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

[ayvittu]

It really seems to me that the different departments don't speak to each others anymore at Apple.
First you have the Macbooks with the latest version featuring USB-C and a headphone jack, then you have the iPhone with the lightning port and potentially no jack anymore, latest iPads with Lightning and a headphone jack and lastly the watch that supports wireless charging.
I just think that if someone really saw the bigger pictures, they would combine the best of all worlds and align the connections to make it easier for everyone.
Of course I understand that they are a profit driven company and they can make a few extra $ with all sorts of dongles, but I believe that even when the brand is Apple, people don't like to get screwed over.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

So far wireless charging has not really solved a problem. When my phone is plugged in to charge, I can hold it in my hand and use it. On 'wireless' chargers the phones are sitting on a charger, making them much harder to use. For bedside charging whilst sleeping the 'wireless' chargers look quite good, but they don't really make life any easier.

They would make life easier however if you want to listen to music and charge at the same time if Apple removes the headphone jack..... Do we even need to explain this concept?

 

[Dave245]

I don't know why people are complaining about the lack of a headphone jack, it's not like Apple haven't done this before, remember the floppy drives, DVD's on Macs and the 30 pin connector on the iPhones and iPads? Also I'm not being funny here, but if we can all afford to buy a brand new iPhone, then I think we can afford to buy wireless headphones to go with it, that is my plan anyway.

 

[Onexy]

I wish they would do away with the slippery nonsense and add an edge to the sides of the phone. There is practically no grip besides clawing or cupping it in the whole hand.

 

[chazbcn]

Everyone is talking about the headphone jack, camera bump and about the similar iPhone 6 design.
What I find interesting is : the display.
Perhaps they will release a 4.7 1920x1080p 4.7 true tone and a 2560x1440 5.5 inch true tone display.
I am hoping that is the reason for the bigger battery.
If that is the case , and the soc is around 30% faster, the camera is a lot better, etc. I will get one.

Exactly. Most people are more worried about the rear look of the phone (which BTW will most certainly be buried under a cover) and not really interested in the front of the phone, the part we really look at all the time!
I expect there will be improvements to the screen (maybe True Tone or some other cool feature). Also, the bigger camera holes indicate there's an important camera upgrade of some sort.
These are the things we should consider and be eager to get, besides a cool new look of course. But it's clear most people only buy the new iPhone if it's flashy enough so they can brag for having the latest model.

 

[Jimrod]

I wish they would do away with the slippery nonsense and add an edge to the sides of the phone. There is practically no grip besides clawing or cupping it in the whole hand.

It's another Ive design "characteristic" - making everything thin for the sake of thin (does an iMac really need to be thin when it sit's on a 6" deep stand?), the iPhone 6 and onwards aren't good in the hand, the over-rounded edges dig into the palm, they just aren't ergonomically pleasing - moving the power button to oppose the volume buttons is also awkward for a human hand to press without pressing both together. It's poor design. He's just not very good without Steve Jobs telling him what to do and it's becoming more apparent with each generation of product.

 

[recoil80]

It's another Ive design "characteristic" - making everything thin for the sake of thin (does an iMac really need to be thin when it sit's on a 6" deep stand?), the iPhone 6 and onwards aren't good in the hand, the over-rounded edges dig into the palm, they just aren't ergonomically pleasing - moving the power button to oppose the volume buttons is also awkward for a human hand to press without pressing both together. It's poor design. He's just not very good without Steve Jobs telling him what to do and it's becoming more apparent with each generation of product.

I agree on the iMac, it is really unnecessary to make it thin.
I wouldn't say iPhone is poorly designed. Of course I'd have made it thicker to avoid the protruding camera and make more room for battery, but the power button on the top would be hard to reach one handed and yes, it is quite slippery but it is not just a matter of round edges, a thicker phone would be easier to hold even with round edges.
They really ought to abandon their obsession for thinness and make great products with great design and user experience

 

[Waxhead138]

Can someone explain why Apple wouldn't wait until an all new design to remove the headphone jack?

