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Apple could slap an apple logo on a turd and it would sell. Them shrinking the bezels and making the iPhone look more modern wouldn't hurt anything IMO. In fact, it could possibly help drive even more sales. Decreasing the bezels wouldn't mess up the iPhone's look. People will still know that it's an iPhone, especially with the logo on the back.
Man I wish I could sell a turd like Apple.
Didn't say they wouldn't tweak the design but they want an iPhone to be an iPhone.
I may be in a minority here, but I wouldn't mind if Apple increased the thickness for a bigger battery and whatnot. I think Jony's obsession with making these devices as thin as possible has probably gone too far and should be dialed back a bit. Also, I will lose a lot of respect for Apple if they eschew the headphone jack. So many headphones, earbuds and aux cables will be rendered useless. And no, I don't wanna buy a damn $30 adapter for something that should be built in anyways since it's a timeless industry standard.
I know a lot of people will point to Apple removing the floppy drive and DVD drive as examples to justify this potential blunder but it's just not the same thing, those were drives/slot for different media formats and stuff like that changes constantly but the 3.5mm audio jack has no reason to go other than 1) Jony Ive's obsession with thinness and 2) So that Apple can profit off adapters and to transfer everything to the lightning connector therefore making audio accessories exclusive to the iPhone, thus more profits. It seems blatantly obvious that the sole reason for removing the headphone jack is more money driven than future-proofing. That's not innovation, that's greed.
I get that bluetooth and wireless are the future but the 3.5mm headphone jack should always be an option. No other company has contemplated removing it from their devices. I may never buy another iPhone again if they do this and I'm sure many others share the same opinion and if Apple doesn't want to alienate its customers, then the headphone jack must be retained.
Remember how everyone complained about the recessed headphone jack in the 1st gen iPhone? Apple was pressured to incorporate the standard 3.5mm jack in the 3G and if there is any sort of backlash with the iPhone 7, it would be impossible for Apple to ignore and not address the issue.
I know a lot of people will point to Apple removing the floppy drive and DVD drive as examples to justify this potential blunder but it's just not the same thing, those were drives/slot for different media formats and stuff like that changes constantly but the 3.5mm audio jack has no reason to go other than 1) Jony Ive's obsession with thinness and 2) So that Apple can profit off adapters and to transfer everything to the lightning connector therefore making audio accessories exclusive to the iPhone, thus more profits. It seems blatantly obvious that the sole reason for removing the headphone jack is more money driven than future-proofing. That's not innovation, that's greed.
I get that bluetooth and wireless are the future but the 3.5mm headphone jack should always be an option. No other company has contemplated removing it from their devices. I may never buy another iPhone again if they do this and I'm sure many others share the same opinion and if Apple doesn't want to alienate its customers, then the headphone jack must be retained.
Remember how everyone complained about the recessed headphone jack in the 1st gen iPhone? Apple was pressured to incorporate the standard 3.5mm jack in the 3G and if there is any sort of backlash with the iPhone 7, it would be impossible for Apple to ignore and not address the issue.
That's just it though...it would still be an iPhone. And iPhone with a more modern look. I'm not saying completely take the iPhone and randomly turn it into a blackberry but just ease up on the bezels. Make the phone look more up to date. It'll still have that iconic Apple look. Plus, there's a giant Apple logo on the back. Apple could take the 4.7 and 5.5in displays and put them into smaller bodies. People who hate the over size current models, would possibly be more tempted to buy. If Samsung can do it, surely the great and powerful Apple can
Rumours already point to a second speaker to take the spot of where the 3.5mm jack module currently takes up. A speaker is far smaller than the jack. It is not the reason they're removing it.
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I've mentioned my thoughts earlier but I'll touch a bit more on it.
Personally I believe the next couple generations are going to be maneuvers setting up for some big things. Think of it like baseball. They will make a couple what seemingly looks like small or even odd moves, but they are just loading the bases for the grand slam.
