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Apple Cites 'Courage' As Reason To Remove 3.5mm Headphone Jack (arstechnica.com)
It didn't come as much of a surprise when Apple Senior VP Phil Schiller revealed that the iPhone 7 doesn't feature a headphone jack, since rumors have mentioned this possibility months before the announcement. In fact, what some may find more surprising is Apple's justification. The company cited three reasons why they decided to eighty-six the port, as well as one word: "courage." Ars Technica reports: "[Schiller said] the company can't justify the continued use of an 'ancient' single-use port. He described the amount of technology packed into the iPhone, saying each element in Apple's phones is fighting for space, and it's at a premium. Schiller explained that no company has tried to deliver a wireless experience between your devices and your headphones that fixes the things that are currently difficult to do -- and since there's only one major industry-wide wireless-audio standard, it's easy to assume that he's talking about Bluetooth there (though he didn't say the B-word out loud). To promote Apple's wireless-audio push, Schiller announced the new AirPods, which look mostly identical to the last official Apple earbud model, only with a small piece of plastic replacing the full cord. While Schiller and Apple designer Jonny Ive talked a lot about wireless being 'the future' of audio devices -- and thus being the reason for Apple's 'courage' to move on from the 3.5mm standard -- Apple is curiously not packing those AirPods into new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus boxes. Instead, those devices will ship with the updated Lightning EarPods by default. AirPods will begin shipping in late October and will cost $159."
"Courage" would be to stop making the phone thinner with less battery life and forcing owners to purchase overpriced items. Of course, Apple gets paid by any company that licenses their "Lightning Port" design. Courage? NO, more like GREED.
Courage is what others can judge you to have shown.
Ego is when you call your own decision "courage".
If they had a good reason they should have said it. Self-claiming courage is a coward move.
E
Umm, no. The EPI pen is life and death. This is a phone. The EPI pen was marketed to schools in what may be illegal dealings. This is a phone. The EPI pen forces you to buy a 2 pack, and has a very short shelf life. This is a phone - apple sells others, other companies sell others. This is a phone.
And Apple has sold roughly a billion phones. Are you saying that there are that many fanbois out there? If so, maybe you're the odd one - the fanboys are the normals.
And, this is a phone. Its a great camera in your pocket, but it's a phone.
You left out antenna for the FM radio. Oops, the iPhone never had an FM radio, something even cheap flip phones have had pretty much forever. Apple is no longer a leader in innovation, which is why their market share continues to drop. Looks like Tim Cook cooked their goose.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
"It had its last big innovation about 50 years ago. You know what that was? They made it smaller. It hasn't been touched since then. It's a dinosaur. It's time to move on."
You know, fine. I don't disagree with this idea. It's an old port that takes up a lot of space, and it's time to move on by replacing it with something better. What's the replacement here?
You can use Bluetooth, which I haven't found to be a very good solution. Someone's going to say that I'm crazy, but I've had problems with various devices where the connection drops or is unreliable. I've had experiences where I've had problems with pairing, and the process of unpairing and repairing every time you want to connect to a different device is unwieldy. Plus, I just don't like having another battery that I need to keep charged. I want a simple and reliable wired solution. Bluetooth is out.
Apple's other offering seems to be the lightning connector. You know, I wouldn't mind, but then they need to make it an open standard and get others to adopt it. Make it USB type-D micro, or something. Convince everyone to make it a standard connector for peripherals where you want a smaller connector than USB type-C. Make it the new universal standard for headphone ports, and get it installed everywhere. But they haven't done that. They don't even have lightning ports on their computers. Lightning isn't a standard, and no one else is using it. So Lightning is out.
So come up with something else that replaces the existing port, but is better, more convenient, easier to use, and able to provide even better audio quality. Then convince every manufacturer of audio equipment to use this new standard. *Then* get rid of the old port.
Also they did that with Thunderbolt, and look at the plethora of peripherals available toda.. oh, wait..
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Another problem is that there is only ONE single use port. I usually listen to music while my phone is plugged in, and to my knowledge there is no way to both listen with the headphone dongle and have the device plugged in.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
This is different than merely changing a connector or protocol. Now headphones have gone from a passive device to an active device that needs its own power source. How long does the battery last on these earpods? Can it easily be changed?
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
As long as they close the analog hole - Riaa will be happy!
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Their proprietary power connectors that break easily and frequently.
If Apple had true courage, they'd announce that they were dumping Lightning for USB C. That would have been courage.
If Apple had true courage, they'd have announced a new open Bluetooth protocol for dealing with higher bitrate audio. That would have been courage.
Replacing a set of $30 earbuds (or $3 if you avoid the Apple Tax) with a $160 one? That's not courage. That's a cash-grab.
This is a site specifically for mac compatible stuff, and even they only have 4 categories under 'Thunderbolt'. There is only one hub to choose from, and it is $218.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
>The dongle comes with the phone.
So what?
You will never have it when you need it unexpectedly.
