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Upcoming 2018 iPad Pro Could Be 5.9mm Thick With No Headphone Jack
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So you don't see how Apple is increasing profit from this move?
I won't get into the savings from the removal of hardware and the ancillary expenses that could go along with that hardware.
I will just say that if you don't see a connection between Apple removing the headphone jack at the same time Apple puts out a new set of wireless headphones made especially for iPhone, you are deep in the Apple bubble.
Really? Removal of the headphone jack is a “significant” cost savings measure that could maybe result in record profits? Is that what you are intimating?
And if people want b/t headphones to replace the EarPods they can use with a dongle they would flock to Apple vs Bose, Sony, sennheiser? You really are saying that?
The actual removal of the jack might've saved Apple $0.05 to $5.00 - I don't know. But, after the rather stupid purchase of Beats and not finding a bunch of Apple customers "flocking" to buy those headphones, anything is possible.
No, Apple did not buy Beats to establish a stronger foothold in streaming audio - that is like saying Netflix needs ATV to get a subscriber base and therefore should continue to fork over 30% of their income to Apple.
Remember, Beats lost a sports franchise in this period.
BT audio is inferior to wired audio, no matter the source; so, when Apple pushes that by depriving us of the benign jack, everything is suspicious.
AirPods and the small BT earphones have a finite life because of the embedded battery. So, another point in favor of the argument that Apple is doing this only for money.
That Apple might profit from doing so doesn’t mean it’s their primary motivation.
Apple is doing as they have always done - place bets on how we will use our devices in the future. Apple sees a world where the headphone jack simply won’t have much value because of the changing manner in which we interact with our mobile devices, and wireless headphones will gain prominence over wired ones (amongst other paradigm shifts).
And Apple would rather be navigating this change in the driver’s seat, rather than react to it if and when this does happen.
But yeah, as far as the conspiracy pundits are concerned, Apple did all this just to sell more adaptors and Airpods.
Seriously.
Let me get this straight. Apple got rid of the headphone jack, because it’s not profiting from beats to get some profit back especially in light of the lost franchise? Additionally Apple has determined the customers will flock to Air pods and this has mgmt. doing high fives in the board room?
That’s some interesting hypothesis.
Let us forward this to Tim Cook, and see his reaction!
Hold on - I don't how how to send this to him. Especially in context.
Apple is always looking to improve their products as any good company should. But not all changes are improvements. Listen, I get it, you think it is better so you use the word improve which fits your narrative but not everything Apple does "improves" the UX. Can you at least be honest with me and yourself on that point?
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Where did you read "significant" in my post? That was not even my main point. How much do you think the saving is? Now multiply that amount by what? 50, 60, 70 million. Did I write anything about record profits? Nope, just increased profits. Disagree it would lead to increased profits? You avoided what I wrote and read into it what you wanted and then responded to what was in your head and not what I wrote.
As for my main point regarding the magical coincidence of Apple coming out with a set of wireless headphones when they remove the headphone jack and my assertion that the removal of the jack helped push sales of $160 headphones as a way of increasing profits you don't address at all but bring up other b/t headphones which I didn't address at all is another example of you reading what you want instead of what I wrote.
It’s no coincidence the agenda for Apple is pushing wireless, not profits. Pushing profits is for conspiracy theorists.
Apple did not make headphones obsolete nor is there any any issue with using my headphones with my iPhone 7. At the gym there are those folks who use air pods with a 6s and I’ve even seen some peeps with android phones using air pods. Maybe Apple came out with a damn good set of b/t headphones. So good people would rather buy the air pods than other b/t headsets. Those that want to continue using EarPods, still can. There I addressed your conjectures.
I would like to have to have the headphone jack and I sometimes do use my EarPods, but mostly:
- Motorola s9 for working out at the gym
- seda when I go out for a walk
- Bose qc II for rail and air travel
The above with my 6s, which has a headphone jack.
I never said every single thing that Apple has done improves UX. I do think that Apple THINKS they improved the UX with every product release. Most of the time, they do, but sometimes they make mistakes. Look at the 2013 Mac Pro. Apple thought that it was a better pro machine than the tower Mac Pro. You think that Apple was trying to "cut costs" by making the Mac Pro smaller, use only 1 fan, and making it non-modular by pushing Thunderbolt 2 instead? No, they thought it was a UX improvement, but it turns out they were wrong.
