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Buzzfeed: Inside iPhone 7: Why Apple Killed The Headphone Jack
- Thread starter Jeffrey
- Start date
- Status
They included the adapter in the box so this won't impact me at all. Sure, it's still a little baffling why they did it, not to mention the arrogance, but no one's forcing anyone to buy Apple AirPods over any other 3rd party BT headset, or 3.5mm headset, all of which in the world still work the same with the included adapter.
A lot of people in here are having the conniptions I would expect if Apple didn't include an adapter, or hell, didn't even make one. And barred 3rd party BT headsets from working. But Jesus, they made the absolute best of a shitty situation (that they caused, yes). With the 3.5mm jack being removed, what more could have been done to ease the transition?
A lot of people in here are having the conniptions I would expect if Apple didn't include an adapter, or hell, didn't even make one. And barred 3rd party BT headsets from working. But Jesus, they made the absolute best of a shitty situation (that they caused, yes). With the 3.5mm jack being removed, what more could have been done to ease the transition?
The adaptor makes the removal of the headphone jack less egregious, but the reasoning behind the decision is hilarious. "We found we really needed the space gained by removing the jack - please enjoy better battery life, nicer cameras, and a haptic engine!" Okay, I will. Know what I'd have enjoyed more? A slightly thicker phone that included all that, plus a 3.5mm headphone jack. And no camera bulge.
AHA-Lambda
Member
And now they're stupidly expensive and wireless! XD
Vyse The Legend
Member
A bulky adapter that could break or get lost isn't ideal. Bluetooth 4LE is still a drain on phone life, and it's something else to charge at night. The quality isn't as good either.
This is a solution desperately in search of a problem.
karmaforgotme
Member
Some will, but a lot of us will continue on using Apple. I am not thrilled about the headphone thing, but it is nowhere close to enough to an issue make me go back to Android.
Audioboxer
Member
Why?
CTRL-F "$$$"
CTRL-F "$$$"
TheCochese
Banned
Nope. Perhaps you should stop projecting your own experiences on others.
Apple has a point that we got rid of all kinds of interfaces when they weren't relevant.
Problem is...the headphone jack is extremely relevant. By far the largest % of headphones in existence and bought today use it. The entire mid and high end only has this interface.
You get rid of the interface when most don't use it. I hope they completely lose market share and get hammered for this. Given how phones are getting very close to parity for everyday use (appliances basically) why would I go for something that limits one of the main uses I have for the device?
Problem is...the headphone jack is extremely relevant. By far the largest % of headphones in existence and bought today use it. The entire mid and high end only has this interface.
You get rid of the interface when most don't use it. I hope they completely lose market share and get hammered for this. Given how phones are getting very close to parity for everyday use (appliances basically) why would I go for something that limits one of the main uses I have for the device?
Not gonna happen.
EatinOlives
Member
Not have it at all. It's unnecessary and doesn't benefit the customer in any appreciable way.
The adapter is yet another thing to keep track of in your daily routine, another thing to get lost, another thing to wear down and replace, and aesthetically it looks like garbage having a dumb cable hanging off what is otherwise a unibody design. It's antithetical to Apple's MO to make things simple, convenient, and aesthetically pleasing.
Jobs would be spinning in his grave if he knew people would be walking around with limp-dick dongles sticking out of his new iPhone just to use a basic feature.
Audioboxer
Member
Anything can break or get lost. The wired headset itself, or hell even the phone. So I don't buy that reasoning. It's an extra step in the process, sure, and yeah agreed, not as ideal as plugging directly into it. But for once we don't have to purchase a separate accessory with a new Apple product to get it to work with all the stuff we already have. It's the best they've handled the removal of anything, from the $80 disc drive attachment to lightning to USB-C hubs, all of which you could also say were also solutions in search of a problem.
I don't mean to defend the arrogance of it all, but the way some of the outbursts are going, you'd think they just took out the jack and mandated that only airpods can be used now.
karmaforgotme
Member
I think you see them introduce wireless charging as the solution if the backlash amounts to anything. I seriously doubt they will put the jack in, but anything is possible.
TheCochese
Banned
Not likely.
More likely that other phone manufacturers follow suit and do the same. For those who say they won't buy, enjoy your old phones.
