New Video Shows Off Alleged iPhone 7 Design With No Headphone Jack

[jacjustjac]

USB-C is a much better connector than Mini-B and Micro-B which it is starting to replace. However, I don't think it is as good as lightning, at least not for portable devices like iPhone/iPad. Evidently Apple feels the same too.

You may not have a lot of options for "good" lightning headphones right now, but that will change pretty much overnight if the iPhone drops the 3.5mm output. Companies like Bose that have removable cords will come out with replacement cords with a lightning plug on the end, other companies will release headphones with built in lightning etc. Tons of aftermarket companies will make similar cords, etc. We are already starting to see some lightning headphones, some USB-C headphones etc. and that is without the companies having to do it in order to get sales. They are doing it because they evidently think there is advantages to it.

Just like when the 30 pin was dropped for lightning, adaptors and aftermarket lightning products showed up very quickly. The iPhone is a huge market that companies do not ignore easily.

There was no "reason" to remove USB-A from the Macbook. USB 3 works just fine with a USB-A connector. However the USB-C connector is smaller, simpler, has more features etc so Apple decided to switch to it. Same thing with 3.5mm. There is no "reason" it has to be removed. But if Apple feels like removing it allows them to add more speakers, battery, etc, and lightning is smaller, simpler, and has more features then why not do it?

That's a good point. There are a lot of high quality headphones with removable cables. While they would still need the circuitry built in (and thus cost $$$), I wonder if Bose would make an adapter for my QC15s, like they did when they sold a cable that added a microphone and single button.

Speaking of which, the announcement of the Bose QC35s kept me from upgrading for one reason. You still can't get higher quality Bluetooth from an iPhone. I know android has had support for APT-X for a while now, and some of my Bluetooth headphones support it too. But not my iPhone. It supports AAC over Bluetooth, but I tried it with a headphone that supported AAC and it was a nightmare of pausing and skipping. I hope the removal of a headphone jack brings with it a new standard that can up the quality of Bluetooth streaming with iPhones that Apple approves of. And then it will be the long wait for new headphones to support it.

 

[Mac 128]

That's a good point. There are a lot of high quality headphones with removable cables. While they would still need the circuitry built in (and thus cost $$$), I wonder if Bose would make an adapter for my QC15s, like they did when they sold a cable that added a microphone and single button.

Speaking of which, the announcement of the Bose QC35s kept me from upgrading for one reason. You still can't get higher quality Bluetooth from an iPhone. I know android has had support for APT-X for a while now, and some of my Bluetooth headphones support it too. But not my iPhone. It supports AAC over Bluetooth, but I tried it with a headphone that supported AAC and it was a nightmare of pausing and skipping. I hope the removal of a headphone jack brings with it a new standard that can up the quality of Bluetooth streaming with iPhones that Apple approves of. And then it will be the long wait for new headphones to support it.

If a manufacturer can offer a new cable at a premium price with a good markup, then they'like likely do it... If not a third party will almost certainly jump in and do it for them, especially for a widely used brand like Bose.

I had fully expected Apple to introduce some new wireless audio codecs which are backward compatible with BT 3 & 4. And then along comes BT 5 just at the perfect time to be introduced in the next iPhone. And that's another reason Apple hasn't offered their own Lightning headphones yet despite publishing Lightning audio specs over 18 months ago. They've been working on a complete solution which includes wireless. Before they push Lightning, they need reliable wireless tech. Together they've got a powerful replacement for the headphone jack, in a complete and easy to use solution with high quality audio, easy to pair wireless, and see less iOS integration of hardware and software.

Lightning and BT audio are at best kludgy on the iPhone right now. And that's needed to change for a while. That's likely one of the reasons Apple jumped on the board of the BT SIG in 2014, so they could guide the technology and make first use of any improvements.

I think we're going were going to be pleasantly surprised by Apple's announcement in Septemebr, assuming they really do remove the headphone jack. And while Beats will likely be the only new headphones on the market to make use of it, othe manufactuers like Bose should be able to crank out new cables for their existing headphones pretty quickly.