Apple again rumored to drop 3.5mm headphone jack from 'iPhone 7' for Lightning, Bluetooth
Rumblings out of East Asia again suggest Apple will ditch the industry standard 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of a Bluetooth wireless/Lightning audio solution, potentially forcing customers invested in the stalwart format to purchase new gear.
Sources from Apple's Chinese supply chain supposedly "confirmed" Apple's decision to switch away from the common TRRS 3.5mm jack when its next flagship handset debuts this fall, relying instead on wireless protocols, reports Anzhou. With the spec change Apple is not only looking to engineer thinner devices, but also to stimulate sales of new wireless headsets, the report said.
A separate rumor from WeiFeng, again citing inside sources, claims much the same, but adds Apple plans to include Lightning as a wired audio option. The hybrid solution could offer users a choice between "wired" and "wireless" audio output profiles depending on the situation, for example talking on the phone or listening to music.
It should be noted that AppleInsider cannot confirm the veracity of either report.
Japanese website Mac Otakara first reported on Apple's rumored headphone jack replacement in November. Despite no corroborating evidence, the topic is already polarizing Apple fans who on the one side see a move away from the aging industry standard as forward progress, while others are concerned that decades' worth of audio equipment investments will be made obsolete overnight.
Although details remain elusive, Apple was most recently thought to be preparing a Lightning version of its free EarPods headset, a tweak that requires a digital-to-analog converter be integrated into its plug. The company could provide backwards compatibility with existing hardware by including a Lightning-to-3.5mm jack adaptor with each iPhone or iPod purchase, though past product releases suggest such a component would be available only as an optional accessory.
Sources from Apple's Chinese supply chain supposedly "confirmed" Apple's decision to switch away from the common TRRS 3.5mm jack when its next flagship handset debuts this fall, relying instead on wireless protocols, reports Anzhou. With the spec change Apple is not only looking to engineer thinner devices, but also to stimulate sales of new wireless headsets, the report said.
A separate rumor from WeiFeng, again citing inside sources, claims much the same, but adds Apple plans to include Lightning as a wired audio option. The hybrid solution could offer users a choice between "wired" and "wireless" audio output profiles depending on the situation, for example talking on the phone or listening to music.
It should be noted that AppleInsider cannot confirm the veracity of either report.
Japanese website Mac Otakara first reported on Apple's rumored headphone jack replacement in November. Despite no corroborating evidence, the topic is already polarizing Apple fans who on the one side see a move away from the aging industry standard as forward progress, while others are concerned that decades' worth of audio equipment investments will be made obsolete overnight.
Although details remain elusive, Apple was most recently thought to be preparing a Lightning version of its free EarPods headset, a tweak that requires a digital-to-analog converter be integrated into its plug. The company could provide backwards compatibility with existing hardware by including a Lightning-to-3.5mm jack adaptor with each iPhone or iPod purchase, though past product releases suggest such a component would be available only as an optional accessory.
Comments
They will conveniently provide an accessory solution that allows our phones plugin support to the existing audio headset format. It's not a huge deal in my opinion. Being Apple fans , investors, hobbyists, and supporters, we should be used to this paradigm by now.
The Vivo X5 Max is 4.75mm thick and still has a 3.5mm headphone jack. The 6S is 7.1mm thick. The internal space argument is as much hogwash as the need for nano sims vs micro sims, something which was quite apparent when I opened my daughters 5 to install a new battery.
No, this is about money. 50 million Lightning to 3.5mm adapters at $30 each with an 80% markup - ka-ching! 50 million beats headphones with lossy bluetooth and an 80% markup - ka-Ching. license fees from 200 million third party lightning chip sporting headphones and earbuds - ka-ching.
Meanwhile the Samsung S7 will reportedly include the best portable device DAC ever made with 129dB dynamic range and -120dB (0.0001%) harmonic distortion.
Not having to pay for a decent DAC in 80 million phones - ka-ching!
It's already a widely held believe that the phone is thin enough as it is. Waterproofing the phone would be nice, but certainly not a requirement for the vast majority of users. Maybe there's another, non-obvious reason to do it, but it would have to be a HUGE win to justify saddling tens (or hundreds) of millions of users with either an overpriced dongle to use their existing headphones or the expense of new wireless headphones, which bring to the table issues of their own battery life, inferior sound quality, etc.
Some of us have invested hundreds in headphones that have years of useful life remaining and perform significantly better than any included earbuds that Apple can come up with (or, for that matter, any 3rd party wireless options presently available). To have to either move away from those investments or settle for a kludgy plug-your-headphones-into-a-dongle-that-plugs-into-your-iPhone setup would be a major deterrent to buying a new phone for many users.
As a user, I don't want to have to make a choice between my investment in existing headphones and a new iPhone. As an Apple investor, i don't want anything to stand in the way of the sale of as many iOS devices as possible. From every angle that i can currently see, this would be a bad move.
BTW, Apple's own DAC is already at the top of the industry; there were people discussing that on MacRumors, anything else will be inaudible to golden ears even in the best of the best system/headsets being used in the quietest environment possible, which is the use case of nearly 0% of Samsung users (and Apple users).
No ports means fewer damaged iPhones and a sleeker, thinner design.
All of which 1) should make people question this rumor and 2) IF it is true assume a lot of research was done before the decision was made. Something like this could absolutely impact iPhone sales in a negative way. LOTS more people use the headphone jack than used 30-pin accessories. And people that have expensive headphones aren't going to toss those for new lightening or BT ones, they'll either not upgrade their phone or get a different phone.
On the flip side though, if most iPhone owners use the included EarPods then they'll just use whatever replacement Apple puts in the box so I don't see how this is a big money maker for Apple.
Just what makes you think there won't be a DAC in the phone? It is still a phone and there is a speaker in it so that one can use it without headphones or earbuds. As far as I know none of us living in the digital age has evolve to the point of hearing digitally. So of curse there wil still be a DAC in the iPhone.
And I'm sure the lighting connector will output both analog and digital signal. Plus if anyone invested hundreds of dollars in headphones would welcome a digital out so they can use their iPod and iPhone as a digital source on their external headphone amps with built in USB DAC. I don't know too many people that invested hundreds of dollars in a headphone to exclusively listen to them on an iPod or iPhone or think that the analog signal they get from the 3.5mm jack is good enough for their expensive headphones.
And not taking into account that the iPhone still needs a DAC to use the speaker