I'm afraid you're wrong on that account too. My pre-order for the Note 7 have already been processed. I'll be enjoying that on the 19th.
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Samsung Mocks Apple's Decision to Remove the Headphone Jack in iPhone 7
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I'm afraid you're wrong on that account too. My pre-order for the Note 7 have already been processed. I'll be enjoying that on the 19th.
Actually, the earlier referenced video
does mention the one element, I assume -- yes, I'm making a guess -- that is different: output power. Indeed, I'm not aware of the specs for either port, but I do assume -- there's that word again -- the Lightning connection does have a higher current capacity, which is only significant for larger drivers, such as those utilized in the headphones demonstrated.
With that said, headphone manufacturers (have and) can add an inline amp using a battery pack, something that may be required/desired whether 3.5mm or Lightning, as well as signal processing, etc. However, if my assumption is correct, using the Lightning connection would allow more headphones to operate at a higher performance without any additional hardware.
Ultimately, this is moot to the core discussion of whether to retain the traditional audio port, because present iPhones offer both it and the Lightning Connector.
Now you're resorting to what it's called? Who cares what NAME is has, does it effect the phone? No.
I'm not being snarky... Couldn't you just continue to use the current iPhone? By the time you feel the need to upgrade that, you may also feel the need or desire to update your automative audio head unit. As another option, buy the latest iPhone -- and if it indeed is not equipped with a traditional audio port -- purchase an iPod, current or recently discontinued revision, to perform your travel music needs.
no, people will not get over this, because removing the audio jack is a horrible idea.
lightening cable is not a standard, so basically any headphones will be "iphone only" headphones, they won't even work on a mac computer. You won't be able to charge your phone and listen to music at the same time.
It's going back to the days when each phone had a different charger cable and a different headphone cable. Very very very bad idea.
I agree that Apple has fallen behind Samsung in terms of being a leader in innovation. I've owned iPhones since the very first one came out and I have owned Apple stock since the 80s and have seen it deliver tremendous returns. But I can't help but wonder what Steve Jobs would say about Samsung beating Apple in so many ways: RAM, battery life, camera quality, waterproofing, wireless charging, removable storage capability, and more. Meanwhile Apple gets excited over a new Photo app feature or having a new color for the iPhone case or some other very minor change. That's not innovation. Why in the world can't Apple offer everything that Samsung can and does offer plus something really new? Consumers already pay a premium for an Apple product but in the case of the iPhone there isn't really that much that an Android phone can't do that an iPhone can but there are lots of things an iPhone can't do that an Android phone like several Samsung models can do.
This is both disappointing as an Apple customer since 1987 and as an investor for just about as long. Apple has stopped being the technology leader that it once was and that's very unfortunate. And I don't understand why that ever had to happen.
Sure, this new phone is just a filler, they are holding back innovation to make a grand splash next year for the 10th anniversary for the iPhone. Problem is, that screws customers who've been buying the "non-S" model of the iPhone for years. They know they typically get the "fresh" redesigned iPhone. Instead, this year, they are essentially getting the iPhone 6, for the third time.
So yeah, the name does matter, while I was joking about the SS, I don't doubt that this year we'll see the iPhone 6SE and the iPhone 6SE Plus. Mark my words. Either way, the customers are getting shafted with baby step upgrades so Apple can wow people next year. Meanwhile, Samsung is over there in South Korea giving customers everything they've been asking for, better screens, bigger battery, expandable storage, waterproofing, wireless charging and fast charging, retina scanners, VR, you name it, they are delivering which is why Apple has seen two slumping quarters (and expecting another down in the 3rd) and Sammy is dancing in the streets to their profits.
So yeah, it does matter.
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I'm so glad you said all that, as I've been arguing with SMID all morning. As I said, I know Woz, see image to the left. I've been an Apple fan, hell I even have an Apple logo tattooed on my body, but even I can admit when Apple is losing and just looking pathetic to their rivals. I haven't seen innovation from Apple since the iPhone 4, which to me, was still the best looking and best in the hand iPhone they made. I'd give anything to have a 5.5" iPhone 4 (albeit with thinner bezels), but it seems to me that Jony Ive, the only other person that really, truly got Steve, is more concerned with designing toasters and tables for non-profits or hanging with his fashion designer friends in Europe than actually designing anything anymore.
