Just as we lost keyboard with iPhone, losing audio jack will be soon forgotten.
When did the iPhone have it's own keyboard? I'm lost here.
All I'm aware of since the first iPhone, the keyboard was part of the display.
He probably meant something along the lines of, "Just as Apple choose to exclude a physical keyboard on their original iPhone, despite the naysayers claiming it will never succeed, losing audio jack will be soon forgotten."
First, good job DED as always. Second I thought no one is going to preorder iPhone 7 based on all the negative opinion of the verge, NYT, WSJ etc and slept to my normal woke up hours at 6:30 EDT to order the jet black iPhone 7 plus and what a mistake. Apple users intelligently know what they want and how much they want it. The most intriguing surprises are A10 Fusion, W1, the duel lens and bokeh effect, the AirPods. If the AirPods is truly as magic as the Pencil is I am definitely going to get one and loose the wire, hopefully for ever. I am sure there will be tons of loops to secure the AirPods on sale from Amazon soon. Apple creates a great opportunity for a lot of companies to make lots of money. The journalists outght do reports on that to inform users and companies to make this transition. Instead they just whine like a 3 year old baby. I am delighted by the AirPods, the video showing the making of it, and the video showing the making of jet black iPhone 7. Anyway, looking forward to the coming review of iOS 10, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and the tear down, as well as the inevitable gates etc. Also expect more announcements from Cupertino regarding Mac and iPad before the holiday season. If they could throw 50GB of iCloud storage for free then there would be nothing to complain and would help them win a lot of customers.
Great article! I thought it was just me. If I hear about this fucking audio jack again I'm going to snap. I've been on wireless headphones since 2012. It's just better. Adapt or use the lightning cable.
I must get my news from different places. I feel like the Apple fan base was hoping for outrage over a headphone jack and there wasn't one. Now, someone is trying to invent an outrage that does not exist.
"...its existing one billion installed base of iPhone users..." Didn't the "one billion" figure refer to all Apple devices and computers active? Anyone remember more accurately?
Oh, and, "...almost ten years later we have devolved into a society of buffoons..." Actually, I believe studies show we have always pretty much been a society of buffoons.
In this keynote it was said that they sold their 1 Billionth iPhone. DED has misquoted the information between the quote you remember and what was said about the iPhones sold. It is safe to assume that there is some large number of the 1B iPhones that are no longer in use. Two things turn me off about DED's articles. First, the tone in which he writes. This article in a certain sense does what he is deriding other journalists for doing. He pushes his is own narrative (by insinuating he is the only journalist that gets Apple since he attacks everyone else) when he too could ask the good questions and present the information so we can make up our own minds. Second, as this post pointed out he plays fast and loose with facts to suit his needs. Saying Apple has 1B installed base of iPhones certainly doesn't make the article better. It does however further his narrative and undercut him in the eyes of people that know facts being stretched. He could have gotten the facts right and it would not have detracted from the point of the article at all. Saying 1B iPhones sold is still a pretty damn spiffy accomplishment.
DED, if you read my comments... Do please consider your tone. If you think the tone is fine, please consider getting an outside editor to review some of your work. I really do believe it would expand your journalistic influence.
Anyone else bothered by the fact that you can't change the AirPod's volume without Siri which requires a connection to the internet to interpret "lower the volume"? How about the fact that Apple will not sell iPhone 7s to new customers? You have to already have an active account with a major carrier to buy one. Funny that was never mentioned during the rollout or in the splashy Apple web pages. You had to get up at 3:00 AM to find out.
You can use your watch, your phone, or your computer as well. Two of those three are likely to have volume keys.
Anyone else bothered by the fact that you can't change the AirPod's volume without Siri which requires a connection to the internet to interpret "lower the volume"? How about the fact that Apple will not sell iPhone 7s to new customers? You have to already have an active account with a major carrier to buy one. Funny that was never mentioned during the rollout or in the splashy Apple web pages. You had to get up at 3:00 AM to find out.
