Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
9to5 Mac
Apple deprecated what it called ancient technology yesterday, with the iPhone 7 lacking a 3.5mm headphone jack. The company is encouraging Bluetooth wireless headphones for audio playback (heralding its new AirPods) or using wired headphones via Lightning. However, with just one port, people who want to listen to music and charge their iPhone 7 at the same time are left with a conundrum.
Apples answer to this problem appears to be the $39-49 Lightning Dock which adds a 3.5mm headphone jack when docked.
This messaging appears to be the Apple solution, thanks to an email conversation sent to us by a reader. Zaheen Hafzer says he asked Phil Schiller about how to charge the iPhone 7 and listen to music at the same time. Schiller said whilst he prefers using the AirPods for the additional wireless flexibility, the Lightning Dock is the solution for wired headphones.
Heres what Schiller said according to Zaheen:
Hi Zaheen,
I like to listen on my AirPods while my iPhone 7 Plus is charging because I am free to move around.
However, if you would like to listen to wired headphones while charging an iPhone 7 it is possible to do that as well.
The Apple Lightning Dock includes a headphone jack for using wired headphones or speakers while charging.
I hope that helps.