Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Quick Takes: 'Why Hasn't Samsung Ditched the Headphone Jack Yet?'

Cut the cord with the iphone 7. Never looked back. I like the freedom BT headphones provide. No more dangling cord or the sudden yank on the ears.

I am glad they kept it on the MBP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chabig and Jsameds
Samsung proves that you can still make a sleek, thin phone and keep the headphone jack. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is Apple's stated reason for removing it.

I have to give Apple props though for including lighting EarPods and the lightning to 3.5mm audio dongle. Pretty sure the Google Pixel comes with neither of those.
 
a0me said:
They could just go the USB-C route.
Click to expand...

No point transitioning over to USB-C when iPhone will be going completely portless in a few short years anyway. Lightning will be the last physical port we will see on iPhone.
 
a0me said:
They could just go the USB-C route.
Click to expand...
The article covers it in detail. USB-C is still one hot mess. Sticking with lightning is the safer route for Apple because it's a standard they control, so they can ensure that their lightning accessories work on all supported iOS devices.
 
There fixed that for you....
Samsung is more of a "do what the customer is asking for" company; Apple is a "tell you what you want" company. Samsung’s customers aren't asking for the headphone jack to be dropped, so the path of least resistance is to just keep the jack.
Click to expand...
 
Apple is a "figure out what they're going to want" company.

Yeah... I wanted a totally suck keyboard with a useless OLED touch panel that triggers random actions when I brush against it in order to slow down my typing and create errors that cause be to be ~10% less productive coding... and having to carry dongles and/or special usb-c cables all the ***** time...

I'll tell you what I want Apple... I'd love to switch to a Win10 machine for iOS development.

I've been a Apple super fan since the first West Coast Computer Faire... but from being to envy of people forced to use Windows machines I'm now envying them, being forced to use worse-by-the-year Apple machines
 
  • Like
Reactions: stewacide and trellus
Abazigal said:
The article covers it in detail. USB-C is still one hot mess. Sticking with lightning is the safer route for Apple because it's a standard they control, so they can ensure that their lightning accessories work on all supported iOS devices.
Click to expand...

Doesn't Apple use USB-C on some Macs? They have used them since 2015 i believe.
 
jamezr said:
Doesn't Apple use USB-C on some Macs? They have used them since 2015 i believe.
Click to expand...
From the article:

So the gist of it is that it’s not enough to have USB-C headphones. Pixel owners need the right kind of USB-C headphones — only those that support digital audio, and they seem to be far from common today. And the ones that do exist seem to be quite expensive. The cheapest Pixel-compatible USB-C headphones in Google’s store are the Libratone Q Adapt earphones, and they cost $149. That’s a lot more than $29, and a lot of money for headphones from a brand I’ve never heard of. They’re also the only earbud-style USB-C headphones Google offers. The even more goofily-named Aiaiai TMA-2 MFG4 on-ear headphones cost $180.
Click to expand...

I am not sure how it's like for USB-C to USB-A, HDMI or power, but it seems audio is the main issue.

Read the whole article. It basically answers all your queries.

https://daringfireball.net/2018/03/samsung_jack_off_redux
 
Abazigal said:
From the article:



I am not sure how it's like for USB-C to USB-A, HDMI or power, but it seems audio is the main issue.

Read the whole article. It basically answers all your queries.

https://daringfireball.net/2018/03/samsung_jack_off_redux
Click to expand...
Well going back to your blanket statement that USB-C is a hot mess....it is a mess on Apple's side too then...they use the same USB standard. I have a Pixel 2 XL and have no issues with different USB-C cables.
 
jamezr said:
Well going back to your blanket statement that USB-C is a hot mess....it is a mess on Apple's side too then...they use the same USB standard. I have a Pixel 2 XL and have no issues with different USB-C cables.
Click to expand...
Yes, within the context of the article, USB-C is a mess when it comes to audio, which is why we don't yet see iOS devices drop the lightning port for USB-C (and we likely never will).
 
  • Like
Reactions: jamezr
theluggage said:
Not this old fallacy again: "Apple were right to remove X in the past, therefore they must be right to remove Y today."

Seriously?

Floppy discs died because they became useless: you needed a box full to distribute a major application, a drawer-full to back up a contemporary hard drive, and if a file would fit on a floppy it could also be emailed instantly around the world. They died - even the 120MB floptical versions - because they accounted for a significant fraction of the weight of a contemporary laptop. Even then, Apple phased out the floppy over several years (remember the modular G3 laptops where you could swap the floppy/CD drive for an extra battery?) By the time Apple dropped the floppy completely, a USB floppy drive in the cupboard for the occasional legacy file was all anybody needed (and in my experience, those rarely left the cupboard).

