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More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

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51–60 of 70 posts

Re: More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

#51

Because the number 1 things users say when asked what they'd change about their phone: "I wish it was thinner"

Yeah, I mean, what the heck has miniaturization ever done for computing?

I am struggling to think of a single thing in the entire history of computers that was made better by being designed or fabricated in a smaller or thinner form.

Re: More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

#52
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An adapter would surely be available in short order...right? :)

Knowing Apple, I'm going to say $30 optional accessory. The old to new magsafe adapter is only $10, so maybe I'm being too hard on them. On the other hand, their Lightning to HDMI or VGA adapters currently go for $50.

Those $50 adapters have a microprocessor in them to map/convert the eight pins to whatever signals are needed. Lightning does not have an analog audio channel, so I'd bet this adapter would also need a (simpler) microprocessor and the attendant cost. Your $30 guess sounds right, and Apple probably won't even include an adapter as long as they include Lightning or Bluetooth earbuds. People who are fussy enough about headphones to bring their own will pay the additional $30.

Re: More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

#54

I think that 3.5mm jack is a source of many repair issues for Apple. - pocket lint routinely finds its way into the jack. - most male connectors are manufactured with low precision, which causes added stress to the socket. - some male connectors are long, creating a lot of leverage if force is applied in the wrong direction. - water gets in easily through the socket. - the socket is very fat and forces the phone to b…

Don't forget that loose contact is a problem that's extremely common with the 3.5 mm jack.

Unknown to most there's another standardized connector that supports analog audio: USB-C. If they switched to USB-C on their iOS devices I wouldn't really mind.

Re: More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

#55

I think that 3.5mm jack is a source of many repair issues for Apple. - pocket lint routinely finds its way into the jack. - most male connectors are manufactured with low precision, which causes added stress to the socket. - some male connectors are long, creating a lot of leverage if force is applied in the wrong direction. - water gets in easily through the socket. - the socket is very fat and forces the phone to b…

My phone with 3.5mm jack is completely waterproof. Why can't Apple do the same?

Re: More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

#56
post #5

But it'll stick with Lightning port, instead of adopting usb type C, the article suggests. That's disappointing. I wonder if ever the iphone will switch to usb type c -- every other phone will later this year.

If they're ditching the 3.5mm jack to get thinner, I'm not sure they're going to switch to the thicker USB-C connector.

It made sense to move to USB-C on the MacBook where it replaces every other connector and makes their product more aesthetically attractive and thin.

On the phone they already have a thinner connector with a much thinner plug. It also allows them to have a high-markup proprietary adapter market.

Re: More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

#57

I think that 3.5mm jack is a source of many repair issues for Apple. - pocket lint routinely finds its way into the jack. - most male connectors are manufactured with low precision, which causes added stress to the socket. - some male connectors are long, creating a lot of leverage if force is applied in the wrong direction. - water gets in easily through the socket. - the socket is very fat and forces the phone to b…

These seem to be good reasons for the alleged move by Apple. My personal experience has always been horrible with 3.5mm jack especially on the connector side. My Android phone is already huge and it almost sticks out of my pocket. Add the height of a headphone connector to it (some are huge) and you have to be surgical when taking the phone out of your pocket and putting it back in.

I'm actually looking forward to a well built, long lasting, high quality audio bluetooth adapter that I can plug my headphones to. I won't mind recharging the adapter and considering that Android 6 phones can charge other devices, this isn't as bad as it sounds.

Re: More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

#58
post #31

I can't see why anyone is surprised by this. Classic Apple move. It'll just create a market for the cheap 3.5mm to Bluetooth dongles [1] you can plug into your headset, which I've actually come to like since I can tuck the headphones into my shirt pocket then use the phone like normal. Of course just one more thing to keep charged though... [1] http://www.amazon.com/MOCREO-Bluetooth-Wireless-Streaming-Re...

And these are absolutely horrible(I tested 4 different ones) because there's always a little bit of lag. You can't use them for watching videos or playing games because of it.

But amazing for music because latency doesn't matter.

Re: More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knowing Apple, I'm going to say $30 optional accessory. The old to new magsafe adapter is only $10, so maybe I'm being too hard on them. On the other hand, their Lightning to HDMI or VGA adapters currently go for $50.

Those $50 adapters have a microprocessor in them to map/convert the eight pins to whatever signals are needed. Lightning does not have an analog audio channel, so I'd bet this adapter would also need a (simpler) microprocessor and the attendant cost. Your $30 guess sounds right, and Apple probably won't even include an adapter as long as they include Lightning or Bluetooth earbuds. People who are fussy enough about h…

Yep, I'm assuming it comes with Lightning earbuds and if you want anything else you're on your own.

Bluetooth earbuds would be a pretty hard sell if they come out and say "We're changing to Lightning for better audio quality. Here, have some bluetooth earbuds with worse audio than your old wired ones."

EDIT: How small can you make a decent DAC anyway? All the audio ones I've seen are way too big to put on an adapter cable, but that might be driven by the optical and RCA connectors more than the conversion hardware.

Re: More rumors that Apple might drop the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And these are absolutely horrible(I tested 4 different ones) because there's always a little bit of lag. You can't use them for watching videos or playing games because of it.

But amazing for music because latency doesn't matter.

Well, AD2P standard is really low quality so there's that. I'm not someone who would ever notice a difference between an MP3 file and a FLAC one,but sound over bluetooth is very clearly degraded.
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