The thing is going to stick out, interfering with carrying the phone, making it bulky and unruly.
It is likely to break or get lost.
It is just plain irritating.
It is a good thing I have no interest in "iphones", I just hope the other phone makers reject this stupid idea.
The concern is that all the other manufacturers will do the same, and everyone's earbuds/headsets will be useless or need adapters.
I don't doubt that those are the actual reasons, but that's not really the point. All it means is that they're pushing off their (engineering) problems on their users. Apple has a long history of deprecating stuff that (at the time) people thought was premature - but in essentially all the other cases it turns out that the new thing really is better. Serial ports, the floppy drive, non-USB connectors, CD drives in laptops, even replaceable batteries - there are tangible benefits to switching to the new thing, and they usually relate to speed, capacity, or physical size.
The headphone jack is slightly thicker than a Lightning connector (the only remaining jack) - but they didn't make the phone thinner to take advantage of the extra depth. And other than the connector itself a Lightning headphone is worse in every way, because headphones are driven by your ear technology, not the phone's. The newest fanciest Lightning headphones in 5 years (assuming this decision sticks) will never be more than today's headphones plus a built-in Lightning dongle.
What does this decision get me as a user? Let's go through. Headphones are headphones; there's two channels of audio that are the result of a varying electrical signal. I don't really care what the cord to the device looks like and considerations like "do these phones work with other things? do other phones work with this?" easily dominate that area. I guess this lets them use a little extra power but there was already more than enough output to damage your ears. If there were wild battery life improvements... maybe? But someone on the other thread did the math and a headphone jack's volume of battery is good for ~12 minutes. Meh. What about water resistance? Other phones have no problems with the IP67 rating and a headphone jack - I have no doubt that it was easier for Apple's engineers, but Apple used to not push their problems on their users.
So what does that leave? They wouldn't be able to have a force-sensitive home button? Honestly I'd rather have the headphone jack. Or just get rid of the home button - it works just fine for Android - or at least make it oblate or rectangular rather than round.
I have had every non-S model iPhone since the 3G, so I'm "due" to buy this one. In addition I have apps that I rely on that only work on iOS. It should be a slam dunk. But... honestly? I knew someday I'd lose the reason to buy an iPhone, and this might be that day. Not just the headphone jack, but the whole package. It doesn't look like a bad phone as such, but the only thing I'm really interested in is the waterproofing. And I'm not careless enough with my phone that getting it ruined is a big risk. The headphone jack thing isn't a dealbreaker, mostly because I don't listen to music much on my phone, but it's damn close.
Honestly Apple is just out of ideas. I bought a new MBP last year and it was the first hardware purchase I made in my entire life that I wasn't excited about. Roughly as functional as the 5-year-old one it replaced, more in some ways and less in others, but the same price. I needed a new one because the older one wasn't really working but boy did they manage to turn something I used to enjoy into something kind of boring and depressing. I'm still annoyed about the large size of the smallest iPhone still available - I was in London a few months ago and had to use my (out of contract and unlocked) iPhone 5, and it was sooooo nice. I assumed I'd gotten used to the wider width, but nope - and I didn't miss the extra screen at all.
I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
Real courage would've been changing the iPhone connector to USB-C.
#DeleteChrome
... Lightning isn't a standard, and no one else is using it. So Lightning is out.
So come up with something else that replaces the existing port, but is better, more convenient, easier to use, and able to provide even better audio quality. Then convince every manufacturer of audio equipment to use this new standard. *Then* get rid of the old port.
In the keynote, they showed a pair of JBL wired noise-cancelling headphones that used lightning. so, there are some third parties chipping in now. Not saying I love this decision, but you have to admit Apple's track record on these changes is decent enough to give it a chance.
sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
To a lot of people the main point of radio isn't music, it's reliability. I know I can tune in to the radio during natural disasters and get up to date information about what's going on. In many of those situations phone, data, and cable will all be knocked out. Radio's very robust.
IMHO the 4s was the best iphone and it has been going downhill ever since. They made the phone more difficult to hold and got rid of a perfectly good connector. I never had the old style connector wear out but I have thrown out more lightning cables then I can count. Now I need to plugin my headphones into it? I've always felt locked into apple because of the investment in apps and music, but now with this latest move I believe iphone won't be my next phone. Looking forward to Xiaomi.
I have a 4s and a 6 Plus. You are delusional if you think the 4s is a better phone of the two. And as for 30-pin vs Lightning, again you're delusional. I have never broken either, and very much enjoy the agnostic orientation feature of the Lightning connector. But perhaps you will enjoy the Micro USB connector of an Android phone better. I for one would have been LIVID if Apple had adopted that POS connector. Both orientation sensitive AND fragile?!? That's micro USB's great legacy.
Sounds great, now how do I charge my iPhone 7 while it's plugged into the aux port of my car? There were a few options to do that with the old interface, not so today.
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
You do realize how completely unalike those two examples are, right?
