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[Jeffrey]

Yup even their own Macbook has only USB-C and no lightning port.... so you need an adapter to use peripherals between both Apple products

these are the obvious questions that i'm surprised no journalists have bothered to ask apple representatives yet.

If you buy a dank lightning Beats headset, can you use it on any other non iOS device?

Is there a lightning to 3.5mm adapter?

 

[Makonero]

I want to get outraged with everyone else but then I realized I hardly ever use my headphone jack on my phone. I have an iPod for my music/podcasts. I like having separate devices for phone and music.

It's still bullshit, but I'm not that incensed I guess.

 

[Oblivion]

They say they have a better audio solution.

What is it?

 

[Supast4r]

If phones continue down this route, I won't upgrade phones.

 

[toohectic]

Yeah, I was thinking about this earlier and it makes no sense. I just hate how limiting and segmented it will make things, especially when the "replacement" for the headphone jack is a proprietary solution.

What do you think the response would be if they eliminated the headphone jack and changed the Lightning to USB-C? More positive or negative?

 

[RedRum]

The top price is $969 for a 256GB. To put this into perspective, I paid $1200 for my 55 inch 4K TV. Phone prices are unreal.

 

[CosmicGroinPull]

They say they have a better audio solution.

What is it?

$159

 

[sugarman]

I guess i'm down for the future but if those air pods are ergonomically the same they will not stay in both my ears for 5 minutes. They need something like this

These guys stay in no matter what. But otherwise why not I mean why would you want wires dangling from your head.

 

[excelsiorlef]

The top price is $969 for a 256GB. To put this into perspective, I paid $1200 for my 55 inch 4K TV. Phone prices are unreal.

Phones do a lot more than a TV to be fair.

256gb is fucking great storage so it isn't that bad a price.

Probably 100-200 more than ideal.

 

[robertsan21]

I am all for a change but those headphones that comes with the iphone are crap, they dont fit in my ears at all and hurt after 20 minutes of use.

these airpods are cool but I wish they had gone with a different design on the airpods that would make them customizable to fit any type of ear

 

[Jonm1010]

Phones do a lot more than a TV to be fair.

256gb is fucking great storage so it isn't that bad a price.

Probably 100-200 more than ideal.

I think a lot likely has to do with it being such an obscured market.

I would bet most people aren't buying their phones outright. They see $100 and two year contract or $20 a month and no money down and never even look at the full price or get out a financial calculator to check the numbers.

But I largely agree. Probably slightly inflated but these are pretty solid pieces of hardware.

 

[Jonm1010]

I am all for a change but those headphones that comes with the iphone are crap, they dont fit in my ears at all and hurt after 20 minutes of use.

these airpods are cool but I wish they had gone with a different design on the airpods that would make them customizable to fit any type of ear

That was my biggest surprise tbh.

$150 and they look like the ones in the box that hurt my ears after half an hour.

 

[S-Wind]

do you miss the physical keyboards on your phone?

YES!

That's why I use a BlackBerry.

I want tactile feedback.

I want to be able to execute commands on my phone without having to look at it!

 

[Kenstar]

They're getting rid of physical keyboards from the macbooks next

 

[excelsiorlef]

I think a lot likely has to do with it being such an obscured market.

I would bet most people aren't buying their phones outright. They see $100 and two year contract or $20 a month and no money down and never even look at the full price or get out a financial calculator to check the numbers.

That too. I'm in a kinda fucked if I do fucked if I don't position myself.

I can't get any contract "discount" phones because the plan I got is too good here in Canada that when we changed from a three year contract to a 2 year contract they decided they would no longer renew my contract with my current plan.

I pay 65$ and get decent voice and text but a monstrous (in Canada anyway) 6GB data plan (they sold this plan literally for two weeks lol. I got my first smart phone at exactly the right time).

To get that 6gb and get a new phone at contract "discount" it was going to be 120$ a month under a new plan.

So I'm stuck having to buy phones at full price...

 

[d00d3n]

how else would they justify selling $160 uncomfortable earbuds

Stop with the misinformation, dude. They are just 159 dollars. JUST! Even includes a battery pack from acer to make the airpods look nice besides the upcoming macbook models with oled acer bars.

