If Apple is really planning to kill the iPhone headphone jack in the model it reveals next year, it’s ditching 60 years of history.
Rumors that the next iPhone could do away with the industry-standard 3.5mm port in Apple’s relentless pursuit of thinness have been around for a while, but they’re seeing a resurgence thanks to a post on a Japanese blog. The article cites “a reliable source” that claims the Cupertino company will shave 1mm off the phone’s thickness by dropping the just-way-too-fat jack in favor of proprietary Lightning connectors.
But if Apple actually does this, it’s kind of a huge deal.
The original post, which is in Japanese with an English translation below it, says the headphones included with the thinner model will use a Lightning connector to transfer audio data. If it’s true, we aren’t sure if this means the phone will only have one Lightning connector, like the new MacBook’s single USB-C port, or if it will have one for charging and one for inputs. Either way, it’s putting third-party accessory makers in a tough spot.
Dropping the 3.5mm jack — which has been around almost as long as the transistor radio, which started development in the mid-1950s — is far different from when Apple dropped its 30-pin connector in favor of the Lightning plug in 2012. That shift just meant that starting with the iPhone 5 and the fifth-generation iPod touch, your old charging cables wouldn’t work. But those were only for charging and syncing; the headphone stayed the same, which meant that every pair of headphones you could use with the iPhone 4s and earlier would still work.
Running audio through Lightning, however, means you’ll have to buy all-new headphones like the ones Philips has come out with since Apple expanded its Made for iOS program a year ago. We’re sure that Apple-owned Beats will also be getting in on this, but we probably wouldn’t see that happen until the company officially announced the move.
For other headphone makers, however, this shift would mean splitting production between 3.5mm models and Lightning ones, bundling swappable cords with every product they ship, or, most likely, all-new lines of analog-to-digital converters to let customers use whichever ‘phones they like.
Meanwhile, Apple can sit back and talk up how a thinner iPhone and slightly better audio quality is worth sacrificing one of the few global standards remaining. But none of that will matter when people want to listen to music while charging their phone and can’t without busting out some Bluetooth headphones.
We expect that if this rumor proves to be true, Apple will end up alienating customers and manufacturers alike, and it won’t be a transitory thing like the charging cable change-up. Dropping the iPhone headphone jack would represent a serious drop in functionality in favor of claiming even more control over what people can and can’t plug into their phones.
Obviously, we should wait and see if it actually happens before we head up to Castle Apple with the pitchforks and torches, but the company can expect a whole lot of fallout if it goes through with this plan.
Evan Killham is a freelance writer who lives in Nebraska and isn’t interested in football, so he has plenty of time to play and think about video games. He has written for Bitmob and GamesBeat and sometimes, he even goes outside. But not too often because he’s heard there are bees out there. Occasionally, companies send free units for review. Evan subscribes to Cult of Mac’s Reviews Policy and also does not keep the items he receives for possible coverage.
240 responses to “Apple would be stupid to drop the iPhone headphone jack”
It wouldn’t be stupid at all. Things have changed, it’s time to move on. If you want to listen to music either use the EarPods Apple will provide or buy yourself some Bluetooth headphones. Or I know, don’t buy the iPhone 7, simple!
it’s not stupid, but is very douchy of apple to do so and only shows the arrogance and only grows the idea starting to form apple is losing touch with their customer base.
This isnt a major news flash. Apple has always been douchy and arrogant.
apple customer base is full of insecure dumb ppl
not the smartest ppl on this planet
will buy any stupid hype
in fact apple watch is almost the worst smartwatch u can buy and they a glady buying
I am secure when I say that your post, Mike Snoow, is full of stupidity.
You missed a really golden opportunity there. “you know nothing, Mike Snoow.” Is what you should’ve said.
They actually did a study (look it up) and found iPhone users to generally be more intelligent.
That’s not what the study found. It found that states of the US with higher rates of college graduation have higher rates of iPhone usage. Smarter people being iPhone users could cause that, but it’s not the only thing that could. It’s not as if graduating college takes MENSA levels of smart.
Or wait, did you mean the ‘study’ that found that among Britons who use a phone app to gamble (probably not the brightest crowd to begin with), iPhone users are slightly faster at answering trick questions?
“the worst smartwatch.” this phrase just…. ugh. smart watches do not need to be a thing!!
Just reading this comment shows how stupid some people really are.
Are we supposed to be saddled with the ridiculously large analog headphone jack for eternity? While we’re at it all laptops should ship with VGA ports, CD DVD readers and 9 pin serial. It’s very much time for this tired standard to die.
Really, I would expect the future is wireless rechargeable headphones not an adapter.
Erm, 99.9999999999 % of all headphones are analog…
Also, wireless headphones suck, having to recharge headphones is a sucky idea and inconvenient. The technology has to improve a long way. Also, new protocols come along rendering your phones even less useful. The thing about headphones is that they can be used across all types of device, from CD and DVD players, MP3, Amplifiers and myriad other things that do not and will not support BT audio. Once you put electronics in headphones, you limit what they can do. Great if you only plan to ever use one or two devices, not great if you use a large mixture.
This is why audio has a set of long standing standards, the thing about a standard is that it’s standard for interoperability.
My wireless headset lets me switch between my phone, car, and pcs seamlessly. No wired headset comes close to that east of use. And no new protocols are going to be needed, we can already do lossless audio over bluetooth.
Lossless over bluetooth? lol I’ll keep my hi-def wired headphones, thank you very much.
Why remove something that works even if it’s “old technology”. There’s a
reason that the world ditched VGA ports, and the others because there
was a significant difference in quality between those and newer tech
such as the HDMI port. And anyways G Annett is right bluetooth
headphones are annoying for all the other things we have to recharge on a
daily basis and the fact that bluetooth just doesn’t sound as good as
wired. Plus the current headphone jack isn’t even that big at all and is
the standard for so much audio across the world and it works fantastic
which is why it’s been around for so long and hasn’t needed to be
changed. No need to reinvent the wheel…
Forget about the port for a second and think about having to move from passive headphones that can be used any time, to active ones that need a DAC/ADC, amplifier and power. I don’t want all this extra weight, complexity and cost, plus the need to charge if bluetooth, just to cater to Jony Ive’s obsession with skinny electronics.
Apple aren’t worried about upsetting their customers. Look at what they done with the 30-pin connector. Everyone had to buy new chargers but at the end of the day, it was the correct decision. It’ll be the same with this too. I mean, not only might they drop the 3.5mm headphone jack but they might also change the port again anyway! Its been four years. The 30-pin was around for four years and in September 2016, the Lightning Connector would have been around for four years as well.
>If you want to listen to music [..] use the EarPods
Why the hell would anybody want to do that?
It would be stupid. EarPods suck. Bluetooth almost always sucks, unless you do some serious EQ manipulation to mask the fact that the built in DAC via bluetooth still has a lot of room for improvement, even with APT-X. Not buying the iPhone 7 would be a great reason for Apple to not implement this change.
“If Apple is really planning to kill the iPhone headphone jack, it’s ditching 60 years of history.”
