I still use the FM tuner built into Snapdragon phones.
I guess everyone else streams their radio these days.
I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
41–50 of 741 posts
Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
#42I don't think I've ever used my phone headphone jack (still 3.5mm), but I will absolutely never buy a laptop without 3.5mm. The article is spot on, no-one is served by this change, except manufacturers.
At this point I'd take a MacBook with a lightning jack, because now I have to carry a separate pair of headphones for my iPhone and my Macbook. I'd prefer 3.5mm everywhere, but if you are going to drop it, make it consistent across product lines.
I'm stuck in the two pair camp as well and I cannot for the life of me understand why Apple makes a 3.5mm to lightning adapter but won't make a lightning to 3.5mm adapter. I have a great pair of headphones that use the lightning cable but I travel a lot and my MacBook along with every airplane uses 3.5mm so I can only use them with my phone. It's maddening.
Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
#43One of the big reasons given was to make a slimmer phone, but I've got the iPhone SE I use personally here next to the iPhone 7 I use for work, and, if you were to run your hand over them, you wouldn't detect a difference in height off the table.
Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
#44The blog ends with the best and most insightful comment: And no human’s life is measurably better since Apple had the “courage” to remove the 3.5 mm jack. But a lot of our lives are just a little worse. The author also points towards active de-standardisation between Android and iOS: "if only there was one universal audio port they both could use" Apple gets an advantage from this with their iron-grip on compatible p…
> but I don't know why any of the Android manufacturers would follow suit.
The obvious reason is a decrease in BOM which corresponds directly with an increase (however so slightly per unit) in margin. Apple made it "ok" to whack this functionality, so why wouldn't every manufacturer join in?
Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "if only there was one universal audio port they both could use" Bluetooth?
I've never plugged my headphones into a jack and had them fail to work (ok, on my old cassette Walkman, I sometimes had to jiggle the plug around to get the headphones to work, but modern devices seem to have solved that problem (through gold plated connectors? I dunno)). But around once every 8 times I get into my car, I need to turn off/on Bluetooth on my car, my phone, or both to get it to connect. More rarely, I…
Equally annoying is if two people are both previously paired with the car (or speaker!) and it’s connects but not to the one you want.
Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
#46The blog ends with the best and most insightful comment: And no human’s life is measurably better since Apple had the “courage” to remove the 3.5 mm jack. But a lot of our lives are just a little worse. The author also points towards active de-standardisation between Android and iOS: "if only there was one universal audio port they both could use" Apple gets an advantage from this with their iron-grip on compatible p…
Removing the headphone jack makes the waterproofing easier and more effective.
How convenient
Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
#47Apple has had great success in the past by pushing new standards in computer peripherals, deprecating old standards, and generally moving the industry forward by fiat.
I think we've all benefitted somewhat from this attitude, even if it was inconvenient.
The distinction here is that the 3.5mm standard isn't/wasn't a computer peripheral standard. It is/was an audio industry standard. There are many uses for 3.5mm that have nothing to do with phones/tablets/laptops/desktops.
Additionally, the audio industry has a different obsolescence timeline than computer equipment. Audiophile and pro audio headphones (for example) represent a significant investment and are intended to last many years.
In my view, Apple's approach to this was a kind of chauvinistic hubris. No, I don't want to use a $15 adapter of dubious quality on my $1500 custom molded in-ear monitors. No, I can't just get a new pair. No, I can't re-sell them, they only fit my ears. No, they wouldn't sound the same even if a bluetooth version were to become available. No, I doubt the 4 person company that makes them is eager to try to figure out how to make a lightning version, even if they have the in-house expertise.
The decision really shows a lack of understanding of the world outside of computer manufacturing, and it is too bad others followed suit.
Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "if only there was one universal audio port they both could use" Bluetooth?
If I had a dollar for every time bluetooth failed between two devices...
I think I can count the number of times that I've managed to get bluetooth to actually work on the fingers of one hand. It's just trash. Give me a wired connection every day of the week, and it better be something universal like USB-A, micro-usb, HDMI or 3.5mm.
Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
#49I would miss the headphone jack if I ever bother upgrading my iPhone. As it is, I use my Bluetooth headphones a lot at home. Noise canceling and no cord is pretty nice.
But for very good audio I use my normal sennheisers
Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back
#50Just bought an iPhone 6S four days ago because of this and the physical home button. $140 brand new.