Why did Apple remove the 3.5mm headphone jack?

[cynics]

People need to keep in mind "courage" isn't a righteous word. It takes courage to do things that aren't good too.

Apple accurately and brilliantly used "courage", they knew they would get a ton of hate for it. Did it anyway and what's done is done. At least there is an adapter in the box! I never thought Apple would have done that.

Also keep in mind USB C is entering an interesting stage when it comes to audio. Currently lightning will be the better choice until better standards are sorted out. The beauty of a closed eco system is you can set the rules ahead of time.

Ugh I can't believe I'm defending Apple on this. My fanboyism and use of 3.5mm are at odds with my desire to play devils advocate.

 

[eoblaed]

====EDIT UPDATE=====


No earphones with iPhone 7 it seems.

Is the Lightning adapter in stock now?


Guess not (but 7 wont be distributed till 16th, probably will be in stock then)

#Nojacknoiphone7
======================
ADDENDUM (9/8/16):
There will be a set of *wired* ear buds with the iPhone 7, with the non-standard Lighting connector.

It doesn't matter if the adapter is 'in stock'. If you watched the keynote, or read the specs on their own page:

http://www.apple.com/iphone-7/specs/

You'll find:


You don't need to purchase a separate set of headphones.
You don't need to purchase a separate adapter.

They're both included in the box.

AirPod availability is irrelevant.

 

[wwohl]

I disagree about this point only. The USB-IF seems to introduce a new plug or new set of interfaces for an existing plug every year or two. Look at USB-C, there have already been revisions to the interfaces where new accessories don't work with devices that came out less than a year ago. It's a mess.

Apple has been very consistent with their standards.

Completely inaccurate. While Intel has improved the USB standard several times over the years, the connector shape has been unchanged since its creation 20 years ago. In addition, every single revision has included backwards compatibility. This is the first redesign of the connector since its invention and not only is it designed to improve the capabilities of USB, it's intentionally designed to be the sole connector type of USB moving forward (replacing USB A, mini, micro and B,C).
Not to mention, USB specification is developed, designed and implemented by a board of directors made up of heads of all of the major tech companies.
Apples proprietary connectors do not hold a candle to USB then, now or in the future.

Think about it, imagine if we could power our laptops, phones and tablets; connect our displays and external drives, listen to music and connect everything from selfie sticks to credit card readers... All through a single connection type-- one mind you that's the exact same on both ends of the cable. That's how we move forward.

FireWire is dead and never made a market impact. Thunderbolt 1&2 never really took off (it's Intel, but Apple was the only adopter) and will be dead the second TB3 on USB C connector is available. 30pin is dead. Lightning does absolutely nothing but charge the iPhone - sure you can sync and listen to music, both of which can be done wirelessly. It's future is sure to be the same as apples former proprietary connection attempts. DEAD. Leaving behind perfectly good but now obsolete devices and cables in its wake.

This type of proprietary behavior is not beneficial to the market, to customers, or to the future of the industry.

 

[pixel_junkie]

 

[justinTlME]

Simple: money

 

[pixel_junkie]

Simple: money

Of course! Did people miss the announcement of the $150 new Apple product? Can't put 2 and 2 together? What "brave", what "pioneers"? I'm surprised they have not slapped a wireless charging in their phones yet so they can milk you for charging stands and the accessories that will go with them. At least that new feature would be useful.

 

[Jonnybgoode87]

I might be the only one, but I kinda believe them when they say they did it for space reasons.

3.5 mm is the easiest thing to patch with a simple adapter, and probably takes up the most amount of space.

And to all those who say they will loose the adapter, don't you just keep it attached to the headphones?

 

[justinTlME]

Of course! Did people miss the announcement of the $150 new Apple product? Can't put 2 and 2 together? What "brave", what "pioneers"? I'm surprised they have not slapped a wireless charging in their phones yet so they can milk you for charging stands and the accessories that will go with them. At least that new feature would be useful.

That's for next year.

 

[pixel_junkie]

3.5 mm is the easiest thing to patch with a simple adapter, and probably takes up the most amount of space.

Since you're talking about space - let's see - a Galaxy S7 is almost the same size as iPhone 7, has the audio jack, over 30% larger battery, much larger screen, and expendable storage option. Do you really think saving space has anything to do with it?

