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Apple To Unveil 'AirPods' That Use Custom Bluetooth Chip (macrumors.com)
It's no secret that Apple is planning to remove the headphone jack in its upcoming flagship smartphones. A new report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, which confirms rumors that Apple will indeed remove the headphone jack in the iPhone 7 to improve the device's water resistance, suggests that Apple is developing earbuds called "AirPods" that will employ its own Bluetooth-like communication chip. Mac Rumors reports: "First and foremost, as has been rumored, Kuo suggests Apple is working on its own Bluetooth-like communication chip and its own Bluetooth headphones. Previous information suggests the Bluetooth chip will improve battery performance for longer battery life. The chip may be included in the wireless earbuds Apple has in development, which are said to be Bragi Dash-style wireless Bluetooth earbuds that are entirely wire free. The earbuds will be called "AirPods," based on trademark filings that have been discovered, and the product could be unveiled as early as September 7 alongside the iPhone 7. According to Kuo, Apple will sell its Apple-branded Bluetooth headphones alongside its Beats line of headphones, targeting the high-end market with the "AirPods" and the mid-range market with the Beats headphones. Kuo does not believe the company will package Bluetooth headphones with the iPhone 7. Instead, Apple is likely to ship the iPhone 7 with Lightning-based EarPods that feature a Lightning connector instead of a 3.5mm headphone jack."
"Earlier, everyone could sell headphones for our devices, now we found a way to 'fix' that to 'improve device's water resistance'".
It's brilliant and simple. Apple customers will buy anything. They buy ridiculous "special" Apple chargers now. Why wouldn't they also buy "special" Apple headphones? Of course they will. By the tens of millions. Apple will make hundreds of millions on just these dumb, superfluous gadgets.
I don't respond to AC's.
Lightning based headphones are just going to be an unreliable PITA.
OK, the 3.5mm jack isn't perfect. However they are pretty solid. Actually these days they're really really solid. The lighting connector is pretty well known for reliability issues. Now compare how the two are used. The 3.5mm jack is used while listening to music, often carrying the phone, where it gets knocked. It still works. The lightning connector is not unknown for breaking and that's used for charging where the phone tends to be on the desk.
Yes, I know neither of those are universals, but the common case for the 3.5mm jack is much harsher than the common case for the lightning connector and yet the former is still much more reliable than the latter.
Personally I reckon we'll be hearing about lots of broken and unreliable headphones when the go that route.
Or there's bluetooth ones. They've been around for years and while they're available, they are not currently anything like as popular as analog headphones despite just about any system now supporting both fine. Because among other things, they're more expensive and it's super fun when your headphones run out of charge too.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
'improve device's water resistance'
Several phones have already been released (eg: Sony Z5) with exposed headphones sockets without compromising water resistance. Poor justification is poor.
1. Reverse engineer """custom""" bluetooth chip
2. Make adapter
3. ???
4. Profit
If this solution of Apple leads to hq audio over wireless earpods I am for it. I really like standards, but current standard bluetooth wireless audio earpods don't deliver.
How long will it be until there are compatible headsets available? And how much will they cost? And will they even work or have acceptable battery life?
I have a sinking feeling that I'm going to have very few options for my smartphone headset in the future. Not much choice and stupidly high prices.
Why is this happening? Because the two manufacturers who matter, Apple and Samsung, are having a pissing contest over who's phone is thinner. So Samsung has to recall phones that are catching fire and Apple has phones where the touch interface fails because the case flexes and solder pads disconnect from a chip. Both these engineering failures happen because cramming reliable electronics into such a slim case is nearly impossible.
Given a choice between a phone as thick as the previous generation that was reliable and had a longer battery life, pretty much any human being on the planet would choose a thicker phone. I bet that a phone twice as thick with really long battery life would sell in vastly greater numbers then any of the current crap. But we don't get that choice. Marketeers and designers who are completely out of touch dictate what choices we have, and they don't give a damn about what we want.
Just another case of pretend capitalism. Nothing to see here, move along.
Why is Snark Required?
Hasn't every iPhone release been pre-announced as being a debacle that will herald a new beginning for Windows Phone? Like from the very first one? Sure, for a couple of years in there, Android phones were about to overrun the world, but then in the middle years, there were quite a few where the latest version of wince was about to really take off and crush everyone else.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Oh good, the battery life is going to improve.