Removing the floppy drive wasn't a big deal because USB floppy drives provided a viable alternative, and internal floppy drives were still available for portable devices for three or four years after Apple removed them from the desktop (all the way through the Pismo).
Adapters for portable devices suck. Adapters for ultraportable devices like phones suck absolutely.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
No, they provided a copout. It came down to a choice between slightly better speakers that most people will never use anyway (because it is usually rude) or a headphone jack that lots of people use every day, and they made the wrong call. I've already (since the announcement) heard three people who have used iOS for years say that they're seriously considering switching to Android because of this. That number represents about 50% of the iPhone users in my team at work, and 100% of the iPhone users who were present at the time. I know that anecdotes aren't data, but if Apple's upper management isn't absolutely scared sh**less right now, then they don't deserve to be there.
From where I'm sitting, if the case manufacturers don't save Apple from themselves by building cases with built-in headphone jacks, this will probably mark a turning point where Apple rapidly accelerated their descent into niche-playerdom. There's a very small chance I'm wrong, and that the iOS users that I know are all just the 1% of power users that Apple doesn't care about anymore. For the sake of my Apple stock, I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
"The tire is almost 200 years old. It had its last big innovation about 70 years ago (radial tires). It's time to move on," Joswiak said, when asked why the new Apple car uses spider legs.
I mean seriously, what does the age of a technology have to do with whether it is the best choice for its particular purpose? I've never read a more mind-blowingly ignorant comment from a major corporate exec in my entire life.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Not only that, but everyone hated floppy's. They were slow, had poor capacity, and were unreliable. When USB storage came on the scene it was a massive improvement and has only continued to get better.
By comparison I dont know many people who have a problem with wired headphones. I've had a few wireless sets over the year and for portable applications they've mostly sucked due to having two batteries to worry about.
Except that Apple themselves use USB-C rather than Lightning for their Macbook.
Is there any reason to prefer one port for macOS hardware and another for iOS?
Their proprietary power connectors are also not wanted in the EU. I see this going the same way.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Sony have been doing waterproof phones with a 3.5mm jack that needs no cover for several years now, so claims that they needed to get rid of it to make the phone waterproof are complete and total lies.
Heck the Z5 even comes with a waterproof microUSB socket that needs no cover. Add in some MicFlip cables and bingo the issue of microUSB not being reversible is also solved.
That way in about 6 months every phone would have that connector and any set of earbuds would work with it.
"Any set of earbuds" working with iPhone was clearly killing Apple. That's precisely the 'problem' they set out to solve - how do we stop people using headphones with our phones that they didn't buy from us?
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
I sometimes want to hear new music (or rather, old music I haven't heard before), I also like the lack of control with radio and the occasional traffic announcements or news segments.
I listen to radio at work (I use an actual radio and not my phone though). The radio station even announces each hour, so I do not have to keep looking at the clock.
If I play music on my PC (say, I am at home), I always feel the urge to choose the next song, so, I end up spending more time choosing and playing music (and skipping songs) than I was planning to do while listening to music. If I listen to radio or play a tape, I do not get that urge, so I spend more time doing whatever I was planning to do. Listening to radio I do not get the urge to skip a song even if I do not particularly like it (there is some music that would make me tune to another station - thankfully my favorite station does not play it).
And radio has the advantage over tapes in that it sometimes plays a song I haven't heard before, but like.
Why on earth would Apple want you to listen to free FM radio?
iTunes is a big part of their business and selling bigger data plans makes their carriers happy. FM radio is lose-lose from their point of view.
No sig today...
You're not going to see the kind of 'courage' from Apple that involves allowing people to buy their headphones/connectors elsewhere. Make 'em proprietary and make 'em expensive.
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
Shhh, Apple doesn't expect its fans to know anything about competitors. "An uneducated consumer is our best customer", as their motto should say.
AFAIK, the controller/management chip in the plug portion will not let full power through until it's confirmed the connection itself, part of the orientation smarts.
Similar to their magsafe as well (Macbook has to validate things before charger is told to deliver full power ).
*** I could be completely wrong *** ;)
All my family's iPhone earbuds are still unopened as well, even going back to the older ones wrapped in a plastic band instead of a case. Never used, not once.
The reason for that is the quality is so crappy they're unusable. You can get some pretty amazing quality wired headphones for under $100 on black friday. Last year I got an amazing deal on some SoundSports at $50 each. Compared to cheap headphones, you can actually hear so much more detail in the music it's like a whole different song.
Besides using my phone with multiple different sets of headphones, there's 2 cars I regularly listen in. I am not carrying an adapter every where with me and I am not buying 6 more adapters to leave them on every 3.5" pin I use often.
On the bright side, this got me to try a Note 7. Wow is Apple ever living in the stone age. Just have the "courage" to spend a few days seriously giving it a go. I will never go back to Apple. The edge panels alone are worth the courage to switch. And the display on the Note is simply amazing.