1: The jack removal. This starts the allowance to shrink bezels. This change when combined with 3D Touch last year sets up for possible near zero bottom bezel if their rumours of removing the home button and integrating it and the Touch ID into the screen itself. Why does the jack play into this? I don't think it's possible to have have a screen over top the jack while allowing pressing into the screen (which would happen today if the bottom bezel was reduced) it could cause issues. Also, two ports currently capable of doing audio. One is old and "standard" and the other one is able to give a much higher quality plus capable of onboard noise cancelling digitally without the need for it to be built into the headphone. Remove redundancy and just use the superior one. Shrink the bottom bezel allows to shrink the top (because it's only the same height for symmetry)
2: The 3.5mm jack removal again. This can allow Apple to develop a higher rating water resistance to what's in the Samsung s7 or maybe even full on waterproof. It's easier to seal a tiny speaker and a Lightning port than a 3.5mm jack.
3: The rumour of getting rid of antenna lines off the back (moving them more to the top/bottom or sides.) This on the surface is just a "it looks better" move. I believe that it is mostly a move to get the antennas out of the way for when they add in their wireless charging. Antennas could interfere or the other way around the through the air charging could interfere with signal if too close to the battery and why they need to move. We already know from a couple news articles that Apple is working to release a true wireless, through the air charging and not use a pad like its traditionally done with other phones today.
4: Thinness. Think about it for a second. If Apple does in a couple year get their true, through the air charging technology out, battery size is almost moot. You enter a room and you're charging. You wouldn't even need to take it out of your pocket. You could set up multiple areas (think of it like cell towers) a few rooms in your home, at your desk in your office, in your car. Even businesses could have "stations" like a coffee shop or whatever. Phone will charge more often without any effort of the user (just by walking into a room or being at your desk at work or going to get a coffee at Starbucks) as a result the need to go a 12-15+ hours stretch without a charge and risk having a dead phone will be near eliminated. You'll get mini battery top ups constantly throughout the day. With how chips and such get efficient every year Apple will probably maintain their battery life goal it has been for ever now, but the need to have it last that long of a stretch will reduce (because charging will be pretty much automatic.) Onviously there will be a point to no longer go thinner, but thinness = light. It's not heavy in your hand or in your pocket. People even complained about the extremely tiny weight gain the 6s and 6s+ got over the 6 and 6+.
These are all just my own thoughts. Based on what's rumoured to be coming and what is also rumoured technology they are infact working on for the not too distant future. Trying to use logic to piece together of what could be the reasoning for things like 3.5mm jack. Trying to understand "ok, they are doing this now, that could make sense for down the road so that they can then do that."
X2. The leak posted above though suggests it's going to be the same width and height as the 6S. If that's correct, no shrunken bezels for at least 2 more years--and that's a travesty.
I'm not even sure where to start. I do hate that people like yourself seem to not read or ignore all the rebuttals to this exact same argument which have come before without addressing them, which turns these threads into a redundant conversation going over the exact same points ad infinitum. But here goes:
1) I can't imagine the adapter will cost anywhere near $30, since Apple has sold a 5c/s dock with additional features for the same price. At most the basic adapter will be $20, and third parties will likely offer them for under $10.
2) "Timeless" is NOT an accurate description of the current 3.5mm "standard". In fact I would argue the 3.5mm jack has only been a so-called standard since the iPhone arrived in 2007, so less than a decade. Prior to that there were proprietary connectors for most mobile phones, and the industry "standard" was a 2.5mm, incompatible with any existing headphones. That was the state of affairs for almost a decade prior to the iPhone. And prior to that, there was a decade of conflict between 1/4" headphone jacks on home equipment, versus mobile equipment, and a host of adapters, which are still necessary today. So 3.5mm is far from "timeless"
3) You have some very cynical notions you state as fact -- which are nothing of the sort. There are many other reasons the 3.5mm jack could be removed, like adding more battery life, or new features, or improvements to existing features. Your hyperbole that there's no other possible reasons than what you state is just plain wrong.
4) No, 3.5mm should not ALWAYS be an option. There's no reason for that to be the case, especially if there are other reasons to remove it. You say you understand wireless is the future of audio currently via bluetooth, a non-proprietary standard, yet you go on to push your conspiracy theory that Apple wants to push "everything" toward proprietary Lightning connectors. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If someone needs a wired connection for audio then Lightning is available. Otherwise, there's an open standard of Bluetooth, from which Apple gets nothing. I'd argue most people don't care enough about the faulty of their music for that to matter.
5) No other company is RUMORED to make this move, and Apple hasn't officially contemplated it. However, if they do, it doesn't mean the other companies won't follow Apple, at least with their comparably equipped flagship phones. If Apple does this, you may well not have any other choice on any other premium iPhone.
