iPhone X Apple: Put back headphone jack or I will switch to Android.

[jonblatho]

Apple just wants to sell more BT headphones. This was a business decision, not an aesthetic decision.

The decision to remove the headphone jack came down to several things, none of which are really aesthetic in nature:

1. Improved haptic feedback. iPhone 7’s improved Taptic Engine rakes up some of the space that the headphone jack used to. This allowed for a slightly larger battery.
2. Dead volume inside the phone. The 3.5mm jack was one of the largest remaining sources of empty space inside the phone. When the jack’s not in use, air is useless. Removing the jack freed up space; see reason #1.
3. Waterproofing. While it’s certainly possible to seal around the headphone jack—don’t get me wrong—that’s wasting even more valuable space as mentioned per reason 2.
4. Wireless audio has progressed such that for most use cases it’s acceptable for a user to switch where it may not have been x years ago.
5. The dongle’s cheap to ship with the phone.

Moreover, absolutely no one makes you buy Apple’s wireless headphones. If you don’t want AirPods or Beats wireless headphones, don’t buy ‘em. Apple couldn’t care less; AirPods are selling more than fine.

Technology has very much moved on from the headphone jack. Eventually, and I’d say we’ll begin seeing this within a decade or so, you’re going to be left with not much of a choice but to move with it.

 

[Fthree]

nobody ever says "man i wish i had a tape player in my car" or maybe the OP does..

 

[C DM]

The decision to remove the headphone jack came down to several things, none of which are really aesthetic in nature:

1. Improved haptic feedback. iPhone 7’s improved Taptic Engine rakes up some of the space that the headphone jack used to. This allowed for a slightly larger battery.
2. Dead volume inside the phone. The 3.5mm jack was one of the largest remaining sources of empty space inside the phone. When the jack’s not in use, air is useless. Removing the jack freed up space; see reason #1.
3. Waterproofing. While it’s certainly possible to seal around the headphone jack—don’t get me wrong—that’s wasting even more valuable space as mentioned per reason 2.
4. Wireless audio has progressed such that for most use cases it’s acceptable for a user to switch where it may not have been x years ago.
5. The dongle’s cheap to ship with the phone.

Moreover, absolutely no one makes you buy Apple’s wireless headphones. If you don’t want AirPods or Beats wireless headphones, don’t buy ‘em. Apple couldn’t care less; AirPods are selling more than fine.

Technology has very much moved on from the headphone jack. Eventually, and I’d say we’ll begin seeing this within a decade or so, you’re going to be left with not much of a choice but to move with it.

According to Apple it wasn't really any of that, it was just one thing basically: "courage".
[doublepost=1526144455][/doublepost]

nobody ever says "man i wish i had a tape player in my car" or maybe the OP does..

Considering wired headphones and headphone jack aren't even close to not being used or even around, seems like it's not that applicable.

Furthermore, using CD's or streaming doesn't change the experience much in the sense that you can still do the same things with your car deck as you could before, unlike in this scenario where you can't charge the phone at the same time as using headphones, for example.

Even that aside, there are more than likely quite a few people who might say that if they have tapes that they want to listen to that they can't easily find equivalents to.

 

[Altis]

Sure. I agree it’s not Apple’s responsibility to make their accessories cross compatible with other devices. I’m just disagreeing with the notion that this is a change that was done for the good of consumers. Making the bundled headphones only compatible with Apple products is certainly another benefit... for Apple.

Funny enough, rather than thinking of an Android tablet, I was thinking more about how I frequently use headphones with my laptop, and even Macs still have a headphone jack, not a lightning port.

Apple has become quite anti-consumer in recent times, sadly.

I have a nice pair of wireless headphones (Sony WH1000XM2) but I still often want to use the 3.5mm jack for other purposes and other headphones. They've only made things more difficult for me with zero benefit, even after buying wireless headphones.

 

[darngooddesign]

nobody ever says "man i wish i had a tape player in my car" or maybe the OP does..

The Aux-in is a better example, but regarding car stereos it was very common for your car to come with both a CD player and a tape deck

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

I don’t think it’s Apple’s problem if you can’t use the free headphones with your amazon or android tablet.

And the included lighting headphones I can use just fine with my iPad Pro or mini if I want to.

The earphones included with an iPhone are most certainly not free. The excessive profit on those little parts are factored into the overall price.

 

[44267547]

The decision to remove the headphone jack came down to several things, none of which are really aesthetic in nature:

1. Improved haptic feedback. iPhone 7’s improved Taptic Engine rakes up some of the space that the headphone jack used to. This allowed for a slightly larger battery.
2. Dead volume inside the phone. The 3.5mm jack was one of the largest remaining sources of empty space inside the phone. When the jack’s not in use, air is useless. Removing the jack freed up space; see reason #1.
3. Waterproofing. While it’s certainly possible to seal around the headphone jack—don’t get me wrong—that’s wasting even more valuable space as mentioned per reason 2.
4. Wireless audio has progressed such that for most use cases it’s acceptable for a user to switch where it may not have been x years ago.
5. The dongle’s cheap to ship with the phone.

