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IT’S SOUNDING MORE and more like Apple is preparing to make a big change in the iPhone 7 – ditching the headphone jack altogether.
Back in November 2015, rumours swirled that the Cupertino company was considering removing the 3.5mm jack from the upcoming smartphone, slated to go on sale in Autumn 2016. Instead, users would be forced to move to wireless headphones, or use a wired pair compatible with the Lightning port.
The logic is that by removing the jack, Apple can make the iPhone even thinner, as right now its existence puts a limit on the minimum thickness of the device.
Chinese-language site Anzhou is now also reporting that the rumour is true, based on “supply chain sources” (we saw the news over on Mac blog 9to5Mac).
If it happens, the move is guaranteed to be controversial. Just about every wired headphone set currently on the market will become incompatible (though Apple may also release a Lightning-to-3.5mm-jack-converter to ease the transition).
But Apple is no stranger to aggressively abandoning standards. From the floppy disk to the CD drive, Apple has repeatedly been one of the first to reject technologies that it views as obsolete. And in the most recent MacBook, it jettisoned every port – including the charger – in favour of a single USB-C port and a headphone jack.
Apple abandoning the ancient 3.5mm audio jack - which has its origins in the nineteenth century - doesn’t seem so out of character.
The iPhone 7 is also currently rumoured to have up to 256GB of internal storage, and a beefy 3,100mAh battery.
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I have a mortgage and I can’t afford any phone!
Sent from my iPhone
we all need to go android
Brave move! with it being Apple, I assume this converter will be cheap as chips yes??
You will need a morgage soon to afford an iphone.
Nah, Apple always have a loyal fan base willing to spend a lot of money for its particular OS and aesthetic. I personally prefer more freedom and options with with my devices, especially if I am going to be spending a lot of money. I’d ague Samsung and sony now have some much better looking phones as well.
I have the Huawei P8 on contract. Felt that a change away from usual Samsung/Sony. What a breath of fresh air it has turned out to be. 3gb of ram, lightening fast processor. Beats the Iphone at every turn.
I’d be too worried that I’d be listening to something embarrassing like Beyoncé or something and the signal would drop and it’d blare out Single Ladies on the bus for all to hear
(wuh) UH OH.
My iPhone 6+ will be the last one I buy if Apple do this. Currently it’s already too thin. No need to make it thinner. Nearly impossible to hold without a case. They need to start focusing on improving the battery first and foremost. I’m quite sure that the adapter will be a pricy optional extra too. Fed up with Apple dictating to their customers when they should be listening to them!!!!
Apple is not afraid to explore and set new standards. New earphones connector means full digital and bi-directional communication. Ie. Phone can pass power then to noise cancelling mechanism in the earphones or vice versa some earphones may have battery banks bundled and juice up phone when you need it.
Then fully digital means better quality of the sound than analog.
Finally imagine new music control features thanks to digital – directly from the headphones / wired remote.
Apple does not always make popular decisions but they are almost technology changing, incredibly clever company.
Iphone 5 s is what an iPhone should be like not a design similar to a Samsung phone.they got it very wrong with the design of the 6 models.
Remember, Apple are good because they always do stuff to your phone that you don’t want them to do.
If Apple listened blindly to public opinion they wouldn’t be now where they are. Progress is in the head of the best only – rest of average Joes will catch up sometimes eventually.
Well they used a single USB C port on their new macbook last year to make it thinner and rushed to be the first to implement a USB C into a device however it was a flop the tech world didn’t like it one bit, its their least bought device on their store not to mention its more expensive then a macbook pro!? They should have learned by their mistake. And alot of what you are saying in terms of an inline remote has been around for years. It’s an unconventional move.
How would I charge the phone and listen to music at the same time.
well basically you wouldnt. yaaay apple
You probably won’t be able to because that makes too much sense to Apple. I’d imagine a similar situation than that of the new magic mouse. Charging port is on the underside so no usability while charging.
Hilarious stuff, never mind people with top end head/earphones, buy some sh*te Beats with a lightening connection just because. Also, surely this (unnecessary) desire for thinness increases the chance of bending during normal day to day use!
DAP player all the way
I’d assume anyone clever enough not to buy Beats would also be clever enough not to buy an iPhone
Do people really want a thinner iphone? As it stands I’d gladly have one a little thicker than the current model, and a little extra battery live that would come with that. Even thinner and no headphone jack sounds pretty unappealing to me…
Hit the road jack and don’t you come back no more!
Only good point I can think of is from a DJ’s point of view… no more customers coming up and saying “ah you can play it off my phone!” if you “don’t have” the song they want ;-)
I hope you’re not implying a DJ might be dishonest when asked for wagon wheel for the 23rd time when the patron was kind enough to stream it off youtube!
Oh I’m *cough* … not implying anything of the sort… *ahem* … besides, what DJ wouldn’t have Wagon Wheel? ;-)
Yea because people love buying adapters to use their headphones and other devices, its did pretty much the same thing with their new MacBook it only has 1 port the new usb c wich is also the power port… Good job apple, good job
The iPhone the was it is now is thin enough.. Too thin and it just feels cheap, I like actually be able to feel a phone in my hands
Apple should just make the battery life longer n put in sd card slot.putting in wireless headphones to listen to music will only drain the awful battery life it already has ffs
I like the thoughts of a 256GB phone with a good battery. Yes please, the battery on my current iPhone 5C is terrible.
Now people will have to charge their IPhone and headphones all the time. excellent work as always from apple #androidforlife
Apple changed the connector on the iPhone 5 and rendered every person who bought a music dock etc very angry. Their laptops etc are every bit as frustrating. They change stuff so quickly that we’ll all have to budget every year to allow for their tinkering. They have us by the cohones, they know it and they don’t give a f#%k. Perhaps it’s time we got back to basics and started communicating to each other in person, listening to music live and playing sport again. I suspect in the years to come that psychiatrists will be dealing largely with people who find it impossible to survive without cyber info and cyber love.
“Old man yells at cloud”
Young man copy ‘n’ pastes convenient quote in effort to appear less ageist.
Damn, does that mean I have to by a new car? Mines only got a phono jack.
How about they just keep it at the size that it is and spend more space and time on making a battery that will last a few hours more than usual. The batteries on iPhones are terrible. You can’t enjoy the bloody thing if its battery is dead.
This type ambitious move is what Apple have become famous for. We’ll all complain and then 12 months later we’ll all wonder why it was ever any different. What I want from the iPhone 7 is a vastly improved camera and wireless charging..
Should be worth every cent.
*Likely
Samsung s6 edge plus by far the best phone out there
eh. why can’t they work on making the headphone jack slimmer or better still, my ideal would be to integrate the earphones into the phone with a retractable cable or something.I hate minding and untangling earphones.
Android. Need u say anything else…!
Android. Need u say anything else….!
Iphone 8 is nice ..
This is a stupid idea why on earth would you drop a standard like 3.5mm audio jack their excuse is more than likely going to be its to make the phone thinner but it’s just to make money on their adapters if they really wanted to make the phone thinner they would use a 2.5mm audio jack instead which you can get adapters for about 1 euro
Joke
Good God wil this upgrading every 6 months ever f#ucking end.
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