The wishful thinking part of me hopes this is the reason: If the 2017 forecast is true, and there will be a radical redesign w/ many new technologies being incorporated, then they want to get the manufacturing end of things slowly adapted to some pretty big changes ahead, so some changes are staggered. I think I'm being way too optimistic there.

The practical part of me says 'cuz Apple 'effin felt like doing it that way.

 

[smaffei]

Can someone explain why Apple wouldn't wait until an all new design to remove the headphone jack?

Because Cook wants to sell you $299 Beats wireless headphones, silly.

No headphone jack is exactly why I bought a 64GB iPhone SE to replace a broken iPhone 6 last night. I'm not going to trash my already paid for Bose wired headphones that work perfectly well to use the latest and greatest.

And, as always, if Apple does sell an "adapter." It will be cost double what it should and will be in short supply for months after iPhone 7's launch.

 

[magbarn]

Seen a few videos on lightning headphones and all mention the sound quality been better. I watched a video yesterday on headphones. There was a pair that allowed you to use either 3.5mm jack or lighting jack. They were quite large drivers in them which the iPhone struggled to drive them through its own built in DAC when used with 3.5mm jack. The reviewer commented that the volume had to be up pretty high to get a decent volume level and clarity.

When he switched to the Lightning connection he said the volume needed to be much lower and the clarify, separation in the instruments, vocals was much better. So I think it's safe to say that there will be an improvement in sound quality through lightning. But, I have said this before, but I think a lot of people won't either notice it nor be bothered about the better sound quality.

It's not the DAC at fault here, it's lack of power of the amplifier stage to drive those headphones. As Lightning is a 'digital' interface, all lightning headphones come with their own built in amps (that are mostly likely only being used when in lightning mode) which are much more powerful than the one Apple uses. Majority of IEM's (I use Shure 535's) are efficient enough to get great sound from iphone's built in amp. I'm not expecting my iPhone to power $500 planar magnetic headphones!

If Apple takes out the headphone jack, I'm skipping this generation of iPhone (The will be the first time I've skipped since I started buying iphones 8 years ago!)

 

[ani4ani]

Floppy drive was dropped - people moaned, cd-rom was dropped - people moaned, original 30 pin connector dropped - people moaned, USB was dropped (new MacBook) - people moaned, screen was too small - people moaned they wanted bigger, new screen sizes - people wanted small iPhone....

Point?

People moan but apple still make controversial decisions and still sell millions of iPhones. We get used it, and then reminisce when we see all the old stuff that apple ditched.

I've already moved to wireless earphones and would never go back but can see why some people are mad but we are a minority and despite a lot of people being unhappy, many more will be perfectly ok with it or just get used to it.

People are acting like apple are the first, there are already phones out with no 3.5mm jack and the new moto z doesn't have one. This seems to be something that was happening regardless of what Apple do.

Yes, there are other companies out there removing one "standard" port, but they are replacing it with another standard. Apple, either remove and don't replace with anything or remove and replace with their proprietary port. Sony were castigated for decades for doing it, so it is only right that folks should vent their heat when Apple do it.

 

[Jsameds]

After initially sneering at it when I first saw it, after seeing this I actually quite like the look of it.

 

[plexdk]

I agree on the iMac, it is really unnecessary to make it thin.
I wouldn't say iPhone is poorly designed. Of course I'd have made it thicker to avoid the protruding camera and make more room for battery, but the power button on the top would be hard to reach one handed and yes, it is quite slippery but it is not just a matter of round edges, a thicker phone would be easier to hold even with round edges.
They really ought to abandon their obsession for thinness and make great products with great design and user experience

unnecessary for functionality yes, but its part of an evolution, both of design and hardware... no need to just settle without any development - otherwise we would still drive around in squarish cars, bulky workstations, and so on.. besides, a thin iMac looks great when mounted to a wall.