Moreover, absolutely no one makes you buy Apple’s wireless headphones. If you don’t want AirPods or Beats wireless headphones, don’t buy ‘em. Apple couldn’t care less; AirPods are selling more than fine.

Technology has very much moved on from the headphone jack. Eventually, and I’d say we’ll begin seeing this within a decade or so, you’re going to be left with not much of a choice but to move with it.

Others may not agree, but I think that the AirPods were an excellent gateway when they made the announcement to delete the 3.5 mm Jack to introduce them at the time. Not everybody prefers Bluetooth, I understand that, But the AirPods Have proven to be a success much greater than others anticipated, not just because they are just an alternative, but because of the technology and the convenience in such a small package. And they really are priced competitively compared to some of the manufacturers on the market.

 

[Superrjamz54]

The earphones included with an iPhone are most certainly not free. The excessive profit on those little parts are factored into the overall price.

It’s a $5 dollar part.

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

It’s a $5 dollar part.

That they sell for $30

 

[bill-p]

The decision to remove the headphone jack came down to several things, none of which are really aesthetic in nature:

1. Improved haptic feedback. iPhone 7’s improved Taptic Engine rakes up some of the space that the headphone jack used to. This allowed for a slightly larger battery.
2. Dead volume inside the phone. The 3.5mm jack was one of the largest remaining sources of empty space inside the phone. When the jack’s not in use, air is useless. Removing the jack freed up space; see reason #1.
3. Waterproofing. While it’s certainly possible to seal around the headphone jack—don’t get me wrong—that’s wasting even more valuable space as mentioned per reason 2.
4. Wireless audio has progressed such that for most use cases it’s acceptable for a user to switch where it may not have been x years ago.
5. The dongle’s cheap to ship with the phone.

Moreover, absolutely no one makes you buy Apple’s wireless headphones. If you don’t want AirPods or Beats wireless headphones, don’t buy ‘em. Apple couldn’t care less; AirPods are selling more than fine.

Technology has very much moved on from the headphone jack. Eventually, and I’d say we’ll begin seeing this within a decade or so, you’re going to be left with not much of a choice but to move with it.

As someone else wrote already, none of those are actually the reason Apple did it. I have asked Apple engineers and they don't even seem to know the reason beyond just... courage. Gotta make people buy Airpods somehow.

But here's to address your points:

1. Uh... no. They could have improved haptic feedback by working around this. Like you said, the battery is slightly bigger, but they could have kept the battery the same size and slightly reduced performance (like... 5%?) to account for battery life and kept the headphone jack around. Hell, the audio processing chips are still onboard for the speakers anyway, and those waste far more space than the headphone jack.

2. This is not a problem with most other phones that still have the jack. This is just you arguing for the sake of the argument.

3. Wrong. Samsung did it. OnePlus did it. Many other companies did it. Their phones are thinner than Apple's, even... so this is not an excuse.

4. Wrong. While bluetooth devices have improved leaps and bounds, Apple themselves still doesn't support the latest bluetooth tech with their iOS devices. Hell, they don't even have AptX with the iPhone/iPad/iPod. See:
https://darko.audio/2017/12/how-to-enable-aptx-hd-bluetooth-audio-on-your-iphone-ipad/

So yes, wireless audio products have improved. No, they don't work at their best on Apple mobile devices. Apple devices are either 1 or 2 generations behind on the industry's best wireless techs. Android has had AptX support for a while and LDAC has been around since Android 8.0:
https://www.androidauthority.com/sony-ldac-codec-790690/

Apple still doesn't even support AptX despite their bluetooth chips being capable of it.

5. Okay, but why?

6. This is to address your point of buying something else other than Beats and Airpods: if something is not using the proprietary wireless tech that Apple devices are using, it'll sound like crap due to #4 above. This is not just a speculation based on voodoo stuffs like psycho-acoustic and such but it's just fact. Apple is behind on supporting the latest wireless audio technology except for when it's their own proprietary shiz that nobody else has access to. If you want "good" wireless audio, you are obligated to buy either the Airpods or one of those Beats headphones.

And this is not even discussing anything about wireless vs wired but trust me, I have enough technical information to prove you WRONG that wireless tech has caught up as well.

At this point in time, or even 2-3 years down the line, there is absolutely ZERO excuse to remove the headphone jack.

 

[AZhappyjack]

As someone else wrote already, none of those are actually the reason Apple did it. I have asked Apple engineers and they don't even seem to know the reason beyond just... courage. Gotta make people buy Airpods somehow.