Removing the headphone jack however, isn't a mistake. Do you honestly think that the headphone jack should exist for the next 50 years?
Just look at the packaging of the all Apple products. Apple could easily cut costs on eliminating that little tab you pull on to open the package and instead, have the user use scissors to cut the sticker. Another thing: if you bought a 2018 MacBook Pro or a HomePod, you'll notice the custom cardboard box they ship it in where you can pull on the side flaps, and the product lifts up from inside the cardboard box so that the product is easier to take out. If Apple wanted to cut costs, they would start at the packaging.
Apple has always made products to try and improve the UX, even if it's more expensive to do. They end up passing that additional cost onto the user which is why Apple products are expensive.
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Wired headphones don't have lithium ion batteries with a life span.
I have owned the same pair of headphones since 2002, and another wired pair since 2000. Meanwhile my wireless headphones lasted about 2 years before the non-user-replaceable battery died.
Earpods are still included with Apple products en masse.
This argument is moot.
[doublepost=1539891764][/doublepost]Perhaps Apple bought Beats to remove them from the market in competition with AirPods? With control of Beats' market share, they can dictate what products overlap their Apple ones. Possibly some IP was acquired as well to avoid a potential lawsuit with Beats.
The battery lasts longer than the wire when it's being used as a portable device. You probably leave your headphones on the table or somewhere stationary. I rolled up my wired headphones several times daily.
Yes Earpods are still included.
- If you don't have headphones, you use the Earpods
- If you have wireless headphones, you use bluetooth
- If you have wired headphones, chances are you have the headphone adapter from a previous purchase
- If you have wired headphones and never got a headphone adapter, you are a super small minority that has to purchase a $9 adapter
Continuing to include the adapter for every single new iPhone purchase isn't worth doing. Apple has thought this through.
So we agree Apple makes decisions which they believe are making the product(s) better. We agree Apple makes mistakes. Pretty fundamental business strategy, make a product people want to buy. Just like maximizing profits.
Apple makes some interesting decisions about products and how they work against ease of use. Beloved MagSafe gone. Dumb. Touch strip on the new MacBook Pro. Not well reviewed. Apple says they believe laptops should not have a touch screen because laptops are about keeping your eyes on the screen and your fingers on the keyboard but you have to look down to use the worthless touch strip. Yes, some people are fine with it. Pretty much an unused expensive addition to the laptop line.
We will agree to disagree about what is a mistake and what is not a mistake.
As far as keeping the headphone jack for 50 years, why put a time limit on it. Apple's wireless headphones work "great" with or without the jack. Removing it degrades the experience for some users needlessly.
Packaging by Apple has pretty much always been a hoot. They create elaborate packaging to add to the illusion/experience/mystique of purchasing a magical product. That's why the tabs and flaps are there, to create an experience. Apple could create the same ease of removal by simply putting a finger hole on each side of the laptop.
You are right, Apple charges more.
I don't begrudge Apple one little bit. If people are happy to buy their products then Apple makes money and people are happy. I'm a big free market guy. But if I don't like it I don't buy it. That is why I still have my 6s. I didn't like what they did to the phones. I haven't upgraded my 2012 MacBook Pro because I don't like the changes Apple made. I need a new Mac for the home. Apple down graded the Mac Mini in 2014 so I didn't get a new home machine.
I still have high hopes that Apple has learned from their mistakes and next week we will see machines worthy of purchase. Hope springs eternal.
Apple is not perfect, that much I think we can agree on.
That said, I wonder just how many of their so-called “mistakes” were conscious trade-offs made in the name of the bigger picture. Something which we as consumers are not privy to, and frankly, couldn’t really care less. Every feature added (and removed) was carefully considered and like the 4 blind men attempting to describe the elephant, we just aren’t seeing the big picture.
For example, I believe Apple is well aware of the state of the Mac line, and maybe they are fine with it because most of their engineering resources are currently deployed to the iPhone and Apple Watch and AR glasses and Apple car and they view this as an acceptable trade off.
