Belkin rolls out 3.5mm Audio + Charge RockStar Lightning adapter for iPhones without a hea...

AppleInsider · September 19, 2017 8:09PM

The new 3.5mm Audio + Charge RockStar allows Lightning-only devices to plug in headphone jack audio devices and a source of power or data and use both at the same time.

The MFi-certified device is compatible with any 3.5mm audio source, and supports pass-through charging for the iPhone. Also supported is remote and mic control through the headphones.

The Lightning port allows for not just power, but data synchronization as well.

The new 3.5 mm Audio + Charge RockStar is available for a retail price of $34.99 through Belkin or at the Apple Store. The Belkin Lightning Audio + Charge RockStar from 2016 with a pair of Lightning ports remains available for $39.99.

StrangeDays · September 19, 2017 8:22PM

Remember when people thought this was a big deal? Now they're worried about notches

curtis hannah · September 19, 2017 9:13PM

Theres the adapter everyone wanted(who complained), a decent price(though prefer it to be a $5-10 less).
What surprises me is that Apple didn't include a similar adapter with the iPhones. Lots of people want to charge and listen to music(and likely cost Apple less then $10 extra).

macgui · September 19, 2017 10:02PM

curtis hannah said:

What surprises me is that Apple didn't include a similar adapter with the iPhones.

This doesn't surprise me at all.

What surprised me is that Apple included the Lighting/3.5mm adapter. Everybody who bought a 7 knew or should have known that it had no traditional headphone jack. If they didn't, shame on them.

Apple is clearly sending a message— this is the way of our future. I figure it was nice of them to include the adapter but I never felt they were obligated. A lot of people took that as an admission of failure in removing the jack, rather than getting a perk.

Apple included a pair of EarPods that were compatible with the phone. Done. You want to use your own 'buds or headset, there are adapters.

Expecting Apple to include some a power/earphone splitter just does not compute.

StrangeDays · September 19, 2017 10:08PM

curtis hannah said:

Theres the adapter everyone wanted(who complained), a decent price(though prefer it to be a $5-10 less).
What surprises me is that Apple didn't include a similar adapter with the iPhones. Lots of people want to charge and listen to music(and likely cost Apple less then $10 extra).

And lots of people don't. Why should Apple, and customers, pay for all that energy and waste to produce something only some people need? No, ordering it ala cart is the better solution.

AI_lias · September 19, 2017 10:15PM

macgui said:

curtis hannah said:

What surprises me is that Apple didn't include a similar adapter with the iPhones.

This doesn't surprise me at all.

What surprised me is that Apple included the Lighting/3.5mm adapter. Everybody who bought a 7 knew or should have known that it had no traditional headphone jack. If they didn't, shame on them.

Apple is clearly sending a message— this is the way of our future. I figure it was nice of them to include the adapter but I never felt they were obligated. A lot of people took that as an admission of failure in removing the jack, rather than getting a perk.

Apple included a pair of EarPods that were compatible with the phone. Done. You want to use your own 'buds or headset, there are adapters.

Expecting Apple to include some a power/earphone splitter just does not compute.

They should have only included the iPhone itself. With clearly marked boxes so people know what's all they get, and if they don't like it, so be it. The future is wireless, and you need to buy your own damn AirPods, you freebie expecting freeloader, who probably live off of welfare. That's what a true Apple fan is. Even better, paying more than they ask at the store, just for good measure.

uktechie · September 19, 2017 10:16PM

Last year, I too was disappointed by the lack of a headphone jack and outraged that I wouldn't be able to charge my iPhone while listening to headphones. Since then I've thought about what I do and I have to admit I have not once used headphones while charging my iPhone 6s. I sometimes use my Bose QC 35 noise cancelling headphones but often use the standard Ear Pods. I also picked up a cheap 2nd-hand Apple charging dock which has a headphone jack built in - although again I confess I've never actually used the headphone jack on it. The truth is I rarely charge my iPhone except overnight.

I have to admit the lack of a headphone socket on my iPhone really wouldn't be a problem and I suspect that's true for the vast majority of people, especially as Lightning Ear Pods are included in the box with every new iPhone 7/8/10.

retrogusto · September 19, 2017 11:08PM

StrangeDays said:

curtis hannah said:

Theres the adapter everyone wanted(who complained), a decent price(though prefer it to be a $5-10 less).
What surprises me is that Apple didn't include a similar adapter with the iPhones. Lots of people want to charge and listen to music(and likely cost Apple less then $10 extra).

And lots of people don't. Why should Apple, and customers, pay for all that energy and waste to produce something only some people need? No, ordering it ala cart is the better solution.