For the second item, Apple has had limitations on that since they started selling unlocked phones. At some point when they get to a supply and demand balance they lift that restriction. Not aware of an official comment, but pretty sure it was done to stop the after market distribution of phones. They were being bought in the US unlocked and shipped to places like China to be sold. By forcing the carrier commitments they are limiting access to large amounts of devices. Plus Apple is shipping to more places at launch than ever before, so people in China can order it themselves. They really don't want people buying them up to turn around and gouge people who are desperate to get one quickly.
Personally I am very excited by all the newly announced products, but I've been involved in 2 conversations with people who focused almost entirely on one fact: "no 3.5mm audio jack." Personally I'm fine with that change, but I don't think Apple has sufficiently controlled the message that is affecting public perspective (for some people).
Had you pointed out the headphone port is actually still there? Just now its called the Ligjtning Port?
Good point.
Yes, and I explained that Apple was including a converter dongle with the iPhone. And that's exactly my point: there ARE good responses to people who are upset about the missing audio jack, but I don't think Apple presented this transition in a way that left the right impression on many casual observers of the news. I want a broad set of people to be excited about iPhone 7 -- as I am -- but I see a few early indicators that some people came away with a disproportionate focus on the one thing they view as a negative.
Or the tech media purposely obfuscated these facts just to stay relevant.
Not everyone watches the presentation. A truly reliable and objective media would report the facts instead of FUD.
Exactly. I was watching a local tech reporter here in LA, the morning of the iPhone launch, and the tech reporter which is usually quite good, Rich Demuro who knew damn well that lightning ear pods would be included as well as an adopter with every iPhone purchase, but he kept teasing between every break before his segment that Apple was leaving everyone in the lerch. The news anchors were kinda shocked and asked him point blank about the ear pods and he kept coy with them. With them and however number of viewers on LA's top rated local morning news show that Apple was screwing them. Niow I understand about teasing and click-bait and advertising revenue, but properly informing your audience comes first. All the scare tactics and sensationalism is par for the course but c'mon, if the news anchor asks if Apple is including functional ear pods, just say yes and that an adopter will be there free also instead of leading everyone on, and frankly purpously messing with the sales of a company. It's not minor thing.
Its not not a minor thing what all these click-bate focused doofuses have done.
Did you actually say "an explosion of interest in Galaxy Note 7 " ?
LOL.
I was boarding a United flight out of Newark to Tampa this evening and they actually stated that anyone with a Galaxy 7 phone could not use it on the plane as it was dangerous, it had to remain switched off at all times. Imagine if that were an Apple product! It would be headline news and AAPL would drop 50%.
Anyone else bothered by the fact that you can't change the AirPod's volume without Siri which requires a connection to the internet to interpret "lower the volume"?
1) The AirPods are connected to a device that you probably have on your person or very near by, because Bluetooth; so, no.
2) Is requiring an internet connection with all Siri commands going to a requirement? Remember that iOS 10 brings Siri's neural network local to the device in an amazingly small package. With Apple's ability to control the entire stack, which means they can build in an entire part of their A-series (and later their S-series and even their W-series), chips to support this local Siri functionality, it may already be technically possible to use Siri without connecting to Apple's backend, even if it's not yet enabled for iOS 10 and the iPhone 7 series.
3) Let's remember that it's 2016 and the chances of you not having an internet connection on an iPhone when you need to lower your volume but your iPhone isn't within an arm or step's reach is relatively unlikely, and overall not anything in which to be bothered by.
How about the fact that Apple will not sell iPhone 7s to new customers? You have to already have an active account with a major carrier to buy one. Funny that was never mentioned during the rollout or in the splashy Apple web pages. You had to get up at 3:00 AM to find out.
This is the first I'm hearing of this. Could you supply some sources?
The quality of the media coverage following this week's Apple Event raises the question: are journalists operating under the assumption that their audience is universally stupid or are they just borderline basic themselves?
There isn't any "pure" online journalism any more. Not even from old-school sources. It's all about clicks and web traffic now. It doesn't matter whether you post quality or crap. So, if crap generates more web traffic than quality, post the crap. For proof of that level of thinking, just visit The Verge.
Is there anything pure online, period? I've started using reference books again as trying to look some facts up these days results in more total crap than anything else. The trouble is you need to be pretty knowledgeable about a subject to know it's crap, so the average Joe is being misled most of the time.
