Obviously, Apple wants to make more money on his customer base. No headphone jack and change to wireless, Apple wants to change customer behaviors.
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Impacts of removing the headphone jack [MERGED]
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um the light earphone still have a dac tho, if they didnt you wouldnt be able to hear anything.
Obviously a matter of opinion, but I would argue that a budget android devices (or even windows phone or whatever the heck else is being produced still) made with no frills and meant to be usable by just about anyone on any income level would better fit your description of least gimmicky smartphone.
That said I don't think much of what Apple does is a gimmick. I don't see value in the new taptic engine (yet anyway; why again do I need force feedback when I am moving around the OS as I did before without it?), but I don't know that I would even call that a gimmick. Some folks have labeled 3D touch a gimmick, though I have always found it very useful.
I guess the bottom line is that anyone can consider almost anything a gimmick if they don't feel the feature is worth it to them. The reality is I can get most, if not all, of what I do on a smartphone done on a sub $100 unit. I choose more expensive units (and this includes iPhone) partially because the build quality and partially because of the extra "gimmicks" they throw in. A great example I see is iMessage.
The Beats Solo3 supposedly have 40 hours of battery life. And the AirPods have 5 hours and another 24 hours in the case. You could always take a quick 20 minute break after 5 continuous hours of listening, or you could just use one AirPod for a a short period while you wait for the other one to charge, or you could bring some wired headphones and take a break from charging your phone while you wait for your AirPods to recharge.
I've heard a lot of complaints about them only having 5 hours of listening per charge. It surprises me that there are so many people out there who find it unacceptable to take a break from listening to music after 5 straight hours.
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its not the 5 straight hours that kill you. its the cumulative. 2 hours here, 2 hours there...all of the sudden the 24 hours is all gone and now you cant listen to music for a while until your headphones...and the headphone case finish charging. Does that really sound ridiculous only to me?
If I folow Apple's way I should keep a schedule for recharging my macbook, iphone, ipad, apple watch and headphones and headphone's case.
I just assumed people who use their headphones frequently would plug them in every night just like they do with their phones.
So the real complaint is that people want more than 24 hours of battery life?
And, of course, if you were on a plane you’d have several ways to charge with you and the case would be charging by a battery or even other power port. The situations where nothing would be charging so that it couldn't give up the port for an hour or so to the case is very unlikely.
You realize that after 5 hours of continuous use when the AirPods die, a 15 minute re-charge in the storage case is all it takes to get another 3 hours.
15 minutes.
So that's up to 24 hours with only 90 minutes of downtime in one 24 hour period. Meaning, you can re-charge your case once a day, and it will be good to go all day with only 15 minutes of downtime between each 3 hour boost. So unless you wear them into the toilet, and when you shower, and when you sleep, etc. then there's going to be very little inconvenience with them. Ever.
And yes, at least once a day you need to plug in all of your electronic gadgets that you've bought (more with some if you use them above average). If you don't want the freedom of wireless earbuds, then don't buy them. Use the Lightning EarPods, or the included adapter with any wired headphones you want, and deal with cable management throughout your day instead. Again, you made the choices to buy all of those gadgets that require charging to use them portably. If you didn't want to add the burden of charging them to your life, then you shouldn't have bought them. For that matter, you actually don't need to charge any of those devices. Simply power them down between use, and only use them when you have a power outlet available to you. Problem solved.
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Yea sure, and the iphone 7 has 12 hours of battery life on LTE for web browsing... sure it does
Real world numbers are usually half of what is advertised
The real complaint is people shouldn't have to separately charge all the peripherals to their devices.
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I didn't make a choice. Apple made the choice for me. Whether or not it's the right choice remains to be seen. I may be wrong but I don't think anyone can argue with the fact that having a wired headphone port is more convenient than _not_ having a wired headphone port. That requires zero charging. 15 minutes or not.
I hope you can understand the point now.
