No headphone jack on the iPhone 7... really?

The subject line says it all. What an antagonistic move against users.

We knew this was coming for a long time. I was expecting the 6+ not to have it, but instead they just enabled the lightning connector to transmit an analog audio signal so people could start developing product. Steve Wozniak has had some interesting things to say about it.

The fact that the 1/8in jack goes back to early telephones and is still a very effective (and universal) means of (universally) connecting headphones (that make use of this universal connection) to basically any sound-generating device on the planet (also with this universal connection), and does such a good job that with any decent pair of cans (also making use of universal connectors) the fidelity is about as good as real life, makes any of the circuitous, tortured arguments for moving away from the standard…stupid. If it’s about saving space, was anyone REALLY clamoring for that extra half a cubic cm? No, they were not.

I don’t care much one way or the other about Apple, but they wield enough influence that this is going to massively fuck up the market for audio products. Look out for numerous competing standards attempting to “solve” a “problem” that doesn’t exist and hasn’t existed since before our grandparents were born. Some problems actually are solved and this was one of them.

Sorry didn’t see this thread and posted in mine.

I don’t see it as antagonistic at all and that they were actually more accommodating than I thought they would be by including an adaptor with all iphones that anyone can use their existing headphones in. Personally I love not having wires on my keyboard and mouse and would prefer not to have them on my earphones.

All in all I am not sure how this is a bad thing for anyone - the phone is now thinner and water resistant, people who want to sell more things will have more to sell (new product), people who want to sell or use old 1/8in jack stuff still can, and people who want to justify buying new stuff can. If I was in their shoes I think it’s a great move.

It could have been far worse, they could have put U2’s album on everything.

With the lightning->3.5mm adapter readily available I don’t really see the problem.

Love the new airpods, can’t wait to get my hands on those.

Wtf Apple… That lightning adapter will break in no time in your pocket. I believe the 3.5mm is way more robust.
And why get rid of the “big” connector when the camera is still just as large and stick out of the back?

I liked Michelle Berryman’s twitter reaction. I already lose my ear buds in my pocket or backpack. I would hate to have to search for two without the cord to help me. Another thing is price. I don’t mind losing or breaking $20 ear buds every 9 months. If they were $150, I would shoot myself.

I really don’t understand the reasoning behind it either. How thin do we actually need our phones to be? It is also an expensive device to begin with, I wouldn’t plan to get it wet and would actively avoid doing so even with the IPX rating. Now you need to carry their adapter if you don’t have/want a wireless headset? Lastly, what if I want to charge and listen?

To me, the 3.5 wasn’t an issue that needed to be addressed and they are solving problems created by themselves.

I predict that in 5 years… this is thread is going to be as fun as the iPad-thread.

“flash still not supported. (even in Jobs’s demo, ouch)”

“you need an ADAPTER FOR A USB CABLE!”

And that’s from the first post alone, there’s 11 pages of 'em! Good toilet-read… on my iPad.

I can guarantee, my ears - which fundamentally reject earbuds - are going to wait until I am walking by a storm drain and then squirt just one of my wireless earphones out and literally down the drain.

I love the idea of wireless…but we added yet another piece of disposable tech to the pile. I want to love the change…but for this basic reason I can’t.

Change my mind?

Apple keeps putting less Koolaid in the latest cup yet the fanpeeps keep drinking it.

My wife is still pis*ed that she can’t USE her Apple mouse while it’s charging (how intuitive and useful the mouse would have been if its charging cord connected such and operated like a corded mouse while charging - instead of having to turn the mouse over to connect the cord, resulting in a useless device for hours on end). So now she’ll also NOT be able to have a conference call using her earbuds if her phone happens to need a charge.

And what’s with the “Hey look at me, I want to be a Surface Pro” iPad Pro commercial - no less than 2 years after announcing that Microsoft was off base with the Surface and had missed the target. Apple Challenges Microsoft Surface Pro 4 With New iPad Pro Commercial - Inquisitr

Is it just me or is Apple sh*t is not that well designed these days?

There should at least be the possibility to have a “string” between the two. Similar to may bluetooth airbuds today. I don’t need the airbuds to be separate from each other, I just don’t want the wire between my phone and the headset.

What I want is something like this that also can be recharged quickly through the phones Lightning port:

I really don’t understand the reasoning behind it either. How thin do we actually need our phones to be? It is also an expensive device to begin with, I wouldn’t plan to get it wet and would actively avoid doing so even with the IPX rating. Now you need to carry their adapter if you don’t have/want a wireless headset? Lastly, what if I want to charge and listen?

To me, the 3.5 wasn’t an issue that needed to be addressed and they are solving problems created by themselves.

That is dead on. I hadn’t thought about charging AND listening at the same time, but that is a real issue. I guess they’ll have a new, easily lost or broken adapter for that one!

While a closed ecosystem benefits Apple, what measurable benefits does this provide to end users? And by benefits, I mean bona fide net positives that aren’t erased or made worse by a new issue, i.e. “now the cord doesn’t get tangled, but I lost the left earbud.”

Wished they would have made some provision for S/M/L silicone boots that can sort of customize the ear bud to the user. My history with these smooth bits of ear bud plastic has not been good either. Yes, why not a wire between the two? So you can share your music with the next person, letting them borrow the left side earbud?

You’ve just highlighted a slew of product design opportunities.

Buy a bunch of those old-man sunglass holder strings and repackage them as Air Bud tethers.

I get people who are “pro” no headphone jack saying “Get with the times, we don’t need no wires!”