But here's to address your points:

1. Uh... no. They could have improved haptic feedback by working around this. Like you said, the battery is slightly bigger, but they could have kept the battery the same size and slightly reduced performance (like... 5%?) to account for battery life and kept the headphone jack around. Hell, the audio processing chips are still onboard for the speakers anyway, and those waste far more space than the headphone jack.

2. This is not a problem with most other phones that still have the jack. This is just you arguing for the sake of the argument.

3. Wrong. Samsung did it. OnePlus did it. Many other companies did it. Their phones are thinner than Apple's, even... so this is not an excuse.

4. Wrong. While bluetooth devices have improved leaps and bounds, Apple themselves still doesn't support the latest bluetooth tech with their iOS devices. Hell, they don't even have AptX with the iPhone/iPad/iPod. See:
https://darko.audio/2017/12/how-to-enable-aptx-hd-bluetooth-audio-on-your-iphone-ipad/

So yes, wireless audio products have improved. No, they don't work at their best on Apple mobile devices. Apple devices are either 1 or 2 generations behind on the industry's best wireless techs. Android has had AptX support for a while and LDAC has been around since Android 8.0:
https://www.androidauthority.com/sony-ldac-codec-790690/

Apple still doesn't even support AptX despite their bluetooth chips being capable of it.

5. Okay, but why?

6. This is to address your point of buying something else other than Beats and Airpods: if something is not using the proprietary wireless tech that Apple devices are using, it'll sound like crap due to #4 above. This is not just a speculation based on voodoo stuffs like psycho-acoustic and such but it's just fact. Apple is behind on supporting the latest wireless audio technology except for when it's their own proprietary shiz that nobody else has access to. If you want "good" wireless audio, you are obligated to buy either the Airpods or one of those Beats headphones.

And this is not even discussing anything about wireless vs wired but trust me, I have enough technical information to prove you WRONG that wireless tech has caught up as well.

At this point in time, or even 2-3 years down the line, there is absolutely ZERO excuse to remove the headphone jack.

TL;DR

It's gone. For good. What else is there to discuss? Not sure "why" even matters... it all boils down to "it's gone. for good".

 

[bill-p]

TL;DR

It's gone. For good. What else is there to discuss? Not sure "why" even matters... it all boils down to "it's gone. for good".

If you didn't care to discuss, why even bother respond to my post? This is obviously a place for those who lament the lack of the jack.

 

[AZhappyjack]

If you didn't care to discuss, why even bother respond to my post? This is obviously a place for those who lament the lack of the jack.

I have responded in this thread... and by all means, lament away... but Apple is not putting it back, so the entire discussion is moot... an exercise in futility and frustration, at best.

The pressing question is "why?" and the answer is "because Apple said so". Whether that's "right" or "wrong" is immaterial... the golden rule applies - Apple has the gold, so they get to make the rules.

 

[cynics]

You're grasping at straws. They could have done it, easily. Every other manufacturer does. The whole thing reeks of "We just bought a new headphone company and we need to justify selling all these bluetooth headsets to people." I swear if iMessage wasn't platform locked, I'd have switched years ago behind the arrogance of moves like this.

I’m grasping at straws by saying they didn’t fill the area used by the headphone jack with other components? Then you say “every other manufacturer does”? Come on. The Pixel 2 was a very popular phone without a headphone jack and Google explained their move to no headphone jack was for basically the reasons I listed. Quite a few HTC phones dont have one (Ultra, Play, etc) the Moto Z didn’t have one. And as soon as Samsung can get away with it without to much backlash they will too.

Does Apple acquiring Beats have anything to do with it? Or the AirPods? Reduce production cost without a price drop? Of course it does. They are a business and like Google want as much money as they can get.

In no way am I glamorizing or making excuses for Apple. It’s just the state of things. It’s gone and their reasons, some good, some selfish. Convenience for existing hardware is an unfortunate loss.

 

[bill-p]

I have responded in this thread... and by all means, lament away... but Apple is not putting it back, so the entire discussion is moot... an exercise in futility and frustration, at best.

Sure, if you think we're discussing this to make Apple change their tune.

The discussion does help people realize what they are dealing with, though, hence my response above.

It's amazing that people still think Apple is forcing them on to the best and latest wireless tech, so a discussion on that is not futile. It's also quite amazing that people think wireless is "good for the most part" so that's that.

As for the jack, you're right. It's gone. That's why I currently use my Android phone and my iPhone is only for testing and debugging apps. No sense in threatening to move away when one can just do it. Still, the fact that the iPhone is behind on supporting the latest wireless tech, once again, is quite important to note.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Sure, if you think we're discussing this to make Apple change their tune.

The discussion does help people realize what they are dealing with, though, hence my response above.

