Disappointing if true, The headphone jack is one of the most important features to me.... Way more important than the camera... I use it hours every day in multiple locations, connected to different devices (car stereo, large quality headphones I keep at work, small ear buds I use for working out, and multiple home stereos depending on what room I am in).
No other audio interface will suffice, I am not willing to sacrifice the quality & convenience of a traditional headphone jack, I am not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to buy several dongles or spend hundreds of dollars to change my audio equipment, And I am not willing to carry a dongle with me at all times.
Its a simple, ubiquitous, quality, standard, with no peer. Its not like the floppy disk, its not like fire wire.
So if these rumors are, true my next phone will be an android.
If you switch to Android I hope you find better audio (I pleased with iPhone but it probably could be a little better). Some Android phones have good reviews for their audio. But Lenovo Moto X has already dropped the 3.5 mm audio jack already, so it may not hurt to look at your options now. I had a Moto X 4 years ago and like it and Google Now but hated lots of how Android worked. Good Luck.
I have some LG Bluetooth headphones that are really nice. But the sound from my wired headphones is so much better. That's the real bummer about going BT only. I'll bet any money though that the new iPhone won't ship with BT earbuds. That will be something Schiller tries to upsell people on.
Is there any effort being made with 802.11ad (that’s the next one, right) to drop the power draw? Wi-Fi speakers are the way to go if you need the bandwidth for lossless audio (or so I’ve heard), and so Wi-Fi headphones would be great if they had any meaningful battery life.
I know some feel that bluetooth is the future for sound on the iPhone, but I found the sound degradation unacceptable. I've tried dozens of bluetooth headphones and speakers and all are really pretty bad. I use a high end paid of Shure earbuds for high noise settings and a set of B&W P7s for other settings, and both blow bluetooth away. So I'm hoping Apple doesn't write off those of us who want high quality audio as an option.
I know some feel that bluetooth is the future for sound on the iPhone, but I found the sound degradation unacceptable. I've tried dozens of bluetooth headphones and speakers and all are really pretty bad. I use a high end paid of Shure earbuds for high noise settings and a set of B&W P7s for other settings, and both blow bluetooth away. So I'm hoping Apple doesn't write off those of us who want high quality audio as an option.
Why does everyone insist on judging the future of BT by 'that pair of BT headphones they tried a couple of years ago'?
BT 5 has been announced, and Apple sits on the BT SIG, so I'm expecting they will bring it to the next iPhone. And it likely corrects a lot of BT problems since that's what Apple brings to existing tchnologies. And they sort of have to if they're going to remove the headphone jack.
I'm also betting Apple will introduce some new kind of low power AirPlay. But BT isn't going anywhere, because that's the new standard that all newer electronic devices have in common. So whatever Apple does, it will be backward compatible with BT 4, so even if older devices can't have the same audio quality as BT 5 or AirPlay, their equipment will still work.
I have three options in my BMW to play music from my iPhone: headphone jack, lightening (USB), and bluetooth. The headphone jack beats both bluetooth and lightening by far in audio quality. I know this could be due to BMW's implementation of USB to analog conversion. Still, if Apple abandon's that jack, I'll be keeping my current iPhone.
Unless someone invents a digital speaker (based on my modest knowledge about physics not possible), the signal has to be converted somewhere. Deferring that to the speaker or amp manufacturers means loosing (even more) control over the sound quality - as likely demonstrated by BMW.
Disappointing if true, The headphone jack is one of the most important features to me.... Way more important than the camera... I use it hours every day in multiple locations, connected to different devices (car stereo, large quality headphones I keep at work, small ear buds I use for working out, and multiple home stereos depending on what room I am in).
No other audio interface will suffice, I am not willing to sacrifice the quality & convenience of a traditional headphone jack, I am not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to buy several dongles or spend hundreds of dollars to change my audio equipment, And I am not willing to carry a dongle with me at all times.