Apple does not dwell on the past. Apple looks forward to the future.
Like your iPhone 6s, with 2012 technology.
Problem is earpods and Bluetooth headphones are mostly shit,don’t why people upvoted your comment it is arrogant and stupid
Indeed.
you use those f**king “earpods”. they are complete trash. plugging them into a different hole wont fix that.
Nothing has changed besides apple wanting to sell me an adapter. What problem are they solving here? I’ve been an iphone guy since the 3G but this will push me to Android.
Lightning connector is no where near as durable or reliable as the 3.5 jack, can you remember the last time a copper jack failed?
because i can remember the last time i had to replace a lightning cord for crapping out.
Apple has a long history of killing off ‘Industry Standards’ that are well established… floppy disks… CD Roms…. I don’t think they care at all that 3rd parties will need to adapt or die. Generally this has driven technology forward.
But they did so when the next technology was catching on. Floppy drives disappeared when CD ROMs started becoming standard. Apple didn’t invent CDs and require you to use them or buy an external drive to run anyone else’s stuff.
You mean like the bluetooth and NFC headphones? There’s your next iteration. Doing away with wires is Apple’s MO.
The problem with wireless is that battery tech suck at the moment and before it improves A LOT, there is no real appeal to wireless devices. God I hate to charge my phone every 2 days… and I’m lucky it lasts 2 days. We desperately need batteries that last a couple of weeks. I know it’s hard to do but we were able to do something similar for gas mileage.
Sound quality for wireless is inferior as well.
Headphone jacks are not a dying tech though, people spend tons of money to buy high quality headphones by respectable companies, and apple wants to use the beats brand which is a shitty product line to control the market, and with that increase the cost of headphones. and the slightly better audio argument I’m not sure if it even would increase the sound quality.
I own headphones more expensive than apple phone,my main use with a phone is listening to music so..
Me too. In fact I have 4 sets that cost more than an iPhone. My amps cost more than Macbook Pro’s and My DAC’s are mostly USB.
what’s your point… bragging that you’ve spent a lot of money on a sound system… grats, you’re cool…
Yes, it’s true, I am totally cool.
The point is, when the devices used to listen to the music cost more than the device that plays it, people have more discerning tastes than iPod’s craptastic equipment can provide.
There’s no way that I would listen to music through an Apple product anyway. Their proprietary encoding process is worse than an MP3.
Apple, for people who think crap is “good enough”.
You do realize that the “proprietary encoding” you are referring to has not been a thing for years now right? Quit living in the past!
So what? I paid less than 20 bucks on headphones that sounds better than the beats solo2 I’ve won and are now in the trash because they broke after less than 10 use (apple would not replace them since fabrication date was 12 days past the warranty)
That’s because beats are junk, but fashionable, which is why Apple bought them. Not improving the quality of that junk now Apple owns them is verging on criminal.
they don’t kill off industry standards, they just don’t support them in their devices. I can still buy blank cds and burn them in my PC.
yet CDs are a dying technology, slowly but surely
All optical media should have died before Bluray. In the era of cheap high capacity NAND, there’s no excuse to use anything else.
Yeah, Sony winning the high definition media war with Blu-Ray is probably the dictionary definition of pyrrhic victory.
Just because Apple wants to change something, to you, that means it’s time to kill off an industry standard?
Yeah and those technologies sucked. Headphones are bad ass. The only problem apple is solving in
this case is selling adapters and making their already thin enough phone even thinner.
Arguing that we shouldn’t drop a standard “because it’s 60 years old”, seems very anti-innovation, in my opinion.
Old standards are ditched because it’s important we can build a platform where improvements can be made. Moving from SCART and Composite to Component and HDMI was a pain at first, but now we have a digital standard that can constantly improve well into the 4K and beyond levels of quality.
It’s the same with ditching the 3.5mm jack. There’s a limit to it’s capabilities, and by switching to the lightning port we can transfer volumes more data, and give audio manufacturers more to play with in terms of DAC and how they wish to represent the sound. If lightning isn’t the final standard, then the next iPhone will be another Betamax style attempt that will be lost in the wind. Nevertheless, this is a step in the right direction, as the 3.5mm is a bottleneck on the industry.
Except that in the case of 3.5mm, it’s already as high quality as humans can perceive. Sure, you could measure a slightly lower level of distortion or higher S/N on a all digital headphone connection, but can you actually *hear* it? Particularly given that 3.5mm is better sound quality than bluetooth (which is what most people will transition to).
It’s the same nonsense audiophiles get caught up in with their $10,000 50 watt amplifiers. You simply can’t HEAR a difference.
As a live sound tech, I’m actually not that disappointed… I think there’s a decent prospect of seeing a lightning->balanced analog (say 1/4″) cable that will make my life easier. And I’m also a big proponent of Apple and the “adapt or die” method of innovation. But I really hope Apple doesn’t try to sell this to people as an upgrade in sound quality as they pair it with 50 cent ear buds.
It’s funny that people even consider this “innovation” and speaks to the ignorance and sheepishness of the overall population.
I agree with you on the “can you actually hear it argument”. The audio industry is full of gimmicky things that audiophiles swear by, and this could be one of them.
On the other hand, lightning would provide even more than just better audio. The increased bandwidth, and lack of analogue wire restrictions means we could finally have decent inline microphones, or even super customisable controls on the headphones themselves. You could power LEDs, charge bluetooth headphones that also have wired cables (like the new VModa Crossfades), adjust EQ settings per song by extracting song data from the device, etc, etc.
My point about supporting innovation is to give smarter people than all of us a platform on which to come up with and create crazy new inventions. 3.5mm has done well, but there’s nothing more we can do with it.
Headphones are analog devices, just by virtue of the physical processes that go on to vibrate air that produces sound. Thus, the digitally stored media needs to be converted to analog in the DAC.
This signal processing should be done on the device, not kept digital and left to the cans to decode. Doing this needlessly elevates the cost of headphones, for literally 0 *tangible* benefit. Why would you want to charge bluetooth headphones from the phone? Why wouldn’t you just get corded headphones if you’re going to do that? Do cables with LED’s justify an entirely new hardware standard?
Any software that would allow you to make ad-hoc EQ changes that apple produced would be part of iTunes. As such, it could be handled by either the device or the (presumably now digitally-driven) headphones. It would probably end up as an Apple-specific ID3 tag that the iPhone would see, and then change its internal EQ accordingly. It would actually be easier to elegantly implement while keeping the signal processing on the phone, given how simple the user “interface” would have to be on the headphones.
In short, replacing the 3.5mm jack with a digital corded solution is a solution in search of a problem. There’s nothing that could be done with it (aside from cables with LED’s, lol) that we can’t already do with what we have today. “Innovation” would be one thing, this is something else.
Audio quality is a minor consideration. The issue is the connector. The gigantic, by modern standards, audio jack is easily replaced by an existing digital plug that has better characteristics, results in one less jack, fewer failures associated with bad jacks and ultimately by wireless technology.
Yes, the only purpose of the connection is a minor consideration. Style over substance arguments all day every day, I love it.