I adore these weekend editorial articles. It's what makes AppleInsider stand out from the crowd. Been reading the Verge this week and all their bleating on about the loss of the bloody headphone jack. Any audiophile knows that thing is best gone. Am I the only bugger whose headphones died regularly because the wires become disconnected. Am I the only bugger who hates the crackle and the lack of audio fidelity from that little cable. The fact that Walt Mossberg has an issue with it is just incredible. Anyway. Thanks for punching through the reality of the situation with great reasoning and facts. A joy to read.
Nope, nope nope.
Any audiophile would rather people have a choice. iPhone DACs are (were) already good, so anyone can plug in any headphone into iPhone's headphone jack and you know they're getting clean audio quality.
All Apple has done is encourage a market where the headphone maker is going to be making their own DAC with their headphone. This increases the prices of the headphones because not only do they need to make more hardware, they'll need to pay a licensing fee to Apple for the lightning port.
Not only this, but DACs will not be made the same. Someone who buys a cheap iPhone lightning headphone from skullcandy might have a god awful DAC integrated into the buds, reducing their audio quality from a headphone jack solution.
It's just an inelegant mess. It's not "courageous" at all.
You're looking at this from a glass-half-empty perspective. Won't this help the DAC technology evolve so that new levels of quality emerge? It's not like manufacturers are going to be using 2016 DACs for the next 5 years. Apple *had* to deliver great DAC tech in the iPhone. Now headphone makers will *have* to. Simply a transference of responsibility. Yes, this may cause an initial increase in prices, but over time, the tech will become cheaper, so prices will balance out.
They need to license the lightning chip from Apple already. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple didn't offer one with a DAC built-in so there would be a baseline of quality for headphones that get certified. If they have a DAC in the lightning earpods and the adaptor cable, that would be two in every box. So Apple would be getting a nice discount based on volume just for their own uses let alone licensing it to third parties that don't have the expertise to do better.
Personally I am very excited by all the newly announced products, but I've been involved in 2 conversations with people who focused almost entirely on one fact: "no 3.5mm audio jack." Personally I'm fine with that change, but I don't think Apple has sufficiently controlled the message that is affecting public perspective (for some people).
Had you pointed out the headphone port is actually still there? Just now its called the Ligjtning Port?
Yes, and I explained that Apple was including a converter dongle with the iPhone. And that's exactly my point: there ARE good responses to people who are upset about the missing audio jack, but I don't think Apple presented this transition in a way that left the right impression on many casual observers of the news. I want a broad set of people to be excited about iPhone 7 -- as I am -- but I see a few early indicators that some people came away with a disproportionate focus on the one thing they view as a negative.
1) I'm honestly not sure how it could have been misinterpreted by anyone that watched the event or read Apple's website. More than a few people thought/think Apple will be including AirPods with every iPhone. My guess is this is a combination of lazy readers, fairly unintelligent people, and lazy journalism as their primary source for information.
2) One thing I haven't been able to discern is whether the "digital audio" that was included in the original Lightning connector design, which Schiller mentioned, means that the DAC and other analog audio components are still within the iPhone so that a Lightning to 3.5mm audio adapter can be a dumb device, or last dumb enough that it only needs a very simple chip to relate to the device that the connection will be used for analog audio. Schiller also detailed some nice Lightning headphones that are intelligent, which wouldn't be possible without having an advanced connector like Lightning, so I'm guessing those have the DAC in the headphone, but that isn't necessarily the case, as I believe that even at 8-pins there is enough for power and ground, data, analog stereo audio, and a mic.
I hghly doubt analog audio is coming over the Lightning port. It's just not part of the specification. The adaptor Apple gives you with your iPhone (and sells for a measly $9) will have both a DAC and AMP built into the cable itself. Probably at a quality level similar to what was previously inside the iPhone.
I firmly believe the reason Apple gives you one adaptor for free and charges so little for them is to make the transition to no headphone jack as painless as possible.
