The headphone jack was killed at the hands of Apple today, but keeping your old 3.5mm earbuds alive won’t cost much.
Apple is including a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter with every iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, however if you need an extra dongle the company will sell you one separately for just $9.
A surprising move seeing as how Apple usually likes to charge a premium for dongles. And considering the new AirPods will set you back $160, this is definitely the cheapest way to embrace Apple’s wireless future.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
17 responses to “Lightning adapter is actually super-cheap (for an Apple dongle)”
“Killed at the hands of Apple” is ridiculous. There are going to be some people, quite a few, who will refuse to buy this device because they’re pushing wireless or dongles before the market has adapted to that future. We are undoubtedly moving towards wireless, but were not there yet, and this early move by Apple won’t “kill” the connector.
It’s one thing to remove FireWire (which a minority of people used) or the CD drive (when digital was already gaining popularity), but when the vast, vast majority of headphones people already own are wired, removing the headphone jack and making people carry a dongle they might lose is just stupid. When they announced it, then spent several minutes defending their decision as “courageous,” you know they recognized the backlash.
Relax, the adapter comes FREE with all new iPhone 7’s. It’s a non-event. Anyone who wants to use their existing wired earphones/headphones can do so without any interruption or problem by using the free included adapter. It will attach to the end of your wired headphones/earpods, so there should be relatively little “leaving it behind” that occurrs. No one is saying you have to use wireless earpods.
If this is just too much for you to take, keep your iPhone 6 or 6s, or move to an Android phone. Rather than such a horrific “backlash” of user outrage, as is usual Apple’s implementation will probably work out just fine for the average consumer, as Apple’s history has repeatedly demonstrated. Despite howls of protest when Apple make significant changes in its computers and phones, the company continues to be more and more popular with users.
Chill and see what the actual fallout will be from this change. If you can’t stand it, leave. Don’t buy the iPhone. I initially hated the idea of no CD/DVD drive in my Mac Pro, but I got Apple’s external SuperDrive–and I’ve used it about twice over the last year and a half. It worked out despite all my anguish. It’s not worth stressing over.
It’s less of a problem for people who buy a new iPhone 7, but it’s still a problem. What if you lose it? What if it stops working? What if people are in the habit of leaving headphones where they use them instead of carrying them around, and need more adapters? Why should people have to pay extra money for a feature that was included last year?
The average consumer wants something that works. Apple used to pride themselves on that. Now they’re releasing a phone that many people will require a dongle for, and when you need an adapter to use your existing, very prevalent connection device, it doesn’t “just work.” As a young adult with parents who occasionally need to be reminded of how their technology works, explaining “your existing headphones don’t work anymore, you need to remember to carry this adapter everywhere you do” is going to annoy both them and me, especially when they used to be able to leave cheap headphones at work, at home, in the car, etc. and just plug them in wherever they were.
I personally won’t stand this change, not this early in the move to wireless. I will not buy this iPhone. I have friends who will not buy this iPhone for this reason. Yes, that is a small sample size, but you must admit that it seems like an odd decision for Apple to make this change that has relatively few benefits for the vast majority of users, while inconveniencing many more.
Get a Samsung then, Wiscotroll
It’s not trolling to express concern about a company I enjoy (I use three Macs and an iPad) making questionable and anti-consumer decisions.
Don’t purchase a new iPhone.
Other makers such as Lenovo’s Moto Z and Moto Z Force and China’s LeEco have already scrapped the 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s already started and will only gain momentum. So another dongle will be the lightning to USB-C adaptors.
How popular are Lenovo’s Moto phones, though? People look at them and some may think “Oh, this is missing a feature that I use a lot, so I’ll look at other phone models.” When Apple removes this feature and requires a dongle to use it with existing wired headphones, it’s not unreasonable to think that a lot of people who want a phone that “just works” with their existing accessories will look at other options. The Galaxy S7 is very similar to the iPhone for many people, and those not as invested as us techies could easily come down to “what will be easiest to integrate into my life? Oh, the one with a headphone port. Sold.”
That’s the million errrr $749.00 question. Many non tech people upgrade without much thought to the next iPhone. I know I will as I got my last iPhone with the Apple upgrade program.
Can I use this on my i6?
Does it have a Lightning port?
If so, then yes!
The dongle? probably. It appears the air pod headphones use a proprietary (surprise!) version of Bluetooth.
For once their cable is a total rip off, $9 is still about $7 more than its worth and about $8 more than it cost to make, but given how many people are going to need to keep handy and likely need to replace they are being kind. Personally I do use BT in my car now, butI will keep one of these in my bag for work, one in the cars each and one in my office, in the end, they are throwaway items.
The troll is busy making bullshit stories, I see. I don’t care where do you get your $7 more than its worth story, but I am sick of seeing your name in every Apple thread posting lies, lies and lies. Maybe your butthurt from all those rapes, but honestly, we don’t care.
I haven’t had a chance to catch up on full details yet, but why is this not lighting-to-headphone-AND-female-lighting? Seems odd to me that if you want to use you wired headphones, you have to alternate back and forth with power. When I drive, I have both plugged in together, continuously.
“If you see a stylus, they blew it.” At this point, I feel like “If you see a dongle, they blew it.” I mean, I was expecting some very compact adapter, not something with a cable between the two connections, seems cumbersome in design. My experience will probably be something like: wireless headphones need charging, so plug in wired headphones only to realize phone battery is low and now I can’t charge while listening. But, I haven’t used it so who knows – and fortunately won’t have to for a while yet, as I think I’m now on a new phone every 3 years now schedule instead of every 2 yrs…..
Apple has always pushed us into new direction and delete things we have learned we really didn’t need… But this is just backward.