I have this issue with mine sometimes as well, but frequently it's my movement causing the cord to slowly yank them from my ears. I wonder if they won't stay in more securely now that there's not a cord on the other end.
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Removal of iPhone 7 Headphone Jack Was Essential for Water Resistance, New Camera System
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I have this issue with mine sometimes as well, but frequently it's my movement causing the cord to slowly yank them from my ears. I wonder if they won't stay in more securely now that there's not a cord on the other end.
Does anybody remember the 2.5mm jack Steve had patented in 2011?
He still wanted a jack. Period. He knew he had to make it smaller, though.
The post-Jobs circus even tried to change the shape of the jack by making the TRRS connector pill-shaped, so it would be "flatter," last year.
Proprietary connectors, sure, make them exclusive (Lightning). Audio? They've eliminate the ability to utilize a separate, solid state connector. Thats a huge deal (not so to the consumer, but for people who do more). They could've gone with two Lightning jacks, though. Either way,
Fail.
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I honestly thought they were going to push a lot more on the audio quality now when the signal is all digital. Sort of hoped they would present the adapter as a high end converter in collaboration with apogee or something.
Okay. Explain how a lighting connected device offers better audio?
Hint here is : look up DAC.
Fact is : if you have decent heaphones , the DAC shipped in the adapter for $9 is inferior to that in the 6S, so inferior audio.
The money spinner: you will be purchasing a new DAC each time you buy lightning heaphones , while the iPhone has one built in.
Lightning devices make no difference to audio, as the end signal is analogue, and it is the DAC that determines the audio quality. There always needs to be a DAC, the awesome advantage of the 6S is that you did not need to purchase a new DAC each time you bought lighting heaphones.
Another fun fact. My 6S has every single capability to that of the 7, I too can plug in expansive lightning headphones or buy a DAC to plug in, which I do won, but my 6S out of the box provides superior Audio quality to the 7, cause the DAC in my 6S costs more than the $9 adapter, and given apples profit margins, damn that DAC must be utter junk
The 7 provides zero sound quality advantage over the 6S, as both have a lighting port. The 6S has superior audio sound quality due to its superior DAC.
Why are you comparing the quality of lightning headphones on the 6s with the audio jack dongle on the 7 by saying dac dac dac. It will be an improvement for most people because most people don't use the lightning connector for audio on the 6s but will on the 7. Dac dac dac
The problem with Apple's "excuses" for removing the headphone port is that the Lightning port is soon destine to be replaced by USB-C. So, what are they going to do then? Require another proprietary adapter or worse yet obsolete an entire generation of Lightning-based, wired headphones and other similarly tethered audio accessories?
If Apple were really forward thinking they would have engineered a design that would have kept the analog headphone port until they made the switch to USB-C. As it is, by dropping the headphone port and relying on Lightning they have just made the inevitable transition to USB-C more difficult, so much so that it may delay the adaption of USB-C on all of their mobile devices (which long term can't at all be a good thing).
If Apple were really forward thinking they would have engineered a design that would have kept the analog headphone port until they made the switch to USB-C. As it is, by dropping the headphone port and relying on Lightning they have just made the inevitable transition to USB-C more difficult, so much so that it may delay the adaption of USB-C on all of their mobile devices (which long term can't at all be a good thing).
Personally, I'm not a fan of Apple's EarPods. Maybe I have oddly-shaped ears, but I don't find them very comfortable and the sound quality isn't up to my standards.
I also own a pair of Sony wireless headphones and a PowerBeats Wireless 2; they're great, and I completely support the move towards wireless headphones in general. When the Beats are out of power, I can't listen to music. When the Sony headphones are out of power, I can connect via the 3.5mm jack.
Will some next-generation Sony wireless headphones offer the ability to tether via Lightning? I doubt it; but even if they do I expect it to come at a significant price premium. That may deter smaller manufacturers, who might not even bother to include it since there is only one device which can tether to their headphones via lightning. Now, sure, I could use the dongle. That certainly is an option; but it's less than optimal.
