Removal of iPhone 7 Headphone Jack Was Essential for Water Resistance, New Camera System

[AppleBytes]

Wait a minute, didn't Samsung and Sony both come out with splash resistant phones this year that still have headphone jacks?

And hasn't pretty much every other smartphone company released a dual-camera phone without having problems figuring out how to fit it all into a phone?

This explanation reeks of ********. Proprietary tech and patents and "made for iPhone" accessories are one of the reasons Apple is so profitable. Doesn't occam's razor say this is probably the real reason?

 

[calabi-yau]

Apple's higher-ups are starting to sound like the heads of the mafia: patronizing, lying, bored and annoyed at our incessant questions into their legitimate "business."

Public: Did you remove the headphone jack from the iPhone in order to make an insane profit on proprietary wireless earbuds?
Apple: LOL no. Here, have three months of Apple Music. Now run along.

 

[CPx]

Why does the headline say the jack removal was essential for water resistance when the Buzzfeed article doesn't say that at all?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It does take courage and they've done it before by not caving in to removable batteries and removable media. It isn't necessary. Other manufacturers will follow suite soon enough.

Other manufacturers that want to "copy" Apple on this will adopt a non-proprietary standard called USB3, not Lightning.

Intel is going to bake USB3 digital audio right into their future chipsets. Even Apple's own Macs are going to have that capability inside of them.

So, even if other manufacturers follow Apple on this, this is nothing short of fragmentation... something this crowd around here usually rips into when anyone else is doing it. I recall not so long ago how this crowd would passionately rip into the various larger screen sizes of Android due to the fragmentation... until Apple adopted various screen sizes and then we forgot all that.

I'd love to see "our" reaction had this been Samsung instead of Apple jettisoning 3.5mm for a proprietary "all digital" connector. I have a hard time imagining "us" being so very passionately in favor of their move to "the future" via a proprietary jack controlled solely by them. Instead, I- and probably you- know that "we" would be ripping them to shreds for making such a move.

 

[macfacts]

honestly though why are people even mad?
They included an adapter for old school headphones

Would surprise me if the Apple car had no cup holders but they'll give you an adapter that attaches to the outside of the car for your drink. Courage.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Everything else is digital, why have we kept the headphone jack after all these years? It was going to go eventually, why not now? You don't have a good answer, you just want to be upset over something stupid.

Wow. This one just never dies does it?

Unless you are an android, your ears can ONLY hear analog. This is not really a debate about digital vs. analog. Whether the sound comes out of a 3.5mm headphone jack or the adapter, it is analog when it gets to your ears. We cannot hear digital music without conversion to analog.

If you ARE an android, forgive me. But you are the exception... I think (better check the latest batch of memos).

And if pretty much ALL of you are androids, forgive me. No wonder there is such passion for this change. I'm unfortunately a lowly human with biological ears that can't hear the music delivered as a bitstream of 1s & 0s. Your offense at my personal opinions as a human consumer makes perfect sense to me now.

 

[Mastan]

Don't need you, Jack.

 

[Gruntersdad12]

Will other models of iPhone, with iOS 10, with the lightning connector, be able to use that connector for a head phone jack?

 

[morcutt11]

Indeed.

Clearly nobody at Apple uses their own products, or they would have realized how boneheaded this move is.

There was two obvious solutions:
a) TOSLINK + battery powered headphones if they were hellbent on digital audio and wanted to seal the connector.
b) USB-C headphones, or put the headphones on the lightning connector and put the charging on USB-C.

"Wireless" is not, nor has ever been the right solution because that requires a separate power source, compression, and sticking "wireless" stuff right beside your head all day is insanity.

Whoever approved removing the 3.5mm jack, clearly doesn't use the iPhone at all. If you work in an office environment where most contact is via email or instant messaging, you would want to be able to listen to music for 12 hours (that includes commute time.) 5 hours doesn't even give people enough time to commute, let alone use it at work. Are people expected to own 3 pairs of earpods? No thank you. As for the battery life, here's where Apple doubled-down on not using their own product. So they sell "Apple Music", yet the phone only has a 12 hour battery life when using the internet. Now combine that with the 5 hour battery life of the earpods.