I can see Apple ditching the 3.5 mm connector. But I don’t think they will replace it with a lightning connector. They might introduce a new thin format connector, and then make that a public standard.
“Apple” and “Innovation” are antonyms.
“Moving from SCART and Composite to Component and HDMI was a pain at
first, but now we have a digital standard that can constantly improve
well into the 4K and beyond levels of quality.”
It was a good change, and it wasn’t even that painful, in my opinion, but there was a transition period, and the timing had to be right.
Notice how many devices (monitors, PCs, game consoles, etc.) kept older technology like composite and VGA cables, while offering the newer HDMI port as an option. Though it’s nice to have those older connectors even now, it wouldn’t be nearly so painful if everything but HDMI was suddenly dropped from now on.
But imagine if all the hardware companies had switched over to HDMI and dropped all other standards in, say, 2006. Have a CRT TV or VGA-only monitor like so many others do? Too bad, you need to get with the times.
That’s no doubt how Apple would have done it, but notice that we’ve arrived in an era where HDMI is very popular- dominant, even. And people adopted the tech when they were ready, with no obnoxious prodding from Apple required.
This entire article is incorrect. Stop trying to stifle innovation because you dislike change.
This reminds me of the panic that ensued when word got out that Apple was using the new Lightning port. People are funny.
I didn’t even know they had switched to the lightning port until buying an iPod when my old one died and finding out I could no longer use any of my docking stations/stereos with it which was pretty f*cking annoying. I don’t feel panicked really, just more and more annoyed about having to buy new products when the old ones work perfectly fine.
This isn’t about stifling innovation, it’s about understanding the market and what people want. People don’t want to have to junk the earphones they own just to accomodate apple.
Apple would be smarter to start mass producing headphones that use their lightning port, get people using them, get other companies making them, too, and then, when it’s become a hip thing (maybe because of exclusivity, hopefully because of better quality), drop the headphone port.
They’d have to reengineer the lightning port as well. The lightning port is not nearly as robust as the 3.5mm jack in terms of keeping the cord connected. Even if there is an adapter that let me use my favorite cans, they’d be falling out of the lightning port every 3 blocks. No thanks.
Also my main use case for listening to my iphone is at work where both ports are occupied. Are they going to put in two? One for charging and one for listening?
The fact that you consider this innovation is a bit hilarious.
Or Apple will stick a 10¢ Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter in the box…
….and charge $25 for it.
Ain’t that the truth!
A lightning to 3.5 mm adapter could be built easily by a third party and sold for $5.
And then Apple will disable its functionality with the next software update. No thanks.
Can it be built to not fall out of the lightning port like all my existing cheap lightning cables?
Clean out your lightning port. I found this recently. Took it to the Apple Store and they cleaned out the port. Then every cable I had snapped tight instead of slipping out.
So it means that the port is poorly made if it doesn’t work while it’s a bit dirty.
That’s what it costs apple, they will charge $35 to the consumer.
Or someone else will make one. This isn’t world ending.
and then Apple will make one with a $20 chip in it whose sole purpose is to send a signal to your device confirming it has the $20 chip in it, and is therefore “authorized” to be used with your device
So according to the comments here, dropping the 3.5mm jack is *innovation* and moving technology along. Actually no, it’s just changing from one plug to another plug, or with an adapter. A plug nobody actually has, uses or wants. In case no one here has noticed, there are already a variety of plugs on headphones, 2.5 3.5 6.4 BNC DIN XLR CoAx, this would just be one more in a list of plugs going from gargantuan (twin XLR) to basically anything you like, as long as it has 3 or more connectors.
I know, Apple’s secret plan is to reintroduce the all new iPod for music with a headphone jack, because, why have only one device when two will do.
And going from VGA to HDMI was changing from one plug to another plug. Not all plugs are created equal.
VGA was only video so HDMI is entirely new plug bringing audio into the signal flow.
Exactly. Lightning allows for more power, additional data, and a digital signal. There are a ton of exciting things we could do with that increased bandwidth (all of which I wrote about above).
There’s nothing we can’t do by keeping the signal processing on the device. The 3.5mm isn’t obsolete, even if it is analog. Learn2HiFi
And what has that got to do with a headphone jack? They already use multi pin ports that can accomplish everything you write about. So where exactly is the advantage of removing a world standard audio connector?
It’s not the best argument you could put forward as all that has been available for years via the various apple connectors. Removing something that almost everyone uses *is* dumb. Arguing for complexity over simplicity, inconvenience over utility is against all the principals of good industrial design.
Now you’ve proven you haven’t the slightest clue.
I don’t follow, please elaborate.
We already have external dac’s that use the lightning port. They’re not popular. Forcing people to use them isn’t innovation.
Invalid. HDMI is a different set of signals and protocols to VGA. In case you hadn’t noticed, headphones use Just three, left, right and ground.
A headphone adapter will also feed those same signals no matter how many connectors the port has. With a DAC, it uses a line level digital signal, again, nothing special. The only thing this could push is BT headphones, which Apple just happens to sell.. for an extortionate price considering the junk you’re buying. No, this has nothing to do with innovation or pushing tech. Pushing price and style is all it’s doing.
You can already run DAC’s directly from any USB port, same signal. This is an aesthetics and profit thing, nothing more. It will not advance squat, but it will inconvenience a lot of people if true.
Dropping the plug may not be innovation in of itself but moving past 60 year old technology could allow for more design innovation within the device itself. I could care less. I haven’t plugged anything into a phone (besides the charger) in like 5 years.
wells there millions are people who still do, hence why there is so much unrest at this. people like choices, not just one.
Yup, still using that sweet 3.5 everyday in my car; course it’s usually connected to my Fiio X5 since Apple decided to alienate (see: eliminate) the iPod Classic customers and their high capacity needs. Apple loves alienating!
same herr but only because audi is not able to ship an a5 with apple carplay. and they are not able to get a 2009 model updated for apple carplay either… stuck with 3,5 mm jack.
It’s more the author wasn’t bright enough to actually address why you would get rid of the phone jack. Bluetooth and NFC headphones already exist. Odds are Beats will introduce a new pair of NFC headphones and make Apple billions.
Maybe they’ll have one lightning port and one usb c
Now I remember-never read a post by this guy.
Prediction: only the the iPhone 7 Plus will lack a headphone jack, and will be redubbed the iPhone Air. Probably the iPad models will also drop the jack.
I’m all for it. I use Bluetooth because I hate wires. If it means a thinner phone….ditch it.
As long as they have a current style headphone jack, mobile devices can’t get any thinner. Believe it or not, that’s a drawback. Second, with a new plug standard, devices could deliver power to the headphones – this means adding things like noise cancelling and smart volume adjustment with earbuds and no batteries strapped to the sides of your head. A powered headphone jack would also allow things like plug-in bluetooth broadcasters or mini-amplifiers smaller than a cigarette for any device that used the new port – allowing you to connect your device wirelessly to modern portable speakers or directly to full-sized audio speakers without any extra equipment. I’m surprised the audio industry hasn’t pursued small, powered audio plugs before.
