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I support this. Both my earbuds (for running) and my headset (for listening to music) are Bluetooth and it's awesome.

What Apple may lose in "audiophiles" will be more than made up for by the droves of people who pick up the iPhone that comes with free Bluetooth earbuds...

Free? Since when does Apple give away anything useful. The 6 plus came with probably the slowest charger instead a capable charger like the iPad's. Thats another easy 20 for Apple to charge.
 
I don't know if I'm the only one, but at this point I feel like I like when apple does bad decisions just to see what will be people's reactions.

In terms of ports, Apple is almost always ahead of its time. The early removal of the floppy; early adption of the original USB; the early adoption of the optical disk drive; the early removal of the optical disk drive; the introduction of lightning; the introduction of USB C etc. When you're early, you take the blunt of the heat coming from users who hate change (until it is forced on them, after which they will defend the technology against the next new thing that arrives).
 
I'll never go back to corded. Ugh.

But for those who do prefer a cord, how about making the adapter cheap, Apple? Sub $20? In the box even, for the first year or two?

Apple always brings the future (which is wireless) faster than some people like. Just help those people ease into it.
 
You all can say "blah blah no dvd drive blah blah"...

But the retina Macbook has one USB-C, aaaaaaaaaaaand?

A 3.5mm jack. That jack will stay until Bluetooth can push lossless and DACs are insignificant. That isn't for at least a decade.
[doublepost=1451974642,1451974598][/doublepost]And an adapter? It requires a DAC chip AND power. It's not *just* an adapter.
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I'll never go back to corded. Ugh.

But for those who do prefer a cord, how about making the adapter cheap, Apple? Sub $20? In the box even, for the first year or two?

Apple always brings the future (which is wireless) faster than some people like. Just help those people ease into it.

You can't do it. BT is terrible for audio quality, and a converter would be physically large.
 
Free? Since when does Apple give away anything useful. The 6 plus came with probably the slowest charger instead a capable charger like the iPad's. Thats another easy 20 for Apple to charge.

Just my guess. You're allowed yours too. My guess is based on the fact that they have routinely touted their advancements in ear bud technology (a la "EarPods"). I can definitely see that with their acquisition of Beats they would use this opportunity to put BT ear buds in the box. They would LOVE to talk about it on stage :)

In this day BT earbuds are so cheap they might as well be free. Hell, "wireless" earbuds could actually be cheaper to manufacture considering they use less raw materials (no wires!).

We'll find out next fall!
 
Bluetooth streaming is terrible compared to 3.5mm jack. They will loose audiophiles in a time when Apple releases and wants to push Apple Music. Bluetooth has lagged behind. I haven't heard a headset that competes with wired. I'd love to hear one but we likely need new Bluetooth protocols.
 
In terms of ports, Apple is almost always ahead of its time. The early removal of the floppy; early adption of the original USB; the early adoption of the optical disk drive; the early removal of the optical disk drive; the introduction of lightning; the introduction of USB C etc. When you're early, you take the blunt of the heat coming from users who hate change (until it is forced on them, after which they will defend the technology against the next new thing that arrives).

This comparison is different. Apple would be replacing something non-proprietary with something proprietary. As in you will have to pay Apple for your adapter one way or another.
 
People also complained when Apple removed the optical disk drive. I sure don't miss mine...

Look to the future people.

This isn't the same.

Firstly the disc drive was becoming irrelevant and so apple got rid of it before we felt ready. Headphones are completely relevant and Bluetooth has issues: lip syncing on videos can be a nightmare, even with high quality headphones.

Secondly, Apple didn't remove the disk and replace it with a proprietary alternative.

What they are doing is removing something we need and replacing it with a proprietary alternative.

There are 2 situations that occur for me every day where this will be an issue.

If true then we know that the current gen at Apple have misunderstood the thinking of the previous gen and think like you do, that this is another floppy disk or dvd drive issue. It's not.

Which also means that the magic really has gone.
 
Just my guess. You're allowed yours too. My guess is based on the fact that they have routinely touted their advancements in ear bud technology (a la "EarPods"). I can definitely see that with their acquisition of Beats they would use this opportunity to put BT ear buds in the box. They would LOVE to talk about it on stage :)

In this day BT earbuds are so cheap they might as well be free. Hell, "wireless" earbuds could actually be cheaper to manufacture considering they use less raw materials (no wires!).

We'll find out next fall!

The $1 earbuds that Apple turns around and chargea much more dont count. The iPad charger is much more apropos. It definitely makes a difference but the tightwads at Apple dont include it as standard.
 
Just buy a Bluetooth headphone/earphone, problem solved.
I haven't been using 3.5mm for the past 2 years as all my stuffs are bluetooth enabled.
 
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I know people are going to be angry about this... But like it or not, this has to happen sooner or later, and there is never really going to be a better time than now - waiting won't make it any easier. The 3.5mm jack takes up a significant amount of space, and on a small device, that space matters. Keeping the headphone jack is just delaying the inevitable.

This reminds me of when people were slamming Apple for not adding Blu-Ray to Mac. Steve asserted that streaming was the future, and look now... who really wants a blu-ray drive? Yes, it sucked for a couple of years while we transition to newer technology, but there's not way around that. The headphone issue is really the same philosophy - simpler products, wireless when possible. I have no doubt that after couple of years (which may include some transition pains), people will fully support moving on from the legacy 3.5mm jack.