If Apple had gone USB-C instead:
- No dongle
- More likely to be supported by other devices, and hence by headphone manufacturers (without an exorbitantly expensive, iPhone-compatible variant)
And we'd all be able to truly move beyond the 3.5mm jack with a better technical solution which allows:
- Tethered headphones to draw power; enabling features like active noise cancellation
- Potential for more advanced control systems and protocols
- Digital audio, allowing for longer cables and better audio quality depending on your headphones' DAC
As it is, my options are:
- Wireless: Great, as I said. Advanced technical features, great compatibility, but there are times when you prefer a cable.
- Wired (Lightning): Advanced technical features, rubbish compatibility and possibly expensive.
- Wired (3.5mm via dongle): No advanced features, great compatibility and a baseline specification for all headphones.
Essentially, I want a wired connector which is as advanced as lightning but which enjoys broader industry support. Hence USB-C. I think it's a far closer to being an optimal solution than Lightning and a dongle.
From that very article: "The problem appears limited to the Galaxy S7 Active, a rugged model available only through AT&T in the U.S. The standard S7 and S7 Edge models have the same claims on water resistance and passed tests."
Emphasis mine.
All fair points. I would argue that without Lightning, we would have no USB-C. Apple stuck to their guns when ditching the 30-pin connector. Another room-saving move that caused much hand wringing at the time. At the end of the day, they provided a better connector than Micro-USB in nearly every way, and slowly pushed USB towards re-thinking what they were doing.
I don't think we'll see a move from Lightning for another 5 years at least if I had to guess. They made their move, and now they have to stick to it, or there will be an even larger uproar if they move to USB-C after less than 5 years with Lightning. It's fine for the Mac line, but I get why they aren't in a huge rush to put it in their phones. They've been getting by with proprietary connectors for 15-ish years, I think it'll shake out fine.
Apple's decision to remove the audio jack from their phones reminds me in a weird way of the spat between music streaming services and artists who are against them (like Taylor Swift). The idea is to deny people a format they want (streaming) to push them into buying a format they don't want (CDs). Similarly, Apple is removing an option consumers DO want (3.5 mm headphone jack) to push them toward a format they don't want (lightning cable headphones). Using Bluetooth is fine and all, but consumers shouldn't be expected to HAVE to buy Bluetooth devices to listen to audio on their iPhone. There are other ways of engineering a device to manage space, as Samsung has proven.
I think it more likely that Apple wants to sell more headphones. Having a proprietary connector gives them more leverage over the market, as did the 30 pin connector for iPods.
I don't realistically see Apple changing to usb-c for their iPhone line. It made sense for the MacBook as a way to simplify external ports (although they left the headphone jack in that one, heh), but it wouldn't solve any problems the lightning port doesn't already manage and would leave Apple without the nice licensing fees they probably receive for access to their proprietary connector.
I think it more likely that Apple wants to sell more headphones. Having a proprietary connector gives them more leverage over the market, as did the 30 pin connector for iPods.
I don't realistically see Apple changing to usb-c for their iPhone line. It made sense for the MacBook as a way to simplify external ports (although they left the headphone jack in that one, heh), but it wouldn't solve any problems the lightning port doesn't already manage and would leave Apple without the nice licensing fees they probably receive for access to their proprietary connector.
Removing the 3.5mm jack would have made sense in the name of an all wireless future (and consistency) if the 7 incorporated wireless inductive charging. Also for the sake of modernity, why not USB-C instead of proprietary Lightning?
I also agree with comments that suggested a slightly thicker case to flush the camera lens and add more battery capacity.
I also agree with comments that suggested a slightly thicker case to flush the camera lens and add more battery capacity.