The reality though is the 3.5mm jack has not been hindering the development of compelling smartphones (unlike things like say the pesky USB A connector or Ethernet cable).

I get the advantage that the lightning connector can bring (built in noise cancellation, etc) but if Samsung can make a small, lightweight waterproof phone WITH a 3.5mm jack, the Apple move is dongle-sales bullshit.

I am already annoyed by the fact that my $250 headphones have an external battery which dangles around in my pocket and makes it even bulkier to carry. Now add a dongle to that (especially a dongle with a COMPLETELY rigid connector that has no opportunity to move or twist and you’re asking for it.

As a guy who built mobile devices, 3.5mm jacks were one of the #1 failure points, and they are typically VERY forgiving when it comes to having the wire twist or get pulled on (like any time you snag your headphones and then rip the phone out of your hand).

I can almost guarantee there will be a site dedicated to people who now have snapped Thunderbolt connectors jammed in their port.

It’s a scumbag move for dongle money, and there is no reason they couldn’t start shipping Thunderbolt or Bluetooth headphones AND keep the 3.5mm jack.

Sure it’s a cash grab, bu I would totally trade a dedicated aux jack for waterproofing, a better camera and better overall performance, along with a free adapter. Wireless headphones are awesome, anyone who has used them can understand why people will appreciate them.

I’m a pretty keen Apple early adopter (first imac on release (pre-ordered), first iPod, first iPad (drove to US to get it), first iPhone (drove to US to get it)), but at the same time pretty much a regular user (don’t upgrade to every version, usually skip several builds, don’t “hack” anything, don’t listen to music that much, etc.

I’ve been on board and praised the long term vision of Apple getting rid of legacy drives/connectors for a long time and seen how they were able (with intent I’d like to believe) transition the regular Joe consumer from a iMac with no floppy, to using CDs, to burning CDs to putting them on an iPod to downloading songs (and apps) from a online store, to Apple Music (for good or bad), etc.

There is no way they could be so strong in so many areas of the ecosystem from hardware to software while controlling the sandbox to keep things generally solid (3rd party apps, etc. … (no more downloading something and finding it doesn’t work with your version hardware/software or has bugs) for most things to “just work”.

That being said, I think getting rid of the 3.5mm jack is functionally big mistake, but will be minor over time.

Aside from the technical (waterproof or thickness tradeoffs I can’t really speak to, but don’t think the previous phones or competitors phones were doing too bad), the move breaks the main function for a lot of users - the ability to listen, (and while while charging), on any headphones, anytime. Headphones are ones of the main ways people personalize a device from what I’ve seen. Some want audiophile quality, some want cheap, etc. … some want to pretend they are an audiophile, but don’t know anything and buy Beats.:wink:

I don’t listen to much music at all, but when I do I use the $99 in ear Apple earbuds (normal ones fall out and I hate big cans). I use them on a plane, while going to bed, and the odd time just walking around. I’m pretty careful but still they seem to break at one end or the other about once a year or so, and I replace them. I also always travel with a backup set of the cheap ones that came with the phone, just incase they break mid flight on a 15 hours flight to China…

Will the new Apple ones fit in my ears? Will enough 3rd party manufacturers get on board to offer alternatives? Will all earphones be bluetooth in the future and concerns be moot about battery life and sound quality? Will the charging issues go away or not be a problem for majority of users (complaints about them not lasting a long flight are valid, but no device has a battery that lasts forever, laptop, phone, etc.)

I don’t know the future, but I can learn from the past.

In the meantime, I’m not thinking it’s a cash grab for dongles, but a mid term solution and will work it itself out like other “big problems for Apple” such as -
-no floppy drives
-no ethernet ports
-no replaceable batteries
-no memory sticks on mobile devices
-no usb ports on iPad
-no stylus for iPad (the Pen thing is a special case, most are fine with fingers)

Indeed there are valid concerns about losing earbuds, dealing with stupid dongles, etc. but if it allows Apple to innovate ahead and they saw the 3.5mm jack as a barrier to doing some things in the future (brain implant wireless control, 3D sound or multiple device input, etc.), maybe it is good to break with the past and move ahead. I can’t think they would eliminate the 3.5mm jack just for fun to piss people off or to sell more Apple AirPod Beats…


R

PS. Happy that I’m typing this on my Bluetooth wireless keyboard, not an old ADB one with curly telephone cable cord :wink:

Richard, you are right, the eventual goal is no ports… and no wires. When I was consulting we were doing concepts around this for the big chip makers back in 2010. You can imagine a phone with no ports, wirelessly charging, wireless input and output. It is not a huge stretch of the imagination noting the trend as you clearly pointed out. We are almost there. You can now wirelessly print, use BT for keyboard and mouse, synching audio to video over BT is still hard but will get there (this may be a problem with their buds FYI, some phones have wireless charging, BT audio has a lag, and unless the video is paused and the lag is matched within a microsecond you will detect a lip synch effect). Obviously waterproofing, durability, and construction all gets easier. It is hard to make the 3.5 waterproof from my experience. Ironically it is easier to make a speaker driver completely sealed (with they obviously did here) with s combination of internal seals and hydrophobic grille cloths…

I recently travelled Australia to the USA and back, and hoped to get some nice over ear headphones while I was there, but didn’t end up doing so.

On the plane, I used my iPhone 6 with the headphones to listen to podcasts but fell asleep a few times. I could imagine losing one of these on a plane like I have with ear plugs many times. What happens if you lose the left one but still have the right and a charger? Will you have to buy a full set and charger?

I can imagine advertisements on Ebay: “Left Airpod and charger rarely used. Incomplete as I lost right one”