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Surely the current MacBook's days are numbered?

M

Mildredop

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 14, 2013
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So the iPhone no longer has the headphone jack and works purely on Lightning for charging and audio (along with wireless, of course).

But the MacBook doesn't have Lightning, it has USB-C. And for audio, a good old 3.5mm jack.

So if you have Apple's two newest and thinnest products, they're kind of incompatible.

Have Apple missed a trick here? Surely the MacBook should have a few Lightning ports for charging, audio, data transfer etc. Each product could use the same charger, your Lightning headphones would work on both without the need for an adaptor.

I thought the whole point of controlling the hardware and software was to avoid this sort of fragmentation? So surely Apple will rectify it ASAP?
 
I disagree. With something as small as a phone, maybe you can justify taking out the jack. In a laptop you can pretty much always get away with it, even with a laptop as thin as the MacBook.

I really don't think -- well, I really hope -- that they don't take out the headphone jack in their laptops. It's still ubiquitous when plugging in audio out, etc. Mind you, I was pretty salty when they removed the Line In jack from their MacBook Pro line, so I'm probably not their demographic.
 
keysofanxiety said:
I disagree. With something as small as a phone, maybe you can justify taking out the jack. In a laptop you can pretty much always get away with it, even with a laptop as thin as the MacBook.

I really don't think -- well, I really hope -- that they don't take out the headphone jack in their laptops. It's still ubiquitous when plugging in audio out, etc. Mind you, I was pretty salty when they removed the Line In jack from their MacBook Pro line, so I'm probably not their demographic.
Click to expand...

I guess I wasn't suggesting they need to lose the jack from the MacBook, more the fact that the iPhone is not promoting Apple's Lightning headphones which won't work on the MacBook.

Don't you think they need to take their 'courage' further and replace the USB-C with Lightning? There was a bit of me that wondered if the iPhone 7 would switch to USB-C but, as it hasn't, surely the MacBook should now change to Lightning?
 
Mildredop said:
I guess I wasn't suggesting they need to lose the jack from the MacBook, more the fact that the iPhone is not promoting Apple's Lightning headphones which won't work on the MacBook.

Don't you think they need to take their 'courage' further and replace the USB-C with Lightning? There was a bit of me that wondered if the iPhone 7 would switch to USB-C but, as it hasn't, surely the MacBook should now change to Lightning?
Click to expand...

Nah. Lightning can't support external displays & audio simultaneously; well, to anywhere near the same quality as USB-C.
 
I think the whole lightning for audio thing is about making the iPhone water resistant. Thankfully the Macbook is extremely thin including a 3.5mm jack, so I wouldn't worry about them getting rid of it so soon. That, and I do not think you would want to go swimming with your Macbook.
 
The AirPods will work with the new MacBook. Perhaps they will replace the jack with a Lightning port, no port at all, or a second USB-C.
 
Mildredop said:
So the iPhone no longer has the headphone jack and works purely on Lightning for charging and audio (along with wireless, of course).

But the MacBook doesn't have Lightning, it has USB-C. And for audio, a good old 3.5mm jack.

So if you have Apple's two newest and thinnest products, they're kind of incompatible.

Have Apple missed a trick here? Surely the MacBook should have a few Lightning ports for charging, audio, data transfer etc. Each product could use the same charger, your Lightning headphones would work on both without the need for an adaptor.

I thought the whole point of controlling the hardware and software was to avoid this sort of fragmentation? So surely Apple will rectify it ASAP?
Click to expand...

Well, the iPhone 7 is incompatible (in the sense of a no headphone jack) with ALL of Apple's computers, not just the Macbook.

