Here's What a Headphone Jack to Lightning Adapter Looks Like

[TsMkLg068426]

Tim Cook going to bring 56K Modems on the iMacs 2017.

 

[zahuh]

If the future catches up with the present, then I'd be for it. Until then, I won't be relying on cloud services when I drive through vast deserts where my data coverage isn't always there, or slow to boot for one.

Oh wouldn't that always be nice. Like if every single peripheral was compatible with USB when Apple removed serial. Sometimes it doesn't work out that way.

Now to your point. Sometimes it does. Apple built the music store, app store and movies/tv store then removed CD's/DVD's from the computers.

 

[MaloCS]

They're replacing it with Bluetooth... or an adapter to an open port.... and offerring the option to use a Lightning connector with added benefits (possibly better DAC, maybe charging).

Why "REPLACE" 3.5 mm with Bluetooth? Why not engineer Bluetooth to be leaps and bounds better so people naturally switch. Then in 5 years, when this question comes up again, it will be met with applause instead of disdain.

Right now people still use 3.5 mm because it's just better. There are only a few instances where Bluetooth reigns supreme and NO instances where Lightning wins. The king of the hill in audio delivery is still 3.5 mm.

IF IT AINT BROKE... well you know the rest. Unless, of course, you're Apple in search of a new revenue stream.

 

[PortoMavericks]

They're replacing it with Bluetooth... or an adapter to an open port.... and offerring the option to use a Lightning connector with added benefits (possibly better DAC, maybe charging).

It makes me sick of having another gadget to charge every night. After my iPhone and my smartwatch I will be forced to charge my earphones every night because an old guy considered my actual earphones inadequate? What's the next move? Making me to charge my car every night? Oh, wait...

 

[friedmud]

Here's the one logical flaw you and many others are making, and it's an understandable one: 1) A couple times in the past Apple has been at the forefront of throwing out 'old' technologies. 2) Apple ended up doing well. 3) Therefore EVERY time Apple throws out an 'old' technology, it's a brilliiant move.

I get it. It worked before ... so it's GOTTA work this time, right?

Maybe or maybe not with the audio jack ... but one of these days, IMO, Apple's manical quest for ever more (and unecessary) thinness will catch up with them and the general population will move away from them ... and their 'dominiance' will fade. You already see that on these forums, the dissatisfaction with the direction Apple is headed is higher than it's ever been, that I can assure you. I've been a regular reader of this site for more than 13 years, and was never as negative about Apple as I've become in the past few years, and the number of other posters who share the same sentiment is astonishing.

I think all you're seeing is the rise in the userbase of Apple products. If you have 0.5% unsatisfied customers the difference in shear number of people between 10 million customers and over 1 billion customers is staggering. All the complainers flock to websites like this one to yell into the void... the larger the number of complainers the more forums like this fill up with crap.

iDevices are still incredibly popular. Macs are still growing in sales... and people are questioning Apple's decisions and saying "this will be the end". Sounds like everything is normal in Apple land to me

 

[Abazigal]

Personally, I am not that bothered. Currently using a pair of Jabra move Bluetooth headphones, which also comes with a detachable audio cable. So if Apple does drop the audio port, I just need to get an audio-to-lightning cable and I am good to go.

The rumor has also caused me to have a moratorium on purchasing headphones, at least for those of the wired variety.

But honestly, seeing all the flak Apple has received over what is still an unsubstantiated rumor, I think Apple should just go ahead with it and remove the headphone jack. Should be interesting to see where this takes us.

 

[friedmud]

It makes me sick of having another gadget to charge every night. After my iPhone and my smartwatch I will be forced to charge my earphones every night because an old guy considered my actual earphones inadequate? What's the next move? Making me to charge my car every night? Oh, wait...

We live in a charging world. The world is going wireless and battery powered. That has been the trend since Dust Busters were introduced and cordless power tools / lawn care equipment got started.

Every night I charge: iPad Pro, Macbook Pro, iPhone, Apple Watch, Beats Wireless Studio Headphones, Workout Earbuds, Mophie Battery, Harmony Home Control Remote

Less frequently I charge: Apple Keyboard and Tackpad, HP Calculator

Hell... even my sensor-based hand soap dispensors in my bathroom and kitchen charge via USB!

Like it or not... charging devices is the future.
[doublepost=1466725778][/doublepost]

Why "REPLACE" 3.5 mm with Bluetooth? Why not engineer Bluetooth to be leaps and bounds better so people naturally switch. Then in 5 years, when this question comes up again, it will be met with applause instead of disdain.

Right now people still use 3.5 mm because it's just better. There are only a few instances where Bluetooth reigns supreme and NO instances where Lightning wins. The king of the hill in audio delivery is still 3.5 mm.

IF IT AINT BROKE... well you know the rest. Unless, of course, you're Apple in search of a new revenue stream.