First, good job DED as always. Second I thought no one is going to preorder iPhone 7 based on all the negative opinion of the verge, NYT, WSJ etc and slept to my normal woke up hours at 6:30 EDT to order the jet black iPhone 7 plus and what a mistake. Apple users intelligently know what they want and how much they want it. The most intriguing surprises are A10 Fusion, W1, the duel lens and bokeh effect, the AirPods. If the AirPods is truly as magic as the Pencil is I am definitely going to get one and loose the wire, hopefully for ever. I am sure there will be tons of loops to secure the AirPods on sale from Amazon soon. Apple creates a great opportunity for a lot of companies to make lots of money. The journalists outght do reports on that to inform users and companies to make this transition. Instead they just whine like a 3 year old baby. I am delighted by the AirPods, the video showing the making of it, and the video showing the making of jet black iPhone 7. Anyway, looking forward to the coming review of iOS 10, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and the tear down, as well as the inevitable gates etc. Also expect more announcements from Cupertino regarding Mac and iPad before the holiday season. If they could throw 50GB of iCloud storage for free then there would be nothing to complain and would help them win a lot of customers.
I'm seriously considering the airpods myself. For me it is going to come down to how they operate independently since Apple did indicate you can use just one. My hope is that I can use one while charging one. Then when the one in use runs low, pull the other one out of the case, put it in my ear and then have both in use. Once the new one is working, I would then remove the other one and stick it in the charger. I bet this works, but if it doesn't I will wait until it does. Three hours just isn't long enough when I get stuck on back to back calls for hours at work. I don't want to have to pull out a cabled set of earpods when my batteries get low. That just misses the point of wireless.
I am super happy about the removal of the audio jack. When I get my iPhone 7 no-one in my house can steal and lose my headphones! For maybe a year, hopefully longer I will be the only one who can use my Lightning headset. There are two Apple products I buy repeatedly, and always more than one at the time - charging cables and head phones. The headphones will no longer be an issue. I wish they had changed the main culprit - the Lightning charging cable. Shoulda been wireless.
I am super happy about the removal of the audio jack. When I get my iPhone 7 no-one in my house can steal and lose my headphones! For maybe a year, hopefully longer I will be the only one who can use my Lightning headset. There are two Apple products I buy repeatedly, and always more than one at the time - charging cables and head phones. The headphones will no longer be an issue. I wish they had changed the main culprit - the Lightning charging cable. Shoulda been wireless.
You've been able to do this since the iPhone 5 what's been stopping you?
I am super happy about the removal of the audio jack. When I get my iPhone 7 no-one in my house can steal and lose my headphones! For maybe a year, hopefully longer I will be the only one who can use my Lightning headset. There are two Apple products I buy repeatedly, and always more than one at the time - charging cables and head phones. The headphones will no longer be an issue. I wish they had changed the main culprit - the Lightning charging cable. Shoulda been wireless.
For some reason I do like the Apple headphones and buy them from Apple. But for charging cables, boy, even a loyal Apple fan should do them a favor and buy from someone else that are much better quality and cost 1/10th.
Just as we lost keyboard with iPhone, losing audio jack will be soon forgotten.
When did the iPhone have it's own keyboard? I'm lost here.
All I'm aware of since the first iPhone, the keyboard was part of the display.
He probably meant something along the lines of, "Just as Apple choose to exclude a physical keyboard on their original iPhone, despite the naysayers claiming it will never succeed, losing audio jack will be soon forgotten."
I still don't get it. Apple never did have a physical keyboard for the original iPhone. Apple never did intend to have it. Maybe too many people were thinking of BlackBerry (their keyboard design was so awkward for people who have fat fingers). But the Blackberry design also had a useless screen size.
For the person who gave me a 'thumbs down' please explain the reason why.
1) I'm honestly not sure how it could have been misinterpreted by anyone that watched the event or read Apple's website. More than a few people thought/think Apple will be including AirPods with every iPhone. My guess is this is a combination of lazy readers, fairly unintelligent people, and lazy journalism as their primary source for information.