So it may not be a “mistake” that Apple has incentive to rectify anytime soon. Yeah, they might lose some money not selling more Mac mini’s or Mac Pro’s, but they stand to lose even more from not shipping that iPhone or Apple Watch on time annually. Even as members here pound their keyboards tirelessly clamouring for a new Mac mini.
Do you seriously contend that Apple can't have a separate set of dedicated engineers without cannibalizing the iPhone and other products' development? That was all they did before the iPod was created.
Honestly, yes. I believe that Apple is moving mountains just to maintain an annual refresh cycle for the iPhone and Apple Watch.
I think Steve Jobs and Tim Cook has said “We want to make the world’s best products” about a billion times already. It’s no secret now. They’ll never prioritize profits over UX.
Removing MagSafe isn’t dumb. USB-C charging makes more sense than MagSafe for many reasons. You can charge on either sides. You can use third party battery packs and third party chargers. No need to buy another $79 Apple charger. You can use a single cable to send video to a monitor (also send/receive data where the monitor has additional USB-C ports on the back) and receive power. Frees up space inside the MacBook. And plenty more reasons I can list, but it’s getting way too long to type out.
I don’t like TouchBar. Is it for pro users? Not really (though, I do like using in apps that require quick swipes like FCPX). Is it the future? Apple thinks so. Ask any 7 or 70 year old what the F1-F12 keys do. They wouldn’t know. TouchBar can increase usability, but so far it’s only included in pro devices. My guess is, Apple starts adoption in Pro and then eventually in consumer level products. I think the next step that Apple is going take is fiddle with the control/alt buttons. It’s going to piss some consumers off, but if Apple thinks it can improve UX there, they might just do it.
It’s like removing USB-A ports on the Macs and going USB-C only. Everyone’s experience with Macs degrades substantially but Apple thinks USB-C provides a far better experience than USB-A. So they removed what they think is no longer the best way to connect USB devices and they went all in on the best way. With audio, Apple thinks wireless provides a far better experience than wired.
Holes on either side of the laptop box creates problems there and isn’t the best way to unpackage a device, though I won’t attempt to explain Apple’s design methods there as from what I’ve read, the design team spent a lot of time on the packaging.
Great! I’ve been telling everyone on this forum that if they hate how the iPhone doesn’t have a headphone jack and if they can’t be bothered with a headphone jack adapter, then don’t buy an iPhone. Switch to Android to get out of the ecosystem before they get sucked in even more.
I'm definitely more excited for the iPad/Mac event compared to the iPhone event. Actually I found the iPhone event kind of boring sorry to say.
Uhh yea, removing MagSafe is dumb. Accidents happen in the real world and MagSafe has saved me personally several times when working in busy areas. If you're sitting in a botique office all day, sure it doesn't matter but for real world application it does.
I am an Apple fan, but this takes drinking the cool-aid to an extreme!
Let us not forget the software updates that crippled the iPhones enough to "force" (/s) consumers to buy a new iPhone if they wanted to stay in the Apple environ; instead of replacing the battery. The false claim that the aluminum shell is single layered.
The unnecessary removal of the analog jack.
The fused butterfly keyboard.
This nonsense from Apple has been going not just in the Cook era - Job's reign also saw crap like this.
Telling people to leave Apple because they dare criticize the products is like asking people to move abroad because they don't like the President or the administration.
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What are you talking about? All batteries deteriorate, it's simple physics. All phones experience the same behavior. Even Samsung forces users to replace the battery. https://us.community.samsung.com/t5...rged-battery/m-p/250127/highlight/true#M19950
If Apple REALLY wanted people to buy new phones, then wouldn't it make more sense to stop supporting old iPhone users? Look at iPhone 5S released in 2013. It got the latest iOS 12 update. Why would Apple support a 5 year old phone if they wanted users to buy new phones?
Take off your tin foil hat. Apple isn't out to get you.
Perhaps complaining about it when iPhone 7 came out makes sense since you could have made enough noise to force Apple to revert in the next set of iPhones. But now we have iPhone 8/X/Xs. We're long gone with the headphone jack. Complaining about it still isn't really helping things. Really you have two options. Either you embrace it or vote with your money to a different product, just like how I would vote for a new president because I don't like the current one.
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No, it's not dumb. If you really need a MagSafe-like adapter, there's one for USB-C (I think Griffin makes one). Plenty of benefits of USB-C charging over MagSafe.