Why did Apple remove the 3.5mm headphone jack?

[Hogg]

Simple: money

This and only this.

Apple gets royalties for every single device that hooks up through the lightning port. And they weren't making any money with the 3.5mm jack. It's the same reason they haven't gone with wireless charging yet, even though they want you to believe wireless is the future. They'll do wireless charging when they have their own proprietary tech in place. And only then.

If courage is another word for profit, then yeah, it was umm, courage.

 

[Nozuka]

It doesn't have to be one single reason. Many advantages add up. I'm sure selling headphones was a big factor too.

But space was definitely the biggest reason, as you can see in the teardowns. There was no space for the bigger taptic engine, so something had to give.

Haven't missed the port so far. The adapter is always connected to my headphones now. Which i only use in the gym. At home i'm using Airplay and in the car bluetooth streaming.

Also enjoying the bigger battery.

 

[mrochester]

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.

So having wireless charging is useful but wireless audio isn't?! At least be consistent with whether you want things to be wireless or not!

 

[mildocjr]

Why because the 3.5mm jack is a dinosaur and we all need to transition to wireless, it's time.

 

[bufffilm]

So having wireless charging is useful but wireless audio isn't?! At least be consistent with whether you want things to be wireless or not!

Wireless charging is separate and apart from wireless audio.

There are good reasons to favor one and not the other.

If you don't understand why this is...then you need to think about it.

 

[mrochester]

Wireless charging is separate and apart from wireless audio.

There are good reasons to favor one and not the other.

If you don't understand why this is...then you need to think about it.

Well both offer the same benefits; no need to deal with wires.

 

[wwohl]

Why because the 3.5mm jack is a dinosaur and we all need to transition to wireless, it's time.

you can call it a dinosaur all you want, but the headphone jack is still capable of double the audio quality that the current DAC in the iPhone uses.. wireless is not--at least not at affordable ranges..

its not just about transitioning to wireless because the headphone jack is old. Bluetooth is not equivalent to a wired connection for audio quality. In addition, wireless devices require batteries and charging -- a technology that is far behind everything else in tech right now
[doublepost=1474927923][/doublepost]

Well both offer the same benefits; no need to deal with wires.

wireless charging and wireless audio are great.... However they both can't compete with a wired connection for performance. I don't know the specs on wireless charging, but I feel pretty confident assuming its not able to provide similar power throughout compared to a wired connection. And with new cables like USB C, we can push even more power through small phone sized connectors.

If it were up to me, Id ditch the headphone jack as well if the phone truly needed the space. BUT, id change the lightning connector to USB-C and invest more R&D to battery life and rapid charging.

 

[Superrjamz54]

you can call it a dinosaur all you want, but the headphone jack is still capable of double the audio quality that the current DAC in the iPhone uses.. wireless is not--at least not at affordable ranges..

its not just about transitioning to wireless because the headphone jack is old. Bluetooth is not equivalent to a wired connection for audio quality. In addition, wireless devices require batteries and charging -- a technology that is far behind everything else in tech right now
[doublepost=1474927923][/doublepost]
wireless charging and wireless audio are great.... However they both can't compete with a wired connection for performance. I don't know the specs on wireless charging, but I feel pretty confident assuming its not able to provide similar power throughout compared to a wired connection. And with new cables like USB C, we can push even more power through small phone sized connectors.

If it were up to me, Id ditch the headphone jack as well if the phone truly needed the space. BUT, id change the lightning connector to USB-C and invest more R&D to battery life and rapid charging.

Apple doesn't believe in reducing the lifespan of batteries by rapidly charging them. USB C is a larger plug then a lightning plug and provides the same benefits as it. Wireless charging is coming next year. It's just not going to need to have the phone placed onto he pad for it to function.

 

[UAV]

this video explains it all and it had nothing to do with courage lol..

 

[mrochester]

you can call it a dinosaur all you want, but the headphone jack is still capable of double the audio quality that the current DAC in the iPhone uses.. wireless is not--at least not at affordable ranges..

its not just about transitioning to wireless because the headphone jack is old. Bluetooth is not equivalent to a wired connection for audio quality. In addition, wireless devices require batteries and charging -- a technology that is far behind everything else in tech right now
[doublepost=1474927923][/doublepost]
wireless charging and wireless audio are great.... However they both can't compete with a wired connection for performance. I don't know the specs on wireless charging, but I feel pretty confident assuming its not able to provide similar power throughout compared to a wired connection. And with new cables like USB C, we can push even more power through small phone sized connectors.

