Apple drops the Lightning adapter that still let iPhones use wired headphones
Users who haven't got around to buying Apple's short Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter after eight years are now out of luck, as the iPhone 7 accessory appears to be discontinued.
Apple's Lightning EarPods and (top) the adapter for users of older EarPods.
Apple's Phil Schiller may have described the iPhone 7's dropping of the headphone jack as being "courageous," but the company wasn't brave enough to completely kill off wired headphones. Instead, it simultaneously launched a short, stubby Lightning to 3.5mm adaptor, and included it in the box for the iPhone 7, iPhone 8, and iPhone X and XS models.
Launched in September 2016, this adapter has now been available to buy for $9 until now, eight years later. Now it's showing as sold out in the US and most other online Apple Stores.
It can still be ordered from the online Apple Store in a handful of countries, including France and Sweden, as first spotted by MacRumors.
While Apple has not announced its discontinuation, it's likely that even overseas stores will cease selling the adapter once current stocks have run out.
After eight years, it's possible that the ubiquity of AirPods is such that sales are too low to warrant continuing. It is also the case that the adapter was one of the last Apple products to use Lightning.
Most recently, Apple's Magic accessories became the latest to be updated to using USB-C. It means that the iPhone 14 and iPhone SE are now the only devices still using the older connector.
If the adapter has been quietly discontinued, however, it does not mean that Apple has entirely stopped selling a way for iPhone users to use any wired headphones. The company is still selling its own wired EarPods in either USB-C, Lightning, or 3.5mm varieties.
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Comments
I use Grado 'on-the-ear' cans. The buds don't fit my ears...
I use mine with HiFiMan Edition XS open-backs and a separate DAC. The combo sounds so much better than any of my wireless headphones. Bonus: I don't ever have to worry about the batteries giving up the ghost as they all eventually do, forcing me to toss out expensive bluetooth headphones. I also have a great pair of closed-back B&O's more than a decade old I sometimes use. There's no wireless ones that will last that long.
That little discontinued dongle saves me a lot of money, and allows notably better sound too.
DAC = Digital to Analog Converter. The signal coming out of the now discontinued adapter is already analog. How are you using a DAC with it?
Same thing with other small accessories. You can buy a third party 5W USB charger that looks identical to the one that Apple discontinued a couple of years ago. It might even be rolling off the same manufacturing line that Apple used.
Not a big deal.
As others mention, there are other sellers of lightning to audio adapters.
No they have USB-C versions that they will gladly sell for 19.00.
If your Lightning adapter dies, you'll be able to bide over with a $3 adapter from Amazon (which may or may not even use the same chip) until you finally replace your phone with one that has a USB-C port.