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People keep mentioning the floppy drive, this is not even remotely comparable. Most people stopped using floppy disks and CD's years before Apple stopped including them, with the headphone jack the same can not be said. Also, the design compromise to keep a headphone jack would not greatly change the end product whereas as CD ROM would completely change the Macbook, the only reason Apple got rid of the headphone jack was to sell 160$ airpods. Apple is making billions with this move of theirs, and it was the right move because Apple's number one concern should be their shareholders.
 
You know that if Apple does something and Samsung doesn't copy it, it probably wasn't a good idea anyway since they pretty much copy everything.
 
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Not sure Apple is "figuring out" what customers want.

Who in the world wants one type of port on laptops, who wants to carry around dongles (and be pissed off when you don't have one with you), who wants only one port on a laptop, who wants siri to be SO crappy, who wants homepod to be limited to one ecosystem, who wants a mac pro that isn't updated in three years, and who wants a golden watch that is useless in 8 months (maybe all of us if we have 10k to burn a year!

There is a pattern, and it's all product updates under Tim Cook. Personally, I would like a 3.5MM. Apple's dongles are flimsy and super week, and they made the transition for customers extra hard.

So I would love a 3.5mm back but I'm not too stuck on it. The true problem is cook, that guy needs to go!
Yet millions and millions keep buying the products

So clearly what cook is doing is working
 
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Dropping the headphone jack is nothing like dropping the floppy drive.

It was a lazy move by Apple to drop the headphone jack, and not provide a proper solution. Real ‘courage’ would have been dropping lighting and moving to USB C and thus having a standard headphone connector, instead of the stupid situation we have now.
This. When I heard they were dropping 3.5mm, I figured they’d move to USB C at the same time. They weren’t courageous enough to do another port conversion on their customers though.
 
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Yet millions and millions keep buying the products

So clearly what cook is doing is working
Question, how many more millions are walking and not buying.

Majority of the world is on andriod, North America is the last hold out. Tech community has mostly spoken... not Apple either
 
Question, how many more millions are walking and not buying.

Majority of the world is on andriod, North America is the last hold out. Tech community has mostly spoken... not Apple either

Considering pixel sold what 4 million devices?

Samsung with S8 and S8 plus and note 8 sold around 50-60 million tops while apple sell more iPhones in one quarter.

That says it all..the last Financial reports says it all when it comes to sales. Apple are as strong as ever even with android being as great as it’s been.
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Millions yes but many Millions less than before.....
https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/29/iphone-x-sales-production/
Doesn’t matter they still had record breaking sales. Sales tend to slow down after releases. Hardly news.

You can’t expect to sell 50 million units every quarter. Comp is too good price wise and feature wise. It’s still destroying the comp in individual sales.
 
Question, how many more millions are walking and not buying.

Majority of the world is on andriod, North America is the last hold out. Tech community has mostly spoken... not Apple either
Considering Airpods are still in short supply, I would guess not many. If this was a big mistake I would think that sales for the airpods would be in the toilet. I moved to android but I think I am the small minority of apple users that actually vote with their wallet.
 
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I miss the headphone jack. It's not a deal-breaker for me, but I still miss it. I have many synth apps on my iPhone that I can't use with my MIDI keyboard because sound comes out of the same Lightning port as the MIDI signal. The audio quality of Bluetooth headphones just isn't there yet, either. And, frankly, I see the W1 as a deterrent. I'd much rather have an APT-X chip that provides near wired quality audio.

$100 buys you a MUCH better sounding pair of wired headphones than Bluetooth headphones.
 
Anyone remember how the original iPhone needed an adapter to use non-Apple headphones? Memories :apple:

We've come a long way to get back to where we started :)

It is bizarre that apple got rid of the headphone jack on the iPhone, especially as it is the only device they did that for, so now you can't use one pair of headphones with your iPhone and iPad, or iPhone and Mac, without an adapter. Yay. IF they had gone to USB-C with the phones it would have made sense, the one port to rule them all, but instead they fragmented with iOS going lightning and Macs going USB-C, which was also too soon when at the expense of every other port on those laptops, jeez.

Equally bizarre is the apple pen with the male lightning out instead of a female. Sure, there's the niche case of running out of battery while for some reason drawing on your iPad deep in the wilderness, but on any other occasion, having that thing stick out the side of the device is as mad a solution as the magic mouse with the port on the bottom. And that's pretty mad.

In short, thank goodness someone is keeping the headphone jack - thinking different is not what it used to be!
 
Considering pixel sold what 4 million devices?

Samsung with S8 and S8 plus and note 8 sold around 50-60 million tops while apple sell more iPhones in one quarter.

That says it all..the last Financial reports says it all when it comes to sales. Apple are as strong as ever even with android being as great as it’s been.
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Doesn’t matter they still had record breaking sales. Sales tend to slow down after releases. Hardly news.

You can’t expect to sell 50 million units every quarter. Comp is too good price wise and feature wise. It’s still destroying the comp in individual sales.