Yeah, good point. The best solution (apart from using their brilliant designers to figure out a way to keep the jack that takes up the space of a few grains of rice and probably costs them about as much) would be for them to include a coupon in the box that's good for your choice of adapters, either with or without the ability to simultaneously charge. A lot of people would probably not bother to redeem them if they didn't need them. They could use the money they save to incorporate a better D/A converter into the adapters--as good as the one built into the iPhone 6.

macgui · September 19, 2017 11:12PM

AI_lias said:
you freebie expecting freeloader, who probably live off of welfare. That's what a true Apple fan is. Even better, paying more than they ask at the store, just for good measure.

Ah, Apple-Hater speak. Well, fortunately for you there's the Android platform where no manufacturer will ever remove the 3.5mm headphone jack. Enjoy.

omar morales · September 19, 2017 11:46PM

Are people still obsessing over the headphone jack? There so many good Bluetooth headphones that I don't know why people want the hassle of dealing with cables and adapters. Between my Airpods, QC35 and Beats X not once had I wish the headphone jack was still there.

MplsP · September 20, 2017 12:36AM

Still got my 6s. I can charge and listen at the same time. Our minivan doesn't have Bluetooth so we can plug in the phone without an adapter. When I flew this summer, the airline gave everyone headphones that had that 'obsolete' 3.5 mm plug on them which I could plug into my phone. (Nope - they didn't have any lightning headphones to use)

What at this product shows is that it costs an extra $35 to make an iPhone 7 or 8 have the same functionality as my iPhone 6. Of course you can use inductive charging on the 8, so that helps, as long as you don't want to hold your phone at the same time.

shapetables · September 20, 2017 12:54AM

A spankin' new 6s/6s+ is not a bad deal. The extra features of the 7 and 8 series don't do anything for huge percentages of users (yet).

zoetmb · September 20, 2017 1:35AM

AI_lias said:

macgui said:

curtis hannah said:

What surprises me is that Apple didn't include a similar adapter with the iPhones.

This doesn't surprise me at all.

What surprised me is that Apple included the Lighting/3.5mm adapter. Everybody who bought a 7 knew or should have known that it had no traditional headphone jack. If they didn't, shame on them.

Apple is clearly sending a message— this is the way of our future. I figure it was nice of them to include the adapter but I never felt they were obligated. A lot of people took that as an admission of failure in removing the jack, rather than getting a perk.

Apple included a pair of EarPods that were compatible with the phone. Done. You want to use your own 'buds or headset, there are adapters.

Expecting Apple to include some a power/earphone splitter just does not compute.

They should have only included the iPhone itself. With clearly marked boxes so people know what's all they get, and if they don't like it, so be it. The future is wireless, and you need to buy your own damn AirPods, you freebie expecting freeloader, who probably live off of welfare. That's what a true Apple fan is. Even better, paying more than they ask at the store, just for good measure.

Apple's earbuds and the similarly shaped AirPods do not fit my ears properly and I've always had a problem with their earbuds in that some of the transducers stop working if they're firmly in my ear. They also tend to get clogged with earwax. And I'm no fan of Bluetooth. The best audio is still going to come from a wired connection and I have wired ear buds that I really like (Grado) and want to continue to use. So IMO, Apple was proper to include the Lightning to mini-phone adapter in the 7, but I assume they're not including it with the 8 or the X. Considering the high prices of these phones and the very low manufacturing cost of the adapters, they should have IMO. But if they don't, as long as there's a reasonably priced adapter, I'm fine. The one in the OP isn't for me - it's too large to carry while bike riding, I'd be a little worried about the weight pulling on the Lightning jack and I'm not charging while I'm listening, although I also assume that wireless charging would make this particular adapter moot.

If Apple's strategy going forward is that Apple products should only be used with other Apple products, I'll say goodbye to Apple. I'm already still pissed that the MBP doesn't enable user replacement of memory, storage and battery just because Ive thinks computers need to be anorexic.

Rayz2016 · September 20, 2017 6:53AM

zoetmb said:

If Apple's strategy going forward is that Apple products should only be used with other Apple products, I'll say goodbye to Apple. I'm already still pissed that the MBP doesn't enable user replacement of memory, storage and battery just because Ive thinks computers need to be anorexic.

Well, since you can use the new iPhones with other makes of Bluetooth headphones, I'm not sure where you get that idea from.

And since you've known how Apple builds laptops for the past five years then what are you waiting for? Go somewhere else and be eternally happy..

shapetables · September 20, 2017 7:32AM

@Rayz2016 said:
So IMO, Apple was proper to include the Lightning to mini-phone adapter in the 7, but I assume they're not including it with the 8 or the X. Considering the high prices of these phones and the very low manufacturing cost of the adapters, they should have

I think they do include such adapters with 8 and X. They probably got rid of the 3.5mm jacks for dust/water resistance not because of the depth of the device.

