OMG No headphone jack! iPhone 7

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Apple unveils iPhones with no headphone jacks

Apple’s iPhone 7 Is Officially Ditching The Headphone Jack

Seems like the biggest news is about the jack.

I am sure some people will be upset but all I can say is "about time." It is a relic considering how good bluetooth is now.

It kinda sucks for all the people with investments in really nice headphones. I have been eyeing Android a lot lately so it may not matter when I decide to switch from the 6S.

I'm more curious about the new watch getting dedicated GPS and water resistance. I want to be able to have a stand-alone watch that can track runs & listen to podcasts. Could this be the magic bullet?

I've been using bluetooth for years so it doesn't affect me. But I can totally see why people are freaking out. If I had a nice set of headphones with a standard jack, I'd expect to be able to use it everywhere - without a freakin' dongle. Sigh...

Apple still didn't give a good reason for removing it (unless I missed it). Maybe it's for the new taptic chip that lives down there?

Huh. I had mentally classified that rumor as crazy months ago, and then it turned out to be right.

I couldn't care less about the lack of a headphone jack, I've long since converted to Bluetooth for my mobile listening. For at home listening the included lightning to 3.5mm adapter will be just fine.

What I'm pumped about is the IP67 water resistance! I lost a phone a few years back to a river, and my current phone was dropped in water as well and, while it still works, it does act a bit wonky ever since.

FYI, IP67 means it has been tested to work for at least 30 minutes while under 15cm to 1m of water.

This keynote almost sold me on an Apple Watch. Not quite there yet. It has to be real special for me to wear something on my wrist again. Maybe version 3.

Also, iOS and WatchOS release 9/13 but no mention of tvOS. WTF?

PaladinTom wrote:

This keynote almost sold me on an Apple Watch. Not quite there yet. It has to be real special for me to wear something on my wrist again. Maybe version 3.

GPS is a big deal for me but I will need to do more research on the standalone app ecosystem. For example I have no idea if there are any podcast apps for the watch that could be used completely without a phone. I'm also eyeing Android Wear 3.0 for the same reason. Definitely gadget lust time of the year

Courage.

Giving away the punchline of the article here but the ear buds are only part of the real reason this is happening.

The 3.5mm jack is robust, familiar, secure, well-documented, and so on — we’ve seen the argument play out over the last year. You know why it’s good: because it works reliably, worldwide, and with millions of devices. Without Apple’s permission.

See, it’s that last part that must bother them. The idea that someone, somewhere, is doing something with an iPhone that they haven’t anticipated, like making a thermometer or payment system or 3D scanner. Someone who hasn’t paid for a license to attach that thing to their phone.

Apple is taking the first step to make sure that never happens. They’re able to do this because no one can do anything about it. They’re in a position of immense power and they’re using that power to eliminate something good and replace it with something that makes them money. It’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s a business plan.

Tyops post is exactly the reason this really matters.

I'm annoyed enough that my current iPhone is likely the last one I'll buy. This is an extraordinarily consumer-unfriendly move, and I admit I hope iPhone sales continue to slide because of it.

Tyops wrote:

Courage.

Giving away the punchline of the article here but the ear buds are only part of the real reason this is happening.

No reason for conspiracy theories, Apple makes a ton of money already, they don't need to pinch pennies on this. I tend to believe them that they sacrificed the jack to make room for other components in the phone, plus it probably helped them with the water and dust proofing. They didn't do it so they can make a few extra cents on jack licenses per phone, not to mention that revenue is probably offset by the cost of providing free adapters.

It's not a conspiracy when there's one actor (Apple) acting to protect its interests and increase it's wealth as a profit-driven multinational.

See Forbes:

Finally, Keller notes that the iPhone 6S used would throw up error messages saying that the accessory was not approved. Peripheral manufacturers looking to use the lightning port will have to be part of the ‘Made for iPhone’ (MFI) certification program. Which means that Apple will have the ability to ‘sign-off’ on any major manufacturer looking to supply headphones that go though the lightning port, and pick up a licensing fee into the bargain.

