Impacts of removing the headphone jack [MERGED]

[erayser]

You can transform your old iPhone into an iPhone 7

LOL... I actually like the direction Apple went on the iPhone 7. If I didn't change carriers that required me to get a new phone, I might have upgraded my 6+... maybe. But after playing with my s7 edge... it would be nice to have wireless charging since they got rid of the 3.5mm jack. Since I have a new phone to play with this year... looking forward to the 2017 iPhone.

 

[Appleaker]

What makes you think that these manufacturers got rid of the headphone jack because of an Apple rumor? The designs were most likely finalized before the rumors of the iPhone 7 even came out. Both of these devices use USB C, which can transmit audio (like lightning), so it is not surprising that they opted to get rid of the headphone jack. Especially since USB is a more open standard than lightning, so there will hopefully be some reasonably priced USB C headphones. Honestly I'm surprised Apple didn't kill of the headphone jack in the new MacBook. I wouldn't be surprised if the next update of that laptop gets it knocked out, to make it just have one port.

I didn't read through the entire 9 page thread, so forgive me if this has been mentioned, but one issue that might crop up with no headphone jack is in battery cases. People that use battery cases daily wouldn't have any way to get audio out of their phone except wirelessly. Since all of the MFi battery cases (excluding Apple's own) use micro USB, there wouldn't be any possibility of audio out. Even if they moved up to using USB C I kinda doubt that would pass through the audio signal (although it seems feasible).

Are you kidding? Of course they did. The rumors began soon after the 6S release. Other manufacturers can work much faster than Apple due to a lack of some stages, simpler manufacturing, among other things.

Nobody considered, let alone Lenovo/Motorola, dropping the headphone jack from their products.

Just like how Samsung released a smart watch soon after Apple Watch rumors began ramping up. Everyone wants to be first to the game, even if it is a negative thing.

 

[freepomme]

It was quiet in that keynote. And I tried to tell y'all!

⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾ WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS???? BLUETOOTH IS NOT REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY

 

[Picapau21]

It was quiet in that keynote. And I tried to tell y'all!

⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾ WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS???? BLUETOOTH IS NOT REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY

I've heard they are going to get rid of the entire screen for the 7s!! No lie!!

 

[AbSoluTc]

Here's what's going to happen.

Samsung will mock Apple about removing the jack in a commercial. Then Samsung will eventually remove the jack as well. They will also come out with a super "slick black" color or something similar.

I also don't understand why anyone wants wireless charging. I have an android tablet that came with my Vizio TV and it's wireless charging. It takes forever to charge that way. I plug it in and it's done in a fraction of the time.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Any possible impacts I haven't mentioned?

Haven't read through all 10 pages of this thread, but the big negative impact for customers is the inability to charge your phone and listen via wired headphones.

 

[Blaze4G]

Here's what's going to happen.

Samsung will mock Apple about removing the jack in a commercial. Then Samsung will eventually remove the jack as well. They will also come out with a super "slick black" color or something similar.

I also don't understand why anyone wants wireless charging. I have an android tablet that came with my Vizio TV and it's wireless charging. It takes forever to charge that way. I plug it in and it's done in a fraction of the time.

First of all you have quick wireless charge which your tablet nor your iPhone have.

Now here is what going to happen. I am going to show you a pic of a super slick black galaxy S7 that came out before the iPhone 7. Then you're gonna say Samsung still copied Apple.
https://www.google.com/search?q=bla...AUIBygB&biw=412&bih=604#imgrc=tEoECi7fdJXrCM:

 

[sawah]

I for one love no headphone jack. I never use it and it's one less port to get dust or lint in. There's already an adapter for charging and music. No big deal.

 

[jlabute]

The Moto Z does not have a headphone jack. They were first. I am glad the jack is gone. The fewer connectors the better (connectors are expensive). There is an adapter for those who need it.

 

[erayser]

I also don't understand why anyone wants wireless charging. I have an android tablet that came with my Vizio TV and it's wireless charging. It takes forever to charge that way. I plug it in and it's done in a fraction of the time.

The main reason I would like to have wireless charging is to have another way to charge my battery if I have headphones plugged into the Lightning port. Probably less wear and tear on the lighting port if you use the port for headphone also. I use a wireless charging dock stand on my nightstand... and have another in my office. With the "always on display", I use my phone as a clock stand. Wireless charging makes it easier to pull my phone off late at night, browse, read, look at email.... then back on the stand when I'm done. Not a big deal, but pretty convenient. Not a deal breaker, but still hoping to see this feature in the iPhone in 2017.

You're right that it will charge faster plugging a wired charger in the port but my wireless charger, can charge my S7 Edge 3600 mAh in a little over 2.5 hours... not as bad as previous wireless chargers. My S7 Edge and 6+ last all day with battery time to spare so I only charge at night while I'm sleeping.

 

[Macalway]

Frankly, I just don't understand it. I see very few people using wired buds in public, which of course is the vast majority. But everyone in a gym setting uses them.

So gym use will require an adapter. Exactly how much of a bummer this is remains to be seen.

Note: looking at Phil, I don't imagine this will be a problem for him

 

[TroyBoy30]

Have used nothing but bt for years. Especially in the gym. Why would you want cables

 

[Macalway]

Have used nothing but bt for years. Especially in the gym. Why would you want cables

No

 

[LKN]

Here's what's going to happen.