How about not having a battery in the first place?!
not really. They basically killed off the Lumia line with the 950 series, beyond the budget of anyone curious.
Although, certain pundits were incorrectly predicting the "surface phone" launch at this week's IFA 2016.
The security of Bluetooth paired with the compatibility of a nonstandard protocol.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Nokia 7110.
Mine still works. OK, almost, the spring in the numpad cover rusted after I forgot it in my pants once too often and washed it. Must've been the spin cycle.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The great innovative Apple. Want to waterproof a phone? No water proof jacks don't exist. Certainly not on every other water proof device. No siree the only way to water proof a phone is to remove the headphone jack. That's why we're doing this. Water proofing and because it's the only way. Not because we are driving vendor lockin, not due to some vain attempt at DRM but waterproofing.
In completely unrelated news come check out our new proprietary chips and headphones. Only twice as expensive as normal and with that top quality Beats sound.
Meaning the inclusion of proprietary "improvements" that ensure that only Apple branded headsets/buds will work reliably, along with, several months later, those supplied by "audiophile" manufacturers who would have paid high prices for licences to produce compatible equipment and will thus pass on the cost to the consumer?
Wow, it's like you've got a crystal ball or something. (no, not joking, you're likely dead-on accurate with this prediction)
I can understand the appeal of Look! No Wires! but it should be an added value, not a result of a drive to make equipment that is overpriced, unnecessarily complex, unfeasibly thin and incompatible with the rest of the world.
Don't be so shocked. This is modus operandi for Apple, and quickly becoming the norm for the handful of other monopolies who are busy hoard-patenting the known universe under a fuck-you-very-much capitalistic model, forcing you to bend to their proprietary will.
not really. They basically killed off the Lumia line with the 950 series, beyond the budget of anyone curious.
I got a lumia 950 and for anyone curious. It's shit, like really shit, so shit you'll be glad you never bothered and im stuck with it for another 13 odd months, still though, it's not an iPhone.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
Right, I've had enough. Why do I need a waterproof phone?
I have a waterproof watch because it's nice not to have to take the thing off when I shower or go for a swim, but a waterproof phone?
Apart from not having to worry when I take photos by the hotel pool, I can't realistically see why I'd need it to be waterproof. I guess a lot of people are Snapchatting while in the bath?
Summation 2
At this point, I rely solely on Bluetooth when listening to music. I have not plugged earphones into my smartphone for at least two years, probably longer. So I'm not quick to condemn the headphone jack's rumored disappearance. I just don't care.
Frankly, I cannot imagine what more Apple can do to improve the iPhone besides performance upgrades. Regardless of what it adds, though, people will line up to buy them on release day. Been there, done that.
Big man, pig man
ha-ha charade you are
You well-heeled big wheel
ha-ha charade you are
Custom Bluetooth? Bluetooth-Like? Just call a duck a duck---or in this case it's called proprietary.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but why provide lightning based earbuds instead of a lightning to 3.5mm adapter?
I'm guessing that an adapter is electrically identical except it has a 3.5mm jack instead of actual tiny speakers.
I would think it would be cheaper to provide an adapter, but maybe I should dial up my cynicism and presume that an adapter sends the message "keep using your existing headphones" and lightning earbuds says "buy new headphones, your old ones are obsolete."
It starts to make me wonder if even a $39.95 Apple 3.5mm adapter will even be allowed to be sold with the idea that either consumers will have the choice of: just OK existing Bluetooth audio, Apple "enhanced" wireless for higher fidelity or direct lightning. Apple only misses a cut on the first one, but the tradeoff is whether standard BT audio is good enough.
Those things that looked like squid you wrapped around your Collar bones pre-Walkman, so nobody could hear you jammin?
So its like bluetooth but incompatible and doesn't make audio sound like crap like bluetooth does?
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
It's bitztream, the autism-hating Slashdot troll!
I'm not thrilled with the loss of the 3.5mm jack -- especially with the thought that other manufacturers could follow suit in the next few generations. Even with annoying dongles on the horizon, I don't see the analog hole ever being entirely plugged. Maybe this will start the push for a better (standardized) Bluetooth protocol? Perhaps one that can actually support lossless audio? I'm sure this would take a number of years before it becomes a standard and widely implemented enough ...
