iOS 9 code hints at Apple’s plans to ditch headphone jack

By

unnamed
Bye-bye, headphone jack!
Photo: Chase Fromm

More evidence is piling up to suggest that Apple will ditch the 3.5mm jack from the upcoming iPhone 7 — with Twitter user Chase Fromm discovering a potentially revealing line of code in the new iOS 9.3 beta 1.1 software release.

The code reads “Headphones.have.%sinput.NO.”, which may suggest that Apple is looking for different methods of connecting headphones to the next-gen iPhone, most likely with Bluetooth wireless EarPods.

This isn’t the only clue hidden in the code of Apple’s new iOS version. Yesterday we reported on the references to Li-Fi technology, which hints that the iPhone 7 could sport super-fast data speeds of up to 100x that of current Wi-Fi.

It’s worth noting that not everyone is in agreement about what the “Headphones.have.%sinput.NO.” reference means — and that even if this reference is built into the iOS 9.3 beta, it doesn’t necessarily indicate that Apple will absolutely get rid of the headphone jack for the next iPhone.

Still, with with a total of 288,284 people having signed a petition to stop Apple embracing the future with wireless EarPods, it’s no wonder that this latest discovery would cause a few shockwaves.

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.