A thinner device, with a thinner battery, powering a second device, which no longer has its own battery. Hope you bought the headphones for tracks not movies.
seriously, yet people call this “innovation.”
Power’s no good if the cable falls out every 3 blocks. Lightning connector is just fine if my phone is sitting on my desk charging. The lightning port is not strong enough to ensure connection in the pocket of someone walking down the street. I know from trying to charge my phone with portable batteries. The lightning cable falls out all the time if not perfectly stationary.
Bla bla bla bla
It’s always the same thing. 60 years using an anagogic cable! I’m not saying the apple should use a proprietary format but enough is enough.
“Anagogic” lol
Utterly retarded. I go through a pair of earbuds a month at the gym, if not more – the likelihood of my buying expensive Bluetooth headphones or ones with a proprietary connector is exactly zero. I’ve had iPhones since they’ve existed but this would move me to something else in a heartbeat.
Have you done the math on buying crappy ear phones every month versus getting a more expensive item that lasts years?
Shhhhhh…. those headphone makers love this guy. By the by, I spent $60 on a nice pair of LG bluetooth headphones 4 years ago. Still use them for running, traveling and gym.
Find me a pair of expensive headphones that I can’t break in a couple of months and I will buy them.
Paradigm Shift e2m.
You’re welcome.
Maybe he purposely leaves them on equipment then has to go back. Then uses a pathetic pickup line while retrieving them. Might explain the every month, having to get a new one.
I too stop springing for expensive aux cables because after a few months, sometimes weeks, the connection is already going bad and I’m either getting sound out of one side and/or a lot of crackling. $1 Chinese aux cables for the win!
When Apple dropped its 30 pin connector, people could not switch to Android and continue to use their old 30 pin connectors. When Apple dropped the floppy, people could not switch to windows and continue to use the software or conveniently and consistently access the files they had on floppy. If they drop the headphone port, people might just buy a samsung and continue to enjoy their headphones. Apple should not want to hand Samsung the marketing argument of “choose our phone, for the same price or less, and all your headphones and audio cables will still work. stay with iphone on your next upgrade, and pay twice to stay versus what it costs to switch.” Bluetooth is a pain, constantly having to pair and unpair it, grabbing your phone off the counter to answer a call and realizing its paired to a bluetooth earpiece in your car in the garage, trying to listed to music and realizing your headphones need battery, wearing clunky crap with batteries in it, and needlessly streaming radio waves through your brain not just for 10min calls but for 2hr movies, that might interfere wirelessly with other things you are trying to do. Its just easier to have a wire in many cases. If Apple drops the port, they would need to include 2 lightening ports on the iphone and a converter dongle in the box to minimize the negative consequences, or at least support dongles that one can buy for $30 or so. A partial analogy might be cd/dvd. Apple dropped them on many macs, and users knew their software and proprietary files could not switch to pc, but their cds and movies could and some cross platform software. But Apple kept USB and continued OS support for USB CD/DVD drives which are available for $30 or so. So, users did not have to rebuy everything or buy particularly expensive accessories. I think some Apple monitor ports are like this too, relying on adapters.
Android devices never used a 30 pin. That was plug was exclusive to apple too.
Thats my point! Its one thing to switch from one of your own proprietary standards to another, people can’t just take their accessories to your competitors devices. In the case of the 3.5mm headphone jack, they can, making it different than switching from 30 pin connnector.
That was his point.
For the record, my Samsung Note 10.1 has a 30 pin connector.
*grin*
Yes. I have dope ass head phones. I’m not ditching them because apple thinks they are “innovating”. You aren’t disrupting a market. You’re trying to force your proprietary standard on the masses.
Apple provides headphones with iPhones so there isn’t an issue if the jack is changed! They could also provide an adapter for those who have 3rd party headphones
Everyone complaining keeps missing the point of this actually means keeping only 1 port! Your headphone will probably use the same port you use for charging.
Except that the headphones that Apple provides are utter junk. Many of us want to be able to use our own headphones that don’t sound like crap.
You mean the headphones that come free with the iPhone are junk and then you go buy $200 beat ones from Apple?
Nope. I will gladly spend $300 on a pair of Shure ones, however.
No, we mean buying really nice ones from Paradigm or Bose.
So you are comparing free headphones that come with the iPhone with 200$-300$ ones? and calling them crap? Its like comparing a bicycle with a car!
Have you ever compared the audio quality of the Apple earphones versus something made by Shure, Ultimate Ears, Klipsch, etc.?
They sound like shit and don’t fit in my ear so I have no interest in their included headphones. I bought a paid of nice ear buds and a pair of nice over ear phones because I don’t like shitty audio quality. You are telling me I 1.) need an adapter and 2.) can’t charge while I’m listening? No thanks man. The main thing I do with my phone is listen to music and second is text and third is browse the web. Android is shitty but at least I can still do all of those things the way I want to.
There’s some sick irony in all of this, in that Steve Jobs put immense pressure on Google to release the G1 without a 3.5 mm jack, and instead Google had to package a mini-USB to 3.5 mm adapter.
My favorite old Apple story is how you had to pay $10 for the software update that unlocked the bluetooth on the iPod 2nd gen.
In every device I’ve had that has that 60 year old plug -Walkman, iPod, feature phone, iPhone– that plug has always been the initial point of failure. It is not designed for regular use. What has always happened is that the rest of the gadget would still be in working order but the jack would loosen and audio would start to cut out intermittently until eventually I couldn’t use wired earphones anymore.
I say good riddance on that infernal jack!
In my experience the lightning port is much worse. No cable will stay in the jack unless the device is completely at rest. using the lightning port as a headphone connector will be a nightmare for anyone who actually moves and listens to music at the same time. I’m not saying the 3.5mm jack is bulletproof, but it is way more robust than lightning jack in my experience.
If Apple did replace the headphone jack, and it really was with the consumers interests in mind, why not micro-usb? I guess the argument with lightening port over micro-usb for charging and sync was that it can be a little faster or deliver a little more power (but really Apple doesn’t like to use open standards they dont profit from). Well, how many GB/sec does a headphone need? Does a headphone need the same power as to quick charge a cell phone, presumably so your headphone can completely consume your battery in under an hour?? Prolly not. So if Apple was really about the future, they would put a micro-usb for headphones right beside the lightening cable for charging, and support charge and data through that port also, and Samsung could follow suit dropping headphone with 2 micro-usb ports, and we could have a better open standard, with most headphones coming in micro-usb. Unfortunately, micro-usb and lightening connectors break more often than headphone jack connectors, so people might need to buy new headphones every year due to bad cables.
If there’ll be no way to connect to my car (I only have an AUX jack) there is no way I’ll be getting the new iPhone.
Freelance writer = not quite bright enough to get hired for a real job. Putting “Apple” and “stupid” in the same headline rather makes the point.
What happens when you put “wkw5297” next to “iSheep”?
Or, they could just include a lightning-to-headphone adapter in the box … which is definitely the most likely scenario here. This gets them the thin form factor, keeps your headphones compatible, and likely comes in at the same cost, or less than putting the 3.5 jack inside the phone itself.
