New photos of alleged Lightning EarPods for Apple's 'iPhone 7' match recent leak
New images posted on Wednesday are said to depict Lightning-equipped EarPods intended for Apple's "iPhone 7," which is commonly expected to ditch a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack when it ships this fall.
Several photos posted to China's Weibo show the gear as resembling current EarPods for the iPhone 6s, but with the addition of a large endpiece housing a Lightning connector. It's not clear why the endpiece would have to be so big, though one possibility is the presence of an authenticator chip.
Notably the photos match another recent EarPod leak, although it's still impossible to confirm the authenticity of the suggested headphone design.
For Apple, removing a 3.5-millimeter jack should free up internal design space, while reducing component costs and encouraging more development of Lightning audio accessories. At the same time, public reaction to the idea of losing the jack has often been negative, particularly since many people may be forced to rely on EarPods or buy new adapters and accessories that will only work with Apple products.
Bluetooth audio is an alternative, but its quality is generally weaker and wireless headphones are often more expensive than wired options.
Several photos posted to China's Weibo show the gear as resembling current EarPods for the iPhone 6s, but with the addition of a large endpiece housing a Lightning connector. It's not clear why the endpiece would have to be so big, though one possibility is the presence of an authenticator chip.
Notably the photos match another recent EarPod leak, although it's still impossible to confirm the authenticity of the suggested headphone design.
For Apple, removing a 3.5-millimeter jack should free up internal design space, while reducing component costs and encouraging more development of Lightning audio accessories. At the same time, public reaction to the idea of losing the jack has often been negative, particularly since many people may be forced to rely on EarPods or buy new adapters and accessories that will only work with Apple products.
Bluetooth audio is an alternative, but its quality is generally weaker and wireless headphones are often more expensive than wired options.
Comments
Me, I must be old-school as I still choose wired headphones (earbuds) over Bluetooth due to high cost, bulk, charging requirements and battery life limitations. Wired means immediate, no pairing, no dead battery ever and no need to think about charging—plug and play. Both have pluses and minuses. Wired are my preference.
Probably less stress on the connector cables with constant use.
My guess is that the iPhone Plus/Pro gets these standard.
I'm not sure why an adapter wouldn't be possible though since I'm able to charge my phone and listen to music in my car now.
/sarcasm
This is where I insert the Henry Ford "a faster horse" quote.
I love how the people who will have no problem dropping $700 on a brand-new iPhone are already groaning about not being able to use the headphones that shipped with their 1983 Walkman. Cry me a river.
This is where I insert the quote "if it isn't broke, don't fix it".
One rumor I heard is that the Lightning EarPods could even have noise canceling due to the Lightning jack. Our iPhones already have noise cancelling technology, but due to the dated headphone jack, the EarPods aren't able use the microphone in a way that would be able to do the same thing. So yeah, the headphone jack actually is broke. I'd love to have noise cancelling with any headphones I use.
Having said that, every pair of third party "modern" earphones I've ever owned have had the cable or mini-phone plug fail. So there might some advantages to the Lightning port.
Apple's ear buds are not the worst-sounding earphones out there, but they don't fit my ears and even when I've used them anyway, they eventually fail as one side loses signal when it's placed firmly in the ear. IMO, they're designed poorly and they don't deal with ear wax well. Earbuds with removable tips are a far superior design, IMO.
In addition, it means using the phone in many older cars will require new adapters which adds cost and can place further strain on that jack. Or are we supposed to buy a new car to support a new iPhone? And what's the point of designing a Zen phone that then has dongles and adapters sticking out of it? It's as pointless as Apple's obsession with thinness to make a phone that most people keep in a case to protect it that hides that very thinness and the overall industrial design of the phone. And because of that obsession with thinness, we get crappy battery life.
And why do I think that once Apple makes this change, the earbuds aren't going to come with the phones anymore, but be an extra-cost accessory? I'm sure they'll be plenty of Beats headphones with the new plug and Apple will be slow to license everyone else.
But if the new phone also includes high-speed wireless charging (which I doubt), then I might be able to live with the Lightning port for earphones.
because the only thing i see on the MR story update is a link to an editor's tweet: "FYI, these are not official EarPods..." -- which doesn't confirm a damn thing, really. no more than the pics confirmed that they were even real.
how people can treat rumors as gospel (going to far as to throw "will not buy!!" fits or blame Phil Schiller for everything) is something ill never know. this stuff is fun to talk about, but you can't really treat any of it as fact until it's out.