 

[robertsan21]

That was my biggest surprise tbh.

$150 and they look like the ones in the box that hurt my ears after half an hour.

during the event, they showed this guy wearing them, they look cool as fuck but the dude had them fit all the way inside his ear. how the hell does one do that? Giant ears?

 

[Sobriquet]

probably costs 50 cents to make

Wait are you telling me that stuff sells for more than it costs to make?

 

[hamchan]

Acting like wired headphones are a problem with a clearly superior replacement is some bullshit.

 

[excelsiorlef]

They're getting rid of physical keyboards from the macbooks next

"I will buy anything that is shiny and made by Apple."

Lmao

 

[Sojgat]

Magnificent valor.

 

[Oblivion]

$159

I was seriously asking. :/

 

[excelsiorlef]

I was seriously asking. :/

That is their answer: 159$ air pods

 

[NullPointer]

Schiller thinks it’s a silly argument. “The idea that there’s some ulterior motive behind this move, or that it will usher in some new form of content management, it simply isn’t true,” he says. “We are removing the audio jack because we have developed a better way to deliver audio. It has nothing to do with content management or DRM — that’s pure, paranoid conspiracy theory.”

Sure.

I like my wired audio, with no dongles and no need to charge, and use it several times each day, thank you very much.

 

[dock]

It's the GBA SP all over again!

I love Bluetooth headphones and use them for 2-4 hours every day.
I'm planning to get iPhone 7.
I'm going to miss that headphone jack.

It's so convenient to easily plug in any headphones on the planet.

Also, my current Bluetooth headphones have LAG which ruins anything with visuals.

 

[Oblivion]

That is their answer: 159$ air pods

*googles air pods*

These things cost $150??

 

[NullPointer]

*googles air pods*

These things cost $150??

Your wallet will be a hole filled with air. Just sitting there, taking up space.

 

[lupinko]

I know living in Japan might differ with other people's experiences but I usually go down to Tokyo via bus (5 hours) or Shinkansen (90 minutes). And listening to music while charging is such a godsend.

Taking that away is idiocy.

Well I guess someone can come up with a lightning splitter cable right? USB out and AUX jack.

Unless Apple doesn't allow for that in their lightning spec.

 

[K' Dash]

I'm pretty pissed about this, butt let's not act as if this is going to tank their sales, it will be once again the best selling iPhone, etc. Then other companies will remove the jack and everyone will move on.

They certainly have the power to do this and move the tech "forward"

 

[CosmicGroinPull]

*googles air pods*

These things cost $150??

Yyep.

The charging box and mic function is cool and I presume since Apple made them, they won't have the pairing issues that completely wireless earphones are notorious for, but no way I'm paying that much for Apple's usual crappy audio quality.

 

[CherryWoodFuton]

I guess wireless headphones + lighting cable charging is the way to go with the 7?

How can I listen on a plane then? Apple y u do dis

 

[RDreamer]

I guess i'm down for the future but if those air pods are ergonomically the same they will not stay in both my ears for 5 minutes.

Same here. I have no fucking clue how anyone uses iPhone EarPods. Both the old versions and the newer designs can't stay in my ear more than about 45 seconds. It's infuriating. I don't know whose ears they're designing them for, but they fucking suck.

 

[Any Questions]

Do the new $100+ buds come in the box with the phone?

You ever had a free lunch for no reason at a restaurant?

 

[LouisaFerre]

I remember that AJ said something I thought was interesting on the subject. I like the headphone jack and use it all the time, but he said that the inclusion of an adapter was essentially an admission that enough people rely on 3.5mm that they needed to have that functionality out of the box. Kind of agree with that. Just a really inelegant solution to a problem that didn't even exist in the first place, and it brings essentially no benefit to consumers while pushing them to purchase more expensive headphones.

major goof.

 

[Sid]

Think the next iPhone will support wireless charging so they'll just provide a cheap wireless charging pad and ditch the Lightning port....

 

[HariKari]

The top price is $969 for a 256GB. To put this into perspective, I paid $1200 for my 55 inch 4K TV. Phone prices are unreal.

I'd be curious to know the ridiculous margin Apple has on these phones.

 

[Phu]

They say the headphone jack was just a hole that took up space in the phone. They then provide a dongle that takes up space outside the phone.