Well we can agree to disagree on it being competitive feature wise. In short Apple will need to come up with an incredible phone if they are going to tempt me back despite my having a house full of Apple products. The Note 8 is my first departure from Apple and you have to own one to know why the feature set is better. But I digress and this would be an endless debate I'm sure.

I might not expect to sell 50 Million units true, but the point is that Apple did. And in other countries they sold less than Samsung for the first time.

Yes their sales are ok but when sales are less than expected Apple will be wondering why. If they're not then they should be.

Bringing this back to the headphone jack point....
Is the drop in sales because of the headphone socket? I'm sure the reasons are more than just this but it will be a contributing factor.
 
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Apple dropped the headphone jack because that's what people are going to want.. except for in macbooks, people are going to want headphone jacks.

At the cost of battery space and aesthetics. Not saying it was a wrong decision, but for one, I like Apple's approach.

I got rid of my floppy discs years ago, and haven't looked back. I realize a lot of people like their jack security blanket. Start preparing yourselves now for life without it. Samsung will ditch it as well. Join the rest of us in the future. :)

Ignorance at best. I don’t miss it at all. My Jaybird X3s sound amazing.

My memory must be slipping. I don’t ever remember anyone hoping the headphone jack would be removed. I’ll bet that all those here who are happy it is gone never even thought of it before Apple removed it. I’m also betting that if the iPhone still had a headphone jack none of you would be complaining that you wish it didn’t.
 
Apple dropped the headphone jack to sell you their overpriced bluetooth headphones. Pretty obvious.

AirPods are priced quite reasonably. And they literally outperform every other Bluetooth headphones.
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Because ditching the headphone jack would be a stupid thing for them to do.

It's something they have over Apple. For somebody who wants that jack, it's a huge advantage.

And I don't know anybody who doesn't want that jack. They're living without it, but they're not happy about it.

Honestly, at this point Apple should admit they made a stupid mistake and bring back the headphone jack for this fall's new iPhone.

I'm an ex sound engineer that grew up with the headphone jack. I don't miss it at all. AirPods rule.
 
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On the airplane, badly in need of music to add to my sound cancellation. Crap! the one thing I forgot was my damn connector! And how many times I cut a call short to charge my iPhone 7. No I am not buying 2-port connector. Apple, get your head out of your butt!
 
My memory must be slipping. I don’t ever remember anyone hoping the headphone jack would be removed. I’ll bet that all those here who are happy it is gone never even thought of it before Apple removed it. I’m also betting that if the iPhone still had a headphone jack none of you would be complaining that you wish it didn’t.

It’s like an oposite of “I didn’t know I needed a thing until I saw it”. I never hoped they would remove it, because I did not see an alternative to it. Then Apple gave us an alternative and explained why they removed it. I thought it was a good explanation (for my usage) and a really good alternative. I’m not saying everyone should like it, just that I prefer to have extra battery space than a port that I (emphasis on “I”) no longer need.

It’s like.... if they removed the speaker holes and found a way to emit the sound through the glass, like some modern TVs do. I would be glad they removed the speaker holes. But do I complain they are here today? Of course not.
 
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AirPods are priced quite reasonably. And they literally outperform every other Bluetooth headphones.
They did it so they had the chance to sell you a pair of bluetooth headphones. Like they removed widely used ports to sell you overpriced(you'd agree with that, right?) dongles.

It certainly wasn't done to benefit the consumer
 
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Actually, compared to the competition, the AirPods are not overpriced. For what you’re receiving with the battery technology, simplicity of features and the portable battery charging case, I think the AirPods are appropriately priced when you consider what they deliver in capabilities and convenience. I can’t tell you how much I use my AirPods almost every day for workouts and they are an excellent accessory to the iPhone. There is a reason they are still highly popular even after being released over a year ago.

I agree, I like my AirPods. And I have an iPhone 6S with a headphone jack. I like the wireless option even though it has its peculiarities. If I wanted the best sound, or was listening critically, I’d be using a wired set. I understand why most people prefer to have the headphone jack and I’m glad that I have the simple option of using wired or wireless. If I want to do serious listening, chances are a phone wouldn’t be my electronic of choice.
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It’s like an oposite of “I didn’t know I needed a thing until I saw it”. I never hoped they would remove it, because I did not see an alternative to it. Then Apple gave us an alternative and explained why they removed it. I thought it was a good explanation (for my usage) and a really good alternative. I’m not saying everyone should like it, just that I prefer to have extra battery space than a port that I (emphasis on “I”) no longer need.

It’s like.... if they removed the speaker holes and found a way to emit the sound through the glass, like some modern TVs do. I would be glad they removed the speaker holes. But do I complain they are here today? Of course not.

Thanks for the clarification. Understood.
 
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I hate not having a headphone jack. It's meant a lot *less* music listening because I can't always have my wired headphones with me.

Apple doesn't listen though, so there's no point complaining.

I don’t see the big deal. Leave the lightning adapter plugged in on your headphones, and you can bring them just like normal.
 
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