No, this is an absolutely stupid thing. Nobody asked for it to be waterproof, and I live in a rainy city. You are not taking your phone swimming or diving. Are people using it in the shower? I don't think so. Maybe it's to prevent iPhones from falling into showers and toilets and becoming damaged that way.

Even then, that doesn't require removing the 3.5mm jack. Have you seen what the 3.5mm jack in the iPhone looks like? It's it's own sealed thing.

https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/Qph6ODctaPbhqaL1.huge

even if you x-ray it, that's still a sealed thing

http://media.idownloadblog.com/wp-c...Phone-6s-teardown-image-003-Taptic-Engine.jpg

The iPhone 6S was already waterproof enough.
https://www.engadget.com/2015/10/02/iphone-6s-waterproof/

1) Apple employees make extensive use of Apple products. Only a blind fool would believe differently.
2) You can still use wired headphones, you don't have to use wireless and the AirPods aren't the only wireless solution. So the run time of the new AirPods isn't an issue for your isolated example of work and commute requirements.
3) Not everyone has a 5 hour commute.
4) When you say that nobody asked for the iPhone to be water resistant, I assume you mean you. Plenty of people have been asking for improved water resistance on the iPhone since day-one. Samsung has an entire series of commercials dedicated to touting their water resistance, so yeah, someone wants it.
5) Removing the part was about more than waterproofing. The headphone jack was a waste as it was a single-purpose connector that provided functionality already available through the lightning port.

 

[joeblow7777]

Everything else is digital, why have we kept the headphone jack after all these years? It was going to go eventually, why not now? You don't have a good answer, you just want to be upset over something stupid.

I think it's the other way around. There needs to be a good answer for why to change other than "it's old". The wheel is an old technology... Time to replace it! Preferably with something digital!

 

[Munibeast]

I've been hooking my phone up to my car via the USB port for the last 8 years. So pot meet kettle?

Congrats!

 

[Bubba Satori]

Lol'd at "ear tampons"

Convenient drains included for disposing your liquified earwax.
Amazing.

 

[macfoxpro]

Yes black like all the key note photos were.
I live in the UK and we have an expression in TV adverts " they included a 'token black man or women'
I actually felt apple were being racist against white folk!! Its strange being a token white man!.
How many white people were in apples key note?
ps
I am NOT racist against any creed.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creed

If you bring up racism for no good reason at all, and (for no reason) say you're "NOT racist" then.....well........never mind. I have been watching WAY TOO MUCH CNN and MSNBC.

I hate to be off topic, but I am looking forward to those airpods.

 

[jrswizzle]

Your entire post is garbage.

Most of the posts here are garbage but....this time of year brings out the whiners more than usual. It'll pass as technology actually progresses and people realize they didn't need that outdated connector.

Happening with USB-B ports, happened to CD/DVD drives in laptops. This won't be any different.

Equating the headphone jack to a steering wheel takes the cake for most moronic post here in my opinion though.

 

[neech7]

1)
5) Removing the part was about more than waterproofing. The headphone jack was a waste as it was a single-purpose connector that provided functionality already available through the lightning port.

Well then, make the home button way smaller, get rid of the up and down buttons (use voice command)

 

[jrswizzle]

Not gonna disagree. That stupid lightning port is actually one of the worst inverntions Apple has ever made. The number of corroded cables and ports I've seen thanks to the exposed connections are proof of how terrible the design was.

They can't really get rid of the port since they've created a whole ecosystem around it but ugh.

I think I still have the cable my iPhone 5 came with....and it's still perfectly intact and in working order.

I'm always baffled by the number of people who tell me the iPhone cables are fragile....because I've literally never had one break.

 

[AppleBytes]

People will complain about this for a few months and then accept it over time. No point in whining about it since it's going to stay from here on out.

Actually, I think the people who have invested $150+ in quality headphones will question whether they want to deal with a dongle and not being able to charge while listening, or biting the bullet for poor-sounding airpods or beatsx and many will make the switch to another company.

And people who have car stereos or hifi that uses an aux in cable will question whether the iphone 7 is worth the premium price + upgrading their existing systems for $150-500+

I have a fantastic pair of earphones and a great set of over-ears. I also have an excellent Cambridge kitchen stereo that has an Auxiliary in that works great but a USB jack that only works with iPhone 4 and below because Apple changed the iPhone's back end since the stereo was released. Not being able to charge the phone while playing music would honestly detract from my quality of life; i don't want to have to stop listening to music in order to charge up the phone.