How did Apple make you buy an Watch? Or an iPad, or a MacBook? Everybody needs a phone, I get that -- it's a necessary evil. The MacBook is arguably a necessary evil as well. But an iPad is a choice, and an Watch is a luxury. You made the choice to add that to your daily charging schedule, and live within its power limitations.
That said, of course I understand the argument that having a headphone jack is more convenient than not having one for some people. But again, Apple didn't make you switch to AirPods by removing the jack. You still have the option of using the wired Lightning EarPods, or any wired headphones with the 3.5mm adapter.
Apple did not remove the choice from you to use wired headphones with your iPhone. They only removed the headphone jack. If you don't like using adapters, then that's an entirely different debate.
First off my phone really overheats when plugged in the lightening adapted EarPods for a call. The call lasted about an hour so perhaps not due to hardware.
But what really bugged me was that I had to find the adapter, adapt to the only EarPods I have around me in order to have the call. And then when the battery level hit 10%....I was like sorry my friend I got to go cuz I can't talk with speaker, nor can I charge my phone while earphones are plugged in...
But what really bugged me was that I had to find the adapter, adapt to the only EarPods I have around me in order to have the call. And then when the battery level hit 10%....I was like sorry my friend I got to go cuz I can't talk with speaker, nor can I charge my phone while earphones are plugged in...
I don't like using the adapters.
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In other news. I've been in this forum since 2008. Been through a lot of products and product announcements. Never have I seen such unapologetic fanboysim for Apple's side.
This is kind of ridiculous! Apple removes _the_ feature that made iPhone popular and hyped in the first place (a touch screen wide screen video iPod)... and the defending argument is it's my fault I chose Apple.
Back in 2008 when Apple removed the CD drive, there was also controversy but the discussion was more on how could you live without a CD drive. Never was it directed at the consumer's preference for the brand - it was your choice to pick Apple. I find that very interesting, and sad.
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Not really following this, I get why you can't use a speaker, but why couldn't you just hold the phone up to your head?
And what does adapting to the only EarPods you have around you have to do with it? You can plug any pair of headphones into it. But why not just leave the adapter connected to the pair of headphones you regularly use for such calls?
Oops guess I didn't make myself clear. Phone call was scheduled for one hour so holding it to ear was definitely not viable. Speaker of course wouldn't be permissible either when others are present in the room.
Also I meant I only had a pair of regular EarPods around me at the time, which wasn't even mine. So I fished out my adapter and used it on the earphones. I usually use Bluetooth earphones (which has abysmal mics) but I carry adapter just in case.
Right, but at the end of the hour, when the phone was running out of juice, and you needed to plug in, why not just hold it up to your head then, and plug in the power so you could keep talking?
Still, I'm not sure how you can carry on a conversation where your voice is OK in a room with others, but the person you are talking to isn't, unless the person you were talking to was conveying private information, in which case your side of the conversation would have to be somewhat cryptic.
About the only thing I commiserate with is needing to plug in a pair of headphones, when your Bluetooth ones have run out of juice, or you don't have them, and not being able to plug in a regular pair you borrow from someone without an adapter. Carrying that adapter was lucky I guess. But it's also easier to carry around than a pair of regular headphones, even if you also carry around BT headphones.
I'd recommend upgrading to a pair of BT headphones with a better mic, and that have a detachable cable you can carry around with the adapter connected in case they run out of juice, or you don't have them, and need to borrow someone else's.
I'd have to agree that there are definitely no frills phones on the market that are almost entirely devoid of gimmicks, though those are as much an issue in software as hardware so even some basic phones are guilty of gimmicks.
But of the major manufacturers, in fact of the high end phones I should say due to some of the smaller makers on the scene, I do think Apple has a better track record of making things genuinely useful as opposed gimmicky.
The Taptic Engine will come into its own. Aside from it's rather obvious and basic function for the home button, there are some nice opportunities for software. Not all of them gimmicks as such, more nice additions.
