Supply Chain Rumors Reaffirm iPhone 7 Will Not Have Headphone Jack

[Burger Thing]

Because that is exactly how the 3.5mm port works, there's no reason not to evolve lightning to do the same. It makes plenty of sense.

No, it doesn't. I am sorry.

First of all, the contact area would be smaller compared to a 3.5 mm jack, hence you would have rather worse signal and sound quality.

Secondly using a headphone constantly via lightning the likelihood is far higher that you will brake something, because the headphone jack allows the connector to be rotated, the Lightning connector doesn't .

Thirdly you can't even charge your phone and listen to your songs at the same time.

Your suggestions make absolutely ZERO sense.

 

[gpsouza]

How will we charge and listen to music?

 

[Jynto]

Fine with me!

If they ship it with an adapter, I have no problem with this.

People also complained when Apple removed the optical disk drive. I sure don't miss mine...

Look to the future people.

Some of the comments in this thread are making me sick. Look, far from me to tell you to how to use this forum. But the idea of having to carry an adapter to use my existing headphones is genuinely distressing me.

Right now my Mac and my iPhone, two devices I play audio from all the time, have the same headphone port. That makes it easily to plug and unplug from one to the other. But in future it seems I won't be able to do that without removing the adapter. And such a small thing like that will inevitably get lost when you plug and unplug it several times a day.

I suppose if I didn't need the Lightning port for anything else (wireless charging perhaps?) then the adapter could live permanently docked in the iPhone. But that's going to leave it with an unsightly hump, which is bound to break off in my pocket and leave a piece of itself inside the phone. No, no, no, no.

I like my headphones. I won't buy wireless because the last thing I need is yet another battery-powered device with a daily charging cycle. No.

And I can't follow the tech news for the next 8 months to find out whether this awful thing will transpire or not because it would be bad for my mental health. That's why I'm leaving MacRumors. I don't know when I'll be back, hopefully never. This will be my last post. Please don't write replies to tell me why my opinion is so very wrong, because I won't read them.

 

[gpsouza]

No, it doesn't. I am sorry.

First of all, the contact area would be smaller compared to a 3.5 mm jack, hence you would have rather worse signal and sound quality.

Your suggestions make absolutely ZERO sense.

This make zero sense. Technology evolves and the DAC process has nothing to do with contact area in this case. It is just a bunch of zeroes being converted to voltage and even a small area is capable of doing that

 

[Robstevo]

Widely used by itself doesn't mean it's the right standard for the future, cf. iMac without floppy disk, MacBook without optical drives, iPhones without Flash support - all of which were the most widely used standards at the time.


Agreed in terms of the iPhone, but what about the Watch? The audio jack clearly isn't the right standard to connect earphones to the Watch, which will be forced towards BlueTooth, so forcing the iPhone to go along could may sense


If you look at the layout of the iPhone front screen, the size of the bezel underneath the screen is determined by the home button and the depth of the audio jack. Apparently they can't put the audio jack under the screen because it's too thick. There is a rumor that the iPhone 7 might significantly reduce the top and bottom bezel and integrate the home button with TouchID into the screen. If that's the design they're pursuing, and if it's true the audio jack can't go under the screen, then that's a serious design problem to solve and not just a minimal weight loss.


Bluetooth is the expensive option partially because audio jack is the cheap alternative. If Bluetooth earplugs become the standard, their price will go down significantly. If they go Bluetooth, I would expect that Apple would launch some cheap Bluetooth earplugs (those Beats hardware people aren't sitting around doing nothing I assume).

If the 3.5mm Headphone jack isn't the right standard for the future, the proprietary lightning port which noone but apple uses, certainly isn't. I would maybe understand it if apples solution is USB type C, but it seems to be apple is doing this so they get more licensing money out of the Lightning port.

Not to mention you can't charge while using the headphones of the so called future.

An in terms of Bluetooth, I think Bluetooth needs to vast improve its power efficiency, and ability to transmit better quality audio for a start. Because bluetooth audio sounds like crap compared to wired audio from my personal experience.

