Apple May Replace 3.5mm Headphone Jack With Lightning Connector For iPhone 7

Meh, couldn't really care less one way or the other. I can't understand how anyone uses wired earbuds anyways. That's like using a wired headset to talk in the car. Trying to mow the yard, the cables always gets caught on something and pulls the earbud out. Watching people jog with them, that cable flopping around everywhere would drive me nuts. I can get about 6 hours per charge of listening with my LG Tone headphones (or could until I dropped one earbud in a drink.. apparently they don't like mojitos). I have a separate bluetooth headset for the car (single ear) that lasts me a week on a single charge (1 hour commute each way, 3 days a week, using Waze and maybe 10 minutes talking during that commute at most). The LG Tones got charged in the car while driving and maybe at night if I remember... but they only ran out of battery once in a year of use, so I'll take that over being tethered to a device any day.
 
"Reliable sources". Apple has not made any announcements, so I see a bunch of Apple haters coming out for fun. I've been to Apple's campus as a "guest". The security was tight. The NDA's I signed were intimidating. I certainly kept my oath for what I was allowed to see. Had the information leaked, it would have been a relatively small group of us externally (no clue how many on the inside).

Now, Apple has certainly gone the proprietary path in the past. I am not saying it won't happen, but these articles are typically click bait. If you are gonna hate Apple, at least wait until they actually do it.

What would be nice: how about using USB-C in the iPhone 7 (for charging) and leave the headphone jack alone. Imagine if you could use USB-C for iOS, Android, etc. That would be a great consumer win.
 
silent-circuit said:
My point wasn't the headphone thing (which I realize may be a bit confusing given the topic of the thread) but more confirmation of the general "war on ports" policy Apple has maintained in recent years. The fact that it's the Macbook and not the Air just furthers my point. Sorry, I don't exactly keep up on Macs, since I couldn't give two shits about them.
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Yet you keep posting. You also clearly don't know what you're talking about. They make 3 laptop models I guess that must be hard to keep track of.

Apple article echo chamber. Also they've had lightning headphones for at least 15 months. But I wouldn't expect you to know anything. That would make sense.

Also my girlfriends new ultra book has the same amount as my air, so what are you blathering on about again?
 
farscapesg1 said:
Meh, couldn't really care less one way or the other. I can't understand how anyone uses wired earbuds anyways. That's like using a wired headset to talk in the car. Trying to mow the yard, the cables always gets caught on something and pulls the earbud out. Watching people jog with them, that cable flopping around everywhere would drive me nuts.
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Most decent jogging earbuds come with a clip. The wire barely moves when I run.
 
Ocellaris said:
Apple mobile devices have used two cables, while other devices have been through at least four (Mini USB, Micro USB, that aborted Micro USB 3.0 double wide connector, and now USB 3.x Type C).
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The Mini USB was mainly on phones (like Blackberries) before the original iPhone ever shipped, so that doesn't really count.

The Micro USB 3.0 connector (like on the S5) is backwards compatible with the standard Micro USB cable, unlike Apple's different cables.

So with an exception for some of the earliest Android phones, a micro USB cable will work on almost every Android phone, except for the newest phones just coming out with the USB C connector.

Unlike Apple, I have plenty of choices with Android. I'm currently looking for a new phone and will pick one that still uses the Micro USB connector, so I don't have to carry yet another new cable to charge the phone.
 
3.5mm is ridiculously large in 2015 for essentially 3 analog signal paths.

Painful transition but I get it, the connector is too big for something so limited and lord knows that size reduction is on Apple's roadmap
 
farscapesg1 said:
Meh, couldn't really care less one way or the other. I can't understand how anyone uses wired earbuds anyways. That's like using a wired headset to talk in the car. Trying to mow the yard, the cables always gets caught on something and pulls the earbud out. Watching people jog with them, that cable flopping around everywhere would drive me nuts. I can get about 6 hours per charge of listening with my LG Tone headphones (or could until I dropped one earbud in a drink.. apparently they don't like mojitos). I have a separate bluetooth headset for the car (single ear) that lasts me a week on a single charge (1 hour commute each way, 3 days a week, using Waze and maybe 10 minutes talking during that commute at most). The LG Tones got charged in the car while driving and maybe at night if I remember... but they only ran out of battery once in a year of use, so I'll take that over being tethered to a device any day.
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Meh, because of the fact that having a Bluetooth dac built right into a set of headphones would render the headphones obsolete damn fast. AptX would be replaced, so the better option is to have a bluetooth dac that's separate from the headphones that you can replace if your headphones are to last a bit.

I do use wired earbud 'monitors' on the go, and I use actual headphones on the go with a wire, but the wire doesn't connect to the phone. It connects to a box instead.
 
"Introducing the iSheet..."

That's what I expect in about 10 years or less (if Apple has their way about all things smartphones, that is). Just a freakin' sheet of material maybe 1 to 2mm thick that supposedly does everything. I have to wonder if in the past when Steve Jobs was alive if he ever watched any science fiction movies that would have devices like those used in Minority Report (the Tom Cruise flick) or some other fictional future setting - basically a translucent piece of glass or some other material that was a computing device and touch-sensitive display all in one - and did nothing but bash and bitch about them when they appeared onscreen:

A possible Steve Jobs moment said:
"OH GOD LOOK AT HOW THICK THAT TABLET IS IN HIS HAND, IT'S INSANELY HUGE, WHAT ARE THOSE FUTURISTIC DESIGNERS THINKING. JONY, PUT TOGETHER A TIGER TEAM, WE HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THIS FICTIONAL BULLSHIT... and where's the Apple logo?"
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:D
 
Honestly this would be an absolute jackass move if they did it. There is absolutely zero reason to replace a port that has been standard for 30+ years other than pure greed.