Thanks for the heads up, but the tone of your article is ignorant.
What about those of us who charge their phones and use headphones at the same time?
C’mon. we’re not re-inventing the wheel here. Adding a passthru for the lightning port on an adapter is inconsequential to Apple, but then again whose to say the new phones won’t also rely solely on wireless charging.
The point to take away here is, Apple knows what they’re doing. Although the mob really seems to want to start gathering stones and pitchforks already … keep in mind that Apple wants to sell these devices even more than you want to buy them. If this change is real (and at this point we have about as little evidence to that point as one could possibly have), the intent is almost certainly to reduce the form factor of the phone, not to make your headphones obsolete. IF Apple decides to remove this port, then they will do so intelligently and with the majority of headphone use-cases in mind.
Maybe everyone could focus their ire away from the new headphone jack .. and towards … I don’t know … ISIS, or maybe Donald Trump.
You’ve apparently never tried to keep anything plugged into a lightning port while actually moving around. It’s the sloppiest.
What’s the point of adding a thick adapter to make the device thinner?
So would there be two jack, or would we still only have one?
Despite (apparently) common belief, iPhones have to charge — and it’s nice to still be able to listen to them while they’re plugged in. A single jack means I’d be stuck choosing between charging my iPhone at night and listening to music as I’m falling asleep. That’s a decisive loss of functionality.
The 3.5 mm jack is the most failure prone component on the phone now that the 30 pin connector is gone. The sooner it dies, the better.
I don’t see how this is a bad thing at all.
To assume we still will need a cable to connect our headphones is outdated thinking. Apple is long overdue for wireless headphones.
Just as CD’s were replaced with downloadable content, the headphone jack will lose to wireless.
Wireless headphones have inferior quality.
I don’t have an Iphone, but I do believe this would eliminate the use of the Square, Etsy and other peripherals used for commerce, wouldn’t it?
If it’s true, then probably until there is an adapter or their technology changes to adapt to the new tech.
Could this be the next step into a fully enclosed waterproof phone? Wireless charging and no headphone jack means a fully sealed phone
As a non-Apple user, I don’t find this surprising. Choosing to use an Apple product is a lifestyle choice, just like owning a Volkswagen (before the scandal). A big draw of these products is that they are different from the norm and people like using them because it feels like they are part of a special club (see the uproar when Instagram came to Google play). So if you make that choice because you want the exclusivity, you have to put up with the fact that they’ve always tried to make anything they can proprietary (under the guise of “innovation”, when really it’s just a good business move, the jump in audio quality probably won’t be detectable to a human ear). This is only going to get worse. It’s pretty clear that there are only two players here – Apple and Android. Android is very much about being open source and compatible, so why wouldn’t Apple just swing harder in the opposite direction? When there are only two competitors they seek maximum differentiation, just look at the two party political system here in the States as another example. It seems to me that probably 90% of iPhone users just use the stock earbuds that come with the phone, so this is only going to be a major sticking point for only a small number of consumers. I doubt it will prevent many people from upgrading and given that I’m sure android will continue using the 3.5mm, I don’t think it will “kill” that jack either, in fact, I don’t think Apple wants that. If all android phones became compatible with lightning, boom, there goes the proprietary nature and in the next iteration they come out with a different, “better” jack. And it all goes round and round.
Finally, a voice of reason.
There’s already a superior port to lightning: USB C. Android is never going to use Lightning.
I’m not so sure the mobile iDevices need to be thinner — period. Why not keep the 3.5mm jack and use the extra space for a larger or replaceable battery, more RAM, an SSD port, or whatever? Plenty of “innovation” could be gained from using that empty space, not to mention how it feels good to hold something substantial in one’s hand.
The 1/4″ jack is even older, but those just use simple adapters. RCA connectors are from the 40’s. Even VGA D-sub has its basis in the 50’s. I never really cared for any kind of earbuds and even if I had an iphone, I would probably use a pair of over the ear headphones.
I think they should drop the headphone jack altogether. Go 100% blue tooth
Apple wants to force people to change so they can throw a bunch of “new” products at them because of this change. Another cash grab by a company dumping slightly improved phones out each year.
It’s to push us to buy Bluetooth headphones (namely Beats, which sound like crap).
LOL did you just write a blog post about why it would be dumb for Apple to kill off a piece of hardware history that’s been around since the transistor radio? Sounds similar to how Apple got utterly poopooed for doing away with the CD-ROM.
False equivalency. The 3.5mm jack has lasted as long as it has for one simple reason: it’s the best there is.
Nope. On an infinite time scale every fad is relatively tiny, including hardware fads.
Before the iPhone self-important bloggers would throw their firsts in the air decrying: non-real buttons? Touch on a mobile device? No way in hell will that work. People need real buttons!
Consider this: The Sony Walkman has been around and for sale longer than the iPhone has (12+ years vs 8 years before the Walkman was decommissioned). Something will eventually even replace the iPhone as we know it and it may not even come from Apple.
Think outside of the box, not just with what is immediately familiar.
That’s all well and good, but a DAC is still necessary at some point from source to output. Moving the DAC off the device is a great way to make sound quality garbage.
Nothing of what you just said contradicts the fact that the 3.5mm standard is still the best we have. Sure, it’ll eventually be replaced, but that’s true for everything, so mentioning it is redundant.
Nothing of what you just said contradicts the fact that CD-ROM drive standard is still the best we have. Sure, it’ll eventually be replaced, but that’s true for everything, so mentioning it is redundant.
Except that DVD and Blu-ray exist? What standard is better than 3.5mm?
Without the 3.5mm jack you can no longer use your phone to accept credit cards through devices like the square reader. That would negatively impact a lot of small businesses.
or they could just buy not apple phones on their next upgrade.
For someone like me who hates Android with a passion and has no reason to go to a Windows phone, it’s not an option. I use an iPhone because it replaced an Android phone I had replaced 8 times in one year for not functioning, plus I had to swipe a card 5-6 times then reboot my phone to get the square reader to work with it. On my iPhone it works the first swipe. I would hate to go back to in inferior product.
Android Master race.
Paypal Here works great on Windows Phone. One swipe and done.
That’s great for someone who wants to use Paypal and Windows.
This is about money. There’s no discussion. They’ll do as they please and always have.
Why aren’t people seeing that this isn’t about making a thinner phone, it’s about them being GREEDY!! They want to create a new market so they can be the only ones to sell to that market; create a market and monopolize it. They know that people need to listen to music on their phones so now they have to run out and by a pair of $100 Beats headphones (which they now own). It’s unreal, yet, iSheep will somehow defend them. This isn’t about innovation, this is about greed – pure and simple.
this is what was said about the lightning cable. and what has apple monopolized with that? You can get an off brand lighting cable now for the same price as micro-usb. Innovation and corporate greed are not mutually exclusive. Creating a thinner phone will boost sales.