 

[Soodanim]

I'm not an Apple guy so my thoughts are on how this will affect the rest of the mobile world.

There's no way I'm giving up standard headphones any time soon, they're more valuable to me than more battery or other tech. I don't charge and listen, though.

I do like that they're including an adapter for free, it's at least a small gesture of good will. Whether that's a forever thing remains to be seen.

What someone above said about wireless charging is good. I hope it gets forced upon the mobile world again, as it started to disappear but I think the tech is great. Just drop the phone on it at night and don't worry about plugging in cables in the dark.

do you miss the physical keyboards on your phone?

Yes, my old Samsung Corby Pro/Genio Slide with its landscape slide out keyboard was fantastic to type on until some buttons started to fail. I would probably buy other one if it had modern Android.

 

[Xun]

And frankly, when there’s a better, modern solution available, it’s crazy to keep it around.

Sweet.

So where is it?

 

[Roo]

Between multiple charges and headphone plugs I wonder how long will it take before the first reports of loosen/broken lightning ports (connector) start to appear.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

These Jaybirds in Black/White are currently 80 Dollars (off from 150). Seem to be some of the best current wireless phones; https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AIRUOI8/?tag=neogaf0e-20




But generally I am surprised to see how many competitive bluetooth headphones there are on amazon; https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=bluetooth+headphones

 

[Guess Who]

reminder that beats released a brand new line of 3.5mm-only headphones the same day the iphone 7 was announced

 

[Keen]

Forcing this on people and not including the air pods in the box is just straight fuckery. However, one of my absolute biggest pet peeves is getting headphone cord caught on things and the headphones ripped out. So I'll definitely go wireless sooner rather than later, and I happened to back some wireless headphones called Revols on kickstarter a while back. So I'm pretty much good, personally.

 

[jellies_two]

I actually don't understand the fuss

They moved the beloved hole filled with air one inch outside of the phone. Attach your headphones there and you are done. Buy another 3 of those things and leave them on your headphones.

The charging and listening thing, I imagine on eBay there will be a pigtail that does that for a few bucks.

 

[excelsiorlef]

*googles air pods*

These things cost $150??

Yep and they probably have the sound quality of the old 3.5mm buds to boot.

That is to say shit.

I'm pretty pissed about this, butt let's not act as if this is going to tank their sales, it will be once again the best selling iPhone, etc. Then other companies will remove the jack and everyone will move on.

They certainly have the power to do this and move the tech "forward"

That's actually part of the problem.

You're absolutely correct that it won't tank sales....

And they aren't moving tech forward.

 

[Oblivion]

Their messaging was way off. All they needed to do was point out the parallels of when people were confused anytime a mainstream feature was replaced with another solution. I remember the days when people were told their beta tapes would soon be outdated and replaced with VHS. Tech. A simple "We think this is a better solution; here's why..." would have sufficed.

We know its about money; but whats in it for me?

I'm not really familiar with all the details with this particular case, but I don't think it's similar to VHS vs. Betamax at all. As a format, the latter was actually a superior product, producing better video quality. Whereas with this Apple thing, their proposed solution doesn't give you any actual improvement over what it's replacing AND costs a fuckton more.

 

[RS4-]

during the event, they showed this guy wearing them, they look cool as fuck but the dude had them fit all the way inside his ear. how the hell does one do that? Giant ears?

Hired because he had the right ears for the job.

 

[newtypepilot]

well they gotta make people buy $160 wireless earpods that are easily lost.

 

[DiGiKerot]

I actually don't understand the fuss

They moved the beloved hole filled with air one inch outside of the phone. Attach your headphones there and you are done. Buy another 3 of those things and leave them on your headphones.

The charging and listening thing, I imagine on eBay there will be a pigtail that does that for a few bucks.

I, personally, have no faith in a Lightning socket, let alone the connector, being anywhere near as durable as a 3.5mm jack when I'm walking around with it stuck in my pocket all day, particularly given the size and shape of that connector.

 

[Dryk]

Yep and they probably have the sound quality of the old 3.5mm buds to boot.

That is to say shit.

That's the funniest thing to me. Earphones are a cheap and disposable technology and bolting a wireless receiver to them doesn't change that.