When my iPhone (which is a 6) dies in a year or so, i'll have to make the choice between a $2000 investment in headphones and a stereo, or staying in the apple ecosystem. I'll probably choose the former, because the equipment I have will literally last 15-30+ more years and i'm not willing to give up on that quality, especially when the next proprietary system from apple will probably end up like Firewire vs USB2 or Thunderbolt vs USB3.

 

[spazzcat]

Ever heard of a wired connection to a car stereo? Idiot.

Yes, haven't see onw in cars in years, most cars have bluetooth audio and usb ports...

 

[morcutt11]

I hope this new iPhone will flop. Then they would realise it was a mistake to remove it. I'll be fine with my SE for a couple of years but after that I guess I'll have to get a Samsung or whatever still has a headphone jack.

It won't and Apple won't be bring the analog headphone jack. It's over. Time to move on. I find it odd that your sole deciding factor for a smartphone is if it has an antiquated headphone jack built-in or not, but so be it.

 

[Tompkinson]

There's at least a handful of guys who argue with Apple in every detail. Whatever your issue with anything Apple is doing, it's always YOUR fault or YOU need to change to comply. It's the opposite of "think different" unless "different" means "with whatever Apple is selling or wants to sell soon."

Agreed, but "think different" was a very, very, very long time ago.
And even when "think different" was launched, it was an aggressive marketing plan, accompanied by the feel good factor of images of 'great people' (Picasso, Fuller, Einstein, Ghandi, etc)
But what did it actually mean? It was open to interpretation, and a mass of easily influenced people adopted it as a mantra - which lead to before unseen levels of brand loyalty.
But it was always a very clever and manipulative advertising plan, not a political manifesto.

Now - looking at these forum posts for example - we see people believing they are thinking different by agreeing with everything apple does, and people who believe they are thinking different by criticising apple & uttering that steve would never have allowed this. Thus it is unclear what thinking different means, or what the so-called 'apple way' is - much like russian communists arguing over the truest interpretation of marx and lenin. or sub groups of islam arguing over what the koran actually means.

I'm certain that the next iPhone could be made out of razor blades and these guys would argue the merits of regularly turning over our blood supplies. Otherwise, I just can't grasp this level of blind brand loyalty... even within the concept of RDF, Kool-aid, etc.

 

[taran420]

In about two years Samsung will also get rid of the headphone jack and replace it with USB C.
Industry will follow apples footsteps

 

[AppleBytes]

Not gonna disagree. That stupid lightning port is actually one of the worst inverntions Apple has ever made. The number of corroded cables and ports I've seen thanks to the exposed connections are proof of how terrible the design was.

They can't really get rid of the port since they've created a whole ecosystem around it but ugh.

Yeah, I would have actually preferred if they'd gotten rid of the lightning port, kept the headphone jack, and went with wireless charging and a faster WIFI protocol for syncing. The headphone wire is a lot less inhibiting than the syncing/charging wire in many ways (especially usefulness).

 

[anthorumor]

Or they could like, make the phone slightly wider or longer and fit not only the 3.5mm, but a bigger battery to boot!

 

[erzhik]

Waterproof is huge. My family lost at least 3 iPhones in the past due water damage.

It's not waterproof. It's water resistant. There is a gigantic difference. It's good at keep rain water away and protect from a quick puddle drops or sink, but not more.

 

[morcutt11]

I would usually agree with this but I think the opposite may happen in this case. The inconvenience of carrying around an adapter might increasingly annoy 7/7+ owners over time.

If they are carrying around wired headphones, then they'll just leave the adapter on the headphones. And, I'm sure that Apple will gladly sell more adapters. The headphone jack won't be coming back? Has Apple ever caved on removable media? Removable battery? Nope. In a couple of years it won't make a difference as the other phone manufacturers will follow suite.
[doublepost=1473297432][/doublepost]

I think Apple is hiring Trolls to post pro no headphone jack comments here.

The pity is that the camera is awesome and I would have loved to buy this new phone, if only...

So people that disagree with you are trolls? This may be something that you want to discuss with a therapist....