Take gaming for example, force feedback has been a staple in the gaming market for over two decades now, it's gone far beyond gimmick. I'm working on a puzzle game at the moment where I'm going to make use of the Taptic Engine. Completely necessary? No, it's perfectly playable without it. But there will be at least one aspect of it where having actual physical feedback, particularly one as precise and authoritative as the Taptic Engine can provide, will make the player connect with the game in a way not possible before and it just fits, it feels right.
Yeah these things can probably be overdone, do we really need to "feel" wheels turning in iOS, no we've managed so far. But some people will like the sensation, the rest of us can turn it off.
Anyway I digress, I can't actually off the top of my head think of anything on my iPhone I'd class as a gimmick. I use most every function of it on a daily basis and find all of its features either helpful or essential. I'd say 3D Touch could be a gimmick and that the same could be achieved by a long press but that's not really true, there's far more precision in the 3D Touch system.
But it's all a matter of personal perspective and preferences and that's thankfully where we're all different. I mean I'd class a thin row of icons curved round the edge of my screen getting in the way of where I'd rest my palm or fingers as a gimmick.
Or for that matter any completely bezelless device, where the hell do I hold it or rest my fingers for gods sake, god knows I've tried using them they just feel as if user interaction has never been considered to me. But there will be millions who disagree with me.
Or a screen you can tilt to give you a 3D perspective of products you might buy, ok we all thought that was a gimmick
There is still a wired headphone port that requires zero charging. You just either need to use Lightning headphones or an adapter. Either way, wired, zero charging.
This was always going to be something that split opinion regardless of when it happened. There will be people who are outraged that they have been inconvenienced.
Then there's others, of which I admit I am one, who will pop the adapter onto their wired headphones and forget about it because I'll just be plugging them into a different port and I'm ready to fully adopt completely wireless with wide open arms. I won't damn near strangle myself anymore when I'm hoovering like I did yesterday
All I want them to do now is make a really good sounding set of AirPods and I'll throw my money at them happily.
fair enough. I have used the 7 for a few days now and for me I still find it sucky that I have to have that adapter. Little things like not being able to charge the phone whilst listening to music..and forgetting to bring the adapter with me on my car that doesn't have bluetooth.There is still a wired headphone port that requires zero charging. You just either need to use Lightning headphones or an adapter. Either way, wired, zero charging.
This was always going to be something that split opinion regardless of when it happened. There will be people who are outraged that they have been inconvenienced.
Then there's others, of which I admit I am one, who will pop the adapter onto their wired headphones and forget about it because I'll just be plugging them into a different port and I'm ready to fully adopt completely wireless with wide open arms. I won't damn near strangle myself anymore when I'm hoovering like I did yesterday
All I want them to do now is make a really good sounding set of AirPods and I'll throw my money at them happily.
Things that in my opinion, could have been avoided.
I'm with you there for sure. I think the charging situation was a bit of an oversight to say the least. For some people at least.
Still, something tells me that's one thing that will be rectified in next years model. They need to keep something back to pretend they're making progress
I'm likely in a minority, no change there
but I really don't mind that they didn't go USB-C. In fact I'm sort of glad in one way and that's because it won't hold Apple back in future developments. By which I mean that Lightning was released onto the market in 2012 and it took a full 2 more years before USB-C finally came to market. I'm less than bothered that Apple aren't limited in that way.
Really it's not Apple that are preventing universal compatibility either. Just as we've seen for the past couple of years there's nothing preventing manufacturers from including all 3 standards in their cans. Lightning, USB-C and good old analog, have been included on headphones from some manufacturers for a while, no reason why they can't continue to do so.
There will also be a glut of converters and adapters flooding the market before long too. It's really not that much of a big deal as some people make out. There are those that will grumble about changing cables or using adapters.
Me, well I've been doing that sort of thing for a lot longer than even our new fangled digital audio existed with the likes of 3.5mm to quarter inch headphone adapters, so I don't think it's a big deal.
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