6) The first gen iPhone is a completely different issue. That forced an adapter to use the same technology the customer already had. And there was a legitimate reason for it on brand new technology. Apple didn't just remove an arbitrarily applied impediment to force the use of proprietary equipment -- Apple didn't see a dime from a third party adapter which most bought who didn't use the free Apple earbuds. Instead, Apple redesigned the port to be more secure while accommodating third party plugs. Removing the jack offers all the advantages of using Lightning for those who insist on using wired audio equipment, it's not just some trick to force users to buy an adapter. Apple is actually offering a better alternative to 3.5mm to justify the use of an adapter, not just requiring someone to use an adapter to get exactly the same thing they had before, to the extent that was ever the case with the original iPhone.
I'm sorry, but what!?
You can't be serious. And even if there were some speaker that was somehow smaller than the 3.5mm jack, using ANY portion of the space reclaimed from the removal of the 3.5mm jack for a redundant second speaker to provide poor quality stereo spatial separation would be ridiculous. In 16 years Apple has not felt compelled to put a speaker on an iPod, nor a second speaker on the iPod Touch for stereo in almost a decade. Why would they start offering an inferior experience now?
1. The 3.5mm jack isn't the only problem they have if your theory is correct about shrinking the bezels. the speaker module is at least as thick as the 3.5mm module, and just as tall. Either way, they redesign the phone every year. There's no reason to get rid of the 3.5mm jack now, if they have no intention of shrinking the bezel until the iPhone 8. Now, I will concede that it is a possibility that if you are correct in this assessment, that a redesigned speaker to fit in the new bezel space will be even more inferior to the performance the iPhone currently offers, and the only way to compensate for that would be to offer two inferior speakers to achieve at least similar performance to what the iPhone currently has. In which case, then yes, removing the jack to make room for the bezel and doubling up the speakers to retain the current performance might make some sense. And it would explain why the rumored stereo speakers are both at the bottom of the phone rather than on opposite ends -- because it's not about adding a stereo speaker, but achieving parity with the current offerings. But again, until they actually commit to shrink the bezel, there is no reason to implement any of this.
2. As has been pointed out numerous times, the competition already has water-resistant phones with 3.5mm jacks. While it may be easier to implement without, certainly Apple is capable of doing what Android makers are already successfully doing. This would be at the bottom of the list to remove the jack.
3. While radio interference is always a problem, the jack could just as easily be relocated to get out of conflict with the antenna. I don't know enough about this area of engineering to have an intelligent debate about this, but I would argue the 3.5mm exits in many other phones currently on the market without "antenna lines", so my guess is, it's not a big enough issue to remove a universal standard.
4. "Thinness" again. Unless there have been some other significant breakthroughs in technology, it's going to be a few generations away from reducing the iPhones thickness below 3.5mm from the current 7mm+, such that the jack won't literally fit on the edge of the phone. So I maintain as I always have that this metric doesn't even apply to all the misinformation spread from this particular rumor. And a 3mm phone will be a new flexible design, because all the advanced aluminum in the world ins't going to prevent an iPhone Plus from flexing.
So again, while I don't necessarily disagree with any of your hypothesis, until they are actually ready to shrink the bezel, or implement some of these other improvements, there's no reason to remove the universal 3.5mm jack, possibly giving their competition the advantage even if only in the short term.
If they remove it now, they do so because they need to.
I just don't expect to be wowed by Apple anymore.
With the exception of the 6/6+being bigger (which was a no brainer), it's been a steady stream of products that were a bit less than what people hoped - the Macbook, iMac and Mini all rolled out with specs that were a step down from the products they replaced.
There is nothing about the rumored feature of of the 7 that makes it appealing. A combo port that is somehow being spun as a good thing? Thinner for thinner sake? New adapters?
They will sell a ton because people become creatures of habit. People think it's too much trouble to switch or change....just like many stay with the same car insurance company or electricity provider.
But I really would like Apple get back to putting out great products that set the bar, rather than products that feel half baked.
With the exception of the 6/6+being bigger (which was a no brainer), it's been a steady stream of products that were a bit less than what people hoped - the Macbook, iMac and Mini all rolled out with specs that were a step down from the products they replaced.
There is nothing about the rumored feature of of the 7 that makes it appealing. A combo port that is somehow being spun as a good thing? Thinner for thinner sake? New adapters?