 

[Jonnybgoode87]

Since you're talking about space - let's see - a Galaxy S7 is almost the same size as iPhone 7, has the audio jack, over 30% larger battery, much larger screen, and expendable storage option. Do you really think saving space has anything to do with it?

Well, I'm pretty sure If you crack open an iPhone there's not going to be any empty space, was my point.

Would they have been able to make the home button non mechanical without doing so, i imagine not.

And the less about samsung and batteries at the moment, the better.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Completely inaccurate. While Intel has improved the USB standard several times over the years, the connector shape has been unchanged since its creation 20 years ago. In addition, every single revision has included backwards compatibility. This is the first redesign of the connector since its invention and not only is it designed to improve the capabilities of USB, it's intentionally designed to be the sole connector type of USB moving forward (replacing USB A, mini, micro and B,C).
Not to mention, USB specification is developed, designed and implemented by a board of directors made up of heads of all of the major tech companies.
Apples proprietary connectors do not hold a candle to USB then, now or in the future.

Think about it, imagine if we could power our laptops, phones and tablets; connect our displays and external drives, listen to music and connect everything from selfie sticks to credit card readers... All through a single connection type-- one mind you that's the exact same on both ends of the cable. That's how we move forward.

FireWire is dead and never made a market impact. Thunderbolt 1&2 never really took off (it's Intel, but Apple was the only adopter) and will be dead the second TB3 on USB C connector is available. 30pin is dead. Lightning does absolutely nothing but charge the iPhone - sure you can sync and listen to music, both of which can be done wirelessly. It's future is sure to be the same as apples former proprietary connection attempts. DEAD. Leaving behind perfectly good but now obsolete devices and cables in its wake.

This type of proprietary behavior is not beneficial to the market, to customers, or to the future of the industry.

That sounds like a wonderful eutopia, but I don't believe it. History tells me these promises will not be kept, and the compatibility will not work like they say.

Since smartphones and media players became ubiquitous, I have seen smartphones and media players (and the like) with the following ports:

;

;

;

;

; and some proprietary USB ports like HTC's ExtMicro.

Between Blackberry, HTC, Samsung, LG, Palm, Motorola, etc, over the past ~10 years, there have been too many different ports. Sure, the Micro-USB seems to have become to the dominant one, but only in the past 3 or so years, but even Samsung over the past 3 years seems to have used 2 different ports.

So now USB comes out with USB-C and tells us that this is the one, this everyone should use all the time. Ok, I've heard that before. Why should I believe them this time, when the last half-dozen times it didn't turn out to be true?

And, not even a year goes by, and they start adding more alternate modes on USB-C. As I was considering to buy the retina Macbook for a bit, I had looked up what the big deal was with alternate modes, and it turns out it's a huge mess. Some USB-C hubs are compatible with Apple Macbooks, some aren't; some hubs are compatible with HPs laptops, some aren't; there is no hub that has USB-A ports and an HDMI port that is compatible with all USB-C based laptops, because not everyone implemented the same alternate mode specifications.

You say that USB tries to be backwards compatible, but they do very little to be forward compatible. In theory, the 2015 Macbook's USB-C should work with any USB-C device that is released in 2018, but I highly doubt that will be the case. It doesn't even work with all USB-C devices that were released in 2016.

I agree with you that proprietary tends to be less desirable. I would prefer it if USB and Intel and all those heads of companies on the USB-IF's board got it together, but they don't have it together.

Meanwhile, despite being proprietary, Apple has used only 2 ports (30-pin dock connector, and Lightning) in the same time period. With a few minor exceptions related to FireWire in the 30-pin port, those two ports were fully backwards and forwards compatible. A speaker dock purchased in 2006 would work with an iphone from 2011, and likewise an iphone purchased in 2008 would work with a speaker dock from 2011. Likewise with Lightning, all Lightning accessories work with pretty much all Lightning devices no matter when they were made.

Since 2003, 2 ports, and pretty much full compatibility. That is what Apple's proprietary systems have done. USB might have a lot of promise, but historically it has never come close to matching that sort of good user experience. Apple can do this because they control the hardware and the software. USB can't do this because there isn't much they can do to punish accessory makers for not following the specs perfectly.