I know, we had to replace three expensive speak docks because of it… but this is a different ballgame… but a dock isn’t a “must.” EVERYONE uses their iPhone in the gym, running, at the beach, etc. You HAVE to use headphones… so now you’re forced to buy “lighting” headphones to use a basic feature that a $30 Wal-Mart phone has. Nobody is going to want to have to use adapters all of the time, that’s insane. Let’s be clear, audio is digital, the only variable is the bitrate at this point… that’s on the file side, not the tech side. The headphones work perfectly and the audio is already amazing. There is NO advantage to the consumer and the “thinner phone” is a scam and I hope nobody is dumb enough to believe that. This is 100% a move to force people to buy new headphones from THEIR new product line. Period.
I don’t see what’s so insane about using an adaptor. You attach it to your headphones/auxiliary cable/dock once and you’re done. Not much hassle in that. And i’m not sure where the “scam” lies in making a thinner phone. It’s the inevitable direction technology is taking. It’s what people want and it’s what people will buy. That Apple will be able to push whatever from their new product line is just a bonus for them.
You bois do know that there are other devices to plug headphones into? Who wants to have to have separate headphones for their phone / pc / professional audio equipment? No one who cares about, or who has invested in proper headphones.
Yes, let me just buy a shitty 3rd party DAC so I can still use my Audeze LCD-3 with it.
I don’t know when I used my headphone jack last. Wireless Bluetooth is the only thing i use. Wouldn’t miss it at all. Besides, I am sure it would come with an adapter with every phone, just like it comes with the charging cable. This is not a big deal.
False equivalency. The 3.5mm produces higher quality sound than Bluetooth when you control for price. Hell, even when you don’t, all the best headphones aren’t Bluetooth.
It isn’t going to matter. All the ApplePhiles are going to buy it anyway!
Another short sighted article by a self proclaimed technology journalist with zero vision or an accurate picture of actual history. There is always a complaint by some when technology changes. To some it seems painful. To those living in the 21st century, it does not.
First, if you buy a new iPhone and this new jack is present, you will receive a set of ear buds/pods/plugs to deal with it. Second, in short order or immediately, adapters will be available … and then as usual, others will start making their products compatible and in less than a year, no issues.
The argument suggests history as some guide to the stupidity of Apple … well if that’s the case, I hope the author is still enjoying his horse and buggy, and his tin cans and string to talk to friends with.
Or… they could just offer the damn headphone jack that works so well as-is, so we can keep using our headphones we’ve already bought. Is it going to improve the sound? No. Then what’s the point. Oh, because it’s a MONEY GRAB by Apple, duh. They want their entire marketbase to have to go out and shell out another $100 for their Beats headphone. It’s insane.
I’ve been an Apple fan since 1986, and I hate this idea…
du’h, there would be an included adapter with the 7/7S and you can buy an Apple $20 adaptor going forward or $3 no name one. By all means, panic over the stupidest thing ever. Or in case you hadn’t noticed, bluetooth wireless headphones exist – while apple might switch ove by the iphone 10, it’s not like wireless headphones cost that much more. Wake up and smell the new century – no need to get your vacuum tubes and filaments all up in a knotted bundle. Chillax people, it’s 2015 – we don;t need a 1″ giant hole to get recieve audio.
If I had an expensive pair of headphones I’d probably be all freaked out at this possible change. As I have only Apple headphones I’m fine. I sat next to a few people on a flight from Europe Sunday who are not going to be happy to hear about this……..
I suspect this is a desperate measure because they’ve given up on trying to solve the “instantaneously tangling earbud cord” problem.
Everything needs to be wireless at this point. Charging, syncing, and even headphones. It would allows the phones to become thinner, make them completely waterproof, and stronger.
Yep! That’s what we’re heading toward. They could manufacture that phone tomorrow. Wireless charging is still pretty niche though.
I don’t understand what is driving this quest for ‘thinness’. I certainly don’t want it. I have a Galaxy S5 which I often have trouble holding because of how thin it is. Is it really the consumers or are the manufacturers have a d*ck measuring contest? The one with the least girth wins. Who knew??
And that’s where I get off the Apple train. It’s shitty enough that Apple can decide to make my third-party lightening cable suddenly not work (as they have done multiple times), but the control to do the same with my headphones? Nope. I like that I can use my headphones in multiple devices. I’m not buying a pair that can only be used with my iPhone, and mostly likely an expensive pair given that they can remotely disable to functionality of anything third party. Sorry Apple, I’ll be headed over to Android.
It would be a pain if this meant we can’t charge our phones while listening to music. I’m hoping that it instead means that Apple is coming out with a wireless charging option…
Any lightning cable I use for more than a month ends up dropping out of my iPhone at the slightest jostle. It’s fine if I am leaving it on a desk to charge, but I can’t image being OK with that happening while I’m on the go listening to my music. Lightning cable connections are not robust.
Doesn’t bother me, and I’ve never seen anyone use headphones with their iphone. But if the only upswing is losing 1mm on thickness, it doesn’t seem like the best of tradeoffs.
You crazy kids. I want my iPhone 7 to come with vacuum tubes like God intended. There should never be any sort of advancement. I don’t care if they’ve been using the 3.5mm for longer than your grandparents have been alive.
I think this is a smart move for Apple because it’ll elevate Apple Pay over Square and PayPal magstrip readers, which rely on this 60 year old technology. I would not be surprised if Square and PayPal had to pay per device for the privilege of working with the newer connector.
This is just speculation. I’m not an Apple employee and I don’t use Apple products.
Moving away from unencrypted payment methods is definitely a great way to go, but this would be idiotic.
Get over it, young fellow. Apple’s been doing this for years, always to a noisy chorus of nay-sayers. Later, no one remembers what all the fuss was about. Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future…
I welcome the the single port. Sorry Jack, you won’t be missed. :)
This is simply “planned adolescence” at its finest, ladies and gentlemen. Moreover, this is also another slick marketing strategy from Apple to make even more money. I’m sure that replacing the headphone jack with a lightning connector would make more than a few people mad, as it would require them to upgrade their headphones, but if they decide to make the purchase, I’m sure they’ll forget all about the change. For those that refuse to upgrade their headphones, then I guess you’ll have to listen to your music through your phone’s speaker, a boombox that has an option for connecting to smartphones, through your iHome or through your car.
If true, Apple’s plan for removing the headphone jack on the iPhone actually reminds me of how Ford once expressed interest in doing away with traditional CD players in their future vehicles in favor of USB ports that you can use to plug your phone into and listen to music. In other words, the music itself would play through mp3 files on your phone instead of on a traditional CD.
With that being said, it surprises me, however, that the CD has actually lasted this long. Although I still do listen to CDs from time to time (more often in the car than not), I also like to stream music, too, although my car (a 2007 year model) is too old to support streaming with its stock radio, although it has an option to support satellite (it’s not set up, though). I am fine with either method, really, although I currently own an Android phone that I’ve had since 2011, and it has been working fine. My sister, however, just got an iPhone 6 that she paid almost $700 for. I’m sure she’ll have it for a while. I’ll have to tell her about this potential change to see what she thinks about it.