Samsung will mock Apple about removing the jack in a commercial. Then Samsung will eventually remove the jack as well. They will also come out with a super "slick black" color or something similar.

I also don't understand why anyone wants wireless charging. I have an android tablet that came with my Vizio TV and it's wireless charging. It takes forever to charge that way. I plug it in and it's done in a fraction of the time.

Samsung already made a mockery when the Note 7 was announced and he said " oh by the way it includes a headphone jack"

So a commercial will probably be likely

 

[JesterJJZ]

Whilst I agree the lightening connector will be long gone in 10-20 years, so will the 3.5mm jack

Ask any audio professional which jacks will stay. 1/4" is still on most pro audio gear. 1/4" and 3.5" will be standard for another 50+ years no doubt.

 

[Appleaker]

Haven't read through all 10 pages of this thread, but the big negative impact for customers is the inability to charge your phone and listen via wired headphones.

That's a result of removing it, not an impact in the same sense as the others.
But Apple want you to use wireless not Lightning but due to the costs, they have no choice but to use Lightning out of the box.

 

[bigpoppamac31]

If they've just used the same or similar DAC and amp, but put it in the cable or dongle instead of the phone, the quality will be the same. If headphones use a cheaper DAC or amp than previous iPhones, it will be worse. High impedance headphones using a quality DAC and stronger amp than in previous iPhones will sound better than if equivalent phones were plugged directly into a previous iPhone.

tl;dr It depends...

Wouldn't the DAC be built into the iPhone? Why would it be in the headphones or in the lighting to 3.5mm adapter? Wouldn't the adapter be way too small to house it?

 

[mwhals]

the death of headphone jack is coming. it is interesting to see how this will impact on other audio devices. One thing for sure is that bluetooth headphone will get a big boost in sale and investment.

Hi fi will still use the jack, because wired gives better sound than wireless when using higher priced headphones. I don't even use my smartphone for music as I use a dedicated music player that has awesome sound with good headphones.

 

[calaverasgrande]

Yes, by removing the 3.5 mm jack it has become possible to make the iPhone more water resistant. I know of several cases where an iPhone landed up in a swimming pool, toilet bowl, a lake or the sea….. a costly mistake.

there are other phones which are waterproof, and have an earphone jack. No reason the hole for the jack needs to continue past the space it takes for the plug.

 

[rawlus]

Hi fi will still use the jack, because wired gives better sound than wireless when using higher priced headphones. I don't even use my smartphone for music as I use a dedicated music player that has awesome sound with good headphones.

That's only because nobody in hifi has tackled the challenge of producing wired quality sound in wireless...
Because they want to keep selling what they have and not invest their profits in R&D to do something innovative and visionary...

But when a billion iPhone users adopt wireless earbuds with no power switches, no setup, long battery life and all the rest... Then hifi will be looking for a piece of that pie.

 

[pika2000]

There is only going to be one impact: Hispter bloggers and lazy journalists get sudden increase in page hits just by making an article ranting about it.

Apple included lightning earpod with every iPhone 7. Most people will simply use whatever stock earbuds that come with their phones. They will only look for a new one when the stock one broke. Even if they end up with a regular earphone, there's the included adapter. Most people will just plug it to their earphone and that's it.

As for charging while listening to music, how often do people actually do this? Let's be realistic.

As for reducing the ability to listen to music, there's a speaker on the iPhone. There are bluetooth speakers aplenty.

This will simply be like the first gen iPhone, where the headphone jack is recessed. It's very similar. Included stock earbud works fine, other headsets need an adapter. The world didn't end back then.

 

[Shamgar]

Wouldn't the DAC be built into the iPhone? Why would it be in the headphones or in the lighting to 3.5mm adapter? Wouldn't the adapter be way too small to house it?

Lightning does not carry an analog audio signal, so an external DAC will be necessary somewhere in the chain. The iPhone must still have a DAC for its internal speakers, but there's no analog connection heading out of the phone.

 

[mwhals]

That's only because nobody in hifi has tackled the challenge of producing wired quality sound in wireless...
Because they want to keep selling what they have and not invest their profits in R&D to do something innovative and visionary...

But when a billion iPhone users adopt wireless earbuds with no power switches, no setup, long battery life and all the rest... Then hifi will be looking for a piece of that pie.

That might be true, but hi res music files require more bandwidth. Also, I do not want wireless near my head for long periods of time.

 

[rawlus]

That might be true, but hi res music files require more bandwidth. Also, I do not want wireless near my head for long periods of time.

wired is still totally do-able. in a marginally altered way. so its a win/win.
when we see the teardowns we'll get to understand what they did to fill the space in the case that the jack port took up. maybe then the value of that decision will be interpreted differently. its not like the available real estate is limitless - bluetooth/wireless listening has been trending for some time now - so making a decision to support that better, while not completely eliminating the ability to have wires seems like a fair choice and compromise.

i like music as much as the next person, but wires on a mobile device are just getting unbearable for me. i HATE earbud and headphone wires. it is absolutely restrictive to me. so for me personally - i welcome further advancements in wireless tech... focus the R&D on making that better, and closing the gap between wires and wireless - and make the act of using wireless as effortless as pluging in a mini jack and i think thats pretty smart and visionary

 

[ziggo]

Only thing I've ever used my headphone jack for was the AUX plug in the car. I'll simply keep the adaptor in the car for when I'm driving, problem solved.

I use my Tone's for all music listening outside of the car. Will switch to the Airpods when they are available.


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