I don't typically buy i-devices because I dislike that their BIOS is locked down. That being said, I'll say this: if water resistance is just an excuse to sell Apple headphones, then yes, people should be upset about it.
However, if Apple is being honest and the iPhone 7 will actually have better environmental resistance than other phones on the market with the regular 3.5mm jack, then personally I think it should be welcomed. New iPhones are $600-800 depending on the configuration, making them more durable and rugged is worth the investment of having to pay for slightly more expensive headphones. I'll reserve judgment until real-world tests have been done on the iPhone 7's water resistance.
Do. Not. Want.
Then Do. Not. Buy.
Seriously if you don't like what Apple is doing buy something else that suits you. Apple products aren't supposed to be all things to all people. Personally the 3.5mm port of of little value to me (I'm not a big music listener) but I get why folks appreciate having it built in. What I think will happen is that you'll see a bunch of cases with an integrated 3.5mm jack. Since almost everyone puts a case on their phone anyway it makes reasonable sense. Then you don't have to carry a dongle with you if you use that jack routinely. Perhaps not quite as elegant as having it built in but a better solution than a dongle for many.
It's brilliant and simple. Apple customers will buy anything.
Tell me, which Apple customer peed in your cereal this morning? If you want to critique Apple there are plenty of ways to do it that don't sound idiotic. Apple customers buy Apple products because *gasp* they like Apple products. Nobody buys Apple solely because it is made by Apple. No company can sell hundreds of millions of phones and computers if the product sucks. Much like Harley Davidson, Apple has cultivated a loyal fan base because they find value in what they sell. If it doesn't suit your needs and sensibilities then go ahead and buy something else. Trust me, nobody will care if you prefer Android or Blackberry or Windows.
Apple will make hundreds of millions on just these dumb, superfluous gadgets.
If people buy them that means they find value in them. I don't see the problem here.
How long will it be until there are compatible headsets available? And how much will they cost? And will they even work or have acceptable battery life?
There will undoubtedly be a dongle available from day one so any headset that works with the iPhone 6 will probably work just fine with the iPhone 7. I suspect in short order you'll see cases with built in 3.5mm ports as well. Probably within weeks of release.
I have a waterproof watch because it's nice not to have to take the thing off when I shower or go for a swim, but a waterproof phone?
Same reason. It would be nice to not have to worry about dropping it in a sink or getting caught in a downpour. It would be nice to be able to use the camera at the beach or in the water. How many people have had their phone fail or warranty voided by spilling a drink on their device? If it is waterproof that means it's largely dust proof as well which is pretty nice. You want a waterproof phone for the same reasons you want a waterproof watch.
So, thanks to an over-enthusiastic use of headphones in my youth, I now have to boost high frequencies with a pair of hearing aids if I want a hope of understanding conversation and enjoying music. These are not your grandmother's contraptions. They are all-but invisible, they communicate with each other using ultrasound pulses sent through my skull to help to spatialize sound more effectively and to dynamically adjust to ambient sound levels and such. They are pretty nifty devices - and produce really good audio quality, even for my sub-par ears. A pair of good ones will cost you (or, ideally, your HMO) around $6,000 - but even with decent health insurance, it still cost me $1,300 to get a pair fully tweaked to my specific needs.
Now, when I want to listen to music...well, I can't wear earbuds because my ears are already full of hearing aids and over-ear headphones tend to cause audio feedback in my hearing aids...so that's out. But no problem, the hearing aid designers thought of that - and my hearing aids have bluetooth! So I can pair them with my phone/laptop/TV and listen to high quality audio through my hearing aids! Magic! This is actually better than normal hearing because they can automatically turn off real-world sound while I'm listening to music - and turn down the music when they hear someone talking to me - and at $6,000 a pair, as you might expect, the audio quality is on a par with the best earbuds money can buy!
Now, Apple claim to have a "bluetooth-like" interface...um...so not *actual* standards-compliant bluetooth then? Great - thanks guys. Smart move. Replace a perfectly good, established standard with a piece of proprietary crap. Sure, that might persuade enough of your customers to dump their perfectly good earbuds/headphones to buy your contraptions instead - but there is no way for me to do that.