For many people Bluetooth already IS significantly better. Why? Because it doesn't have any wires! Only "audiophiles" rant about bluetooth... the rest of the world is already moving on and are in a blissfully wire free world. You have to remember that 99% of people use the absolute crapiest wired earbuds now... they will hear zero difference when moving to bluetooth.

Once the price of bluetooth headphones / earbuds comes down even more (and it will once the volume goes up because of elimination of 3.5mm) it will be hard to even spot anyone with corded earphones. Every now and again you might see that luddite audiophile holdout with his Android phone tethered to his head...

 

[Tycho24]

Where do you get all this information? You realize they have wireless BT earbuds that have DACs & Amps, as well as batteries, radios and antennas, that aren't much larger than average wired earbuds. How then is this going to contribute any significant bulk to a headphone or an adapter? And why throw perfectly good headphones away when a tiny adapter could be added? That's like saying I would throw my 1/4" plug headphones away when I bought an iPod. This is FUD as its finest. The amp can only be so good because of the space and power constraints. Moreover, it means the headphone makers have to design for the iPhone sonic characteristics. And since the market is generally much bigger than the iPhone, they tend to homogenize the sound for many different devices. So even if Apple could put a better amp in the iPhone, it's not going to necessarily better for every headphone that is plugged into it.



Would you mind providing your factual data to support this FUD claim?



You have no idea what you're talking about. New headphones will be platform agnostic. Old headphones can use adapters. You have no proof that Apple is making this move senselessly. Apple is not the only one getting rid of the headphone jack.

You seem to be the voice of reason here...
I love my headphones; I'm not getting rid of them; I'm even getting a new pair soon (Grado 225e). I have not the SLIGHTEST qualm about dropping $200 on them, with their standard 3.5mm jack.
I know with adapter they'll be usable on my Apple products for decades to come.
This is such a NON issue.

 

[Altis]

"The Verge's Nilay Patel has called the move 'user-hostile and stupid', while Steve Streza...said the decision is good for Apple but bad for the consumer."

Whiners. People said the same thing when Apple switched from the 30-pin connector to Lightning. Does anyone still regret that move? I know I don't.

Most of Apple's recent decisions have been anti-user, good-for-Apple.

I don't think you can compare a relatively short-lived proprietary cable for specific Apple devices to a universal standard used for decades of audio equipment.

 

[Kermit262]

The wife and I needed some new headphones, and we hate wires anyway. Bought V-Moda Crossfade Wireless headphones over the weekend and couldn't be happier. Bring on the iPhone 7.

 

[leroypants]

No. You can build a DAC into something much smaller (i.e. built into the connector), but the components (and therefore conversion quality) likely won't be as good.

The way I see it is this: when you think about "the future", does that future include listening to music over wired headphones connected via an analog 3.5mm jack? To me, it absolutely doesn't.

Over the last decade or so, we've seen leaps and bounds in processor speed, graphics, video resolution, battery life...but audio quality always seems to get overlooked. We have gorgeous HD and 4K video, but Apple Music still streams at 256kbps (for now, at least. I think this will change soon).

Why is everyone so attached to the 3.5mm jack? Decent bluetooth headphones are basically a dime a dozen and untether you from wires, and far superior quality can be had using an external DAC and digital connection; so there you satisfy people who want convenience, and people who want quality. And you know it won't be long until there are wireless headphones with phenomenal DACs built right in, if there aren't already.

I'll admit that an adapter surely isn't the most elegant solution, and I acknowledge that lightning headphones are kind of dumb because you can't use them with other devices (should have gone with USB-C), but I'll happily use an adapter with my M50x's if it means I get better D to A conversion. If you haven't had the chance to listen to a great DAC and compare it to your phone's headphone jack, do yourself a favor.

Yes, it might inconvenience you for a couple of weeks, but everybody here knows that the headphone jack is going away EVENTUALLY, and if it wasn't now, then people would still be up in arms about it if it were next year or five years from now.

/rant

I totally agree 256 AAC iTunes files will now sound completely and magically better when switching to headphones with a lightning connector.

 

[Krevnik]

And wireless versions of decades of audio gear?

iPhone us worthless without a DAC and analog audio output (headphone jack)

So, here's the thing. Not everyone has your setup (and vice versa). My main complaint is that there are still situations where wired connections are required, and it'd be nice if I didn't have to buy headphones that ONLY work with my iPhone for those few times (it'd be nice to work with my Mac too).

But outside of that one case that I've needed once in the last 4-5 years, everything I use my iPhone with for output already has its own DAC and connects via lightning. At work, in the car, and on my night stand, my iPhone already uses lightning for audio output. At home, my AV receiver uses AirPlay (more convenient, and Apple uses lossless for the audio stream, so I'm not losing out there, really).