Its a simple, ubiquitous, quality, standard, with no peer. Its not like the floppy disk, its not like fire wire.
So if these rumors are, true my next phone will be an android.
I have no idea what android device you would buy, but you can be sure that Samsung (and probably most other manufacturers) will announce they are dropping the headphone jack about 5 minutes after the iPhone is announced and is shown without one.
Like they dropped the SD card in the S6 an put it back in the S7.
Disappointing if true, The headphone jack is one of the most important features to me.... Way more important than the camera... I use it hours every day in multiple locations, connected to different devices (car stereo, large quality headphones I keep at work, small ear buds I use for working out, and multiple home stereos depending on what room I am in).
No other audio interface will suffice, I am not willing to sacrifice the quality & convenience of a traditional headphone jack, I am not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to buy several dongles or spend hundreds of dollars to change my audio equipment, And I am not willing to carry a dongle with me at all times.
Its a simple, ubiquitous, quality, standard, with no peer. Its not like the floppy disk, its not like fire wire.
So if these rumors are, true my next phone will be an android.
I have no idea what android device you would buy, but you can be sure that Samsung (and probably most other manufacturers) will announce they are dropping the headphone jack about 5 minutes after the iPhone is announced and is shown without one.
With Samsung's constant need to upstage and do more, they'll probably remove the microphone too!
I definitely don't want a headphone port, I'm looking forward to lightning headphones with noise cancellation, like the JBL ReflectAware , but hopefully from Bose instead. Bluetooth does not work for me, I hate charging another device.
The lightning socket is just so crap, How often do i need to buy new headphones when the lighning connector isn't working correctly?!? All my apple cables have stopped working. I buy some 4 pieces a year for my family members. And it isn't about proper usage. The old 30-pin connector i had absolutely zero issues or failed cables...
Well people do not share my views about the lightning connector? I have had cables that work only one way etc, before stopping fully in some months. Some that connect/disconnect all the time. Some that just stop working straight without any notice.
Ive even tried some 3rd party cables that work better than apples cables but some that work great for about 1-2 year before starting to whine about something 50% of the time its connected.
I have three options in my BMW to play music from my iPhone: headphone jack, lightening (USB), and bluetooth. The headphone jack beats both bluetooth and lightening by far in audio quality. I know this could be due to BMW's implementation of USB to analog conversion. Still, if Apple abandon's that jack, I'll be keeping my current iPhone.
Unless someone invents a digital speaker (based on my modest knowledge about physics not possible), the signal has to be converted somewhere. Deferring that to the speaker or amp manufacturers means loosing (even more) control over the sound quality - as likely demonstrated by BMW.
You will actually gain more control over your audio because you will be able to chose the best sounding audio products for you, which will be consistent regardless of which devices you plug them into into.
Im a bit perplexed by your BMW story. How old is your car? It's very hard for me to believe that BMW would use a sound system with a worse DAC & DSP than Apple's own. Most head units that offer multiple inputs also have adjustments for each setting. Perhaps your USB and BT settings need to be adjusted. BT is one thing, but I have yet to plug my iPhone into a USB socket and get worse audio than my headphone jack output, and I've used it in dozens of rental cars with much lower pedigree than BMW. In fact that's such a surprising comment that I would take my BMW to the shop and demand they replace the head unit if I found this to be the case.
That said, if what you're saying is typically the case, then yes -- a car is one audio product you buy that isn't usually specifically for the sound quality for which customers would lose control. However, as long as it has a 3.5mm input, you'll always be able to add your own external adapter with whatever quality you demand, and since you're already plugging it into your car with a wire, not much of an inconvenience, as well as offering even higher quality than the iPhone, eleminating any amp distortions and giving you even more control than you now have. So for you, it's definitely a good thing.
Just wondering: has anyone seen a photo of the top of the alleged iPhone 7? My iPad Mini looks just like this at the bottom because the headphone jack is at the top.