Fact is, Apple has lost so much key talent over the past 10 years, that it's not the same Apple. Granted the culture is there, but the talent is gone. Some have moved over to Samsung, others to Tesla and even the Chinese company Huawei. Fact is, Phil Schiller has his head up his butt, thinking we're still going to be amazed by technology they show off at a show, when Android has had it for over 2 years. I mentioned Jony already and Forstall, love him or hate him, is gone too. The generation who created the iPhone, that pioneered this new smartphone generation is either no longer at Apple or they've been promoted and just don't have the team that worked as hard as they did. Then there's Cook, he's a profit margins guy. Operations leader. He doesn't have the vision that Steve had, no body short of Ive does. There is also nobody there with Steve's level of expectations. Nobody to call a spade a spade and say NO, that looks like crap, we are't producing that, that's not coming out of Cupertino. Do you honestly think Steve would allow this new iPhone to look basically like the last two iPhones? I don't.
That's all I can figure.
The need to get audio out and power in at the same time is such a common use case that I'd strongly suspect they have a solution in mind. So this very likely doesn't mean that you can't use your cassette tape adapter, just there may be an extra bit plugged in, in between. That's the problem with trying to work out the ramifications of a rumor like this in an information vacuum (where we don't have Apple's explanations on anything, so people are taking one detail and running with it).
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For people who have a iPhone 6 or lower, this will feel like an massive upgrade. Who cares if it looks similar? That's one thing you're right about, they are throwing all eggs into one basket for next year and it'll pay off.
Oh and profits. Don't talk to me about profits. Apple, despite having a miserable quarter (apparently) made £5.9 billion profit in 12 weeks.
Samsung made £5.4 billion in the same amount of time. How many more products do Samsung offer? Apple only offer six different types of products. Samsung make washer machines, freezers, household items and they still can't beat them...
Not a counter argument in any way, just a possibly interesting bit of data: Pokémon Go is heavily based on Ingress, Niantic's previous game. I'm an Ingress player, and through the game over the last few years I've met hundreds of other Ingress players. All of the serious Ingress players, both on iOS and Android, use external batteries. Because it sucks to have walked five miles away from home and then have your battery fail (and have to walk five miles back, not playing). So everyone ends up carrying and using external batteries. FWIW, I don't see what I've just said directly being an argument for larger batteries (though I'd love to see Apple start increasing battery sizes a bit), because we're commonly using batteries that are two or three times the capacity of the internal battery (and using them in addition to the internal battery, obviously, and I don't think anyone really wants Apple to make the iPhone's battery three or four times the size it currently is. 25% larger, sure, but not 300%).
most popular? yes.
but lets consider, how many 30$,50$,80$, 100$ and 150$, low end android phones are there?
i can literally walk into any carrier and walk out with a free android phone at no charge, or go to any way-mart and purchase one for literally 30$ pre-paid.
does that make it good? if you don't mind, ~750mb RAM, a 3MP camera, no front facing camera. a 1000 MaH battery, a connection that barely passes for "4g", a screen that doesnt even have 480p resolution and an outdated android system(I'm talking pre-4.4 kitkat.) then yes it is pretty popular
but of course you will have a more popular os when you have 10-20 different phone manufacturers using it. each one able to make the cheapest phone possible. *cough* galaxy core prime *cough*
don't get me wrong, some of the manufacturers like samsung/LG/HTC ETC have some decent or even good phones but a lot of them almost always have atleast one lesser "knock off" of their flagships for a lot cheaper
IE: HTC had the desire 626 and the "626s" that they sold for prepaid.
Samsung has the galaxy "s" line but also has flops like the "galaxy core prime" and "galaxy grand prime" and their newer galaxy "j" line(can only assume it stands for junk)
so yea its popular when you have hundreds of millions of junk or lesser phones in the market.
iPhones have held a solid market share for years when they literally only release one flagship phone a year. and always have been that way up until the 5c and the SE. both of which have done well, and the SE has been a huge hit itself and vastly differentiates itself from other manufactures version of their lesser by not actually going the cheaper option. still has a 12MP camera. still has most of the same internals, still has a great battery, ETC.
popular is not always good.
thats like saying Bug light is a better beer then a finely crafted local beer simply because its more popular, even though we all know its glorified piss water.
If you are talking opinions yes they are all subjective. Someone may love 10.00 headphones. You may have missed my point however. When you have the ability to measurable quality, subjectivity is not in the equation. If I want totally flat frequency response that can reproduce the audio as closely as possible to the original wave form from drivers with low resistance and large drivers for pushing air... those things are measurable and not subjective (as well as expensive).
agreed. I play both ingress and pokemon go, and i currently have a 10,000 Mah external i carry with me, and a 60,000 Mah i got on Prime Day that i keep in my truck for this exact reason,
even if apple bumped their batteries up an extra 100% id still keep the externals after seeing the different in power with them. i don't even primarily use them for pokemon/ingress anymore, but for road trips, flights, at events, ETC, i no longer have to make sure my phone is plugged in when i get home for the day or make sure its charged before i leave.
if anything if apple could design a sleek and smooth external that didnt HAVE to be a case with a big bulge on the back, i would love them so much more for it.
