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Pursuit of Slenderness May Mean No More Headphone Jack In iPhone 7 (pcmag.com)

An intriguing rumor reported by PC Mag (and initially reported in this Japanese blog) holds that Apple may drop the standard headphone jack from the next revision of the iPhone, in favor of Bluetooth and Lightning connectors. From PC Mag's article: The big question is just how such a move might affect all the other headphones one can buy, as well as the other devices Apple makes. While we can envision some manufacturers making iPhone-exclusive variants of their headphones, we doubt that Apple's potential decision to chop out the headphone jack is going to suddenly make for a market full of Lightning-only headphones and earbuds. There are, after all, plenty of non-iPhone devices that still use the 3.5mm connection. And, of course, you could just pair any ol' pair of Bluetooth headphones or earbuds with the iPhone 7.

23 of 412 comments (clear)

  1. Re:3.5mm? by kupekhaize · · Score: 1, Insightful

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    3.5 mm refers to the size of the metal connector going into the socket, not the diameter of the connector. You're likely thinking of the diameter and not the length.

    That said, both are likely a concern for Apple who like to squeeze things down to the smallest micron possible then brag about it. The whole reason they are trying to get rid of SIM cards is they don't like the amount of space it takes up. Reduced functionality, be damned... It looks prettier this way....

    --
    One of these days i'm going to find this 'peer' guy and reset HIS connection!
  2. funny and sad by matushorvath · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Apple is slowly but surely becoming a parody of itself.

  3. Re:3.5mm? by zAPPzAPP · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Did you even read the link you posted there?
    It says right at the top: 'The "mini" connector has a diameter of 3.5 mm [...]'

    Looking at my headphone's plug right now, this seems to be correct. The upper part of it (the part without the pinch) is exactly 3.5mm in width.

  4. Real bad news by cfalcon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really excellent headphones use the standard jacks, and will not be converting over. Grado, Audiotechnica, and many others simply do not have a funny little iphone connector, and likely never will. While I'm sure there will be some dumb converter you can buy, who wants to keep that crap in their pocket, or attached to their headphones (which you will have to track carefully when plugged into a normal outlet).

    It's true that mostly I listen on little crappy remote earbuds, but that's absolutely not the case that this is ALL I want to listen to.

    Moving to this will remove my ability to use real headphones on Apple phones. That's totally shit.

    1. Re:Real bad news by sd4f · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think this is the main thing, the inertia on quality headphones using 3.5mm plugs just makes this a silly decision. Additionally, there's just a point where getting a phone thinner is just being silly. Give me better battery life over a thinner device. Problem is the industry appears to be dead set against progressing beyond a 1 day battery.

    2. Re:Real bad news by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Plenty of Android phones have multiple days of battery life. My rather cheap but rather good OnePlus One can go for three or four days on a charge, for example. It's more than thin enough.

      I'd rather have a slightly thicker (+1mm) phone with:

      - Micro SIM*
      - Micro SD card
      - Headphone jack
      - Strap loop
      - Qi wireless charging
      - >3000mAh battery
      - USB C connector
      - Supports all bands (or at least Europe and Japan)
      - Factory rooted / unlocked with TWRP installed

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  5. Re:converter by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    there will be a $75 piece manufactured for 85 cents that will be a lightning to headphone jack connection.

    The only reason Apple keeps doing this is because people keep purchasing their stuff, whatever the price (well, maybe not you I reckon).

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  6. Re:converter by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can buy a wired headset that plugs into just about any device that's been manufactured in the last 40 years for about 1/20 the price of a wireless one. SO it seems to me your message is actually more like, "You should spend heaps more money to accomplish the same task, because... um... because I said so, dammit!"

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  7. Stop making super thin phones you idiots! by laserhead · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We need more battery life!

  8. Re:3.5mm? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nope. I think there was a 2.5mm variant floating around for a while, but it never caught on.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  9. Reminds me of catwalk models by jez9999 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The original goal of the fashion industry and catwalk models was simply to promote slim women - women who were a healthy weight. This was fair enough, and a decent goal - the happy medium. But the fashion industry didn't stop there. They became psychotic about thinness until the point where they now fetishize anorexic women who are very far from attractive and need to see a fucking doctor.

    This seems to be what is happening with smartphones. The first iPhone was somewhat slim and just about right. The boasts about how slim it was were *in relation to* other thicker models at the time; not just about slimness *per se*. It was still a happy medium between slender attractiveness/lack of bulkiness, and utility. But the smartphone industry, led by Apple, is going the way of the fashion industry. It is now led by UX designers with a psychotic obsession with thinness because "that's attractive". Well if some iPhone user comes up to me with a credit card-width phone I'm going to say that my LG G3 is better. Not just because I have a proper headphone jack, replacable SIM card, SD card slot, and replacable battery. But also because the thing actually feels substantial when I hold it. I don't WANT it to be thinner. I don't WANT it to be the anorexic of smartphones.