Oh - but wait! I have a fallback position! My hearing aids come with a small device that can be used as a remote control - it has a jack socket and a built-in bluetooth transmitter so all I have to do is...WTF!?!...no jack plug either? Oh for chrissakes.
The point here being that you can't just come along and define a new standard in order to force people to buy your stupid earbuds - because a good slice of the population can't use them. You can't even come up with iHearingAids because I can't afford to pay $6,000 for a new pair every time some company decides it would be fun to corner the earbud market by deliberately flouting standards...and even if they DID make iHearingAids - they probably wouldn't work with my non-Apple computer and my non-Apple TV.
Title IV of the Americans With Disabilities Act requires that all telecommunications companies in the U.S. take steps to ensure "functionally equivalent services" for consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing. I'm not sure this applies here - but it damned well should!
Even for people with good hearing - do you really want one set of earbuds for your phone - and different ones for your computer?
OK then - Android phones it is. Way to go Apple - you just wiped out your market with all of us hearing-aid wearers.
www.sjbaker.org
if Apple indeed ditches the 3.5, then > 50% of new smartphones will ship without a 3.5mm jack and they won't all be Apple. The 3.5 jack will become a legacy "feature" selling point like an SD slot or a replaceable battery. But then again, we might all have hover boards before this happens and I'd be wrong, and not for the first time, so flame on, amigos!
Another expensive thing that will break. Which means my wife spending even more money
Let's not forget that Apple is no longer driven by the idea of making better products. Nobody is screaming that they want better water resistance - most would probably want them to take a step backwards and offer larger, replaceable batteries. That, of course, would mean more people keeping their phones longer. Seriously, did anyone that that a nonreplaceable battery was an advantage to anyone except Apple? If it's so great, why not do it with their laptops. This should properly be framed as a restraint of trade issue.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
'improve device's water resistance'
Several phones have already been released (eg: Sony Z5) with exposed headphones sockets without compromising water resistance. Poor justification is poor.
My Kyocera HydroVIBE (released in 2014) has an exposed 3.5mm headphone jack is "Certified dust resistant and waterproof for IP57 (IPX5 and IPX7) - protection against dust and water immersion for up to 30 minutes in up to 3.28 feet (1 meter) of water." So, what is Apple trying to achieve?
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Didn't Sony recall the Sony Z5, tell all its customers that it was just kidding about the phone being waterproof, and then get the crap sued out of itself for it? I actually literally have a friend who's Z5 failed just from getting some rain on it while he was hiking. Sony sent him a new one but the whole reason he had boughten it was that he thought it could go underwater, but it turned out to possibly actually be the least water tolerant phone he has ever owned.
Why do you feel its competitors copying Apple by making unibody phones? The newest Samsungs are virtually indistinguishable from iPhone 6.
your right!!! apple should sue them
Since I usually play music for long periods of time while I am sitting I normally listen to music while my phone is plugged in. Will lightning port headphones allow the phone to be charged while listening with them?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
They may not be screaming they want better water resistance... However water damage and cracked displays are the big killer of cell phones.
With the phones accidentally getting washed with laundry, falling into the "sink" or "tub" (they probably will never admit that it fell in the toilet)
Then there is damage on the screen when it falls.
That is why every generation of phone seems to be getter better glass and better waterproofing. Because if your iPhone dies outside the upgrade period you may not have the money for a full replacement so you will get the cheaper alternative.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Here we have a long thread of people commenting on whether or not going wireless to be waterproof is a good idea, and the whole thing is made up by the first poster.
Battery management is already a PITA for all the various digital devices, now Apple has made it even worse.
You will have to buy Apple-only chargers.
Any bets that the batteries will be proprietary format and non-replaceable?
A pox on web designers who feel that window.innerWidth == screen.availWidth
There's nothing high-end about Bluetooth connectivity. And in most cases you're re-compressing a lossy compressed source. This pretty much confirms that I will not buy any of these devices. I have all of my albums ripped to lossless file formats and that's the way I like it.
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
Mod parent up.
Most of Slashdot's audience probably doesn't suffer from significant hearing loss -- yet. But the more time you spend listening to things over non-isolating earbuds, necessarily turned up loud enough to be clear over ambient sounds, the more your hearing will suffer in the long term.