Until Bluetooth headphones are widely available at a reasonable price I do not think Apple will do something like this. I have owned 3.5mm for over 30 years and never purchased wireless pair until this week and I am still not convinced that I like them. I find that the sound is off a little, its not as clear and wired.
Plus, they lose a charge around two hours. I don’t want to have to worry about charging headphones now, while I get to the gym and discover that, whoops, no music today because you forgot to charge your headphones. I just want to plug them in and go, simple.
Solution: Bluetooth headphones or third party 3.5mm to Lightning adapter. Shouldn’t be too expensive. BT headphones seems to be on the rise these days anyway.
The FIIO E10K is $75. It’s also about as thick as 2 iphones stacked on top of each other. “Shouldn’t be too expensive” – lol
FIIO E10K is a headphone amplifier, not a 3.5mm to lightning adapter. Thats a very different product. Since that new iPhone isn’t available to the public, I don’t think a lightning to 3.5mm adapter is on the market yet.
The adapter I’m thinking of would be lightning on one end, and female 3.5mm jack on the other. It really shouldn’t be too expensive.
Look up what a DAC is. You’re just shitting all over yourself.
I know what a DAC is. Why don’t you explain a bit so I know what your angle is. Are you saying lightning to 3.5mm is impossible without a bulky DAC?
I’m saying it can’t be done WELL without bringing along a bulky external device. You could definitely get a cheap piece of garbage and attach that to the Lightning port, but you’d be taking a huge step down in fidelity to do so.
It’s the most salient criticism of moving the signal processing off of the device, but not the only one. For example, an iPhone can run much more complex and customizable software than a USB DAC/Amp.
I see, thanks. I’m no audio engineer, nor do I know too much about signal processing (hobbyist at best), but I had a feeling this could be an issue. What do you think are the odds that Apple finds a convenient solution without compromising audio quality? They’d definitely have to look into it, if they’re considering getting rid of 3.5mm and displacing lots of headphones. I’d like to think they have lots of cash to burn on R&D, since iPhone is their top selling product. Should be interesting to see what they come up with if the reports are true.
I’m also a hobbyist, but I’ve spent a bit of time researching different things from a bunch of different places.
I think it’s most likely that they release a new Beats headphone with a proprietary fork of existing Bluetooth standards that supports both older Bluetooth connections, and yet also allows for higher-fidelity signal processing to be done on the included DAC. So basically, what APT-X was supposed to be, only actually able to fool people into thinking they’re listening to wired headsets in a double-blind (aka ABX) study.
With that groundwork laid, they’d be able to safely ditch the 3.5mm jack, and have audiophiles move over to their new wireless standard that only forces you to pay more for the same thing, but doesn’t inherently bring a loss of fidelity.
People that think about price-performance ratios already don’t buy Apple products, so Apple wouldn’t lose that many customers with the move.
Oh, and I forgot, the actual compression method used to send the digital signal over the air would also have to be better than what we have now, too.
If Apple also adds capacitive charging like the Apple watch, then plugging in headphones to the lightning port while charging won’t be an issue. I’m also sure there will be lightning adapters to allow you to continue using standard headphones along with bluetooth options. I don’t see it as being a big deal. The market will adapt as it always does.
i am sure they will have a lighting to ear jack converter plug that you can buy to use your old head phones
Bluetooth headphones are where it’s at anyways. I’ve had a pair for a few years and have hated the few instances I’ve had to go back. Maybe this will force forward the market on those, as I don’t feel there’s been a huge selection of them in recent years.
“Apple would be stupid to drop the iPhone headphone jack”
Even stupider is the rumor. The “reliable source” is wrong, or someone is talking just to talk. Apple will •not• be ditching the headphone jack.
Let me be the first to say this and hope that Apple listens closely. If you get rid of the headphone jack, you WILL be alienating a mass of consumers who either can’t afford or don’t want to listen to music/movies with only earpods that have your proprietary connection. Bluetooth is NOT the same as a hard wired connection, and they run on batteries. I don’t want my listening experience to be determined by the battery life of my headphones, I want it to be determined by the device I am listening from. So when you’re headphones need to charge, they will charge from the phone. Great! Now your battery life is cut in half and you’re nowhere near a plug and no one can get a hold of you, all because Apple wanted to make their phones 1mm thinner! They don’t need to be any thinner!! Why is anyone excited for a phone that is so thin we could drop it at any moment. It’s already so thin that it necessitates the need for a lot of people to buy cases for their phones to make sure that if they drop it, the phone won’t smash instantly. We won’t be able to hold them at some point. People’s dexterity is not all the same. You don’t make the best headphones in the world, that’s a fact. This is why the 3.5mm headphone jack has been an audio standard, so companies can develop headphones for people with every size budget and every range of hearing. Can I hear a major difference between high quality lossy encoding and lossless encoding? No, but some people can. Let us make the choice as which company we want to buy headphones from. Or you might see people choosing what company to buy a phone from instead. And it might not be yours.
Just another reason why I own nothing Apple.
Actually, i never use that jack, and i love music, i would be happy if apple did drop it. this is great move by apple, and in time it will be obvious, i remember everyone complaining when apple dropped the 3.5″ disk and then the CD-ROM, Fact is, its an old standard, and there are alternatives. Lets move forward, embrace the future…
Where it will really suck is when you want to charge the phone and use your headphones – I do that on airplanes all the time.
Keep the thickness and add wireless charging – those are wires I really ant to get rid of!
I think what a lot of people (including the author of this article) are failing to realize is that this has beneficial properties to the device. For example, Apple can make the phone more water resistant (potentially waterproof), which would be pretty nice for the thousands of people yearly that damage devices due to spills or drops in water.
With the 3.5mm port no longer a hinderance in the device, not only will there be a marginal difference of additional room on the interior of the device for bigger/better/more stuff internally, but the device can also go thinner. Thinner doesn’t always mean lighter, but in theory if it was lighter and coupled with sapphire displays, we could see a much more drop-resistant device. Remember that the heavier the object, the faster it falls.
Most of us have known for a while now, that bluetooth will eventually evolve as the industry standard for most technology that can be close to the device. Bluetooth standards have evolved and grown, but still aren’t perfect. Most audiophiles and people looking for quality/cheap headphones and headsets will still use wired connections for a few more years. Once bluetooth evolves to the point of some concepts currently on Kickstarter and/or passing Kickstarter, I would expect bluetooth to simply take over.
Think about it this way. In the next few years you, as the consumer will be able to snag bluetooth headphones and headsets for around the same price as wired versions, except you don’t have to lug around additional cables. Furthermore, quality will inevitably be on par with wired headphones/headsets.
Ultimately, all ports will get replaced or become irrelevant in the future. The lighting port will stay for probably another 5+ years, but eventually Apple and many other companies will offer wireless charging that isn’t just a pod/dock style that we see today. At that point, there won’t be a need for any ports in the phone, minus the sim tray and speakers.
