Will you survive the iPhone headphone apocalypse?
Just weeks away from the official presentation, and according to reports from trusted social media leakers, Apple is planning on doing away with the 3.5 mm headphone jack that’s been standard on pretty much any mobile device. The iPhone 7, sans 3.5mm jack, is expected to be unveiled in September.
Intensifying rumors have infuriated social media users, and if true, will push iPhone 7 users against the wall to find a solution to listen to their music through their headphones. Exactly how this plays out for Apple is unclear, especially if strengthening iPhone competitors remain steadfast in their commitment to the traditional, 3.5mm jack. Get ready for a possible war of the headphone jacks, with manufacturers like Phillips, Shure, Monster, Sennheiser, Plantronics, and even Beats caught in the crossfire.
For the past few months, the iPhone 7 has been rumored to seemingly be just a hardware upgrade over the iPhone 6. The news of the change has been rumored on social media for months, but most recently, KnowYourMobile’s Richard Goodwin writes:
Neither handset will feature a 3.5mm headphone jack, however, as Apple is switching this duty over to its existing Lightning port connector; the one that already handles data and charging.
The string of leaks now includes a video on Weibo purportedly showing the iPhone 7, which only sports a Lightning jack for audio listening. A 3.5mm standard jack is nowhere to be found.
Building on this news, USwitch’s Joe Minihane writes that alongside with this change, Apple will bundle a special headphone adapter. As a result, the Lightning slot, which already handles data and charging, will also be able to accommodate 3.5 mm headphones.
The big questions that all social media users and news reporters are asking is “Why?” CNET’s David Conroy points to the larger battery and longer battery life being the main reasons:
The battery would go from 1,715 mAh to 1,960 mAh, which translates into a 14 percent bump in capacity. It’s unclear how much of a battery life bump that will ultimately give you, but that translates to 90 minutes more video playback time — 12.5 hours versus 11 hours — if you do the math on Apple’s iPhone 6S stats.
David Conroy points to French Twitter user @OnLeaks, who has known history of leaking reliable Apple information during the product assembly line, as seemingly confirming this news.
“Intensifying rumors have infuriated social media users, and if true, will push iPhone 7 users against the wall to find a solution to listen to their music through their headphones”
Here’s the solution: Don’t buy iPhone 7.
And wait for the glorious return of headphones in iPhone 8.
“The battery would go from 1,715 mAh to 1,960 mAh, which translates into a 14 percent bump in capacity”
Why don’t they remove the phone function? Would give a nice bump, too.
“Intensifying rumors have infuriated social media users”
I can understand a certain amount of concern or disappointment, but “infuriated”?
The proof is in the pudding. Let’s wait to see what actually happens.
I guess I’m not seeing the clear cut advantage of moving beyond 3.5mm. Seems like a great standard that we’ve been able to enjoy for decades. Standards are great for consumers, proprietary jacks aren’t, in the end I think the analysis is that simple.
Isn’t the advantage that it can improve upon the limitations of the analog 3.5 headphone jack? If Apple introduces 96kHz/24-bit music streaming, and a lightning port can handle that quality…I think the main issue now would be what kind of quality ear buds are Apple going to ship with their new phones? Cause that’s where the bottleneck on sound quality is going to be now.
…to listen to their music through their headphones…
The primary purpose(s) of a phone is not listening to music.
Are you living in the stone age? the primary purpose of our phone isn’t too take photos either but that doesn’t mean remove the camera you fossil. the actual purpose of the phone is primarily calls but just having a phone for calls isn’t what consumers want. consumers want a phone that can do everything including listening to music. oh and apple wants us to listen to music also. don’t fool yourself. apple is trying to change the standard of how we listen. i’m assuming its tied directly to Beats- their music division- only time will tell