I have seen USB change way too often to take them at their word that USB-C is the solution to all my problems. I'll stick to the proprietary standard that has historically not caused me any problems for now.

 

[wwohl]

That sounds like a wonderful eutopia, but I don't believe it. History tells me these promises will not be kept, and the compatibility will not work like they say.

Since smartphones and media players became ubiquitous, I have seen smartphones and media players (and the like) with the following ports:

;

;

;

;

; and some proprietary USB ports like HTC's ExtMicro.

Between Blackberry, HTC, Samsung, LG, Palm, Motorola, etc, over the past ~10 years, there have been too many different ports. Sure, the Micro-USB seems to have become to the dominant one, but only in the past 3 or so years, but even Samsung over the past 3 years seems to have used 2 different ports.

So now USB comes out with USB-C and tells us that this is the one, this everyone should use all the time. Ok, I've heard that before. Why should I believe them this time, when the last half-dozen times it didn't turn out to be true?

And, not even a year goes by, and they start adding more alternate modes on USB-C. As I was considering to buy the retina Macbook for a bit, I had looked up what the big deal was with alternate modes, and it turns out it's a huge mess. Some USB-C hubs are compatible with Apple Macbooks, some aren't; some hubs are compatible with HPs laptops, some aren't; there is no hub that has USB-A ports and an HDMI port that is compatible with all USB-C based laptops, because not everyone implemented the same alternate mode specifications.

You say that USB tries to be backwards compatible, but they do very little to be forward compatible. In theory, the 2015 Macbook's USB-C should work with any USB-C device that is released in 2018, but I highly doubt that will be the case. It doesn't even work with all USB-C devices that were released in 2016.

I agree with you that proprietary tends to be less desirable. I would prefer it if USB and Intel and all those heads of companies on the USB-IF's board got it together, but they don't have it together.

Meanwhile, despite being proprietary, Apple has used only 2 ports (30-pin dock connector, and Lightning) in the same time period. With a few minor exceptions related to FireWire in the 30-pin port, those two ports were fully backwards and forwards compatible. A speaker dock purchased in 2006 would work with an iphone from 2011, and likewise an iphone purchased in 2008 would work with a speaker dock from 2011. Likewise with Lightning, all Lightning accessories work with pretty much all Lightning devices no matter when they were made.

Since 2003, 2 ports, and pretty much full compatibility. That is what Apple's proprietary systems have done. USB might have a lot of promise, but historically it has never come close to matching that sort of good user experience. Apple can do this because they control the hardware and the software. USB can't do this because there isn't much they can do to punish accessory makers for not following the specs perfectly.

I have seen USB change way too often to take them at their word that USB-C is the solution to all my problems. I'll stick to the proprietary standard that has historically not caused me any problems for now.

Good points. And you definitely brought up some re-pinning and minor changes that I had forgotten about. But it's all on the same token, there's too many damn connector types.

I agree with you about USBs issues. We all know that USB3 protocol is a mess. consistency, connection stability, everything has been an issue, especially with macs.
You made good points about USB Cs current troubles with different devices and I completely agree with you. But I think the conversation has to stay in context when we're talking about the iPhone. USB C can do tons of things that lightning can't and with all that extra capability comes the potential for problems.
But the phone doesn't need all of that. The phone needs a connector that can provide power and audio. That's it (okay data too, but most users won't ever sync with it). So all of USB Cs problems are irrelevant when we're just discussing it as an iPhone cable. As an iPhone cable, it would be cheaper, shared with more devices and easier to find. Plus, it's the same size and has the potential to carry more power.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Good points. And you definitely brought up some re-pinning and minor changes that I had forgotten about. But it's all on the same token, there's too many damn connector types.

I agree with you about USBs issues. We all know that USB3 protocol is a mess. consistency, connection stability, everything has been an issue, especially with macs.
You made good points about USB Cs current troubles with different devices and I completely agree with you. But I think the conversation has to stay in context when we're talking about the iPhone. USB C can do tons of things that lightning can't and with all that extra capability comes the potential for problems.
But the phone doesn't need all of that. The phone needs a connector that can provide power and audio. That's it (okay data too, but most users won't ever sync with it). So all of USB Cs problems are irrelevant when we're just discussing it as an iPhone cable. As an iPhone cable, it would be cheaper, shared with more devices and easier to find. Plus, it's the same size and has the potential to carry more power.

