or because they wanted a small phone.

Getting people into the iOS ecosystem (or keeping them there) has some value to Apple as it creates a larger market for app and accessory makers and creates lock-in (in terms of app and accessories purchases or even just plain familiarity). The latter than might lead to the purchase of another iPhone (one that Apple actually makes a decent profit with).

I thought all of the above was already pretty clear from my previous post. But if somebody doesn't want to hear the message, it frequently goes unheard.
[doublepost=1524386990][/doublepost]

what redesign?

The redesign that increased the thickness of the [4.7"] iPhone from 6.9 over 7.1 to 7.3 mm:
iPhone 6: 6.9 mm
iPhone 6s & 7: 7.1 mm
iPhone8: 7.3 mm
[doublepost=1524387102][/doublepost]

IDK, I think the primary market is "people who don't want a big phone." That's what it is for me. Heck, I was going to jump to Android this last upgrade, but ended up sticking with the iPhone specifically because of the iPhone SE size (at the time I was absolutely unable to find a powerful Android device in a size I wanted).

Those who buy the SE because the prefer its size are the ones that will be vocal about it. Those that buy it because of its low price will be much less vocal about it.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

I dislike Apple removing the headphone jack.

Having said that, it makes sense for Apple to remove the headphone jack so that they no longer have to make two forms of headphones, now they only have to make headphones with lightning cables.

I do with they had the courage instead to promote a single standard such as usb-c rather than going it alone with proprietary connections.

They don't have to make two types of headphones; why can't Apple just provide lightning equipped earphones and a 3.5mm socket for those that want it?

 

[manu chao]

Death by 1000 cuts under Cook. I got the SE because of the size and the 3.5mm jack. I use wired headphones literally all day every work day. If they remove it, that's it - end of relationship with Apple.

All iPhones without a headphone jack ship with a Lightning to 3.5 mm adaptor. But I guess having a small extension on your headphone cable jars with you sense visual harmony so much that you are forced to switch to another brand.
[doublepost=1524389748][/doublepost]

They don't have to make two type of headphones; why can't Apple just provide lightning equipped earphones and a 3.5mm socket for those that want it?

Why can't Apple provide both a Lightning and a USB-C (or USB micro) port for charging the iPhone? I'm sure there are plenty of situations where people need to charge their iPhone but are somewhere where only a USB micro cable is available (eg, at somebody else's home who doesn't have iOS devices).

And while we are at it: Why do Android phones that have USB-C ports also don't have USB micro ports? The situation I have described above can equally happen for them.

I think the answer to both is that very often things are designed for a 90% solution, not for a 99% solution. Or said differently, we both know that they could, but we also both know why they don't.

 

[Tozovac]

I think the answer to both is that very often things are designed for a 90% solution, not for a 99% solution. Or said differently, we both know that they could, but we also both know why they don't.

I agree with your last sentence 100%. Unfortunately. Apple could design to your 99% solution as you call it, but don’t, and that’s part of the big problem many blindly accept while many recognize the huge missed opportunity and continued middle finger of indifference to the customer Sit back for a moment, try to think loosely, and ask what would really be wrong with your example? You did nail it in that a lot of the complaint is inability to charge simultaneously and listen using our still-valued and still hugely numerous corded components. I charge and listen using corded headphones I keep at work every single day. I bet many others do too from what I read here. (Oh, and by the way, corded components are not going away anytime soon, for example, the included lightning port headphones, and even wireless charging would still need a corded base unit.) And I’m glad I currently don’t have to worry about charging headphones and bring them back and forth to work or buy extra wants to keep it work. Nor do I want to buy multiple $40 Y jacks that have 2-star ratings typically at Apple and Amazon. This unnecessary war on cables and ports/convenience is really just Apple being its post-2013 self - it’s so amazingly ironic to me how Jony and Tim and Phil and Apple think they're giving the customer a huge benefit by removing certain ports & pieces of hardware on phones and computers that many customers consider standard. But what does the customer know? Same for their current direction in over-simplified flat/anti-skeuomorphic software design -They think they’re giving the customer a sleek, non-distracting experience but instead are often being entirely distracting by confusing the customer with reduced intuitive cues and buried functions, resulting in the complete opposite of efficiency by requiring the customer to do more tasks and tapping and swiping to complete an action that required just one tap and was previously instantly intuitive. Just for the sake of a minimal, clean athletic. In software and now apparently hardware/ports. Things go in cycles, and I’m sure good design will return to Apple and I can’t wait for it, for that sense of it just works and fun like before 2013. Until then, we’ll just have to make do and wait well while Jony still has that top floor office, where I often think all he does all day is sit back wearing a white and grey ensemble and stare at his creation with a quarter smile. Not a full smile, but a quarter, minimal smile...trying to think of which next port or key or button or hardware convenience feature he can courageously remove next.
[doublepost=1524394030][/doublepost]

"For people who cannot afford a regular iPhone". That's stupid. Utterly stupid. It's for people who want a small phone. "People who cannot afford a regular iPhone" can just buy a more expensive iPhone and use it for four or five years instead of two. An iPhone X used for five years isn't very expensive.