 

[AirdanMR]

I love how people try to justify this...

"It's like removing the optical disk" I'm sorry but NO, it's not like this. Optical disk were heavy and reducing weight in laptops was a need. But more important in 2012 nobody used them anymore because usb flash memory had already replaced them and it was a conector universaly adopted by everybody. Who didn't own a usb-flash memory 4 years ago?

Now tell me how many of you have a lightning headphones right now? Or how many of don´t use wired headphones anymore?

At least they could use USB-C which could be the future, but no, they have to "think different" lol

 

[nelmat]

But it won't be $20. It'll be significantly more. Given that a 30pin to lightning adapter was €30 (US$32), and that contains a DAC too, I'm guessing the pricing will be similar if not more.

Unless the DAC is built into the phone. Again, when spending so much money because audio output from a phone(!) is so important, what's $30 - no doubt there will be high end and cheap third party solutions available with variable quality DACs.

 

[beanbaguk]

Many many many points to address on your reply....

Widely used by itself doesn't mean it's the right standard for the future, cf. iMac without floppy disk, MacBook without optical drives, iPhones without Flash support - all of which were the most widely used standards at the time.

It's not just widely used. It's the best way to transport audio. You might as well change all electrical plugs in the US to the UK format. (It's much safer and much better), but is it necessary? No.

Agreed in terms of the iPhone, but what about the Watch? The audio jack clearly isn't the right standard to connect earphones to the Watch, which will be forced towards BlueTooth, so forcing the iPhone to go along could may sense

Outside the Apple community, nobody cares about the Apple Watch. I'd rather a fad not dictate the future of how I listen to audio.

If you look at the layout of the iPhone front screen, the size of the bezel underneath the screen is determined by the home button and the depth of the audio jack. Apparently they can't put the audio jack under the screen because it's too thick. There is a rumor that the iPhone 7 might significantly reduce the top and bottom bezel and integrate the home button with TouchID into the screen. If that's the design they're pursuing, and if it's true the audio jack can't go under the screen, then that's a serious design problem to solve and not just a minimal weight loss.

Nobody really cares about a thinner iPhone. It's just marketing hype to get you to believe another solution is necessary. The iPhone is thin enough as it is. We don't need a lightning adapter. It's all propriety and I'm being forced to change my accessories and therefore make money for Apple. Every MFi Lightning device is licensed to Apple and they make money from every adapter made).

It's all about the money people!!! I wish people weren't so blind to this but sadly most are.

Bluetooth is the expensive option partially because audio jack is the cheap alternative. If Bluetooth earplugs become the standard, their price will go down significantly. If they go Bluetooth, I would expect that Apple would launch some cheap Bluetooth earplugs (those Beats hardware people aren't sitting around doing nothing I assume).

Bluetooth audio is good if using AptX codecs, however that's also about licensing and making money. You refer to "beats" which are pretty substandard headphones and mainly consumer products but once again they belong to Apple so of course they want you to go out and buy them.

Most audio enthusiasts won't touch them so once again we're stuck with messy, expensive adapters.

Overall...it's all completely unnecessary and it's all about making money for Apple.

One thing is for sure. I'm positive Apple will be under scrutiny from the EU commission which this propriety change. It's one of the few EU things I think is great for the consumer.

 

[Burger Thing]

This make zero sense. Technology evolves and the DAC process has nothing to do with contact area in this case. It is just a bunch of zeroes being converted to voltage and even a small area is capable of doing that

Read. He suggested to use the Lightning Port with Analog Signals

 

[anthorumor]

I think people will be complaining when iPhone 8 ditches lightning port with USB-type C.

 

[nelmat]

I love how people try to justify this...

"It's like removing the optical disk" I'm sorry but NO, it's not like this. Optical disk were heavy and reducing weight in the laptos was a need. But more important in 2012 nobody used them anymore because usb flash memory had already replaced them and it was a conector universaly adopted by everybody. Who didn't own a usb-flash memory 4 years ago?