I think the top criteria for a smartphone cable are, for average consumers, (1) it can be purchased for under $10 in a pinch at a convenience store or street-cart vendor, even if its unlicensed and bad quality and won't work for more than a week; (2) a high-quality cable or wired accessory or adapter will remain useful for more than just this smartphone, meaning some reasonable certainty that it will work with the next smartphone and hopefully the one after that too; (3) that my friends' or coworkers' cables will work with my smartphone; and (4) works reliably, meaning is not prone to breaking or compatibility issues.

I would say Lightning scores: (1) A; (2) A+; (3) B+; (4) C-. The only fault is that it is not very durable, and it is hard to tell whether one is licensing or not.

As an engineer, I am pretty impressed with Lightning. It does audio-out, it does video-out, it does data in many forms (syncs iphone to computer, SD card reader, thumbdrives), and it supports many USB interfaces (keyboard, external audio DACs and amps, etc). For a smartphone, it goes beyond my daily needs.

 

[fatalogic]

I think the top criteria for a smartphone cable are, for average consumers, (1) it can be purchased for under $10 in a pinch at a convenience store or street-cart vendor, even if its unlicensed and bad quality and won't work for more than a week; (2) a high-quality cable or wired accessory or adapter will remain useful for more than just this smartphone, meaning some reasonable certainty that it will work with the next smartphone and hopefully the one after that too; (3) that my friends' or coworkers' cables will work with my smartphone; and (4) works reliably, meaning is not prone to breaking or compatibility issues.

I would say Lightning scores: (1) A; (2) A+; (3) B+; (4) C-. The only fault is that it is not very durable, and it is hard to tell whether one is licensing or not.

As an engineer, I am pretty impressed with Lightning. It does audio-out, it does video-out, it does data in many forms (syncs iphone to computer, SD card reader, thumbdrives), and it supports many USB interfaces (keyboard, external audio DACs and amps, etc). For a smartphone, it goes beyond my daily needs.

Only major problem with Lightning is it might be IOS only. If future mac products include a lightning port it's ok but if they follow the macbook example and have no lightning port then it is a problem. I'm going to be really upset if I need a dongle to connect my phone/ipad to other products. Especially when usb-c won't have those same issues.

 

[Savor]

If Samsung ditches 3.5mm (can hear all the Apple fans screaming copycat), I can see everyone go proprietary...

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone...t-be-next-to-ditch-the-headphone-jack-1328484

Samsung goes Tizen and ditches Qualcomm
Huawei creates their own OS
Google shuts off Samsung and Huawei
Google stops making apps for Apple
Google brands their own phones

Let everyone make everything for themselves. Less dependency. The #1 and #2 Android OEM can survive on their own. They make their own components. Apple and Google need partners.

I really don't mind seeing Samsung completely go rogue on Android and breaks any partnership with Apple. As much as I enjoy Android right now, I won't miss it. I'm not really entrenched in the Google "ecosystem." Plenty of them are bloat. You can still use YouTube, Gmail, and Maps on any mobile browser. Fairly OS agnostic.

 

[Brandonjr36]

Sounds like you're just looking to complain.

Lightning w/adapter works just fine. What's the problem? Old tech. Get rid of it and use that space for something better. Plus, it's impossible to water proof with a huge hole like that.

Steering wheel isn't an audio jack. Not even in the same class bud.

No offense but how is it impossible to waterproof with the headphone jack? Samsung has been doing it for a few years now.

 

[PracticalMac]

It doesn't matter if the adapter is 'in stock'. If you watched the keynote, or read the specs on their own page:

http://www.apple.com/iphone-7/specs/

You'll find:

View attachment 651116
You don't need to purchase a separate set of headphones.
You don't need to purchase a separate adapter.

They're both included in the box.

AirPod availability is irrelevant.

Apparently Apple was changing what was posted on web site.
First it was L-earbuds, then 3.5mm earbuds, finally L-earbuds and 3.5 to L adapter.
Read a few posts below OP
[doublepost=1473815524][/doublepost]

Digital audio gives a lot of potential enhancements you can do over old school 3.5 jacks. A few have been pointed out and surely more to come.

Unless you can understand sounds from a string of 0110100101100100011010010110111101110100, that digital signal must, MUST be converted into analog.

