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

[ilikewhey]

Maybe they don't?

http://www.consumerreports.org/smar...fails-consumer-reports-water-resistance-test/
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All of this is setting up for next year. I think even the ceramic Watch is setting us up for a ceramic iPhone next year.

"The Active is one of three versions of the Samsung Galaxy S7, and it was the only one to fail our water-immersion test. The standard Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge claim the same level of water-resistance, and both of those models passed. Those two phones currently top our smartphone Ratings, with Excellent scores for their displays, battery life, cameras, and other attributes."

you were saying?

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Wow. So many pathetic people wanting to stick with a 100 year old relic technology.

Get. Over. It.

There's a reason why we have decent phones and laptops these days. They cut out what isn't needed. Here's 2005 vs 2015 laptops. Even then, the 3.5mm jack should have been a Lightning connector.

They've provided 3 alternatives - yet you all are whining like Neanderthals not wanting to leave the Stone Age. Good luck evolving.

Good luck trying to charge the iphone7 while listening via Lightning. But wait....does the iphone 7 have wireless charging?

NO!

Why not? Simple. They effed up. Sure, you could use an AirPod..but only for 5 hours. And this was the best they could do? They should've waited until next year to improve on those.

Phil was sweating like a pig knowing he was full of it on stage. " Courage ", my ass!

 

[MrMac2015]

I wonder if it's possible to design an adapter that lets you plug in a charger cable and headphones simultaneously.

Yep, it's called the iPhone 6!
I do get its a better phone and I do want it but I listen to audio every night to fall asleep and on holidays I have a battery pack plugged in as I drain my battery about 3 times a day using it round the pool etc. This will be a pain for me. They should have moved to the "wireless future" with wireless or MagSafe charging for the phone too and all would be perfect. Also the camera is plain ugly design. I don't get the obsession with thinness. Would prefer a really nice fresh looking phone slightly thicker but a design classic like the iPhone 4. That is a piece of art and the Samsung edges are amazing looking ( but id never switch)

I think the home button will be grand btw just slightly different.

 

[smacrumon]

Old and antiquated IS a reason, if something much better is available. What was wrong with the earlier 1/4" jack anyway? The smaller one was completely incompatible without an adaptor.

It does take up too much space. So does the sim. That old, clunky crap is bigger than the CPU. It should be gone but the carriers have managed, so far, to keep it there. The antenna bands are no bigger than they have to be, nothing better or smaller is available. When it is, they'll use it.

I wonder, when would you get rid of the jack? If not now, when? Next year? 5 years? 20 years? Never? It will always be ubiquitous until something drives it out.

I would have got rid of lightning and designed into the 3.5 all the functionality of lightning. That would have been more difficult to achieve but possible, and much more beneficial for Apple and its customers.

 

[sracer]

More likely a 6 SE version with the jack while the 8 will remain without it. The only way to change all that is dropped sales = Bye, Bye Cook, You're Fired.

If iPhone 7 sales tanked (relative to previous gens) Apple WOULD backtrack. That (tanking sales) has less chance of happening than jumping a jet-ski over a shark equipped with a frickin' laser attached to its head and an original Apple II in its mouth.

Consumers don't realize how much power they have in large numbers.

 

[masteroflondon]

If everyone who has criticized Apple for the removal of the headphone jack bought a competitor's phone, I'd bet that Apple brings it back in a subsequent version of the phone.

Complaining won't do anything. Emailing Tim Cook won't do anything. The only thing Apple responds to is sales... especially a drop in sales of their products in conjunction with an increase in sales of their competitors'.

Oh wow, if only they'd thought of that before! They even referenced courage, because they know it will be disliked by many.

EVERYTHING they do, every single choice they ever make pleases someone but upsets someone else. What's the net feeling? Only time will tell.

 

[MaloCS]

Oh right, so I guess Sony are frigin technical geniuses then as they managed to make water proof headphone ports YEARS AGO!!!

If Apple are that inept at technical design, I highly suggest they hire some of Sonys mobile division engineers...

Or basically Apple is talking UTTER BS to give excuses for ditching the headphone jack which is far more likely..

Apple truely really are getting more and more arrogant and treating its customers with more and more contempt as the years role on.

Apple has turned into a typical money grubbing corporation. They are now stereotypical "corporate pigs".

 

[cfountain72]

My wife has been having some issues with her Home button lately and, instead of repairing it, I suggested that she wait to see what she thought of the 7's. Now, I really believe the better option for her (and maybe many others?) is to just get another 6 or 6S. Wonder how many others may do the same...

 

[sracer]

Oh wow, if only they'd thought of that before! They even referenced courage, because they know it will be disliked by many.

EVERYTHING they do, every single choice they ever make pleases someone but upsets someone else. What's the net feeling? Only time will tell.

Of course they've thought of that. Apple is betting that the pushback on sales will be negligible... and they'll be right.