It is nice that acceptably portable, high capacity batteries are finally becoming affordable.
Allow me to unpack this...
"In the end, I think Apple has gotten this right again. If you want the best quality sound, then connecting to the lightning port is going to be better because more data can be passed through it (I believe)."
Well, yes. You're saying more data will pass through the data cable than the analog cable. No argument there; it's just a matter of when the same exact amount of data becomes an audio signal, and that can happen internally or externally. Without getting into the technology of it, I can offer you the iPhone 6S. It already offers both options.
"If you want the best convenience, you should be using wireless headphones."
Personal preference. I prefer better audio quality and not having to charge/power mine; to me that is more convenient. However, wireless headphones have nothing to do with the Lightning connector or the 3.5 jack.
"But in no event should you be using the jack except because of legacy headphones."
That's not true. Without the technical mumbo jumbo, there is no way that the analog port is severely outperformed. In fact the performance will be based on the A/B test... specifically, I'm saying that if you took a DAC Dongle today, and then tested it in a 6S lightning, and the 6S 3.5, is there a difference? Could someone even tell the difference? I have my doubts, but it's possible that depending on the quality of the DAC used and the amperage it pushes, you can get a better signal.
I would return to the idea that the 6S DAC set with the internal plug is absolutely excellent, and my most standards a very well received signal chain *for a phone*. If you're doing some sort of critical listening, I'd have many questions for you.
"And basically the consumer hasn't figured this out because that jack that they know was always there."
You're right. Most consumers aren't in the $200+ category of cans. If you walk into a store now, you won't see $10 Lightning earbuds. You also won't see $10 wireless headphones. People are, I believe, fairly aware of wireless headphones at this point. So whatever figuring out they're doing, which I assume is the awareness of Lightning headphones maybe, is more of a lack of availability at a price point.
What Lightning can do, which is very cool, is sort of force the headphone amp on a customer by hiding it in the product. They eliminate what would otherwise be those clunky headphone amps that are twice the size of your phone. I think it's great that these are starting to permeate the high end of the market. I find them to be less useful unless they have an adapter, but that's my use case. Others may be interested without it. No problem.
The argument isn't that Lightning is awesome. It is. The 6S offers it. It offers Bluetooth as well. These are great features. But as I just mentioned, those in-ears and lightning cans are higher end. They're not the ones you want to take on the subway or sweat into at the gym. They aren't the ones you take grocery shopping or walking in a park. They aren't the ones you have to worry about charging ahead of time (BT), they just work immediately and without fail. And for all of those conveniences, why remove it?
When you say "Apple got it right" - I assume you mean that having lightning and bluetooth are cool. However, if you're saying that the design omission of the 3.5 is what Apple got right, the question to you is, what is right about it? All you've done is inconvenience a lot of people... and a vast majority will begrudgingly buy an adapter so their stuff works at no real consumer benefit.
I would expect Apple will be very stingy with port power supplied to headphones as they are with accessories. I have thumb drives Apple won't support on the iPad. I suspect most noise cancelling headphones will be supported, but large drivers, probably not. However, as you point out, a simple external battery will solve that problem in most products, even earbuds which have the space for one needed to supply the extra oomph. The plus side there is that they may also work just fine when they run out power, in much the same way underpowered analogue headphones do.
The one benefit to upgrading a pair of analogue headphones to digital headphones which can take advantage of these added features, will likely be that adapters from Lightning headphones to analogue sources will be cheap, in that they will likely tell the headphones to bypass the DAC and simply pass the analogue signal along. That provides opportunities for both the adapter and/or the headphones to then supply the extra power to drive the headphones from an analogue source that was otherwise underpowered, and cost a lot less than an adapter for using 3.5mm analogue headphones with a digital source.
Because it's silly to contemplate that in order to use a Lightning headphone on a 3.5mm analogue source, that an adapter would have to convert the analogue source to digital to get it into the headphones and then back again to analogue to the speakers, especially if that source has already been previously converted to analogue from a digital source.
I think there's no need to say that whatever Apple introduces in September with respect to Lightning connections, there will be changes to the Lightning specs from what they've already published, just as they have always done, in reserving the right to make changes to their own products, as well as MFi terms, to accommodate a brand new audio standard.