    All I can say is I hope some smartphone manufacturers break rank and start advertising that they are NOT trying to make their phones thinner than 1cm. If Apple want to do that, it's their funeral. I want a decent thickness phone with a good number of features and a decent battery life.

  10. Re: 3.5mm? by Redmancometh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    xbox 360 used it actually...still many devices that do

  11. Re:Bullshit by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They will probably offer an adapter cable. They seem to love adapters these days, because the device can be smaller and they get to sell you an accessory.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  12. Pursuit of Slenderness? Pursuit for Cash by hsa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, right. This has nothing to do with selling overpriced accessories.

  13. Re:converter by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Floppy disks were superseded by other removable storage with clear, tangible advantages over it, as in, "You can pack 50,000 times as much data on something that has no moving parts, requires no power supply, uses a bog-standard connector and thus does not require a cable, is about 50,000 times as rugged, and you can stick in your pocket."

    BTW, I have been using various Bluetooth devices for years (speakers and keyboards), and this discussion isn't about going wireless in any case. It's about Apple ditching a standard wired connector in favour of a proprietary wired one.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  14. Re:converter by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This kind of bizarre nonsense hate just convinces me Apple's brand is still among the most powerful in the world.

    I don't make calls with a brand. I do make them with my phone.

    The supposedly rabid fans seem almost mythical to me, I can never find any...

    You have time to talk about the power of the Apple brand as if it were a good thing, yet you've no time to look in a mirror. Interesting.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  15. Re:3.5mm? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think there was a 2.5mm variant floating around for a while, but it never caught on.

    Yeah. I had a Sangean radio that had the smaller variant. I hated it because I couldn't get replacement earbuds for it and had to buy an adapter, which defeats the purpose of the smaller jack.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  16. Dear Apple by grahamtriggs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the 3.5mm jack is restricting you from making the device thinner, then use the "unnecessary" space for high battery capacity.

    Hell, just make the device a tiny bit thicker and increase the battery life anyway.

    Just because Jony Ive is a twat that craves how things look over how they function, a substantial part of your user base (and potential user base), actually give a shit about having a device that can be used consistently without dying in under 24 hours, and might even last more than a day without charging.

    To an extent we will trade battery life for increased functionality, but an even thinner device isn't more functional. We want more battery life.

  17. Re:They will go one step further by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Nike has the problem of being highly visable with any problem in their shoes. Nike users are picky and there are a bunch of haters who are willing to exploit any issue. A scam company makes a pair of running shoes that essentially use the same method of foot comfort and aeration but broke easily and people blamed Nike for making shitty products. "Nike shoes cause ankle sprain when they fail" spreads across the internet. Not stupid person bought a cheap ripoff of Nike shoes that are made out of substandard materials that fail easily after exposure to the sun.

    However, in this case, they have branding.

    But, unfortunately, Apple are banned from using a mark of their trade, so are unable to protect themselves from the scurrilous "haters", who only complain because they are haters, not because there's something to complain about. After all, APPLE made it, therefore there CANNOT be anything to complain about!

    If ONLY Apple were allowed to register a mark of trade so that they could be clear about an accessory not being officially their manufacture, therefore having to make their products whine and whinge at their pets when they don't buy them the more expensive Apple version of the toys they want.

  18. Re:3.5mm? by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Meh. Keep the 3.5mm connector, shrink the rest of the phone down,and fill the remaining space with extra battery. Seriously, how much thinner do phones need to be? I'd prefer some extra battery life, thanks.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  19. Re:3.5mm? by turbidostato · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "After all, why can't they just redesign the audio socket so it's a couple of millimeters thinner?"

    They probably can but then, what would you call an object 1.5mm width and ending on a point? That's a connector no more but a needle. And a needle has two problems: it's fragile and it can hurt. Not such a wise decision for a connector.

  20. This pursuit is utterly stupid... by Lumpy · · Score: 1, Insightful

    All it does is make phones suck more. 99% of the buying public if you ask them... "do you want a thinner phone or a phone that will last 2 days on a charge?"
      all of them will say, "give me the longer lasting charge."

    We don't want thinner, we want more battery capacity. The number 1 flaw with the One Plus X is that it's battery life utterly sucks. Well number 2.. Number 1 is that it's a 3G only phone in most of the United states as they were complete retards at OnePlus and did not set it up for the 700mhz LTE band.

    Everyone I show mine to says, "Ohh that is a very nice phone it's so thin!" until I tell them about battery life.. then they say they would rather have a phone that is thicker so that it lasts longer.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  21. Re:3.5mm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Actually, the 2.5mm head phone jack was the de-facto standard for phones until the iPhone came around.