 

[smacrumon]

Good luck trying to charge the iphone7 while listening via Lightning. But wait....does the iphone 7 have wireless charging?

NO!

Why not? Simple. They effed up. Sure, you could use an AirPod..but only for 5 hours. And this was the best they could do? They should've waited until next year to improve on those.

Phil was sweating like a pig knowing he was full of it on storage. " Courage ", my ass!

The airpod direction is crazy or premature. Who wants only 5 hours of charge? Who wants to continually charge it? What happens when the battery dies after a few years? Another $159 purchase? With traditional earphones they just work. Plug in and go. No thought about charging.

 

[morcutt11]

I remember this same debate when HDMI came out. A lot of the home entertainment people had the same complaints that are being aired here like incompatibility of existing, expensive equipment they own, having to buy new cables, etc.

Good luck trying to charge the iphone7 while listening via Lightning. But wait....does the iphone 7 have wireless charging?

NO!

Why not? Simple. They effed up. Sure, you could use an AirPod..but only for 5 hours. And this was the best they could do? They should've waited until next year to improve on those.

Phil was sweating like a pig knowing he was full of it on storage. " Courage ", my ass!

You wanna cite where Apple effed wireless charging? Industry experts (like yourself no-doubt) have long suspected that Apple is holding off on wireless until it adds real value (sitting your phone on something that still has to be plugged in offers only marginal benefit - when it works). The belief has been that Apple is trying to get distant charging to work or combine power and data/audio through one wireless signal. I suspect it is like NFC payments - the technology isn't the issue - usability is.

Perhaps you could share with Apple as to how they could get more than 5 hours of runtime out of their AirPods, I'm sure that they could use the engineering help. What number do you need? Is 6 hours the minimum? 8? Maybe they should have held off until you were ok with it. It is hard to believe that they rolled out new products without checking with you.

And yes, it does take courage to take away a long-time technology staple that is heavily used to move people to a new path.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

The airpod direction is crazy or premature. Who wants only 5 hours of charge? Who wants to continually charge it? What happens when the battery dies after a few years? Another $159 purchase? With traditional earphones they just work. Plug in and go. No thought about charging.

You can charge them in a case for 15 mins and they last for 3 more hours but still...it's nuts.

 

[cfountain72]

BTW, Any stats on how many people actually use iWork on their iPhones? Regularly?
Also, the folks in the audience do know that online real-time document collaboration has been around for a while, right?

 

[dilbert99]

so what's your issue with it being removed?

Can't charge my phone in the car while connected to aux.
If I leave my bag (dongle & headphones) in the car and need to connect some 3.5mm headphones at work, I'm out of luck unless I have paid Apple some $$ to have a spare dongle at work.
If my phone is in my pocket and dongle attached, said dongle is sticking out of pocket, catching on my belt perhaps.

Maybe if Apple replaced the 3.5mm jack/lightning with usb c that wouldn't have been so bad. At least it could have been another viable standard.

 

[MaloCS]

Of course, Apple could also drop the preoccupation with "thinner" and created the room for all of that and KEPT the headphone jack. 2 apparently great wants of iPhone buyers:

• More battery
• Get rid of the protruding wart

Rather than ejecting thoroughly ubiquitous utility to "free up "very valuable space," a modestly thicker iPhone could have accomplished the same. I pretty much never see, hear, meet anyone clamoring for "thinner." Now apparently "thinner" comes at a price of kicking utility OUT to accessories.

But spin it fellas... spin it. "Thinner" is essential so the headphone jack had to go so that other stuff could fit. That was our only option.

Now what shall we kick out to an accessory next year to create room for "more innovation" in what must be an even "thinner" iPhone? You know, that battery takes up most of the space, it's an even OLDER technology than the headphone jack and people already buy battery cases anyway. Hmmmm.

Apple is now the definition of "corporate pigs". They are profiteering and acting solely in the best interest of profit, and profit only. The only thing Apple cares about is money and power.

I won't be buying this phone. I'll also be blocking the Apple iOS update server on my router. I won't allow Apple to destroy a perfectly good device with forced obsoletion through iOS software updates.

 

[morcutt11]

The airpod direction is crazy or premature. Who wants only 5 hours of charge? Who wants to continually charge it? What happens when the battery dies after a few years? Another $159 purchase? With traditional earphones they just work. Plug in and go. No thought about charging.

Fortunately you don't have to buy them. There are a lot of Bluetooth options out there from Beats, Bose, Bohm, Sennheiser, Sony, Sentey, Samsung, JBL, etc. For many people, 5 hours is sufficient as they are not listening to headphone for longer than that under continuous use. In addition, when they put them back in the case, they are automatically charging again.

 

[dilbert99]

How are they "lesser" technologies?

Lightning connected devices offer better sound quality and provide far more useful features.

And Bluetooth connected devices are the future (perhaps not Bluetooth but some other wireless form like AirPods). Just because no one has been able to improve wireless technology doesn't mean it inferior.