And mostly, I do it this way, because I've never really liked AUX inputs. Too many compromises done as a work-around. If you are using a lot of AUX or Headphone -> RCA inputs, yes... this will completely suck and add yet another cable into your kit for a while that will have a DAC and spit out a headphone or RCA connector out the other side. But for me, it's more that I don't like the lack of a good replacement standard at this point in time.

BT can *almost* do it if it supported lossless, and the FAA wasn't being overly paranoid. But the only other options are USB and lightning, and only the latter has something in place right now, despite being proprietary. So while I don't agree that it is worthless without analog audio output, I do think this is a bit too early.

 

[Sharewaredemon]

Or, y'know, something simple and discrete like Apple will actually do?

View attachment 637582

buy a bluetooth receiver.

My mate has one.
simply plug in headphone and turn on phone bluetooth, now your wired headphones are wireless.

these adapters are cheap.

My mate uses his with his his android phone.

Maybe Apple with lose the headphone jack, and bundle a bluetooth adapter with their phones for a year or two.

 

[lowkey]

"But here's the thing about that notion: it's said every single time Apple does something like this. The removal of the floppy drive on the Mac. The lack of a physical keyboard on the iPhone. The removal of the optical drive on MacBooks. The end of the mouse.The removal of USB ports. Etc. Etc. Etc.

The outrage is as palpable as it is comical. Then everyone calms down. The news cycle moves on. People buy the new Apple device anyway. Life continues. All competitors copy Apple's once-controversial move. And technology ends up in a better place as a result."

quoted for accuracy

 

[robeddie]

I think all you're seeing is the rise in the userbase of Apple products. If you have 0.5% unsatisfied customers the difference in shear number of people between 10 million customers and over 1 billion customers is staggering. All the complainers flock to websites like this one to yell into the void... the larger the number of complainers the more forums like this fill up with crap.

iDevices are still incredibly popular. Macs are still growing in sales... and people are questioning Apple's decisions and saying "this will be the end". Sounds like everything is normal in Apple land to me

And you sound like 'Donald Trump alternate universe' version of reality to me.

 

[libmanj]

Jesus, that adapter is huge. Why God, why?

 

[friedmud]

And you sound like 'Donald Trump alternate universe' version of reality to me.

Going ad hominem now I see. Makes sense.

 

[cclloyd]

To anyone that goes to Apple events frequently:

Please promise me you'll boo them off the stage when they announce no headphone jack.

 

[friedmud]

You can't use bluetooth headphones on an airliner. It would make more sense for Apple to put an adapter in the box with a new phone, since most users already have headphones.

BT can *almost* do it if it supported lossless, and the FAA wasn't being overly paranoid. But the only other options are USB and lightning, and only the latter has something in place right now, despite being proprietary. So while I don't agree that it is worthless without analog audio output, I do think this is a bit too early.

The FAA does NOT restrict the use of Bluetooth on planes!

Straight from the horse's mouth:

https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?cid=TW189&newsId=15254

Relevant bit:

"You can also continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards."

So not only CAN you use Bluetooth... you always have been able to.

I fly all the time... Use Bluetooth headphones from the time I leave my house, through all of my flights, until the time I get to my hotel... Nonstop.

Flying is actually the killer app for wireless headphones... wires are a PITA on a plane... Always getting snagged, tripped over, knotted up, etc.

 

[Carlanga]

Or, y'know, something simple and discrete like Apple will actually do?

View attachment 637582

so that 'simple' solutions has 2 male heads for the lightning cable?



-------

IMO if this comes true this is a push for wireless headphones, no sense to buy headphones for only one of your devices. They want people to stop buying reg ones and start buying bt so that bt headphones become the standard.
I like bt earphones in the gym, but that is about it, I don't want another thing to charge and to waste battery and resources from my phone vs 3.5.

 

[LauraJean]

No, it's not like floppy disks. The 3.5 mm jack is more akin to the Edison Screw, the light bulb socket developed by Thomas Edison in 1909 and which is still the standard. Just because something has been around a long time is not reason enough to ditch it.

 

[TheDannyBlack]

PLEASE MAKE THIS GO AWAY!!!

 

[jscooper22]

Oh boy! I can add another Apple adapter to my collection! Sweet!!

 

[Porco]

That adapter reminds me of my black iPod Shuffle, which ironically has a 3.5mm headphone jack socket as standard. And cost less than the adapter does(!)

(*IMAGE REMOVED*) PLEASE MAKE THIS GO AWAY!!!

There you go.

 

[technopimp]

No, it's not like floppy disks. The 3.5 mm jack is more akin to the Edison Screw, the light bulb socket developed by Thomas Edison in 1909 and which is still the standard. Just because something has been around a long time is not reason enough to ditch it.

Makes me wish my name was Edison. Wanna see my "special move"?