Apple's direction on all of this is a bit baffling to me. If they wanted to go with removing the headphone jack, then I would have rather seen them also opt for USB-C on the iPhone, given the recent audio spec on USB-C that was released. This would have allowed Apple to also delete headphone jacks on all their other products (eventually, not this year) but retain a standard audio connector. Instead, we have an iPhone that comes with headphones that need an adapter to work on other Apple gear. This is not convenient, nor does it simplify usability, which is supposedly a design ethos at Apple. In the longer term we'll probably be stuck with headphones that have either a Lightning connector if you're buying Apple, or USB-C if it's anything else. That doesn't make anyone's life easier.

solo118 said:
I think the whole lightning for audio thing is about making the iPhone water resistant. Thankfully the Macbook is extremely thin including a 3.5mm jack, so I wouldn't worry about them getting rid of it so soon. That, and I do not think you would want to go swimming with your Macbook.
Click to expand...

Binning the headphone jack wasn't necessary to accomplish either of these objectives (thinner, and water resistant). There are phones out there that have a headphone jack that are thinner than the iPhone, and there are phones with a jack that are water resistant (not necessarily the same models though).
 
toddzrx said:
Well, the iPhone 7 is incompatible (in the sense of a no headphone jack) with ALL of Apple's computers, not just the Macbook.

Apple's direction on all of this is a bit baffling to me. If they wanted to go with removing the headphone jack, then I would have rather seen them also opt for USB-C on the iPhone, given the recent audio spec on USB-C that was released. This would have allowed Apple to also delete headphone jacks on all their other products (eventually, not this year) but retain a standard audio connector. Instead, we have an iPhone that comes with headphones that need an adapter to work on other Apple gear. This is not convenient, nor does it simplify usability, which is supposedly a design ethos at Apple. In the longer term we'll probably be stuck with headphones that have either a Lightning connector if you're buying Apple, or USB-C if it's anything else. That doesn't make anyone's life easier.



Binning the headphone jack wasn't necessary to accomplish either of these objectives (thinner, and water resistant). There are phones out there that have a headphone jack that are thinner than the iPhone, and there are phones with a jack that are water resistant (not necessarily the same models though).
Click to expand...

Completely agree, the iphone should have utilized USB-C.
 
Mildredop said:
So the iPhone no longer has the headphone jack and works purely on Lightning for charging and audio (along with wireless, of course).

But the MacBook doesn't have Lightning, it has USB-C. And for audio, a good old 3.5mm jack.
Click to expand...
No Mac has a lightning port, and Apple doesn't sell a Lightning to Lightning cable. Apple does sell this to connect your iPhone to your MacBook:
USB-C to Lightning Cable (1 m)

http://store.apple.com/xc/product/MK0X2AM/A
 
Mildredop said:
So what's the connector on my MacBook Pro with the little bolt of lightning next to it?
Click to expand...
That's a Thunderbolt port. Not in any way related to Lightning. (And yes, it's dumb that Apple chose to represent something called Thunderbolt with a lightning icon.)
 
chrfr said:
That's a Thunderbolt port. Not in any way related to Lightning. (And yes, it's dumb that Apple chose to represent something called Thunderbolt with a lightning icon.)
Click to expand...
Seriously? I always assumed the port on my MacBook Pro was a larger version of the lightning that plugs into the iPhone?

So you're saying the connector on the iPhone is purely for iPhone and iPad? And no MacBooks have that connector?

And the MacBook has USB-C, which no other Apple product has?

So why the hell does Lightning exist?!
 
Most folks expect any future Apple computers will support USBC as that's where things are going.

Lightning connectors predate USBC connectors by a couple of years.

I anticipate Apple will continue to have lightning connectors on mobile (client) devices and USBC/Thunderbolt on host devices/peripherals.
 
without question it will happen sooner rather than later, probably with the updated pro's if they come in an October event. I have a macbook now and it only had USB-C and a headphone jack. I see no reason they won't follow suit.
 
Mildredop said:
Seriously? I always assumed the port on my MacBook Pro was a larger version of the lightning that plugs into the iPhone?

So you're saying the connector on the iPhone is purely for iPhone and iPad? And no MacBooks have that connector?

And the MacBook has USB-C, which no other Apple product has?

So why the hell does Lightning exist?!
Click to expand...
https://support.apple.com/HT201736 explains what all the ports on your computer are.
 
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