Stephen Shankland, writing for CNET:
At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco on Tuesday, Intel architects Brad Saunders and Rahman Ismail sketched out a coming USB audio standard that could help push the 3.5mm jack aside. The new specification, due this quarter, adds features to ensure a USB headphone doesn’t drain too much battery power and defines how buttons for pausing music or lowering volume work.
This is an interesting fork in the road for the 3.5mm audio jack. One rumored path is the elimination of the 3.5mm jack from the upcoming iPhone 7, in combination with a potential lightning to 3.5mm headset adapter for legacy headsets.
This USB-C push would be another path, another adapter for legacy headsets.
Seems to me, all roads lead to wireless headphones as the future. The short term is the replacement cycle, similar to what we went through with the elimination of the floppy drive, the CD/DVD drive, and the changeover to the lightning cable. Sturm und drang, followed by acceptance.
It’s wireless-only for me from now on. The problem I have with wired earbuds is that I go on frequent hikes in the woods. And it’s quite painful to have your silicone tip sealed buds ripped out of your ears when the cord catches on a branch. (I prefer sealed “in-ear” buds because there is no way to get good bass with loose earbuds.)
I have some 2-year-old low-end Jaybirds, but the bass is weak and they’re flimsy. The right earpiece rattles after I dropped them once. Will take a look at the new ones. (But not before the iPhone “7” announcement…)