Now, personally, I'm hoping that I follow in my father's footsteps, not my mother's, and retain good hearing at least through my 80s. I also hope that research on hearing restoration -- not just hearing aids or implants, but actually regenerating damaged cells and structures -- will yield effective and affordable treatments in time for me. Heck, I'd like implants that give me better than standard hearing. But that's not where we are now, and wishing doesn't help people who are currently hearing-impaired.
Until these problems are solved -- heck, even after these problems are solved -- I'll continue to complain when companies assume all customers are alike, all customers want the same thing, and the company's job is to convince users of this rather than accommodating them.
In other words, whatever they cost, you'll be buying multiple pairs. Because when one falls out, there's nothing to catch it, and sooner or later -- no, just make that "soon" -- you'll lose one where you can't find it, or can't retrieve it, or can't un-soak or un-foul or un-trample it. And if you lose one, you can't very well just replace the missing one; naturally, they'll only ever be sold in pairs.
I think entirely wire-free earbuds are a great idea -- when they're marketed as disposable, and priced accordingly. If they're going to market these as a higher-end alternative to the already-overpriced Beats, that's not happening.
Nobody is screaming that they want better water resistance
Nobody except us iPhone owners, that is...
most would probably want them to take a step backwards and offer larger, replaceable batteries.
Again, speak for yourself, Barbara.
I get several DAYS usage out of my iPhone 6 Plus. If I can't find a charger within that much time, I'm not trying very hard. And considering I can get a half-charge in 20 mins from my car charger, or a complete-from-dead to 100% charge in under 2 hours from my home charger, it doesn't bother me one bit that the battery in my iPhone isn't replaceable. Not to mention that that "feature" is getting pretty damned rare in smartphones, regardless of brand/platform.
If it's so great, why not do it with their laptops.
Seriously, if you are doing home-ECT, Up the Voltage (teasing)!
Apple had some laptops a while back that had replaceable batteries; but that hasn't been a "thing" for quite a while now. Unless you mean "screwdriver-replaceable".
Why do you feel its competitors copying Apple by making unibody phones? The newest Samsungs are virtually indistinguishable from iPhone 6.
You mean, just like the original Samsung smartphones were virtually indistiguishable from the original iPhone.
Different != Better.
It is if we're talking about all other computing platforms besides Apple's, both mobile and desktop.
Great- another fucking thing that needs a battery. Or is that two things? Either way, it's fucking stupid.
Because a wired device is just so quaint, right Apple? The whole "waterproofing" angle is utter bullshit- a 3.5mm jack is easy to waterproof. Or is Apple telling us that waterproofing the jack is beyond their technical ability? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
The 3.5mm jack is one of the the most standardized connectors in the history of electronics and it works just fine, so OF COURSE we must throw it away and use something so we can force people to either buy an adapter for it or a whole new set of earbuds or headphones. At the same time we can encumber it with DRM. Yippee!
Fuck you, Apple.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Firewire, ADC, one button mice, endless shitty remotes, terrible lamp style iMac revisions that resulted in GPU/mobo failures due to overheating, a joke of a server line, the seemingly-intentional destruction of the Mac Pro line, the continued neglect of the Macbook Pro line, the iPad 3 they tried to pretend didn't exist just a few months after it came out, sticking with Power PC for nearly a decade too long, the attempt to use the Apple TV to wrangle content control, "Super Drives" that had about a 50% chance of just eating your CD/DVD/etc., mid 2000s laptops with overheating issues (other than those caused by Nvidia), antenna gate / you're holding it wrong, AT&T exclusivity, Apple Maps, etc. etc.
Because most of the idiots in the press (including popular online review sites) are enamored with Apple, and their reviews constantly criticize everything any other manufacturers do differently. Thanks to them we've gotten non-replaceable batteries, briefly lost the microSD slot, glass backs, and "premium" metal bodies which dent on impact instead of superior plastic which simply bounces back into shape. All so they can have sleek and shiny devices that feel good in their hands, instead of functional devices that are actually more durable despite how they feel.