I do think they have different people in each of their design area.. its not like they move one guy around, so iPhone will get less time, because of a new iMac design

 

[ramonabynes]

I don't know why people are complaining about the lack of a headphone jack, it's not like Apple haven't done this before, remember the floppy drives, DVD's on Macs and the 30 pin connector on the iPhones and iPads? Also I'm not being funny here, but if we can all afford to buy a brand new iPhone, then I think we can afford to buy wireless headphones to go with it, that is my plan anyway.

People please stop bringing up floppy disks, cassette tapes, etc. The logic just doesn't work!

Those things were replaced by CDs, DVDs, USB flash... standards that had widespread use, availability, and affordability. The lightning port does not fit the bill. And with USB-C going on the macs, why is the lightning connector/port relevant? Wireless headphones are not a solution. Quality is not really the same, they need to be charged, and we can use those and lightning earphones with current phones. What they want to do is sell those raggedy wireless Beats.

It really would have made more sense IMO to save this for the redesign. make it usb-c (like their own MacBook) and then the redesign would have sold the phone regardless of the headphone jack.

 

[TurboPGT!]

Because Cook wants to sell you $299 Beats wireless headphones, silly.

No headphone jack is exactly why I bought a 64GB iPhone SE to replace a broken iPhone 6 last night. I'm not going to trash my already paid for Bose wired headphones that work perfectly well to use the latest and greatest.

And, as always, if Apple does sell an "adapter." It will be cost double what it should and will be in short supply for months after iPhone 7's launch.

You can spew all the rhetoric you want, but you can't hide the fact that you were suckered into buying extremely overpriced analog headphones, and are now trying to justify it with even more poor decisions.
[doublepost=1468586403][/doublepost]

People please stop bringing up floppy disks, cassette tapes, etc. The logic just doesn't work!

Legacy technology that no one actually needs, for which there are better alternatives, that is negatively affecting overall design and progress?

The logic works. It is was 100% the exact same thing. Including the outrage from the vocal minority, soon to fade into irrelevance.

 

[Thunderhawks]

so for those who are angry by what apple are doing, are you just sticking with your iphone or looking at other options?

Wondering about the same.

Why in the world complain about what Apple does? Either you use Apple or you don't.

As I posted before, whatever they do I find a way around it or don't use anything I don't like (iCloud, Apple Music)

MagSafe2, we had to buy an adapter to still use our old chargers. (BTW: The new 85W MBP chargers get very HOT, NOT WARM, as Apple says)

While we may have to live with adapters for a while, better quality BT headphones will be developed.

I am all for getting rid of cables, but it will be annoying if there is no option at all to use our old stuff. (Also don't like anything that needs charging, but I'll get over it)

Out with the old is the future, whether we like it or not.

 

[ValO]

You can spew all the rhetoric you want, but you can't hide the fact that you were suckered into buying extremely overpriced analog headphones, and are now trying to justify it with even more poor decisions.
[doublepost=1468586403][/doublepost]

Legacy technology that no one actually needs, for which there are better alternatives, that is negatively affecting overall design and progress?

The logic works. It is was 100% the exact same thing. Including the outrage from the vocal minority, soon to fade into irrelevance.

Exactly.
If it was up to Apple, the iPhones wouldn' t have any ports and mechanical switches/buttons. Their ideal iPhone is just a sheet of glass. But the hw development is just not far enough.

So, get used to it, in the near future, you' ll get more and more to complain about. next stops: no mechanical homebutton, silent switch, no more hw volume buttons, etc.

 

[Mac 128]

People please stop bringing up floppy disks, cassette tapes, etc. The logic just doesn't work!

Those things were replaced by CDs, DVDs, USB flash... standards that had widespread use, availability, and affordability. The lightning port does not fit the bill. And with USB-C going on the macs, why is the lightning connector/port relevant? Wireless headphones are not a solution. Quality is not really the same, they need to be charged, and we can use those and lightning earphones with current phones. What they want to do is sell those raggedy wireless Beats.

It really would have made more sense IMO to save this for the redesign. make it usb-c (like their own MacBook) and then the redesign would have sold the phone regardless of the headphone jack.