Sorry no, headphones will not be "iPhone only". Some cheap ones might for emergency sale at drugstores, but not any pair someone might want to purchase for continued use. And Apple is most likely going to add a Lightning connector to all Macs, rather than alienate a customer embracing their own ecosystem.
Apple has perfectly primed the Retina MacBook for this in that the 3.5mm headphone jack will be swapped out for Lightning as soon as Apple removes the headphone jack from the iPhone. Obviously Apple can't do it before without giving away their plans. This is similar to the iPad 3 switching from 30-pin to Lightning in the iPad for with no other major changes mid-cycle.
This continual claim of not being able to charge and listen to music at the same time is tiring -- please provide a link to the validation of this claim -- can't do it? Right, because nobody knows how this is going to work, but you can rest assured someone has worked out the problem. A simple pass-through connector at a minimum is all that's necessary.
And we're not talking about something bulky like the HDMI adapter for iOS, but instead an actual slim-line pass through port on the Lightning connector just like those available on USB connectors today.
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You're aware that this is completely BS? Lightning isn't going to "pass along the analogue signal". It can't. It is not anywhere in the MFi specification that the Lightning signal can just simply ask the internal DAC to provide it with signal. Are you mental? The Internal DAC and the Lightning port aren't in some magical chain. Seriously, why are you making stuff up?
Headphones won't be "iPhone only", but, you know, they'll all have MFi certification. I'll let you work out that acronym.
Also, if Apple were going to add a Lightning connector to all of its macs, why did they choose a 3.5 on the MacBook in their last two revs of supersmall machines? One USB-C, and a 3.5? Why not Lightning there, of all places?
Holy crap, something not completely made up! Yes, the example is the HDMI dongle.
Didn't miss you point all. Understood what you are saying and I agree with you about scientific measurements. But at the end of the day, it's still a matter of personal preference, regardless of fancy measurements. We've seen plenty of heated arguments related to this topic, especially after Apple purchased Beats. Personally, I know what I like in the $100 price range, but some folks will argue that their $15 Skull Candy earbuds are superior. I don't get it either, but it is a fickle topic.
You cannot seriously be suggesting that the Galaxy S7 is rubbish?
Best camera in any phone , particularly in low light conditions and seriously high quality display for starters!
Because surely no system has been upgraded ever - you couldn't possibly have a 4.7" screen in an iPhone 6, because such a screen would never fit in the iPhone 5 case. Broadcast television can never be color, because the original standard was black and white (color information was added to unused space in the B&W signal). FM radio can never be stereo because the original standard was mono (FM stereo is broadcast as an FM mono signal, with an additional Left-minus-Right difference signal frequency-shifted up above hearing range - if you play the signal on older mono equipment you get mono; if you separate out the high-frequency portion, shift it back down to the proper frequency range, and add it to one copy of the original signal and subtract it from another copy of the original signal, you get proper left and right stereo channels).
The Lightning specification doesn't say, "this is all this will do ever", it says, "if you do X, you will get A result, and if you do Y, you will get B result." Apple is free to add, in September, "also, if you do Z, you will get C result" to the protocol. It simply requires checks to ensure old hardware won't accidentally activate incompatible new features. This is how standards are extended, all the time. Stop questioning people's sanity, when you simply don't understand how standards evolve.
This is not to say that Apple will pass analog audio through the Lightning connector, but they absolutely can amend the spec for that, if they choose to do so. That's a big part of the reason the Lightning spec is proprietary, so they have complete control over its future and can add things that they want, when they want (Apple has a long history of being held back by someone else's timetable or whims - e.g. IBM and the PowerPC chips - so they like to have control over things that affect them).
When you say enjoying.. you actually mean you will be secretly thinking, hang on, it's the same as my 6s?
You're off the deep end, sir. I'm sure Apple could turn the lightning connector into a landline cord if they really wanted to as well. However, if you're going to debate around the possibility of doing something while the design was diametrically opposite and would incorporate what already currently exists, you have no foundation in reality.
Consider, for just a moment... if only there were an analog connector, and it provided device power, and it was universal... and you've described the 3.5. Your suggestion doesn't even make business sense. The case for dropping the 3.5 centres around the need to sell more accessories. All that additional work (edit: all that fantasy work you're postulating about analog-over-lightning) wouldn't sell a single device because the spec provided doesn't account for it, not to mention the terrible and unnecessary product that would result.
If you're going to call someone out for their facts being wrong, you should consider having the slightest bit of reality on your side. Facts are stubborn things. They're right whether you want to believe them or not.