Disappointing if true, The headphone jack is one of the most important features to me.... Way more important than the camera... I use it hours every day in multiple locations, connected to different devices (car stereo, large quality headphones I keep at work, small ear buds I use for working out, and multiple home stereos depending on what room I am in).
No other audio interface will suffice, I am not willing to sacrifice the quality & convenience of a traditional headphone jack, I am not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to buy several dongles or spend hundreds of dollars to change my audio equipment, And I am not willing to carry a dongle with me at all times.
Its a simple, ubiquitous, quality, standard, with no peer. Its not like the floppy disk, its not like fire wire.
So if these rumors are, true my next phone will be an android.
For how long? Once Apple drop the headphone jack it'll become more and more prevalent amongst other device manufacturers and within 5 years no one will use or miss the headphone jack. Move with the times.
So if Apple moves to lightning connected headphones everyone else will too? No - my hifi, my computer, and other devices are going to use a 3.5mm connection or worse some of the likes of Samsung are going to come up with their own 'standard'. This is a horrible move especially if its the only change to the design. I won't be buying.
For how long? Once Apple drop the headphone jack it'll become more and more prevalent amongst other device manufacturers and within 5 years no one will use or miss the headphone jack. Move with the times.
So if Apple moves to lightning connected headphones everyone else will too? No - my hifi, my computer, and other devices are going to use a 3.5mm connection or worse some of the likes of Samsung are going to come up with their own 'standard'. This is a horrible move especially if its the only change to the design. I won't be buying.
And you know this how?
The last commercial amp I bought has wifi, BT and USB. I suspect the next one will have USBc. Some might even come with Lightning. Computers will all have USBc in a few short years, and Macs will most likely add a Lightning port as soon as the iPhone drops the 3.5mm jack. Android phones will all likely move to USBc over micro USB, and drop the headphone jack for the same reasons as Apple, and Intel's marketing push for USBc audio is a good indicator of that. So not really seeing your support for saying that this is not going to happen.
So if Apple moves to lightning connected headphones everyone else will too? No - my hifi, my computer, and other devices are going to use a 3.5mm connection or worse some of the likes of Samsung are going to come up with their own 'standard'. This is a horrible move especially if its the only change to the design. I won't be buying.
And you know this how?
The last commercial amp I bought has wifi, BT and USB. I suspect the next one will have USBc. Some might even come with Lightning. Computers will all have USBc in a few short years, and Macs will most likely add a Lightning port as soon as the iPhone drops the 3.5mm jack. Android phones will all likely move to USBc over micro USB, and drop the headphone jack for the same reasons as Apple, and Intel's marketing push for USBc audio is a good indicator of that. So not really seeing your support for saying that this is not going to happen.
You're might be right that Windows laptops & android might go the USB route and macs gain a lightning port, and higher end amps etc try to accommodate everything...
But it will take time and lots of products will have one or neither (including everything that already exists now of course). Ultimately at best we'll have two or more competing standards, lightning just won't become universal.
This is a horrible move especially if its the only change to the design. I won't be buying.
If you only care about the design of the thing and not what it can do, I doubt they wanted you, anyway.
I care much more about the functionality than the look of my iphone. Despite this I could just about understand if apple were doing this as part of making a thinner phone (even though like many I'd prefer thicker with more battery) or if they were ditching lightning for usb and kickstarting something with a chance of being a new universal standard for audio and more.
However, if the leaks are true apple will instead largely be taking the 6s design and removing functionality (the headphone socket) which seems a backwards step. Of course when I upgrade later this year I could choose the 6s or 5se instead but I'll be frustrated I'm not getting the best internals from a future proofing perspective.
However, if the leaks are true apple will instead largely be taking the 6s design and removing functionality (the headphone socket) which seems a backwards step.
In the same way that removing ADB and SCSI was not removing functionality, removing the 3.5mm is not removing functionality.