Now tell me how many of you have a lightning headphones right now? Or how many of don´t use wired headphones anymore?

At least they could use USB-C which could be the future, but no, they have to "think different" lol

Optical discs were heavy and took up space, they were also slow to read/write, and had limited capacity. Seriously 640mb on a CD that took ten minutes to burn that data?

There are more reasons for moving to lightning/BT than simply weight and space. How about water proofing as a simple example?

Personally I use my Mac connected to a B&W Zeppelin for audio playback, I don't see my phone as an audiophile device, any more than I see it as a professional DSLR or video camera.

 

[gpsouza]

Read. He suggested to use the Lightning Port with Analog Signals

I don't think this is a problem. It accepts digital transfer and has analog input (otherwise wouldn't charge). I think it is possible to use lightning por as DAC.

EDIT: It has analog input and output*

 

[Rogifan]

I've played the Adapter game for long enough on Macbooks, if the iphone jack goes, my iphone 6S will last me a few years, and will look elsewhere. Not using an adapter for all the headphones I have. Move to increase profits.

Your post makes no sense. You say Apple is doing this to increase profits yet you also say the 6S will be your last iPhone. How does Apple increase profits if people stop buying iPhones?

 

[beanbaguk]

Unless the DAC is built into the phone. Again, when spending so much money because audio output from a phone(!) is so important, what's $30 - no doubt there will be high end and cheap third party solutions available with variable quality DACs.

I'm really sorry but you completely miss the point. Lets say 5 million iPhones are sold.

$30 adapter (which is likely to break or get lost) so on average those who purchase an adapter, will probably buy about 1.2 on average.

Lets say half of iPhone users will buy an adapter.

The profit margin from each adapter is probably going to be a very conservative $15. (Probably $20 but lets keep it conservative).

That's $45 million in profit for Apple for a completely unnecessary device.

Now you have to add all the MFi licensing fees on top and you have a very healthy money spinner for Apple.

 

[nelmat]

I think people will be complaining when iPhone 8 ditches lightning port with USB-type C.

Yup, and they will complain again when it loses all ports, along with the volume rockers and home button. I'm beginning suspect we will see iDevices go from lightning to completely wireless over the next four/five years.

 

[ssong]

It seems to me that Apple may be trying to push on and put Tidal out of business?
Couple weeks back there was a rumour about Apple's renewed interest in hi-res audio, with them taking advantage of the Lightning port. It sure is a controversial move that even the earliest of adopters might take some time getting used to.

I think there are three ways Apple can ride this smoothly...

1. Release an iPhone + Beats bundle with inclusive lightning/Bluetooth headphones (highly unlikely though, can't remember last time Apple did bundles... But then again they ship a keyboard and mouse with every Mac, what if we start thinking of these products as a necessity?)

2. Release the usual earbuds with a lightning port instead, but improve the audio quality so that it will work as a selling point and not a fix to a problem (maybe... Depending on the costs)

3. Work with 3rd party manufacturers and Beats in releasing more lightning port headphones and give a discount offer in the first months of the iPhone launch... (Again maybe, but I don't think it's Apple like to do discount offers like that)

Overall, I think they will definitely look to move away from BT, and push the lightning port for its audio quality superiority and perhaps include wireless charging? I know Apple likes to wait a few years before adopting new tech that doesn't seem as a necessity but given that they now had the Apple Watch with inductive charging, I'm sure they will figure out a way to do that on the iPhone...

Just my 2cents

 

[beanbaguk]

Your post makes no sense. You say Apple is doing this to increase profits yet you also say the 6S will be your last iPhone. How does Apple increase profits if people stop buying iPhones?

Because a lot of people are idiots and they'll blindly buy whatever they're told to buy in the media.
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How will we charge and listen to music?

You'll have to buy a new wireless charger of course! That'll be $50 please!