But then, I don't use an iPhone or use my phone to listen to music, so I really don't care.
 
Ocellaris said:
Apple mobile devices have used two cables, while other devices have been through at least four (Mini USB, Micro USB, that aborted Micro USB 3.0 double wide connector, and now USB 3.x Type C).
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The first regenerations of the iPod used something different. But that was more than 10 years ago so he'd be wrong either way.

The power adapter has changed once in 10 years that's one hell of a "trend".
 
Babbster said:
So, apart from that incredible inconvenience, you're happy? That's nice.

I've tried two different pairs of Bluetooth headphones over the past couple years. They were both great, right up until they ran out of juice and suddenly I can't listen to music/podcasts until I get a charge on...and we're not talking about a phone charge where not only is it relatively fast (very fast with my Nexus 6) but I can continue using the device while it's charging; no, it's always a nice slow charge and the headphones aren't usable until they're detached from the wall.

Also, I can get a pair of earbuds with very good sound for well under $20. Not only is the initial investment low but I don't need to coddle them. If something goes wrong, replacing them isn't cause a lot of worry about money being flushed down the toilet (though if they fail quickly, I'll certainly reconsider that particular model).

No, Bluetooth isn't really the answer and neither is a Lightning solution where, in essence, you need a "smart" component to your headphones. The 1/8" jack is great at what it does and removing it would be the worst.
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This. I would want to use my old earbuds. I don't want to charge them. Remembering to keep the phone charged is enough of a pain. $10-15 earbuds are ideal because you can shove them in your pocket and they're durable. If they get damaged it isn't a big deal. Adding an adapter increases costs, size, and means you have to carry and extra thing around.
 
I'm going to be the voice of dissent here, I guess. I'm all for Apple and anyone else ditching single-use legacy ports in favour of USB 3.1 gen 2 support for everything. In fact, a phone with two USB-C ports at the bottom makes complete sense to me. An in-line adapter for headphones should not be difficult to come by, and would likely be bundled with the phone.

I'd like to see Samsung, LG, htc, and all the rest go this direction too. We finally have a single port that can carry the best quality audio and video as well as power and data. The sooner it sees wide adoption the better.
 
lazz said:
I'm going to be the voice of dissent here, I guess. I'm all for Apple and anyone else ditching single-use legacy ports in favour of USB 3.1 gen 2 support for everything. In fact, a phone with two USB-C ports at the bottom makes complete sense to me. An in-line adapter for headphones should not be difficult to come by, and would likely be bundled with the phone.

I'd like to see Samsung, LG, htc, and all the rest go this direction too. We finally have a single port that can carry the best quality audio and video as well as power and data. The sooner it sees wide adoption the better.
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Yup. A 3.5mm jack for three analog signal paths is stone age technology.
 
What about all the credit card readers that use that to swipe cards? Paypal will not be happy
 
Yaka said:
not sure why peeps are so against this, been using bluetooth headphones for 2 years now. apart from needing ot charge the things at night its great.
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Well, other then some people can't use bluetooth in some work areas, for them it just kinda sux.


My wife decided she had to have an IPad Air 2 several months back. This weekend she decided she wanted to be able to play what she was watching on a TV or monitor. I went out and bought her a Chromecast, which works great from our Android phones but not well at all from her IPad. Then I went and got an Apple TV which of course works beautifully at twice the price. Not that Apple had to do it this way, they just know that anyone willing to pay extra for an IPad will also pay extra for Apples proprietary peripherals.

I kept the Chromecast for my own use, besides, if the wife wants to watch her stuff on the big living room TV she can just cast it from her phone instead of her IPad.
 
bman212121 said:
I could see the size of the connector to be a hindrance from them being able to make the phone even thinner. And as far as I can tell that goal has not subsided yet so Apple will continue to engineer themselves into a corner compromising as many things as possible to achieve that goal.
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Are there actually people who think the current iPhones are too thick, outside of Apple themselves? That is never something I would ever think. I'd actually prefer them to be a bit thicker if it meant they could put a bigger battery in it.

If it forces people to carry around an extra adapter it kinda defeats the purpose of a thinner device anyway doesn't it?
 
USB-c please. Well, not for the headphone jack but charging and USB port.
 
travbrad said:
Are there actually people who think the current iPhones are too thick, outside of Apple themselves? That is never something I would ever think. I'd actually prefer them to be a bit thicker if it meant they could put a bigger battery in it.

If it forces people to carry around an extra adapter it kinda defeats the purpose of a thinner device anyway doesn't it?
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I agree completely, but that's not thinking like Apple. I've held the 6s and I think it digs into your hand already because of how thin it is. But they seem to get stuck on an idea and keep repeating itself until there is a big enough outcry for them to finally fix the problem. Think about the screen. They had a 3.5" screen on their phones until 2012, when they went up a 1/2" to 4". It was only a year ago they offered a screen on par with everyone else. I'd imagine we are still a couple years away from them finally deciding that they shouldn't make it any thinner and that offering a bigger battery is a good idea.
 
bman212121 said:
I agree completely, but that's not thinking like Apple. I've held the 6s and I think it digs into your hand already because of how thin it is. But they seem to get stuck on an idea and keep repeating itself until there is a big enough outcry for them to finally fix the problem. Think about the screen. They had a 3.5" screen on their phones until 2012, when they went up a 1/2" to 4". It was only a year ago they offered a screen on par with everyone else. I'd imagine we are still a couple years away from them finally deciding that they shouldn't make it any thinner and that offering a bigger battery is a good idea.
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It digs into your hand? Seriously? The edges are completely rounded.

Also keep in mind how many people are out there using their $800 without any sort of case?
 
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