How about waiting to hear the quality of the AirPods or new Beats to find out? My guess is most of the folks complaining about this use crappy headphones.
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How is it a "cash grab"? They're giving us lightning headphones AND an adapter...

And when that headphone cable or dongle cable breaks?

 

[morcutt11]

Apple is now the definition of "corporate pigs". They are profiteering and acting solely in the best interest of profit, and profit only. The only thing Apple cares about is money and power.

I won't be buying this phone. I'll also be blocking the Apple iOS update server on my router. I won't allow Apple to destroy a perfectly good device with forced obsoletion through iOS software updates.

Then you need to get over it and chose a different manufacturer. Apple has always been about building an ecosystem. If you want the broadest range of interoperability with open standards and the widest range of manufacturers, then get a different phone.

 

[Dydegu]

Apple has to be embracing lightning for their entire lineup. No one will buy lightning headphones if you can only use them on one device. However, at this point, no one should really be purchasing wired headphones. Make the investment. Especially if Apple Pencil comes to the Mac. You'd stick in the side of your Mac to charge. I know people would riot, but the thing takes minutes to get hours of charging, so deal with it. They have plenty of space on Macs and iPads, so I'd imagine there is no reason to remove the headphone jack, at least for a little while. The iPhone is a really tight space, so this kind of compromise had to be made.

The iPhone 8 has to come with wireless charging. But how would that work in the car? Or all of these people who are listening to wired headphone music and charging at the same time, if the phone has to be sitting on a wireless charging dock, you can't really use your phone if you're chilling in bed or on the couch. In this interim process, people just need to prepare. Charge your phone overnight. If you have a long drive or something, be prepared. It's not optimal, but its certainly livable.

I also didn't realize how affordable a Bluetooth adapter for the car is.

 

[smacrumon]

Make sure to hang on to the case, otherwise there's no ability to charge your wireless EarPods. This just smacks of stupidity and a lack of simplicity.

Let's see how it all pans out.

 

[CB1234]

Of course they've thought of that. Apple is betting that the pushback on sales will be negligible... and they'll be right.

If pushback on sales will be negligible.... then they will be right !

 

[arkmannj]

Because while Lightning is a multi-purpose connector, it cannot handle both charging and audio at the same time. If it could, we would have seen a 3.5 mm adapter with pass-through for simultaneous charging released with iPhone 7.

As i think about this it simply isn't true, i see plenty of docks (iHome and others) that both play audio from the lightning port while charging the phone. So Lightning as a port should already support it. Apple should have used this capability in their dongle/adaptor.

 

[yg17]

I wouldn't buy lightning headphones either, unless they were dedicated to a gym bag or something like that (although I use Bluetooth for that). With that said, I don't Apple see the future of audio as wired, lightning-equipped headphones are just a convenience offering for those that find them convenient.

Well, then they better try harder than wireless buds with 5 hours of battery life because that's just a joke.

Having spent close to 24 hours from clearing security at the origin airport to stepping off the jetway at my destination airport, and listening to music probably 90% of that time, Bluetooth headphone battery life just wouldn't cut it.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

I remember this same debate when HDMI came out. A lot of the home entertainment people had the same complaints that are being aired here like incompatibility of existing, expensive equipment they own, having to buy new cables, etc.

You wanna cite where Apple effed wireless charging? Industry experts (like yourself no-doubt) have long suspected that Apple is holding off on wireless until it adds real value (sitting your phone on something that still has to be plugged in offers only marginal benefit - when it works). The belief has been that Apple is trying to get distant charging to work or combine power and data/audio through one wireless signal. I suspect it is like NFC payments - the technology isn't the issue - usability is.

Perhaps you could share with Apple as to how they could get more than 5 hours of runtime out of their AirPods, I'm sure that they could use the engineering help. What number do you need? Is 6 hours the minimum? 8? Maybe they should have held off until you were ok with it. It is hard to believe that they rolled out new products without checking with you.

And yes, it does take courage to take away a long-time technology staple that is heavily used to move people to a new path.

Cite? I don't need to CITE. It was evident right there on the keynote. You have to be so blind NOT to see the flaws. I'm a designer/artist and I'm trained to see flaws where I see them. The Lightning port is a design flaw when chargning is needed while listening to music or whatnot.

The only go around is use Lightning to charge it while using bluetooth to blast it on stereo speakers at home or in the car ( if they release a Lighting to USB-C adapter ).

Or using AirPods with 5 hour battery life while the phone charges with Lightning to the wall. For the AirPods to be effective, 10 hours would've been a good round number.

But you CANNOT use the lightning headphones when the phone battery is low if you need to listen to music or watch a video/movie. They should have made wireless charging for the phone FIRST before introducing AirPods or removing the 3.5 jack, NOT the other way around.

 

[Accipiter]

Because while Lightning is a multi-purpose connector, it cannot handle both charging and audio at the same time.

You have no idea what you're talking about.