If it were up to me, Id ditch the headphone jack as well if the phone truly needed the space. BUT, id change the lightning connector to USB-C and invest more R&D to battery life and rapid charging.

I've got a pair of Beats Studio Wireless and they should just as good if not better than any wired headphones I have had.

 

[DblHelix]

I will add one thing. **** Apple! Now you are starting 32GB as base storage for iPhone 6S. Why the **** not do it at beginning. What they do is screwing old customer.

And **** Apple one more time. Why the hell iPhone SE not pick up 32GB?

Bitch and moan bitch and moan. Buy a phone with more storage. It works out to what, an extra 2 dollars/month?

 

[LovingTeddy]

Bitch and moan bitch and moan. Buy a phone with more storage. It works out to what, an extra 2 dollars/month?

Yeah... man... Apple should totally stick with 8GB... just pay for more storage right? Sounds like very good way to curve revenue lost from dropping iPhone sales.

 

[Applefan4515]

I haven't missed the headphone jack. Although funny story. Was in a friends car the other day going to get his iPhone 7, and went to plug his auxiliary cord into my 7plus. Couldn't get it in so I went to look at the phone. As soon as I did remembered that the phone didn't have a headphone jack. What followed was a lot of laughing and jokes about it without any anger towards Apple removing the headphone jack. It really is no big deal. There are other ways to use wired headphones and audio accessories. Remember how pissed everyone was when they switched to the lightning connector?

 

[UAV]

I haven't missed the headphone jack. Although funny story. Was in a friends car the other day going to get his iPhone 7, and went to plug his auxiliary cord into my 7plus. Couldn't get it in so I went to look at the phone. As soon as I did remembered that the phone didn't have a headphone jack. What followed was a lot of laughing and jokes about it without any anger towards Apple removing the headphone jack. It really is no big deal. There are other ways to use wired headphones and audio accessories. Remember how pissed everyone was when they switched to the lightning connector?

funny thing is people still laugh at the lighting connector. usb-c is far batter.

 

[Cyberguycpt]

Easy question. Apple removed the headphone jack so...

A. They can bring it back next year and say how great the phone is now. "make the IPhone great again.

B. To say they had to remove the home button to make room for a head phone jack.

 

[Macalway]

In my car, bluetooth takes over, regardless, and I just plug it into the power thing. At home, I use the wired buds, but I probably should set it up the way it is in the car, as it works so well.

All other times, it's just one connection. In the rare event I need both, there's a dongle, which of course is a total drag, but it's not a big deal (in theory)

Time will tell.

Frankly, I think it's an interesting experiment.

 

[JCCL]

Don't know why, but really it's much more annoying than I thought. Really the only thing I don't really like about my new iPhone. I'll need to buy more if this stupid adapters to have with my headphone cases and aux cables.

 

[Macalway]

Don't know why, but really it's much more annoying than I thought. Really the only thing I don't really like about my new iPhone. I'll need to buy more if this stupid adapters to have with my headphone cases and aux cables.

I don't see this as such a big deal, and I think only a small minority will be upset. (could be wrong)

I use wired exclusively, but I use the Apple buds which now have a lightning connection. There's an inconvenience to use off brand headphones, but even then, the dongle is small. Try using 1/2-3/4 audio adapters that are necessary with some headphones. Those things are huge

Anyway, it's gives manufacturers a reason to sell you lightning headphones. They are happy

Bless them

 

[noekozz]

I haven't missed the headphone jack. Although funny story. Was in a friends car the other day going to get his iPhone 7, and went to plug his auxiliary cord into my 7plus. Couldn't get it in so I went to look at the phone. As soon as I did remembered that the phone didn't have a headphone jack. What followed was a lot of laughing and jokes about it without any anger towards Apple removing the headphone jack. It really is no big deal. There are other ways to use wired headphones and audio accessories. Remember how pissed everyone was when they switched to the lightning connector?