In the case of the Headphone jack, though, it ain't broke and doesn't need fixing. The advantages of having the DAC in the headphones vs. the DAC in the iPhone (which needs a DAC anyway for its internal speakers) are marginal-to non existent. Samsung have cracked the water-resistance issue. That leaves the argument that the space used a headphone jack forces a smaller battery - and hence shorter battery life: well, although it looks like the X does beat the S9 on battery life, it does so with a smaller battery (2716 mAh vs. 3000 mAh) so whatever the reason, its not because they sacrificed a couple of 100 mAh to fit in a headphone jack. Plus, I wonder if the battery life comparisons were done with both phones running their bluetooth radios and, periodically, topping up the AirPod batteries from the phone.

Finally - and this is the big nonsense here - at the end of the day, the presence of a 3.5mm jack has absolutely zero, nil, nada, no impact on anybody who does prefer to use Bluetooth or Lightning earphones.

I do, mostly, use BlueTooth, active noise-cancelling cans with my phone... but when their batteries run dry, they also have a 3.5mm lead, plus I have a couple of pairs of surplus, basic ear-pods, from iOS and Android devices past, secreted around various bags and locations. Also, on a plane, I want my decent headphones to have a 3.5mm input so I can plug them in to the in-flight entertainment.

The problem with recent Apple decisions like no headphone jacks on iPhones and all-USB-C connections on MacBooks, no more optical out on Macs etc. is that they strip out valuable little bits of flexibility, versatility and fall-back options. Its not innovation, its penny-pinching - on premium-priced high-margin products.
Click to expand...

Read my post. I did not compare the two. I was speaking of the progression of technology.

If I had compared as you claimed, there would have actually been comparisons between the two in my post.

No logical fallacy in my post. Projecting what you read into my post through your bias does not equate to logical fallacy in my post.

Logical Fallacies are illogical. That is why I don’t use them.
 
a0me said:
They could just go the USB-C route.
Click to expand...
Sooo dongles to connect our current devices? Why not just keep the headphone jack, which causes zero issues now?
[doublepost=1521120362][/doublepost]
Gherkin said:
Samsung proves that you can still make a sleek, thin phone and keep the headphone jack. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is Apple's stated reason for removing it.

I have to give Apple props though for including lighting EarPods and the lightning to 3.5mm audio dongle. Pretty sure the Google Pixel comes with neither of those.
Click to expand...
I believe they also said that it was to make the phone water resistant. Yet the S9 has an ip68 rating.
 
busyscott said:
Ugh, Apple is infuriatingly arrogant in this area. Them ditching the headphone jack and every connector on the MacBook Pro and replacing it with a still rarely used USB-C isn’t like their moves in the past.

When they ditched the optical drive I thought, “I haven’t used a disc in 3 months, this makes sense.”

Still to this day I find myself wishing for a headphone jack 3-5 times a week. I also have a MacBook Pro with usb c and have to use an adapter 2-4 times a DAY.

They don’t even ship usb C with iPhones for goodness sakes.
Click to expand...

I received a new macbook pro for work (i do like it), but I have to carry around dongles with me everywhere for usb, ethernet and hdmi. a little frustrating when plugging into a switch panel or setting up ipads wit configurator. I would give anything for a model that was 2x as thick with all the ports, you know, a truly pro model.
 
Victor Mortimer said:
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.
Click to expand...


If the iPhone is still selling well even without the jack, I doubt Apple will bring the headphone jack back.
 
still crying about it years later? I love that Apple got rid of it and the W1 chip is amazing. I have 3 headphones with the W1 chip and I can't imagine life with a cord. You crybabies probably still have a tube TV and a Myspace account.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jsameds
MacBergin said:
still crying about it years later? I love that Apple got rid of it and the W1 chip is amazing. I have 3 headphones with the W1 chip and I can't imagine life with a cord. You crybabies probably still have a tube TV and a Myspace account.
Click to expand...

Hey, wanna be in my Top 8? :p:D
 
Some of us spent good money on wired headphones. Some of us just don’t want to just ditch perfectly good equipment.

I use a dongle. It’s not the worst thing ever, but it’s definitely a deterrent to getting a MacBook Pro. (Yes, I know there are additional accessories I can get. I’m not doing that when I’m dropping $2300-$2600+ on a laptop.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire
ericgtr12 said:
They haven't abandoned the headphone jack because it's still useful to most people who don't want to go all in on Apple's proprietary jacks or use an adapter.
Click to expand...

What gets me is for Bose noise cancelling headphones - $169 wired and $340+ for wireless. Sure one can get cheap wireless headphones but they're usually a lot crappier than the wired for same cost. I definitely miss my headphone jack on my 8+ - having to carry around an audio adapter is getting a little old.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trellus
mtbgtr said:
And yet other manufacturers have waterproof headphone jacks and bigger batteries
Click to expand...

These phones don't perform as well in real world water tests despite some having higher ratings, they are missing components that are present in iPhones, and also tend to be larger so there's more internal space anyway.
 
Samsung is more of a "do what the customer is asking for" company;

Likely meant in a different context, but as someone who's had to contact Samsung customer services recently, i can say with certainty they don't do what the customer (me) asked for or even tried.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back