Being able to kick the better quality DAC
outside the phone allows the substitution of a lessor, cheaper DAC inside (it doesn't have to be a great DAC for just phone voice analog). That plus jettisoning the headphone jack cuts costs while leaving the price the same. Profit margin expansion.
It also allows them to "thinner," which we all know is all important.
Since there will be some segment that will want to continue using their "good headphones", very profitable adapters will be sold with iPhones, increasing average revenue & profit per device sold. Additional profit will also be made from the licensing by many headphone makers to be able to use the proprietary Lightning connector.
And, once we swallow this pill (and we will- some with mouths already gaping wide while others are already bitter but want or need the rest of the benefits of iPhone ownership even if this is a big hassle for them), it emboldens Apple to think about what else they can eject in future phones (battery? camera? etc), further reducing costs (or fattening margin), further "thinner"ing future phones and enhancing revenue & profit-per-device by the add-on accessory sales for those that must have what USED to be built
inside iPhones:
- Apple already has a battery add-on accessory. It's not a great leap to imagine that becoming the "whole" battery in some future "thinner" phone.
- Camera already protrudes so much some call it a "wart." Yet iPhones will only get thinner. Laws of physics are laws. How long until the Camera is ejected to an add-on accessory?
Seem insane? I can already hear the usual cast of cheerleaders re-assigning the same spin used in support of jettisoning the headphone jack... such as both battery & camera technology are more "antiquated" than the 3.5mm jack. Now everyone can choose whatever capacity battery they desire. My SLR shoots better quality pictures than any iPhone I've ever had, so why NOT get rid of the poorer quality, redundant camera 'I rarely use.' Etc. All they need to do that is to believe Apple is going to follow this ejection with either or both of those.
On the other hand, the external DAC is not automatically going to be better quality just because it's external. It seems likely that the average Joe won't be able to dig in deep enough to understand why the $30 dongle is much lower quality than the $300 dongle. So that Joe may actually have a lower quality DAC in his phone and a lower quality DAC converting the music to which he listens from digital to analog.
If so- and doesn't that seem likely?- the lower quality of audio playing through wired (via cheap DAC) will make the generally lower-quality of Bluetooth audio sound about as good. Cue sales of very profitable air pods and many praising how it sounds as good as a wired connection.
Geniu$$$$$