The digital converter for the Lightning earbuds is at the connector, so the length of analog line is nearly identical to the 3.5mm
[doublepost=1473815642][/doublepost]

Apple is never bringing the 3.5mm back.

Apple made the iPhone SE because the iPhone 6+ sold fewer units than iPhone 5s.

 

[Jonnybgoode87]

Apple made the iPhone SE because the iPhone 6+ sold fewer units than iPhone 5s.

Of course they would sell less of the 6+ than 5s. But we are comparing apples to oranges.

Or apples to much to bigger apples.

The real reason; a lot of people still use their 4 and 5 series because those users don't want a bigger phone. So are Apple going to ignore them? They want them to upgrade. So SE became a thing.

 

[Abs_p]

Apple made the iPhone SE because the iPhone 6+ sold fewer units than iPhone 5s.

Doesn't even make sense. LOL. iPhone 6+ and iPhone 6 were two devices released at once. Sales obviously will be divided between two. 6s+ and 6 outsold 5S by a huge margin.

SE is regardless of that one of the best phones apple has produced. It's small, it's fast and the battery is a marathon.

 

[PracticalMac]

The real reason; a lot of people still use their 4 and 5 series because those users don't want a bigger phone. So are Apple going to ignore them? They want them to upgrade. So SE became a thing.

Exactly

Doesn't even make sense. LOL. iPhone 6+ and iPhone 6 were two devices released at once. Sales obviously will be divided between two. 6s+ and 6 outsold 5S by a huge margin.

SE is regardless of that one of the best phones apple has produced. It's small, it's fast and the battery is a marathon.

With the big Galaxy's selling to well, Apple estimated the 6+ would be best seller.
Instead the smaller ones out sold the biggest.
And remember the 5S is over 1 year old, too.

As for the SE, it is 6 months old so it has a fraction of the sales track of the 6 and 6S series.

And then there was the 5c series.

Apple has made errors in its sales predictions and changed its plans. They try, but don't always succeed.

 

[bembol]

Money.

Make more tons of it.

 

[mrochester]

Exactly. Do I walk around charging my phone & listening to music? No. Do I drive around using Waze & streaming music while charging my phone because the constant data streams drain the battery in about 30 minutes? Absolutely.

The removal of the headphone jack is stupid & the reason given, "courage", is even worse. I get the reasoning. I get the desire to move away from what they see as 100 year old technology, but it is a global standard being replaced with a proprietary solution. That's not courage. That's a cash grab.

Is Bluetooth proprietary?

 

[bufffilm]

I might be the only one, but I kinda believe them when they say they did it for space reasons.

3.5 mm is the easiest thing to patch with a simple adapter, and probably takes up the most amount of space.

And to all those who say they will loose the adapter, don't you just keep it attached to the headphones?

If you weren't aware, people were using the same wired ear/headphones on the ip7 elsewhere...so the adapter had to be removed.

Thank Apple for giving us a crummy work-around!

 

[CAWjr]

Is Bluetooth proprietary?

Bluetooth is not a desirable option for many people. Cost, battery life, sound quality, etc. These are all reasons why you see many people in real world (not fan boy world) situations using corded headphones instead of bluetooth.

But to answer your snark more accurately, you don't get much more proprietary than this.

 

[bufffilm]

Of course they would sell less of the 6+ than 5s. But we are comparing apples to oranges.

Or apples to much to bigger apples.

The real reason; a lot of people still use their 4 and 5 series because those users don't want a bigger phone. So are Apple going to ignore them? They want them to upgrade. So SE became a thing.

Well, it's a bit more than that.

Apple saw that a lot of the 4" iPhone owners were not buying the 6/+ and they weren't going to attrition owners to the 4.7" by waiting for their batteries to die out (took too long), so the SE was released in March 2016.

They waited till well after the 6s/+ was launched before unveiling it.

If Apple had their way, they would never have released the SE. And that's why anybody holding their breath for a SE2 are just big dreamers.

What Apple is hoping for instead is to ditch the home button, shrink or eliminate the bezels and entice the SE owners to move to this then.

There is always a chance that the 4" phone will have its place alongside the 4.7" and larger phones. But only if Apple is forced to do it.

More profitable to have you buy the flagship phones. It's all about the $$$...it always is.