2) One thing I haven't been able to discern is whether the "digital audio" that was included in the original Lightning connector design, which Schiller mentioned, means that the DAC and other analog audio components are still within the iPhone so that a Lightning to 3.5mm audio adapter can be a dumb device, or last dumb enough that it only needs a very simple chip to relate to the device that the connection will be used for analog audio. Schiller also detailed some nice Lightning headphones that are intelligent, which wouldn't be possible without having an advanced connector like Lightning, so I'm guessing those have the DAC in the headphone, but that isn't necessarily the case, as I believe that even at 8-pins there is enough for power and ground, data, analog stereo audio, and a mic.
I hghly doubt analog audio is coming over the Lightning port. It's just not part of the specification. The adaptor Apple gives you with your iPhone (and sells for a measly $9) will have both a DAC and AMP built into the cable itself. Probably at a quality level similar to what was previously inside the iPhone.
I firmly believe the reason Apple gives you one adaptor for free and charges so little for them is to make the transition to no headphone jack as painless as possible.
Possibly, but shouldn't we wait for a teardown before we make absolute statements? You do know it's possible for Apple to offer analog audio over wires that are also used digital transfers when different devices are connected, right? Lightning replaced the 30-pin connector with 8-pins (maybe 16-pins with the iPhone 7 series), yet lost no real functionality because it was a smarter connector. I say no real loss because analog options were out, as noted by this Chipworks teardown of the old Lighting-to-30-pin connector.
I still content that that it would likely be too complex to have a more modern Lightning chip intelligently switch to the pin out electronically to allow analog audio when Lightning headphones that don't contain their own DAC is inserted, but it's certainly not impossible.
Finally a journalist that reports the actual events and let's us think for ourselves. I read a lot of news and lately nobody delivers the real story anymore. They all feel that they need to be cute or funny or tragic and therefore come up with total lies to get their articles read. The same thing is going on in the US election. Every day something terrible and horrific. STOP IT! Report the news instead of making it!!!
Thank you for your wonderful article. I watched the entire launch and thought Apple killed it. I'm buying an iPhone 7 plus and Apple Watch 2 in December.
Steve
Comments
The news anchors were kinda shocked and asked him point blank about the ear pods and he kept coy with them. With them and however number of viewers on LA's top rated local morning news show that Apple was screwing them.
Niow I understand about teasing and click-bait and advertising revenue, but properly informing your audience comes first. All the scare tactics and sensationalism is par for the course but c'mon, if the news anchor asks if Apple is including functional ear pods, just say yes and that an adopter will be there free also instead of leading everyone on, and frankly purpously messing with the sales of a company. It's not minor thing.
Its not not a minor thing what all these click-bate focused doofuses have done.
I was boarding a United flight out of Newark to Tampa this evening and they actually stated that anyone with a Galaxy 7 phone could not use it on the plane as it was dangerous, it had to remain switched off at all times. Imagine if that were an Apple product! It would be headline news and AAPL would drop 50%.
2) Is requiring an internet connection with all Siri commands going to a requirement? Remember that iOS 10 brings Siri's neural network local to the device in an amazingly small package. With Apple's ability to control the entire stack, which means they can build in an entire part of their A-series (and later their S-series and even their W-series), chips to support this local Siri functionality, it may already be technically possible to use Siri without connecting to Apple's backend, even if it's not yet enabled for iOS 10 and the iPhone 7 series.
3) Let's remember that it's 2016 and the chances of you not having an internet connection on an iPhone when you need to lower your volume but your iPhone isn't within an arm or step's reach is relatively unlikely, and overall not anything in which to be bothered by.
This is the first I'm hearing of this. Could you supply some sources?
I hghly doubt analog audio is coming over the Lightning port. It's just not part of the specification. The adaptor Apple gives you with your iPhone (and sells for a measly $9) will have both a DAC and AMP built into the cable itself. Probably at a quality level similar to what was previously inside the iPhone.
I firmly believe the reason Apple gives you one adaptor for free and charges so little for them is to make the transition to no headphone jack as painless as possible.
For the person who gave me a 'thumbs down' please explain the reason why.
The audio jack is another story.
I still content that that it would likely be too complex to have a more modern Lightning chip intelligently switch to the pin out electronically to allow analog audio when Lightning headphones that don't contain their own DAC is inserted, but it's certainly not impossible.