It's amazing that people still think Apple is forcing them on to the best and latest wireless tech, so a discussion on that is not futile. It's also quite amazing that people think wireless is "good for the most part" so that's that.

As for the jack, you're right. It's gone. That's why I currently use my Android phone and my iPhone is only for testing and debugging apps. No sense in threatening to move away when one can just do it. Still, the fact that the iPhone is behind on supporting the latest wireless tech, once again, is quite important to note.

Again, not necessarily true. If someone is deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem, and the wireless options that Apple provides is "good enough", what else matters? Understand further, that MacRumors and the other tech forums are not particularly representative of choices, whims and desires of the general population. Those who frequent the tech forums tend to be overly concerned with (some) issues that don't matter squat to the average "Joe Consumer". If the average Joe can get in his car and have his phone automatically pair with his car's audio system for music and telephonic functions, that's very often good enough for them.

 

[bill-p]

Again, not necessarily true. If someone is deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem, and the wireless options that Apple provides is "good enough", what else matters? Understand further, that MacRumors and the other tech forums are not particularly representative of choices, whims and desires of the general population. Those who frequent the tech forums tend to be overly concerned with (some) issues that don't matter squat to the average "Joe Consumer". If the average Joe can get in his car and have his phone automatically pair with his car's audio system for music and telephonic functions, that's very often good enough for them.

Again, you do realize we're having this discussion precisely in the place that you are saying the nerds are gathering, so... what else is new?

It's not like we're having this discussion in an open place where the majority of the frequenters are the average Joe, as you said, so there.

There are those who don't care about what Apple is doing, cool. There are also those who care. Otherwise we wouldn't be here.

And sure, whatever Apple has provided is "good enough." I never said they weren't. But apologists who go "but wireless is now catching up and Apple is pushing that" are just plain ignorant, and I'm pointing that out. That's all.

 

[Fthree]

If you didn't care to discuss, why even bother respond to my post? This is obviously a place for those who lament the lack of the jack.

His post seems to be positioned to help the Op get over the devastating decision by Apple to get rid of the headphone jack. I find it hard to believe that for the type of person that would up grade to an X -or another non headphone jack having phone— (these people I’ll call technologically advanced) that they would have such an issue with the removal. Obviously they appreciate forward moving technology and the removal is just evidence of that.

 

[Bawstun]

Going to really kill their growth in India and other developing countries not to have this headphone jack. Many millions of people do care about the lost convenience.

 

[Superrjamz54]

Going to really kill their growth in India and other developing countries not to have this headphone jack. Many millions of people do care about the lost convenience.

Many more millions don’t care. The people in developing countries can’t afford an iPhone. If millions of people actually complained then maybe phone manufacturers would care, but that isn’t the case at all. Most users don’t give a damn either way and use whatever headphones come with the phone. Assuming that the manufacturers keep providing the headphones which most have actually stopped doing. Guess which two still provide them. Hint it’s the manufacturers who sell the most phones.

 

[TechJunk1e]

I can’t believe people actually think the wheel and the headphone jack are equivalent. So dumb. Phase out old tech. People that say they’ll switch likely won’t its an empty threat. And a percentage of the people that do will be back.

 

[hemon]

… in such moments I wish to be "ignorant" and so to "ignore" differences between wired and wireless IEM just enjoying music with what Apple offers me …

 

[C DM]

I can’t believe people actually think the wheel and the headphone jack are equivalent. So dumb. Phase out old tech. People that say they’ll switch likely won’t its an empty threat. And a percentage of the people that do will be back.

The comparison there isn't to equate the two, but to demonstrate that something simply being old doesn't mean anything by itself. Interesting how something fairly simple like that keeps on getting "overlooked".

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

His post seems to be positioned to help the Op get over the devastating decision by Apple to get rid of the headphone jack. I find it hard to believe that for the type of person that would up grade to an X -or another non headphone jack having phone— (these people I’ll call technologically advanced) that they would have such an issue with the removal. Obviously they appreciate forward moving technology and the removal is just evidence of that.

A lot of people with iPhone 7’s onwards still use wired headphones. I see it everyday. We’ve been able to use Bluetooth headphones with our iPhones for years now, it’s not new since the jack was removed. What puts me off BT headphones is the need to charge them and the fact when I’m at work I can’t use them so wired are easier to go between devices as the port is universal. I keep a couple of spare sets of headphones in my daily work bag and my desk drawer. If the battery is flat then they are pretty useless whereas wired headphones need no further maintenance and sound better. The technology is many years off being redundant yet regardless of what direction Apple go in.

I’ll just use the crappy adapter when the time comes and my iPhone no longer has the jack. You don’t have to be ‘technologically advanced people’ to appreciate BT, that’s a flawed generalisation you’ve made up lol.

 

[PhoneMe1]

You heard of AirPods