Id rather carry a CD player around with me listening to great sound quality than music that is "mastered for iTunes".
re: "The audio connector is more than 100 years old," Joswiak says. "It had its last big innovation about 50 years ago. You know what that was? They made it smaller. It hasn't been touched since then. It's a dinosaur. It's time to move on."
LOL Gotta love the logic here. So, if something is old it needs to be replaced? Just because?
re: "For Dan Riccio, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, the iPhone's 3.5-millimeter audio jack has felt something like the last months of an ill-fated if amicable relationship: familiar and comfortable, but ultimately an impediment to a better life ahead."
A Sr. VP? Pretty scary. So, what's this 'better life ahead'?
Just say, 'Jony wanted to eliminate more ports... and, well, you don't want to see one of his tantrums. Those pesky users will just have to get used to the inconvenience.'
LOL Gotta love the logic here. So, if something is old it needs to be replaced? Just because?
re: "For Dan Riccio, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, the iPhone's 3.5-millimeter audio jack has felt something like the last months of an ill-fated if amicable relationship: familiar and comfortable, but ultimately an impediment to a better life ahead."
A Sr. VP? Pretty scary. So, what's this 'better life ahead'?
Just say, 'Jony wanted to eliminate more ports... and, well, you don't want to see one of his tantrums. Those pesky users will just have to get used to the inconvenience.'
The headphone jack is over 100 years old but Lighting connectors will be replaced and obsolete by USB-C in 5 or so years.
Exactly... They're all crap. It's a phone. I'm sure like the iPhone the output will be just like this last iPhone; 24bit/192Hz, piece of junk, product-family inferior, custom Cirrus Logic chip that's really only rated for half that resolution (24bit/96kHz), chronically clips at unity, and is throttled to lower than redbook CD quality by Apple regardless.
So, he has no idea what he's talking about, but they're ALL terrible DAC's. Apple throttles music's output through it's OS anyways. Do people really think they can listen to uncompressed or otherwise high quality music though the iPhone?
It won't be any better on the iPhone 7. You just have one less connector, with the DAC outboard on the adapter. You can even buy external DAC's already to improve that (digital>digital>DAC).
Remember, kids, it's different if you have a purely digital-digital connection. The audio will be spectacularly better, such as usb in a car, especially with high quality setups. Only way to do it. Lightning headphones will sound incredible as well, assuming you have a stellar product with great audio tech for your digital to analog conversions.
Guess what? Analog sounds just as good (better... cough cough) as digital, like all of my high-end studio equipment. The problem is that Apple never cared about quality audio hardware to begin with. They could have had a way better chip from Cirrus or a competitor for the headphone jack's DAC, but these are consumer products. They publish high quality files for people who know how to listen to them, but they don't care about a consumer product.
Nice little rant.
Absolutely ridiculous!!! And we all know it. If you are really serious about the omission of the jack please vote with your wallet. At the end of the day apple will only respond to their profit nargin, by buying the phones you are full on accepting their decision.
Please if you are really upset do not buy a 7!
Please if you are really upset do not buy a 7!
Upset? I just don't care about the new phone and won't buy one. Seems like a downgrade from my current phone.
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Except the ones you buy from Daiso for $1.50.
Yeah, you're right. What I was suggesting is that you could probably buy USB headphones and use them with a lightning device, but not the other way 'round.
Get over it guys. Once you go wireless you will never miss that annoying cord hanging from your ear to the phone in your pocket like its 1992. Like the man said, this is just the beginning of a wireless future and I'm glad Apple took the step to kick it off. Imagine in a few years, ultra light weight headphones, wireless with a month worth of battery life boosted by kinetic energy, charges wirelessly just by placing them on top of your phone (or any phone) or on a charging area (that will literally be everywhere integrated into tables, bars, exercise equipment, wherever) and crisp HD audio.
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- People already have very good passive headphones
- Good external DACs are not practical for mobile use
Proper action:
Build a pretty good DAC into the phone and output analog. But provide digital output too.
It is not the fault of the people that Apple bought Beats.
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