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There is no reason to remove the headphone port on an iPhone or any phone.

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Nozem said:
Well somebody has to drag us into the cordless future.
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What if I like a future where I don't have to charge my phone, and my headphones, and my selfie stick, and my watch, and fuck did I forget to charge anything goddammit I forgot to charge _______ again now I can't use it!

Also I can't wait to throw away my $150 audiophile Bluetooth headphones every couple of years and buy a new pair because the battery can't hold a charge anymore!
 
Well on the one hand I can go buy a cheap pair of JVC headphones that work great and work on damn near every device I own.

OR I can be forced to make sure what I have will work with my phone and have the right adapter and blah blah blah.

Fuck that shit.

Way to solve a problem that didnt exist.
 
Unknown Soldier said:
Samsung brought back microSD because it made sense, people use their phones as their cameras and camcorders as well as music players and store a lot of media. People were enraged when microSD went away and sales actually did get affected with the Galaxy S6 and Note 5.

However when IR blaster and removable battery went away, people were like meh. Those haven't come back and never will.

So it will depend a lot on HOW people react to no more headphone jack on iPhone. If people are enraged and sales are severely affected, it could actually come back.
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I agree. I think reaction will be on par with SD card removal if not larger because it's tangible. IR blaster Ive barely heard of and removable battery was not really something that bothered the masses.

Headphones? Look around on any public transport. Your basically asking them to change their habits or buy new expensive headphones or use a shitty adapter. People WILL react. How much is debatable.
 
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
Yep. Every time Apple's made a hard change to the standards, tech gets much better much faster.

Flash was one of those things everyone thought they *needed* in their phone, and people thought it was impossible for the world to go native video and animation on the web. Standards and tech changed faster than if Apple had tried to play nice with old shit.
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The iPhone didn't have Flash because it would have killed it's battery life, not because it was forward thinking.

Apple isn't a magic company that can predict the future, the removal of the floppy and DVD drive were inline with where the industry was heading.

The same cannot be said here. The headphone jack has no better alternative.
 
To anyone who mentioned that there is no money to be made from the adapter or that it will be chump change etc.

Unless Apple throw one in for free which I don't think they will.

There is a high possibility you can sell at least one per phone, during the lifetime of owning that iPhone. (Every headphone out in the wild will need one to work with your new phone)

I do not think they will include an adapter as that will validate any argument that there was never a need to remove it.

So although I own some great wireless headphones, it still a BS Move.
 
Kthulhu said:
The headphone jack has no better alternative.
Click to expand...

Ummm, one that could deliver more than just audio comes to mind...

JrBaconCheeseburger said:
To anyone who mentioned that there is no money to be made from the adapter or that it will be chump change etc.

Unless Apple throw one in for free which I don't think they will.

There is a high possibility you can sell at least one per phone, during the lifetime of owning that iPhone. (Every headphone out in the wild will need one to work with your new phone).
Click to expand...

Apple will provide lightning EarPods with the phone, there is no way that they'll see an adapter sold per phone when the phone will come with headphones.
 
Bboy AJ said:
To incentivize wireless development and to obsolete an ancient, ancient standard that's far outlived its stay. Wireless is mediocre now. But now that the iPhone doesn't have a shitty aux port? Wireless is the new standard and tech will boom.
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Because engineers had no motivation to improve wireless technologies until the iPhone removed a 3.5mm port....

People only say nonsense like this when they don't understand the incredibly large applications for wireless tech. If your company created a better wireless standard, you'd have so many customers in thousands of fields.
 
Bboy AJ said:
To incentivize wireless development and to obsolete an ancient, ancient standard that's far outlived its stay. Wireless is mediocre now. But now that the iPhone doesn't have a shitty aux port? Wireless is the new standard and tech will boom.
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Nah we'll all enjoy using shitty Bluetooth for our headphones now
 
I had a co-worker just like you all say he wouldn't buy a phone without a 3.5mm jack.

He then bought Bluetooth earbuds.

I told him it was pretty much confirmed and he stated he's never going back to cords.

Y'all will be okay.
 
Garrett Hawke said:
I didn't realise we all had to throw away our physical keyboards or use adaptors when that happened

:/
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Uh? Phones stopped having physical keyboards, and people were pissed for five years. Now no one cares.

You guys are like "no, I want to ride this same horse for 25 more years." Like there'd ever be a convenient time you'd move to something new if they keep putting decades old ports in your devices.
 
ZeroX03 said:
Apple will provide lightning EarPods with the phone, there is no way that they'll see an adapter sold per phone when the phone will come with headphones.
Click to expand...