The Lightning plug itself is an order of a magnitude more than you pay for a 3.5mm jack. Even a waterproof one. And we're not even including the cost of the IAP2 subsystem required in the device, the PCB for that, the housing - and yet another 3.5mm jack. I don't see how moving a jack from inside the phone to outside - and adding another connector, housing, and PCBA in between, is a cost-saving move.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Do you know any iPhone/iOS app doing that? While that might have been the original intent of the connector, Apple sells you a nice little Lightning Audio Module (about $5 in 1MM quantities, including licenses) to get analog out of your Lightning port. Meaning - in theory you may be correct, but in practice you're completely wrong.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Your English lessons are coming along swimmingly.
On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
Apple has always been that way. Steve Jobs always wanted to make things into appliances that you didn't dig into the internals of from the beginning. Partly from aesthetics, partly out of making it feel magical, and partly because it makes people need to replace that stuff with new Apple products. Replacing your battery would never have made it into an iPhone. Ever. Not while Steve Jobs was alive, and probably not while Tim Cook is CEO either.
If you know what you are getting with an Apple device, you will never be surprised. I personally have no issue with their philosophy, with the understanding that if I don't want to spend the cash on their stuff, I need to go get an Android phone.
Of course, I note that all of my iPhones other than my first, have been provided by the place I work. So, I am not trying to suggest that the Apple way of buying things all the time is a great idea. I might have an Android phone now if my iPhone was not provided. Although I should point out, I do have other Android devices, and they have some big, if somewhat different, problems too.
That tends to suggest, however, that Apple cares that you lose your device. They don't.
Oh sure, they don't want your device to be brittle or stop working in high humidity or other moist ambient conditions, because people will not get enough use out of the devices to make them worth buying again. But that's not the same thing as them giving a crap if you are clumsy and drop it in a fountain or toilet somewhere.
The small amount of water resistance that removing that jack would add would not add much, if anything to the value of that phone. They probably made a ordered list of improvements to the phone, and someone mentioned water resistance somewhere close to the bottom. You can imagine that they swapped the place on that list for "water resistance" with "shareholder value" when they went to press with the marketing material.
So, what is Apple trying to achieve?
Having something better to say that sounds better than, "driving sales of new official Apple and Beats branded products and accessories".
I suggest not mistreating your phone, then. My Z2 has the exact same waterproof headphone jack, and I have never seen what you describe even once, not even after total immersion. You'll pry my headphone jack from my cold, dead hands...
Yup. This has nothng to do with water resistance (my existing phone with exposed headphone jack is already 100% waterproof, and so is my tablet.) It is 100% about giving Apple a new revenue stream with licensing fees for the intentionally proprietay hardware.
Then your friend either mistreated the phone or got a lemon, which happens with every brand including Apple. My Z2 has the exact same headphone jack and has been totally immersed multiple times without even the slightest hint of an issue.
Why can't you just tell him to blow on it?!!1
It's time-tested tradition that over time the magic smoke settles into the bottom. You might need to blow in the slot to get the magic smoke circulating properly again.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Literally the first feature of the new iPhone: More shiny!
Hilarious.
Mind you, with the near-demise of manual shift in cars, wired headphones are tolerable...
DaFuq? Why would you use headphones while driving a car? I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone do that and it's a bad idea regardless. Cars have speakers and it's generally trivial to connect to them. I plugged a bluetooth adapter into the 3.5mm port already built into my car. (yes I've used a wire too but bluetooth is less bother in this instance) You can also get adapters turn your phone into a mini radio station and just tune the dial.
If not backwards compatible, ie: PAY UP SUCKERS
I have a Lumia 550 (didn't want to fork out more for a 950). It comes w/ Windows 10 Mobile and is neat - only regret is it's not in Verizon's portfolio of supported phones. But it's a fantastic system in the car - even Groove's music is something that I can control from the steering wheel - something I can do w/ the iPod mode but not w/ Android. If only it had Google Duo and some of the apps I just have to have - like Vonage - I'd have had it replace one of my other 2 phones
I was considering getting the new earbuds that came with the iPhone 7 for my iPhone SE (6 innards). Does the fact that this is only Bluetooth-like mean that it will not function on older Apple devices? I guess I'll look into the 3rd party Bluetooth stuff if not.
Methinks you don't know what "waterproof" means. The headphone jack has to be waterproof if unplugged, or the phone itself can't be waterproof. Whether water can get into the area of the jack where it's designed to be allowed doesn't change the fact that it's waterproof *in the areas it is supposed to be*.