False. Steve said Blu-Ray LICENSING was garbage. He was correct. That said, I have a Blu-Ray external, and so do many now that HDDVD is a Wikipedia entry.

Think about what you're saying... 3.5 millimeters taking up significant space? Yet it's fine on a Shuffle.

I'm really starting to think this rumor is just completely unrealistic. This is a company that sells a metric ton of music every second of every day. Ditching the most common way to get that product is just insanity. The money doesn't make sense. If they have a "converter" box add-on, they'll lose a lot of customers.

Frankly, it would be the one thing that would make me consider my options, phone & computer.
 
What functional purpose is there to remove the headphone jack? Surely not to make the phone thinner!

Is this just to sell BlueTooth Beats headphones?! Or just change for changes sake?

If it turns out to be true, it will be the first generation iPhone that I won't be upgrading to, after owning them all so far. I like my new BOSE Noise Cancelling headphones too much to give them up.
 
and there are still users here that don't trust Apple will remove the 3.5 jack because of bla bla bla reasons...
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This comparison is different. Apple would be replacing something non-proprietary with something proprietary. As in you will have to pay Apple for your adapter one way or another.
like the mage safe...so no news here
we always have wireless headphones forever but in addition to that lightning
 
Remember when everyone complained about the Lightning Connector? Now everyone loves it.

I'm sure no one will miss the 3.5mm headphone jack in 2-3 years.
Sorry no. Most Everyone that goes to the gym, walks , runs , college, school etc etc needs it. Bt headphones are still it there and I have owned several since they first started.

As long as they include for free an adapter then I'm good.

Knowing apple they will not include it and will not include any headphones moving fwd saving themselves even more money and pushing only the beats as their apple headphones.

I can see them charging $19-29 for the adapter.
 
Great, so my $1000 Shures need a freaking adapter.
Yup, I don't think this bodes well. Unlike the the first iMacs that came without a common drive, I'm not sure how well this will be accepted in the industry....but then again...it's Apple. They may still be trying to be leaders, not sure if I like the path...
 
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If the iPhone will be thinner than the 6, it will not have a 3,5 mm port, plain and simple.

I don't think this is that bad though. It's not like you're switching headphones every day.
Math would say you are wrong w your size expectations.
 
Apple will remove it and you'll adapt. Simple. Not saying I agree with their decision, but I'll be just fine if they remove the 3.5mm jack.

99% of people fake outraged right now will purchase the jack-less iPhone. Fact.
 
Remember when everyone complained about the Lightning Connector? Now everyone loves it.

I'm sure no one will miss the 3.5mm headphone jack in 2-3 years.

Not comparable because the 30-pin connector wasn't a universal standard. The only people inconvenienced by it were people using Apple devices. And at least the Lightening connector is a veritable improvement on its predecessor.

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

Look to the future people.

By "people", you mean a handful of complainants on the internet? Because people had already stopped being dependent on physical media for their needs before Apple chose to discontinue optical disk drives on their computers. No one really cared. It wasn't a controversial move at all.

By contrast, the 3.5mm jack is a universal standard found in just about every media device. And they're obviously heavily used when you consider how it's impossible to step outside and not see someone with a pair of headphones attached to their heads. Disrupting that and failing to replace it with a superior alternative (which Bluetooth certainly is not) isn't "looking to the future". It's change for the sake of change. It's not improving on anything. And I daresay this is a move that could actually hurt Apple.

But of course you slobbering fanboys will panegyrize anything Apple does and talk down anyone who questions the logic behind some of their decisions as if they're inherently incapable of making a boneheaded move every now and then.
 
False. Steve said Blu-Ray LICENSING was garbage. He was correct. That said, I have a Blu-Ray external, and so do many now that HDDVD is a Wikipedia entry.

Think about what you're saying... 3.5 millimeters taking up significant space? Yet it's fine on a Shuffle.

I'm really starting to think this rumor is just completely unrealistic. This is a company that sells a metric ton of music every second of every day. Ditching the most common way to get that product is just insanity. The money doesn't make sense. If they have a "converter" box add-on, they'll lose a lot of customers.

Frankly, it would be the one thing that would make me consider my options, phone & computer.

He did say the licensing sucked, but later went on to say that downloadable content was the future. Source -

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/30/steve-jobs-suggests-blu-ray-not-coming-to-mac-anytime-soon

You are right about the shuffle, but the shuffle is also a less complicated product. And like it or not, Apple wants a thinner device (groan - I agree there) and this is one of the ways they are going to do it. Maybe we'll get stereo sound for it.
 
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People condemned Apple for removing the floppy drive from the Macs when the iMac first came out. People condemned Apple for switching to a proprietary cable for the iPods (30-pin). People condemned Apple for replacing the 30-pin with a Lightning port. People will condemn Apple when they remove the 3.5mm headset jack.

We all knew it was going to eventually come.
 
I'm definitely losing something without a 3.5 jack. My car doesn't have bluetooth (gasp, but it's true) so I plug the Aux cord in to the 3.5 jack while charging the phone with the lightning cable. The rest is random times where I use the cheapest ear bud phones I can find. I lose them about 1x/month so adaptors would get pricey for me as I'm sure they'd get lost with the earphones.

If I'm gaining more battery life, I probably won't care too much. If I'm only gaining a tad thinner device, that's not a good trade off for my needs.
 
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