Actually unless all you own is that sole pair of new and improved Lightning EarPods

You will definitely have to buy one if you own anything released ever.
 
Current phones come with a pair of 3.5mm headphones. If the 7 comes with a pair of very battery-efficient Bluetooth headphones and the charging cable for them I sort of don't see the HUGE issue: you can pick up an adapter if you want a new phone and your old headphones. Tbh the convinience may be worth the price if you hate bluetooth
 
Enter the Dragon Punch said:
According to Unbox Therapy's production line shell for the iPhone 7 Plus, they saved 0.04mm by removing the headphone jack. It's not necessary, they want you to buy Beats
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Why would removing the headphone jack suddenly make me interested in a $120 pair of headphones? Seems like a pretty terrible plan to sell Beats.
 
Kthulhu said:
The iPhone didn't have Flash because it would have killed it's battery life, not because it was forward thinking.

Apple isn't a magic company that can predict the future, the removal of the floppy and DVD drive were inline with where the industry was heading.

The same cannot be said here. The headphone jack has no better alternative.
Click to expand...

This.

I've agreed with every other standard Apple has left behind. This time I don't agree. It's removal for the sake of removal, to give the impression that something is advancing.
 
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
Uh? Phones stopped having physical keyboards, and people were pissed for five years. Now no one cares.

You guys are like "no, I want to ride this same horse for 25 more years." Like there'd ever be a convenient time you'd move to something new if they keep putting decades old ports in your devices.
Click to expand...
A touch screen keyboard replaced it. Removing the 3.5mm port isn't replacing it with anything new that isn't already there.
 
JrBaconCheeseburger said:
Actually unless all you own is that sole pair of new and improved Lightning EarPods

You will definitely have to buy one if you own anything released ever.
Click to expand...

I think you're drastically overestimating how many people are going to buy an adapter to use their $20 buds instead of the ones Apple provide. Plenty of people use EarPods. And by the time their first pair breaks*, third party options will be available for cheaper than Apple is charging.

And some headphones have detachable cables, so interchangeable cables/lightning included will probably be a thing pretty quickly. That's slightly more convenient than an adapter. Enthusiast wired headphones will adapt quickly. Bluetooth are already supported. It's ear buds that will suffer most from this move, and they're already included with the phone.


*I'm told Apple's headphones are covered by the phone's warranty/AppleCare, but don't know for sure
 
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
You guys are like "no, I want to ride this same horse for 25 more years." Like there'd ever be a convenient time you'd move to something new if they keep putting decades old ports in your devices.
Click to expand...

People only want to move to something new if the benefits are apparent. I get great audio with my current headphones at a good price which are not reliant on a separate battery or signal. Plug in, away I go.

The companies removing this feature are doing jack in selling me any benefits. I see if this was across the board on all phones right now it will hit my wallet and ill have more to do in terms of worrying about Bluetooth battery life and connectivity drops, which ive had experiences of when I've tried them.

Why should 'put up with it' as a consumer when I have a solution right now that I do not wish to change? This is not comparable to the keyboard - touchscreen situation since even back then the benefits to consumers were marked, if not accepted immediately.
 
ZeroX03 said:
Ummm, one that could deliver more than just audio comes to mind...



Apple will provide lightning EarPods with the phone, there is no way that they'll see an adapter sold per phone when the phone will come with headphones.
Click to expand...
In what way is this an improvement? DACs in headphones?
 
Kthulhu said:
In what way is this an improvement? DACs in headphones?
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In what way is USB-C superior to a headphone jack? It can carry power, display, data in addition to audio. Two USB-C ports would be superior to one USB-C and a 3.5mm, assuming that USB-C headphones were as readily available as 3.5mm is currently.

Audio quality is negligible to 99% of users.
 
Nozem said:
Well somebody has to drag us into the cordless future.
Click to expand...

The future where my headphones at work are always dead because I don't get a lot of chances to listen to music, but when I do, I really want to without preparing beforehand? You can't just leave shit on the charger all the time.
 
Its interesting the way people treat change as an all at once thing or nothing at all.

A convenient way to dodge the very clear chance for them to not only fit their proprietary jack for audio while keeping the 3.5 until the move would make more sense.

They could literally support both until moving to Lightning only was a clear upgrade. But they didn't, because they dont give a fuck, and they know people will defend the shit anyway.


There's more than one way to transition to something 'new'. This is a poor ass fucking way to transition and you all know it. What motivates a person to lie to themselves about this kind of thing is beyond me. Support both until you have a better solution in place completely, or until the marketplace itself has already began to move on. This is how they did these things in the past.
 