The new phones also come with BT5 which may allow for better audio (not sure if they updated A2DP quality since BT2 tho), but regardless of quality, I would only use BT to connect to cars, speakers, IoT, etc. --not to transceivers mounted millimeters from my brain tissue, including high-bandwidth AR/VR eyeware).

dantheman827 · September 20, 2017 1:38PM

macgui said:

AI_lias said:
you freebie expecting freeloader, who probably live off of welfare. That's what a true Apple fan is. Even better, paying more than they ask at the store, just for good measure.

Ah, Apple-Hater speak. Well, fortunately for you there's the Android platform where no manufacturer will ever remove the 3.5mm headphone jack. Enjoy.

Sure...

If that's the case, why won't the Pixel 2 have one?

Dongles are the future... unfortunately...

nht · September 20, 2017 3:15PM

shapetables said:

A spankin' new 6s/6s+ is not a bad deal. The extra features of the 7 and 8 series don't do anything for huge percentages of users (yet).

Waterproofing saved my 7. My wife has fried a 6 and a 5s. I think I read that the 6s is more water resistant than the 6.

nht · September 20, 2017 3:16PM

Rayz2016 said:

zoetmb said:

If Apple's strategy going forward is that Apple products should only be used with other Apple products, I'll say goodbye to Apple. I'm already still pissed that the MBP doesn't enable user replacement of memory, storage and battery just because Ive thinks computers need to be anorexic.

Well, since you can use the new iPhones with other makes of Bluetooth headphones, I'm not sure where you get that idea from.

And since you've known how Apple builds laptops for the past five years then what are you waiting for? Go somewhere else and be eternally happy..

He or she would rather stay and bitch that it's wet when raining.

hmlongco · September 20, 2017 4:01PM

Nice of Belkin to introduce a new adaptor when Apple's new iPhones pretty much eliminates the need for it.

Wireless charging frees the Lightning port for music, assuming, of course, that you're not already using Bluetooth AirPods or headsets.

StrangeDays · September 20, 2017 4:42PM

retrogusto said:

StrangeDays said:

curtis hannah said:

Theres the adapter everyone wanted(who complained), a decent price(though prefer it to be a $5-10 less).
What surprises me is that Apple didn't include a similar adapter with the iPhones. Lots of people want to charge and listen to music(and likely cost Apple less then $10 extra).

And lots of people don't. Why should Apple, and customers, pay for all that energy and waste to produce something only some people need? No, ordering it ala cart is the better solution.

Yeah, good point. The best solution (apart from using their brilliant designers to figure out a way to keep the jack that takes up the space of a few grains of rice and probably costs them about as much) would be for them to include a coupon in the box that's good for your choice of adapters, either with or without the ability to simultaneously charge. A lot of people would probably not bother to redeem them if they didn't need them. They could use the money they save to incorporate a better D/A converter into the adapters--as good as the one built into the iPhone 6.

If you’d seen the component on ifixit then you’d know it’s not the size of rice. It was one of the largest stand alone parts. I’m way more into the larger batter, water seals, and better optics hardware the VP of engineering said they used the space for.

StrangeDays · September 20, 2017 4:45PM

zoetmb said:

AI_lias said:

macgui said:

curtis hannah said:

What surprises me is that Apple didn't include a similar adapter with the iPhones.

This doesn't surprise me at all.

What surprised me is that Apple included the Lighting/3.5mm adapter. Everybody who bought a 7 knew or should have known that it had no traditional headphone jack. If they didn't, shame on them.

Apple is clearly sending a message— this is the way of our future. I figure it was nice of them to include the adapter but I never felt they were obligated. A lot of people took that as an admission of failure in removing the jack, rather than getting a perk.

Apple included a pair of EarPods that were compatible with the phone. Done. You want to use your own 'buds or headset, there are adapters.

Expecting Apple to include some a power/earphone splitter just does not compute.

They should have only included the iPhone itself. With clearly marked boxes so people know what's all they get, and if they don't like it, so be it. The future is wireless, and you need to buy your own damn AirPods, you freebie expecting freeloader, who probably live off of welfare. That's what a true Apple fan is. Even better, paying more than they ask at the store, just for good measure.

If Apple's strategy going forward is that Apple products should only be used with other Apple products, I'll say goodbye to Apple. I'm already still pissed that the MBP doesn't enable user replacement of memory, storage and battery just because Ive thinks computers need to be anorexic.

This is nonsense. You can use any brand of wired or wireless headphones.

And I welcome thinner and lighter notebooks, as this is my portable system. DIY upgrades is a thing for hobbyists, and I don’t want to pay the price in thicker, heavier, less efficient notebooks for you to tinker.

Belkin rolls out 3.5mm Audio + Charge RockStar Lightning adapter for iPhones without a hea...

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