I definitely don't want a headphone port, I'm looking forward to lightning headphones with noise cancellation, like the JBL ReflectAware , but hopefully from Bose instead. Bluetooth does not work for me, I hate charging another device.
The lightning socket is just so crap, How often do i need to buy new headphones when the lighning connector isn't working correctly?!? All my apple cables have stopped working. I buy some 4 pieces a year for my family members. And it isn't about proper usage. The old 30-pin connector i had absolutely zero issues or failed cables...
Lightning cables are really poorly made and connector is very weak. Looks like you'll have headphones or power but not both at the same time. Or use Bluetooth and wait for that power to run out. And tralky stereo speakers two inches apart is a good idea? What a waste of space.
Comments
BT 5 has been announced, and Apple sits on the BT SIG, so I'm expecting they will bring it to the next iPhone. And it likely corrects a lot of BT problems since that's what Apple brings to existing tchnologies. And they sort of have to if they're going to remove the headphone jack.
I'm also betting Apple will introduce some new kind of low power AirPlay. But BT isn't going anywhere, because that's the new standard that all newer electronic devices have in common. So whatever Apple does, it will be backward compatible with BT 4, so even if older devices can't have the same audio quality as BT 5 or AirPlay, their equipment will still work.
Unless someone invents a digital speaker (based on my modest knowledge about physics not possible), the signal has to be converted somewhere. Deferring that to the speaker or amp manufacturers means loosing (even more) control over the sound quality - as likely demonstrated by BMW.
With Samsung's constant need to upstage and do more, they'll probably remove the microphone too!
Dammit! I'm a 1%er again??
Ive even tried some 3rd party cables that work better than apples cables but some that work great for about 1-2 year before starting to whine about something 50% of the time its connected.
Im a bit perplexed by your BMW story. How old is your car? It's very hard for me to believe that BMW would use a sound system with a worse DAC & DSP than Apple's own. Most head units that offer multiple inputs also have adjustments for each setting. Perhaps your USB and BT settings need to be adjusted. BT is one thing, but I have yet to plug my iPhone into a USB socket and get worse audio than my headphone jack output, and I've used it in dozens of rental cars with much lower pedigree than BMW. In fact that's such a surprising comment that I would take my BMW to the shop and demand they replace the head unit if I found this to be the case.
That said, if what you're saying is typically the case, then yes -- a car is one audio product you buy that isn't usually specifically for the sound quality for which customers would lose control. However, as long as it has a 3.5mm input, you'll always be able to add your own external adapter with whatever quality you demand, and since you're already plugging it into your car with a wire, not much of an inconvenience, as well as offering even higher quality than the iPhone, eleminating any amp distortions and giving you even more control than you now have. So for you, it's definitely a good thing.
The last commercial amp I bought has wifi, BT and USB. I suspect the next one will have USBc. Some might even come with Lightning. Computers will all have USBc in a few short years, and Macs will most likely add a Lightning port as soon as the iPhone drops the 3.5mm jack. Android phones will all likely move to USBc over micro USB, and drop the headphone jack for the same reasons as Apple, and Intel's marketing push for USBc audio is a good indicator of that. So not really seeing your support for saying that this is not going to happen.
But it will take time and lots of products will have one or neither (including everything that already exists now of course). Ultimately at best we'll have two or more competing standards, lightning just won't become universal.
I care much more about the functionality than the look of my iphone. Despite this I could just about understand if apple were doing this as part of making a thinner phone (even though like many I'd prefer thicker with more battery) or if they were ditching lightning for usb and kickstarting something with a chance of being a new universal standard for audio and more.
However, if the leaks are true apple will instead largely be taking the 6s design and removing functionality (the headphone socket) which seems a backwards step. Of course when I upgrade later this year I could choose the 6s or 5se instead but I'll be frustrated I'm not getting the best internals from a future proofing perspective.
And tralky stereo speakers two inches apart is a good idea? What a waste of space.