And that fee is not "pennies", as far as I can tell (with a bit of google) as late as 2014 it was $4 per connector (double for pass through devices). No matter if the fee is lower now, it's not negligible as you suggest.

Also it can be for multiple reasons without being some grand conspiracy.

1. More room for battery / components
2. Making money off licensing the wireless chip / selling Beats headphones / licensing the lightning port
3. Because Jony Ive gets angry when he's reminded that the iPhone is so asymmetrical on the bottom
4. Waterproofing (although the current Samsung Galaxy is waterproof and has the jack)
5. Not much was going to change this year design-wise, so they had to find something to change

It can be all of the above at the same time. It's still very consumer-unfriendly. Looking forward that USB adapter is kind of a nuisance. Why use USB when a dual Lightning cable or a Lightning / Thunderbolt cable could be used instead? It would allow Apple to remove the current biggest ports on the MacBook and make the MacBook smaller.

Right, this is Apple locking down the peripheral market. Only manufacturers that pay a toll to Apple can make connectors for Lightning. And Bluetooth audio, at least the last time I played with it, was a nightmare for sound quality, imposing another layer of lossy compression on top of what's already there. So Apple's talking about some new wireless standard that nobody else will apparently even be able to implement without, you guessed it, paying toll to Apple.

The 3.5mm jack is one of the most perfect pieces of technology that's been created. It solves its problem exactly. I think it's extremely unlikely that I would ever buy a phone without one. Dongles don't count... that's just something extra to lose and have to pay to replace.

This isn't like the floppy, which was entirely superseded and useless before it disappeared. The headphone jack is not useless! It's the primary method I use to integrate music devices into playback systems.

As far as I'm concerned, it's like selling a car without the passenger door.

It seems to me that their drive toward thinness has gone too far. They're stripping out basic features to make phones even thinner, but they were already thin enough. Add 2mm of thickness, restore the earphone jack, and put a big honkin' user-replaceable battery in there, fer chrissake. That would be much more useful for many more people.

edit: and eliminate the 'camera bump'. It's not really that thin if you've got a bump, and having the most fragile part of your phone stick out does not strike me as especially smart engineering.

Malor wrote:

It seems to me that their drive toward thinness has gone too far. They're stripping out basic features to make phones even thinner, but they were already thin enough. Add 2mm of thickness, restore the earphone jack, and put a big honkin' user-replaceable battery in there, fer chrissake. That would be much more useful for many more people.

edit: and eliminate the 'camera bump'. It's not really that thin if you've got a bump, and having the most fragile part of your phone stick out does not strike me as especially smart engineering.

Apple's got ya covered.

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PaladinTom wrote:

Also, iOS and WatchOS release 9/13 but no mention of tvOS. WTF?

The first two make use of or support new hardware features. This Fall's AppleTV is last Fall's AppleTV.

Tyops wrote:

Courage.

Giving away the punchline of the article here but the ear buds are only part of the real reason this is happening.

The 3.5mm jack is robust, familiar, secure, well-documented, and so on — we’ve seen the argument play out over the last year. You know why it’s good: because it works reliably, worldwide, and with millions of devices.

Is it though? Right off the top is the fact that 3.5mm != 1/8" within the usual amount of physical tolerances. You have a variable number of points on the barrel, and then you have the signalling to think of in a way that absolutely can not ever be allowed to short out the phone itself. Then you can worry about impedance mismatches making it sound awful on one set of headphones but not another. Then whether the microphone input voltage could literally vaporize part of your circuitry. And then you get to do it all over again for the next year's devices.

I'm not particularly pleased about the change, but I'm not going to pretend there aren't alternatives to the iPhone or that the adapter that will provide the same jack as before isn't in the box with every phone.

DSGamer wrote:

Apple's got ya covered.

I swear, Apple is doing their damndest to make the larger battery look unattractive. It's like they're trying to validate their decision to make the phone thin by deliberately sabotaging the other options. How about making the phone thicker, and building that battery into the case, without the damn weird bump that will catch on your pocket?

Or at least make the expanded case flush with the edges. Sheesh.