Actually you are incorrect. I would love the idea of an SE due to both size and price. Many, many feel like I do and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just because you think something is justifiable in price does not mean everybody else feels the same way. You couldn’t be more wrong.
[doublepost=1524394144][/doublepost]

The iPhone actually keeps getting thicker and heavier every time it’s redesigned since the iPhone 6. Phones should be thin and light. The industry is moving in the opposite direction with the giant monster phones. Sad.

If you are actually serious: How thin is your ideal phone? How thick is too thick? Serious question.

 

[canonical]

Maybe they will have a Pro version of the SE with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

 

[manu chao]

I agree with your last sentence 100%. Unfortunately. Apple could design to your 99% solution as you call it, but don’t, and that’s part of the big problem many blindly accept while many recognize the huge missed opportunity and continued middle finger of indifference to the customer Sit back for a moment, try to think loosely, and ask what would really be wrong with your example? You did nail it in that a lot of the complaint is inability to charge simultaneously and listen using our still-valued and still hugely numerous corded components. I charge and listen using corded headphones I keep at work every single day. I bet many others do too from what I read here.

And 90% of the time people don't charge and listen at the same time. And thus having only one port is the 90% solution. Moreover, while doing so you are tethered to your desk (or seat). And if you have some freedom on what to install on your computer, you could listen to things by using your computer and plugging in your headphones to your computer.

And I’m glad I currently don’t have to worry about charging headphones and bring them back and forth to work or buy extra wants to keep it work.

I've switched to Bluetooth headphones two years before I got my first headphonejack-less iPhone. I wouldn't want to go back. But then 90% of my headphone use is away from any desk. While you have to charge one more thing every night, Bluetooth headphones allow you to charge your phone while you a walking around in your home or office.

This unnecessary war on cables and ports/convenience is really just Apple being its post-2013 self - it’s so amazingly ironic to me how Jony and Tim and Phil and Apple think they're giving the customer a huge benefit by removing certain ports & pieces of hardware on phones and computers that many customers consider standard.

You forgot Steve in that list. Jobs was quite happy to remove ports as well. Apple, at least since Jobs returned in 1998, was always a 90% company.
[doublepost=1524398636][/doublepost]

Yeah but man, they hurt my ears. No silicone, not going there.

I've been using BeatsX Bluetooth headphones for a while now, they do have silicone tips (I've used Jaybird X2 before until they broke and Phiatons before that). The BeatsX are my clear favourite among those, same W1 chips as the Airpods with significantly greater range than the two other brands. I have no problems with the standard Apple Earpods/Airpods shape but they lack the sound isolation silicon or foam tips provide.
[doublepost=1524399126][/doublepost]

Innovation costs money. This a budget phone.

Yup, from Apple's point of view, mostly a budget phone with the added benefit of satisfying the small-phone fans. Not only would 'innovation' cost money, Apple needs to have a wide-enough feature-gap between a $350 (SE) and $699 (iPhone 8) phone.
[doublepost=1524400187][/doublepost]

For anyone gushing about how AWESOME blutooth is, just ask them what they can do now, that they couldn't do, when the headphone jack was still present. They will fumble and stammer, maybe say "water resistance" eventually. But the answer is NOTHING. They are simply gloating in the pain of others. Most will deny, but some will admit this. 3.5mm headphone jack is no CD-ROM, nor 3.5" Floppy, it's used every day by millions upon millions of people - no matter what Apple says.

And 90% of those millions of millions use the 3.5" jack that comes with the headphones that ship with their iPhone. Meaning those 90% won't miss the headphone jack while using their Earpods (Lightning headphones shipping with recent iPhones).

The funny part is that I use wireless headphones with my iPad, but still use wired for my iPhone. The opposite of the wacky path Apple is pushing us down. The 3.5mm headphone jack does not deter my use/enjoyment of wireless headphones with the iPad.

You don't get it, removing the headphone jack is not about the advantages that brings. Apple removed it because they can. Because they revel in simplicity.

I wouldn't have advised Apple to remove it. I don't applaud Apple for removing it. I simply accept that this is how Apple rolls.

 

[The Game 161]

it's more thats how tech rolls these days. Other companies are also removing the headphone jack and I bet Samsung will be next.

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

The iPhone actually keeps getting thicker and heavier every time it’s redesigned since the iPhone 6. Phones should be thin and light. The industry is moving in the opposite direction with the giant monster phones. Sad.

The great thing about this forum is that people can have polar opposite viewpoints and often do.

As opposed to, “thin and light” I would much rather have a thicker and suitably durable smart phone delivering excellent battery life and easily surviving occasional drops.

Just about every phone that was made in the first six years or so of the mass popularity of cell/mobile phones was made with these characteristics in mind.

 

[ateslik]

No. A big no. We don’t need more government regulating stuff. If you want a phone with a head phon jack (100 year old technology), there are plenty of other choices.

I agree that we don't need more government regulation, but headphones are not 100 year old tech.

"In 1958, John C. Koss, an audiophile and jazz musician from Milwaukee, produced the first stereo headphones. Previously, headphones were used only by the US navy, telephone and radio operators, and individuals in similar industries." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphones#History

some things that are 100 years old still work great and the replacement for them is not better. This is one of those cases.

Having to anticipate when I'm going to want to listen to music with enough time to have a charged set of headphones around plainly sucks. Mabye when airlines are handing out bluetooth headphones for free on their flights, like they do with wired headphones, than it will be close... but that ain't happening any time soon as far as I can see.