Dr. Feel Good said:
The entire industry will follow suit. Bluetooth technology will advance. Audiophiles will be the only ones left kicking and screaming years from now.

Move on already. Wireless is the future. Battery will only be an issue in the short term.
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There's a headphone thread here on NeoGAF where you can try saying that. There are so many arguments against this that I can assure you that, no, bluetooth will not become the default technology to listen to music.
 
ZeroX03 said:
Lightning has supported USB headphones for a while now.
Click to expand...

Not that. Im assuming they will want to flesh the market out with Lightning only headphones that could have larger benefits over standard 3.5. If thats where they are headed, its going to take time. In the interim their phones should continue to support both. 3.5 is miles stronger in every corner of the planet than any form of Lightning audio right now. And in most cases better in terms of audio quality.

Making this switch wholesale immediately like this is sloppy.

ZeroX03 said:
Audio quality is negligible to 99% of users.
Click to expand...

Im not going to entertain any dismissals of performance/quality in a thread about Apple products, a company who for decades has lived and breathed on those very things.
 
zoukka said:
Fuck those users.
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They're right. If you're an enthusiast and the audio quality over Lightning isn't good enough for you, it isn't the device for you. We're talking a tiny, tiny group of people excluded here. You know the quality of headphones that most people buy.

Cipherr said:
Not that. Im assuming they will want to flesh the market out with Lightning only headphones that could have larger benefits over standard 3.5. If thats where they are headed, its going to take time. In the interim their phones should continue to support both. 3.5 is miles stronger in every corner of the planet than any form of Lightning audio right now. And in most cases better in terms of audio quality.

Making this switch wholesale immediately like this is sloppy.
Click to expand...

The switch is sloppy and will lead to a rough year or two, yes. I assume the reasoning is to force the change faster.

Cipherr said:
Im not going to entertain any dismissals of performance/quality in a thread about Apple products, a company who for decades has lived and breathed on those very things.
Click to expand...

Audio quality in this example is more like a GPU on a Mac. You either buy it knowing you aren't getting enthusiast performance, or you don't know any better. Apple has been shying heavily away from the super enthusiast market for years now.
 
But now your phone can be half a millimeter thinner! Isn't that worth the minor inconvenience of having to buy an easily losable $20 adapter?
 
I have no plans to buy an iPhone regardless of this decision, but I'm done buying more stuff to charge until wireless charging is available for all of my devices. Let me drop everything on a pad at night and make sure the charge lasts all day.
 
ZeroX03 said:
In what way is USB-C superior to a headphone jack? It can carry power, display, data in addition to audio. Two USB-C ports would be superior to one USB-C and a 3.5mm, assuming that USB-C headphones were as readily available as 3.5mm is currently.

Audio quality is negligible to 99% of users.
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First off, I didn't claim USB-C to be superior the the headphone jack.

Second, USB-C shouldn't replace the headphone jack either. There is no reason to.
 
liquidtmd said:
I hear ya for sure and it's an Apple thread but I deliberately said companies because I had Lenovo/Moto in mind, I'm bummed about the Moto Z Force and their approach to it
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Lenovo can piss off. This is exactly what Samsung started to do where they chased Apple rumours looking for innovation instead of listening to their customers. At least Samsung came to their senses and climbed down.
 
Kthulhu said:
Second, USB-C shouldn't replace the headphone jack either. There is no reason to.
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Um, sure there is. You would have two ports that could do way more*. Carry extra charge. Transfer files while using display out. The problem with 3.5mm is it only carries audio, you can do so much more with other formats.


*yes I'm well aware we're heading to a one port phone future, this is hypothetical.
 
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
Uh? Phones stopped having physical keyboards, and people were pissed for five years. Now no one cares.

You guys are like "no, I want to ride this same horse for 25 more years." Like there'd ever be a convenient time you'd move to something new if they keep putting decades old ports in your devices.
Click to expand...
What exactly is that huge benefit that this decade old port is holding back?
I only see negatives from removing the jack
 
No serial port? Apple has lost the plot.

No optical disc drive? Apple has lost the plot.

No hardware keyboard on a phone? Apple has lost the plot.

No headphone jack? Apple has lost the plot.

Maybe at some point you guys will realize you're the ones who lost the plot?
 
Cipherr said:
Im not going to entertain any dismissals of performance/quality in a thread about Apple products, a company who for decades has lived and breathed on those very things.
Click to expand...

Audio quality has pretty much never been a selling point for iPods or iPhones though. I believe it took years for them just to add equalizer settings on the iPod.
 
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