Zantetsuken
Member
I don't know. Other, smaller and thinner phones are water resistant and still have the 3.5 jack. I'm just not buying it. 6s plus owner here.
I lack the courage
It is on the same level. You've yet to explain how it isn't other than just telling me it isn't.
The reality is neither of us will know who is right for a couple of years, at least. I'm betting on history, though, as Apple has been vindicated in their progressive stance many times over.
No, he wouldn't, christ.
A bunch of people here apparently never paid attention to anything Jobs did. His solution for removing the floppy was to stop fucking using floppy. You could get a dongle to do it, but he sure as hell didn't care. Jobs would have just as likely made that $8 adapter not come in the box or not even produced one.
Hilarious. The Plus models are the size of a surfboard, and they can't fit in a headphone jack?
Also, as many have said, there are plenty of small waterproof phones with headphone jacks.
the difference between this and previous feature removals is that those all had replacements that fully covered previous use cases and had improvements on top
alternatives to the 3.5mm standard all have tradeoffs, there's no solution that's just better
ebullientprism
Member
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
Decision has me sticking with my 6s until it's paid off next fall despite being in the apple upgrade plan. I have zero interest in having to keep track of adapter dongles and even less in wireless headphones as I'm already fed up with how many things I have to hassle with keeping charged.
EatinOlives
Member
Except this is a portable, handheld device. Try harder.
You could think of it as your headphones just got longer instead... ¯\_(ツ
_/¯Boombloxer
Member
This.
Floppy and optical drives stopped being relevant because the amount of data that users needed to transport started to vastly outstrip the amount of data that they could support, and by the time blu-ray drives became affordable on a low-end consumer level, internet speeds and the capacity of cheap USB storage were such that it wasn't necessary for most people. In addition, the platforms in which they first started removing these things were ones where it wouldn't have been a great issue to attach one externally through other means - no-one would really stress out about attaching a floppy drive to an iMac, given its not exactly something you carried around in your pocket.
On the other hand, audio data isn't really changing. What this is doing is replacing a technology with something that typically results in higher cost products with lower audio quality and a degree of latency which tends to render my Japanese cartoon idol gatcha rhythm games unplayable, as well as being easier to lose.
It's also forcing obsolescence on something that actually works and people still actually use for no particularly good reason other than hubris. 3.5mm jack headphones are not something that the use, or practicality, of is on the decline.
That is a good point. You can forget about latency sensitive audio applications. They like to brag that their audio subsystem has low latency to allow for music production. Then they do something like this.
I'm just gonna hang on to my 6s for as long as it'll last. Once it goes I'll likely go android again
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
That's pretty much where I'm at. I use my iPad for most things anyway (other than music or other things that need headphones so I won't care of the jack goes away there), so I can switch phones with minimal fuss as it's mostly just music, calls, text, email, Facebook etc for me. I probably should't be wasting money on current flagship phones anyway, vs going with a cheaper model or a year or two old model.
Massive Nights
Member
So someone is definitely working on a Laughing Spanish Guy video on this right? I mean it'd be pretty similar to the Macbook one, but bound to worth a laugh.
faceless007
Member
Nexus Zero
Member
Pretty amazing to see everyone pissing their pants yet again over Apple removing something. I don't have a strong opinion whether or not this is on the same level of DVD drives etc but the strops are identical. I wonder if people have a year in mind they'd like to see the port dropped or if they see it a part of humanity indefinitely.
VanquishUK
Member
That doesn't mean the consumer shouldn't have the opportunity to purchase music. Streaming music as the only option is fucking terrible.
there is little chance of this happening given the reaction apple is seeing from non-brainwashed consumers
TheCochese
Banned
non-brainwashed. lulz
Those technologies had replacements that have already gained serious traction. CDs and then USB drives were an affordable thing that people started using more, and drivers and software became downloadable online.
While Bluetooth audio is an alternative, you can just look around and see how many people actually use it. You still see tons of people using standard wired headphones. You get better quality wired phones for similar priced Bluetooth and the best headphones are also wired
That's why they included the adapter. They know they jumped the gun on this but they made the call that the $$$ was worth it and they labeled it courage. It's right for everyone else to label it bullshit
If this fails, they will rebrand the high end model "pro" and the 6S model with a headjack for the poor.
Couragex2
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