They will sell a ton because people become creatures of habit. People think it's too much trouble to switch or change....just like many stay with the same car insurance company or electricity provider.
But I really would like Apple get back to putting out great products that set the bar, rather than products that feel half baked.
My 6S + isn't unpocketable, maybe you should stop wearing trousers that are too tight/small?
I switched car insurance companies multiple times in the last few years, so I'm not a creature of habit.
I was wowed by the 6s; did not expect the phone to be as it was.
Virtually nothing outside of the rumor mill is known about the iPhone 7. So the removal of the 3.5mm jack, while might be true might not.
I do expect to be wowed by the i7 though.
I will upgrade just for induction/remote wireless charging, specially remote charging technology from Energous.
http://www.energous.com
The idea of having a remote wireless charger nearby and not have to remember to plug into cable or place on a induction charging pad, and have a phone with 100% battery when walk out of room if stay in the room long enough, is just awesome.
http://www.energous.com
The idea of having a remote wireless charger nearby and not have to remember to plug into cable or place on a induction charging pad, and have a phone with 100% battery when walk out of room if stay in the room long enough, is just awesome.
I'd love to see that too, but I think this is wishful thinking for September. Maybe by the 7s, but that also seems a bit soon.
But I wouldn't rule it out for a set of Beats Bluetooth headphones. That would go a long way toward mitigating concerns over adoption of BT headphones with the removal of the headphone jack. That won't solve the high quality wired headphone enthusiasts concerns, but the more I think about this, the more I think people buying the flagship phones are less likely to be concerned with that.
If you have some HW design experience, you might understand if it is not in 7, it will not be in 7s. A wireless induction or wireless remote will required significantly PCB design change, plus induction will also required significant back panel material change.
There is no reason Apple will design a case to handle wireless charge, at least for induction, but not functional circuitry in PCB design. You just don't spend money on material/design and make it mass production without using it.
The question is can Apple afford to wait until 2018 to introduce wireless induction/remote charge.
You mean like adding Force Touch to the 6S? If the 7 series is designed for wireless charging they intend to implement in 2017, then it would be easy to implement. Of course the PCB would change, just as it did for the 6S to accommodate all of its new technology. The point being, they have defined parameters into which they must configure the parts, which they likely know before the 7 ever goes into production. I would bet the 6S was designed first (just as all "s" models must be), and they backed out of it to create the much easier to implement 6, knowing they wouldn't be ready to implement the 6S features so soon. Otherwise they run the risk of repeated the Apple III debacle of designing an enclosure that locks them into limited improvements.
That said, we're not talking about inductive charging, at least I'm not, which would be a piece of cake to add to the 7 in September considering the Watch already has it. And that would certainly lay the groundwork for converting that to a wireless transmission system in the 7S.
And with that, removing the 3.5mm jack might be necessary to accommodate the anticipated changes, in which case there will be one generation of iPhone that lacks the 3.5mm jack but does not have wireless charging.
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I AM talking about I am good with either.
Read my post again please, and you should be clear on the 1st quoted response you are ONLY taking about remote charging.
There is significant isolation required due to RF interference, and requirement for RF penetration on the case, most are not easy to design and costly to implement, specially costly for implement without using it.
And again, if you are thinking any product design need to spend more money to incorporate future design, implement it, but not use right now, you don't have design, manufacture, & product marketing experience. Get some real life design, manufacture, & product marketing experience, then you will understand years from now what I said.
Again, as I clarified after you read my post, Apple did design the 6s first, and released it as the 6 without some substantial upgrades to come following year. I seriously doubt Apple didn't know exactly what the 6s was going to include before they released the 6, thus locking them into a case design they couldn't add new technologies to. So yes, I'm suggesting exactly that ... Apple will design the 7s, before they release a more limited 7, and then update the s with new technology when it's ready. Just like we've seen with every "s" model phone before it. If they weren't anticipating the next years improvements, they'd be faced with an Apple /// debacle every year as they have to limit their improvements by the previous year's case design and that's just foolish.
Ahe, there is nothing worst than argue with a rookie think he knows everything.
I am done argue with you, and good luck for rest of your macrumor life.
Next you'll be telling me you can use your 6S+ one-handed, therefore it's a one-handed device
I can and do, use my device one handed.
Not for every single task, but I absolutely do it.
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No, just wearing inappropriate clothing.