Kurrelgyre wrote:

Then you can worry about impedance mismatches making it sound awful on one set of headphones but not another. Then whether the microphone input voltage could literally vaporize part of your circuitry. And then you get to do it all over again for the next year's devices.

Every other audio company in the world seems to do okay. Even the cheap Chinese no-name knockoffs usually handle headphones okay.

I think Apple's up to the challenge.

or that the adapter that will provide the same jack as before will be in the box with every phone.

As a separate piece, which will be easy to lose, and will cost money to replace if you do.

And Apple gets to charge toll again. Coincidence?

Malor wrote:

And Apple gets to charge toll again. Coincidence?

No, but framing replacing a component you lost as a toll loudly colors the language a certain way.

Ok, how about this, then: Apple makes a profit, selling you a replacement part that you should never have needed in the first place.

One thing that is annoying is the charging and listening at the same time.. something I do on a regular basis when I'm flying as I'm using an external battery pack to charge the phone.

I'm sure someone will come up with a device to connect but its yet another device to carry around.

TheGameguru wrote:

One thing that is annoying is the charging and listening at the same time.. something I do on a regular basis when I'm flying as I'm using an external battery pack to charge the phone.

I'm sure someone will come up with a device to connect but its yet another device to carry around.

It's the equivalent of the USB C combined power connector on the Macbook. Everyone loves those dongles right?

I'm pretty sure we'll see an iPhone SE release at some point with the headphone jack returned and iPhone 7 internals. Still, bloody annoying. Screw carrying another adapter around.

I'm really not sure what the major issue is - yeah, they're removing the headphone jack, but in every box they include an adapter that allows your existing headphones to work just fine. If you're worried about losing the adapter, glue or tape it to your headphones. If you consistently use multiple sets of headphones, spend a couple bucks on an extra adapter.

As for the reason why the headphone jack was removed, I'm betting it has a lot to do with the space required for the new home button hardware.

Edit: Ok, I can see the issue with charging and listening at the same time, but I assume there will be a charge & listen adapter released pretty quickly after launch.

I don't want to glue it to my headphones because I'm constantly switching my headphones between different devices (most commonly my Vita and my Mac). And the inability to charge is annoying for sure. No doubt there will be (another) adapter to solve that issue, doubt it will be just $9 though.

Serengeti wrote:

Edit: Ok, I can see the issue with charging and listening at the same time, but I assume there will be a charge & listen adapter released pretty quickly after launch.

You mean like the 2 star rated Apple $80 one they released for the Macbook that I linked above? The issue is replacing an industry standard high quality port with a proprietary connection that is inferior for analog audio. If this was USB 3 it wouldn't even be as much of an uproar because it is a standard. A deal breaker for some, a no big deal for others.

Yeah losing charge + listen is kind of crappy.

Personally I am really looking forward to some reviews of the AirPods. They may look kind of dumb, but that is exactly the type of wireless headphone I have been looking for. Most of the ones these days are the in-ear kind, and even if they are not, they have a band to connect the two ears. If they have good sound quality, battery life, and are comfortable, I will probably buy two pairs for my wife and I.

EvilDead wrote:

It's the equivalent of the USB C combined power connector on the Macbook. Everyone loves those dongles right? :lol:

Yeah. Apple seems to be fixated these days on impractical "simplicity" (if you're going to have One Port to Rule Them All, at least build two of them into the device, please) and interoperability features that only fully work if all of your devices are at most a couple of years old.

At least they're still using the pull of new features rather than the push of gadgets that break after a year or two to encourage people to upgrade, but it's not a treadmill that I want to get on, even if I could afford to.

EvilDead wrote:
Serengeti wrote:

Edit: Ok, I can see the issue with charging and listening at the same time, but I assume there will be a charge & listen adapter released pretty quickly after launch.

You mean like the 2 star rated Apple $80 one they released for the Macbook that I linked above? The issue is replacing an industry standard high quality port with a proprietary connection that is inferior for analog audio. If this was USB 3 it wouldn't even be as much of an uproar because it is a standard. A deal breaker for some, a no big deal for others.

Yeah, that's fair. If Apple were to adopt USB-C it would definitely be better for everyone.

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