So you've heard and compared a pair of BT 5 headphones already? Because that's what the next iPhones likely to have. Hard to negate the quality of something you know nothing about.

And if they change Lightning to USBc then I'm going to have to replace hundreds of dollars of Lightning cables and accessories, with hundreds of dollars of USBc accessories that will only work on my iPhone for the next several years, because nobody is currently using USBc. And when I forget my USBc cable and need to borrow one, nobody will have one to loan me, because it's not in widespread use.

Then in 5 years, just as USBc is starting to approach market saturation -- Apple introduces wireless charging, such that I never have to plug in my iPhone to anything again. Brilliant. So I've totally wasted hundreds of dollars replacing all of my stuff to embrace a standard that is years away from common use, which I won't actually need when I get there.

Great plan.

 

[jephrey]

I'll wager that the weakest audio link in 99% of iphone use cases will be the quality of the headphones, and not the connector.

You are correct, but keep in mind, there are 2 aspects of digital headphones that are in play. The quality of the speakers and their circuitry, and the DAC. It's quite likely that most integrated DACs (integrated in the connector OR the phones themselves) will be "better" than the one that is currently in the iPhone, converting the digital to an analog signal. As in a previous MR article, we can already use lightning headphones (or an adaptor with DAC) on the current iPhone to make those comparisons.

 

[kyleh22]

All this shows is Apple may be moving the headphone port back to the top of the phone. Ground breaking engineering.

 

[Funkybunch]

The wishful thinking part of me hopes this is the reason: If the 2017 forecast is true, and there will be a radical redesign w/ many new technologies being incorporated, then they want to get the manufacturing end of things slowly adapted to some pretty big changes ahead, so some changes are staggered. I think I'm being way too optimistic there.

The practical part of me says 'cuz Apple 'effin felt like doing it that way.

Totally agree with the look ahead. People want a radical new phone, but I envision that new phone having so many changes that will require changes in hardware and software. Apple not only wants time to refine the manufacturing, but also wants time to gauge users of the new features so they can improve upon them.

What bothers me, is people are upset about the headphone jack being gone with a similar form factor. How would they feel if it was gone in a radical new design that could not include a jack? All of a sudden it won't be a big deal to them.

 

[TengZero]

Removing the headphone socket is massively anti-consumer. I know some will say they don't mind, but many will. Trying to make people buy headphones that only works on iPhones, not even on their Macs. How does this move really help people? It just creates issues that don't even need to be there. People are not going to care about 14% more battery life if they can't use their normal headphones and no having an adapter doesn't soften the blow. Just another thing that could get lost or brake.

Apple are going to lose millions of users because of this and the Android manufacturers are going to benefit from it. Apple want to sell phones in India and China, this move will make sure that won't happen.

 

[mstrmac]

I can get used to how it looks. What it does better, will be the main selling point for me. If it's just an increase in camera performance, speed, and other run of the mill upgrades I'll pass.

If they announce a new revolutionary feature such as the ability to prepare meals, vacuum carpets, and dust hardwoods, I'll probably upgrade.

Posible wireless charging. Real water resistance are not bogus

 

[ramonabynes]

You can spew all the rhetoric you want, but you can't hide the fact that you were suckered into buying extremely overpriced analog headphones, and are now trying to justify it with even more poor decisions.
[doublepost=1468586403][/doublepost]

Legacy technology that no one actually needs, for which there are better alternatives, that is negatively affecting overall design and progress?

The logic works. It is was 100% the exact same thing. Including the outrage from the vocal minority, soon to fade into irrelevance.

negatively affecting design and progress how? No one needs 3.5 mm headphone jacks now? Did you go to school for this logic?

 

[yanki01]

will this transfer over to their Macbooks with no headphone jack?
[doublepost=1468593487][/doublepost]

All this shows is Apple may be moving the headphone port back to the top of the phone. Ground breaking engineering.

that was actually a funny samsung commercial.