And then this laughter was followed by a very long.........awkward ...... silence.


lol

 

[JCCL]

I don't see this as such a big deal, and I think only a small minority will be upset. (could be wrong)

I use wired exclusively, but I use the Apple buds which now have a lightning connection. There's an inconvenience to use off brand headphones, but even then, the dongle is small. Try using 1/2-3/4 audio adapters that are necessary with some headphones. Those things are huge

Anyway, it's gives manufacturers a reason to sell you lightning headphones. They are happy

Bless them

Well problem is I have invested in some good headphones/earphones over the year, from Shure, Bose, Sennheiser and the like, all providing much better quality than the iPhone earpods, and I would like to continue using them. In addition to it, my car has no bluetooth, only aux. So now I have to invest on an adapter for each in order to continue using them. It's doable, but a big unnecessary nuisance. Yeah headphone jack might be ancient techonology, but it worked, and is widely regarded as an industry standard. Lightning will never be as it's Apple propietary tech. And I do use them also with my Surface Pro 4 and other devices so that discard buying lighting headphones.

 

[DADDYDC650]

You have to be a really big Apple fanboy to think the reason they removed the audio jack was to innovate and be courageous. It's all about money to them since Apple is a business and it's the only thing they are interested in. Who cares about a bigger haptic engine? Samsung still has a real home button/audio jack and it has a higher water/dust rating to boot.

I could understand if they removed the audio jack to make the phone smaller, lighter and thinner but sadly it's not. Wireless audio is inferior to wired and if they really wanted to push wireless then why not stick with bluetooth or include wireless charging?

 

[Macalway]

You have to be a really big Apple fanboy to think the reason they removed the audio jack was to innovate and be courageous. It's all about money to them since Apple is a business and it's the only thing they are interested in. Who cares about a bigger haptic engine? Samsung still has a real home button/audio jack and it has a higher water/dust rating to boot.

I could understand if they removed the audio jack to make the phone smaller, lighter and thinner but sadly it's not. Wireless audio is inferior to wired and if they really wanted to push wireless then why not stick with bluetooth or include wireless charging?

I don't think it's about money. I really think they are 'attempting' to be forward thinking.

Either way, only time will tell. But considering it's an experiment, and we are test subjects, I wouldn't mind getting a discount on my new phone i'm going to buy

thanks!

 

[CAWjr]

Yesterday I was at my desk with my wired headphones on plugged into my Lenovo work laptop's 3.5mm port. A friend texted me a video on my phone. Not wanting the video to blare out in my open air workspace, I instinctively pulled the headphone jack out of my laptop & went to plug it into my phone, but alas, I recalled that there is nowhere to plug it in. I then wasted about 5 minutes trying to track the video down on my laptop so I could watch it with headphones on.

A bluetooth headset will not solve this because my work laptop lacks bluetooth capability. But even if it did, switching from one device (Lenovo laptop) to another (iPhone7) isn't something most headsets can do on the fly or as quickly as pulling a jack out of one device & plugging it in the other.

Keeping an adapter on my desk is my only real option here, but once again, it's not as fast because I need to find the adapter, plug it in, then plug the headphones in. Still not as quick as the old method.

Ultimately, is it the end of the world? No. Does it suck & it is a big inconvenience? Yes. Will it go away when everyone else adopts lightning cables as the global standard?

 

[MrXiro]

Takes courage to make obviously stupid mistakes.

Speaking for myself, even though I rarely use the headphone jack, the LAST thing I need is to find a dongle to use an ubiquitous world wide standard.

Might as well remove the steering wheel from a car. (use iPhone to steer it)
Or the number in front of the house (Google maps can pinpoint, don't need to look for it)


In the past Apple products had versatility and options the PC world dreamed of. Now its being shaved until there is no redundancy. MacBook with USB-C, more dongles to spend on, and not have on when you need it.


====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.

While this is "user hostile" as Nilay at the Verge called it, it's really not that big of a deal to remove the headphone jack. This will "force" the adoption of wireless headphones which IMO has been moving REALLY slow. I bought my first mono bluetooth headset in 2001 and my first pair of Bluetooth headphones in 2007. It's been nearly a decade since my first BT headphones and they still work. Short of battery life there hasn't been much of an advancement besides the price going down slightly for some generic ones.

If this leads to 10 hour+ completely untethered Earpod type headphones in the next 2-3 years it will be totally worth it.

2016 seems like a Beta year for Apple to test out new ideas rather than put out full fledged great products. But it's all about the future and the next gen or 2 of these products will be the ones that will make good use of what they're doing.

 

[CAWjr]

This will "force" the adoption of wireless headphones which IMO has been moving REALLY slow.

There are still too many constraints with wireless that need to be worked out beyond just battery life (price, audio quality, fast switching, etc) before mass adoption can really happen.