Also, fresh water is a poor conductor, so it should not be meaningfully completing a headphone circuit -- at least, if you dropped your phone into just water. Now, if you dropped it in dirty or salt water (which is all I can presume from your complaint), that's an entirely different situation -- and one neither existing waterproof phones with headphone jacks *and* the new iPhone are designed to survive. Check the manual for both and it will specifically tell you not to immerse the phone in salt water.
All I can tell you is that my phone has been immersed in fresh water multiple times, mostly by mistake, but as designed it continued to work just fine, and as soon as the touch-screen was dried, did not show any untoward behavior of any kind -- and that includes complaining about headphones. But even if that really happened to you, one shake of the phone would have been enough to remove the water from the headphone jack and stop the problem.
It's not advertised as waterproof any more, but as has been widely demonstrated, it's still waterproof. (Yes, that's the Z5 Compact, but numerous videos out there show the Z5 being similar dunked.) They just don't want to pay to repair phones which were abused (immersed with a flap not properly closed, immersed deeper or longer than stated, immersed in non-fresh water, etc.) And sorry, but if you know anything about anything, you know why it matters whether you're immersing it in fresh, clean water or in water tainted by salt and other chemicals. And sorry, but I don't believe for one second that your phone misbehaved merely from rain (unless you simply didn't dry the touch-screen before trying to use it, that is.)
That cheaper alternative are android phones.
Also a lot of people will try to return a broken iPhone even if it is water damage they will see if they can get a refund and a good portion of them do.
It isn't they love their customers. But to keep them and prevent them from cheating them.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
With a non-replaceable battery your phone can never be truly off - that suits some organisations very well
A metal box takes care of that. You can even get one to match that hat...
Still, the waterproofing excuse holds up. Though I'd expect that it would be more of an internal space issue than a cost issue.
Of course, today Apple is claiming it's about "bravery" and standing up to convention and removing an "obsolete" port. Which is a load of bullshit in pretty much every direction.
People were making unibody phones long before Apple made a smartphone. Remember the "candybar" form factor phones? And the really big unibody phones that looked like industrial walkie-talkies? All unibody. Flip phones were a later innovation.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
So, expensive laptops that you'll upgrade rather than pay to install a new battery and not have your machine while they do it. Losers. Now that the reviews of the iPhone 7 are in, everyone is saying that Apple is no longer an innovator. They're right. Apple stock is down more than 2% the day after their announcement and it's only 10 am.
Better to dump the hardware lines and sell only software. The manufacturers already do the hardware at very low margins, and people aren't going to continue to let Apple charge a premium for what is now just another phone or computer at the hardware level.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
My Motorola G has been dropped onto asphalt face down and not even a scratch. Apple doesn't have a monopoly on Gorilla Glass, and having a plastic body to absorb shock rather than a metal case helps. The metal bodies are a dumb idea that increases cost, reduces scratch resistance, and doesn't offer increased strength ("am I bending it right?"). Style over function isn't smart. It's just a phone/laptop, made by the same manufacturers that make everyone else's phones and laptops.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Teach you to use both hands when using your phone while using the toilet.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
It doesn't when you can't do a hard reset using the buttons. Same with laptops. Sometimes you just have to cut all power.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
I'd love a very water resistant phone. Just the other day I took a step backward trying to see better onto my roof and nearly fell into the pool, fully clothed, phone in pocket. Did the whole whirly-arms thing which saved me. So yeah, if the expensive computer in my pocket were waterproof, that'd be great.
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My son and I gave up on Apple.
Why do the rest of us care? What does this have to do with the 3.5mm jack? Seriously if you like Android that's cool. It's a good system. I don't really care what you use and neither does anyone else.
The Iphone was too closed, and the amount of easily available cost effective software meant lockin. The phone apps were limited and not of the functionality found with Android.
You're just making things up. If you like Android better that is fine but there is no meaningful advantage in functionality in Android and the number of iOS apps is certainly not "limited" under any accepted definition of the term. Lots of people find iOS suits their needs fine. Others find Android a better fit. Pick the one that works for you and spare us your nonsensical advocacy.
Now we are happy, we have Android based phones; The operating system has updates and is maintained.
Now we know you are lying because few Android based phones get reliable updates. It's actually one of the serious problems with the platform.