 

[Luis Mazza]

u move to android because you are losing Apple earbuds? haha

Not only because I lose Apple earbuds... I would also lose my best earbud, a gorgeous OLED screen, sdcard (I have a 64GB one laying around), a decent HDMI to TV adaptor (Apple's lighting to HDMI is a low quality expensive crap) and the ability to watch videos while doing other things with my phone, which is only available in some apps on iPad Air 2 only.
I'm just sort of growing really tired of Apple's useless limitations. They're just overdoing it.

 

[Robstevo]

Optical discs were heavy and took up space, they were also slow to read/write, and had limited capacity. Seriously 640mb on a CD thst took ten minutes to burn that data?

There are more reasons for moving to lightning/BT than simply weight and space. How about water proofing as a simple example?

Personally I use my Mac connected to a B&W Zeppelin for audio playback, I don't see my phone as an audiophile device, any more than I see it as a professional DSLR or video camera.

Sony phones are waterproof and they have an exposed headphone jack, so nice try...

 

[nelmat]

I'm really sorry but you completely miss the point. Lets say 5 million iPhones are sold.

$30 adapter (which is likely to break or get lost) so on average those who purchase an adapter, will probably buy about 1.2 on average.

Lets say half of iPhone users will buy an adapter.

The profit margin from each adapter is probably going to be a very conservative $15. (Probably $20 but lets keep it conservative).

That's $45 million in profit for Apple for a completely unnecessary device.

Now you have to add all the MFi licensing fees on top and you have a very healthy money spinner for Apple.

id anticipate less than 2% will buy an adopter. They will use the Apple provided headphones. Most people simply don't care, and can grab a cheap pair of BT headphones for only £30 now, the cheap replacements for whatever the next design is will soon be available and commonplace. It's a phone, not a high end audio playback device.

 

[DaveTheRave]

Remember when everyone complained about the Lightning Connector? Now everyone loves it.

Wrong, not "everyone". I've found them to be buggy and not totally reliable. Even the ones sold by Apple.

 

[Rogifan]

Dear Apple,
Stop the obsession with thinness, and leave the headphone port alone.
In fact, please make the iphone a mm thicker, so the camera is flush with the rear.

Oppo have tried the ultra-thin phone with the R5 (4.9mm thick) and ditching the 3.5 headphone socket.
And no-one bought it.

Listen to your customers for a change - reduce the bezel width a bit, make the edges a bit squarer, hide the antenna lines, up the storage, and put the best camera in you can that is still flush with the rear.

Thanks,
Me and lots of other people

You do know that the current iPod touch has the headphone jack but is thinner than the iPhone.

People keep saying this but a decent pair of headphones are around the same price whether they are BT or not. As for audio quality, have you done a blind test? I have some BT speakers and the quality is fantastic.

I have a Bose soundlink mini and the sound quality is excellent. It has a jack for a wired connection but I never use it because wireless sounds so good. The fact that the iPod touch is thinner than the iPhone but still uses the headphone jack says this isn't about thinness. My guess is Apple wants to reclaim that space and fewer ports makes it easier to make the device water resistant.

 

[beanbaguk]

id anticipate less than 2% will buy an adopter. They will use the Apple provided headphones. Most people simply don't care, and can grab a cheap pair of BT headphones for only £30 now, the cheap replacements for whatever the next design is will soon be available and commonplace. It's a phone, not a high end audio playback device.

Again you're wrong. It's not just a phone and it is also a high end audio playback device.

 

[nelmat]

Sony phones are waterproof and they have an exposed headphone jack, so nice try...

No, they are water resistant, but reading some reviews, it appears they don't quite live up to the hype. How about some other advantages like power and data pass through? There are plenty of advantages and reasons for doing this other than space/weight (the weight being negligible).

 

[Burger Thing]

No, they are water resistant, but reading some reviews, it appears they don't quite live up to the hype. How about some other advantages like power and data pass through? There are plenty of advantages and reasons for doing this other than space/weight (the weight being negligible).

I had a Sony Xperia Z3 and took it regularly into the swimming pool to take pictures in and under the water of my daughter with Zero issues.