The Sony Xperia line has had ip68 for years now, and they haven’t gotten rid of the 3.5mm port. And while Bluetooth devices might eventually reach the fidelity of wired devices, it’s not true yet. Removing the 3.5mm port before Bluetooth is ready is probably the best argument for why Apple won’t be doing this yet. I could definitely see it, after that, especially if Lithium-Ion/Polymer batteries get a big quantum leap forward. As it is now though, I think we’re still at least a couple years away from this being a good idea.
With the technology already nearly there, and the iPhone 7 not being released until late 2016, I could definitely see the 3.5mm headphone jack being removed. I mean, I picked up a wireless pair of headphones on sale the other day for $20. Quality isn’t quite the best, and the headpieces are quite bulky, but by late 2016, I would expect improvement in the technology.
It’s why I generally don’t buy Mac products. They are too focused on what’s good for Mac and not what’s good for the consumer. Android will just pick up more customers from this mistake.
I don’t care if that happens: For many years I used wired headphones of every quality out there and finally they all got damaged from 1 to 6 months of heavy use. In July 2014 I threw them away in favor of a BlueTooth wireless headset (LG’s TonePro HBS-750) with built-in microphone and I’m still using the same device today. I’m so happy with it that I also bought a Bose SoundLink Mini for everyday use: Great sound, extreme flexibility.
Wireless headphones are the future. Deal with it.
The will probably be bundled with a lightning to 3.5″ adapter… no need to panic about your old school tech. Old headphones will run on the adapter.
I would be in favor of dropping the 3.5″ plug if the lightning plug wasn’t so bad at just staying plugged in.
oh no, the one device i’m obligated to buy might not have a jack in it that my other 15 devices did! if only there was a way to… i dunno… keep one of those. use it for music. gee.
Killing the floppy drive was stupid.
Killing the serial port was stupid.
Killing the DVD drive was stupid.
Or was it??
CDs and flash drives replaced floppies, and USB replaced serial. Streaming and downloads replaced DVDs.
That was the computer business, which Apple had been in for 20 years before the iMac, and 30 years before killing the DVD drive. Apple has now been in the music business 15 years, since the first iPod. And they are in a much stronger position. They don’t need to take the drastic step of killing the headphone jack. But if they stay true to their character (trends which Joey Ive has been a part of since the iMac), they will do it. I only hope they have enough innovation (er, copying) left in them to ditch the Lightning port as well and make it a true Wireless phone, Bluetooth headphones and wireless charging.
Included lightning to 3.5 adapter with the iphone, or a third party will produce it. Done. Now we have 10 months until the 7, time focus on real rumors…
Because the one thing people want with their uber-sleek devices is clunky adapters.
It won’t bother me that apple cuts an outdated connector that is full of pocket lint from my lack of use. It cuts down on the ways I can connect headphones, but it don’t cut out using headphones all together. Some people would like to keep technology fat so we can still pack all the legacy stuff into it. Can’t downsize that laptop because we still need a 15 pin VGA connector. We have HDMI though! It don’t matter that we have HDMI we need two ways of connecting a monitor. You mean like the two ways that we can connect headphones on an Iphone? Before people shit a brick if Apple drops the 3.5mm hole in favour of a lightning connector take a moment to realise they will gladly sell you a $29.00 Y adapter that will allow you to plug in power and an outdated headphone/mic so you can use your old iPhone 6s headphones with it. It’s not the end of the world. Is anyone still complaining about no LAN connector on the Macbook Air or has everyone forgotten that after the ones that needed it bought the 29.00 USB adapter and went on with life?
everything should stay the same always.
Thinner iPhone = Bendgate 2.0
It’s entirely laughable that this website posts an article to complain about killing off an old standard while simultaneously complaining to me that I’m hurting their business by using an ad blocker. Websites killed newspapers, ad blockers will kill off websites. Innovate or die.
Apple changed so many “standards” over the years and I don’t see anything stupid about it.
They refused to use flash on iPhone, CD-ROM on MacBook Air and later on MacBook pros. They didn’t include USB port on iPads or the new MacBook. Samething with physical keyboard or mini-usb on iPhone. All these things caused the industry and 3rd party companies to change their products and adapt to the new technology.
I think a wise move would be adding something similar to the smart connector on iPad pro to the iPhone, which can be used to connect new headphones and power them as well.
Let’s wait and see how they’ll do it.
Or they could just use the not-so-common 2.5mm standard. It’s just smaller. There are plenty of adapters and it would still allow for a smaller phone. But the apple fanboys are still gonna get their panties up in a bunch either way…
Please don’t change another port. Please ; be reasonable.
Well sadly I am late to this conversation and most will not make it down to my comment at the bottom of this horribly bloated website.
There is some very faulty logic in the ‘thinner iPhone’ excuse… The iPod touch is thinner than the iPhone and the iPod Nano even thinner, and guess what, they both have a headphone jack.
This rumor was dug out of the trash so the tech sites can get some link bait to pay for their cyber sale purchases.
This is going to give us a thinner iPhone, and I dig that. Sucks that only Apple headphones would work – if only they were comfortable and lasted longer, this would be perfect.
“Slightly better audio”? This move will usher in HD Audio instead of the low end audio we have been subjected to to date. If it is all about a thinner phone I would agree BUT, I do not believe it is…
An an audiophile, I would tend to agree…if the surrounding hardware is available to take advantage. If you’re using high-end gear to listen to music now – Shure, higher-end Sennheiser & Sony, Ulimate Ears – either you would need to switch to something (far) inferior (Beats: pretty but not “high end”) or you need an adapter (resulting in lose in quality). Of course, there are Bluetooth options at the mid/high end but either they don’t have the same quality or they have battery issues (or both). It’s nice to have the conversation and thoughts out there but when it comes to music, you really need the broader hardware to follow.
What’s the likelihood that Apple would produce a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter cable? Or is that even feasible?
Don’t do it….I won’t upgrade my phone if they do this.
I have a 6s and think it’s too thin. I thought the 5/5s was pushing it, but the 6s is almost unusable without a substantial case. I’d much prefer a thicker iPhone with a higher capacity battery and a flush iOS camera.
“If Apple is really planning to kill the iPhone headphone jack in the model it reveals next year, it’s ditching 60 years of history.”
This argument is quite strong among 5th graders who are really concerned about it when they get the next iPhone.
This sounds like a case of having a theoretically good idea which is before its time because there are just too many ducks to make fall into line to really make this an improvement. For example, this would impact the already taxed battery performance of the iPhone which would need significant improvement to compensate. The same is true for the typical battery performance of Bluetooth headsets. yes, they are constantly improving but they still leave something to be desired. For people who listen to several hours of audio a day, this could be a significant drawback. Same for certain other customer groups. People who fly regularly and long distances aren’t likely to like the battery issues. Audiophiles using high-end listening gear will not like the reduced quality of their experience (and it would be reduced: even IF – because it’s not proven – the Lightning Port gives better output – audiophiles still lose out either because they have to use lower-end gear that plugs directly in or because they have to use an adapter resulting in loss of quality). Seems like potential risks without any advantages (what is the performance/usability advantage of a thinner -than-current iPhone??) while giving consumers another reason to go to the competition.