Vox:
It’s official: there won’t be a headphone jack in the iPhone 7. Instead, if you want to play music on an iPhone 7, you’ll either have to use wireless Bluetooth headphones or plug new Lightning-based headphones (or an adapter) into the port you use to charge the device.
The downsides are obvious: Almost everyone has headphones, speakers, and other gadgets based on the ubiquitous 3.5 mm headphone jack. Eliminating this connection could render these devices unusable, or at least force everyone to carry around an extra adapter.
But Apple doesn’t care.
This is the most controversial part of Apple’s announcements today. But they signalled, very clearly, that this is what they think the future will be. Keep this in mind when, next year, they offer wireless charging.
The problem is that they clearly articulated a courageous move toward wireless… and shipped wired earbuds. Talk about undercutting your argument…*
I don’t think they actually did a good job with this. Replacing one wired connector with another isn’t a bold move to wireless. Going “Oh, this is DIGITAL” without telling me what that will get me that’s noticeably better than now is silly. The space argument might have some validity but would be stronger if they said “the 3.5mm jack takes as much space as.. (the camera or whatever)” but they failed to say “reclaiming that space lets us…”
*Yes, Airpods. At $159, not a real replacement for the free EarPods, are they?
I think they’d have been fine to simply include the new analog/lightning adaptor in the box and sell everything else at a reasonable price. Apple does care and in order to push forward they made a big move. The adapter, which is included takes care of those who want wires.
I have a drawer full of Apple iPhone and iPod earbuds and I’ve never liked the way they sound and they don’t stay in my ears well.
I do think wireless is the way to go, just having replaced my Bose QC 25s with a pair of wireless QC 35s for travel.
The main problem I have with wireless headphones (and why I stayed away from the Bose QC35) is that the batteries eventually die and they become useless. My Bost QC15 and multiple Apple EarPods still work to this day.
Can’t remember the last time I plugged a 3.5mm into my phone.
Literally can’t.
but we still HAVE wires. Just with a different connector. That’s what confuses me about this move – ‘wireless is the future, here have some wires, but with Lightning!
So how should they have done it? No adapter, just wireless and screw those who have wires still?
“Wireless is the future” is “why we have these nice, expensive wireless earpods”.
But they can’t just give those away with every phone, so … wired.
Which undercuts their blather about being courageous. Make the move or don’t… this is halfway which makes them look rather foolish.
I’ve been using the QC 35s for a while and they work for days off a single charge for me, which is plenty. I routinely take very long plane flights and so far, no problem. Of course, if one forgets to charge them (like one’s phone, etc.) than that’s a problem although one can charge them with a backup battery easily.
Or, are you saying that eventually, after hundreds of cycles, the battery, like in an iPhone, iPad, Macbook Pro etc. won’t hold a charge as well. That’s certainly the case and it will be interesting to see what Bose does in a few years if in fact that starts happening.
I’ll have to dig it up but there’s a nice, decent pair of Bluetooth earbuds that the reviewer liked a lot for $25. If a third party can do that, Apple could have. So what they SHOULD have done is this:
Inexpensive, Bluetooth earbuds in the box along with the adapter. Want to go wireless, cool, here’s the earbuds for that. Prefer to stay wired but have 3.5mm ‘phones? Here’s an adapter. Want the best wireless experience possible? We have the amazing Airpods for $159 that are a significant step up from the ones in the box.
Ah, I agree then, including the Lightning pods confuses the issue. I thought and continue to think that they should de-couple the headphones entirely and let people get their own. The adaptor in the box is a good thing for those who want to plug analog headphones in.
I really thought I’d be more upset that the headphone jack was removed, but when all is said and done it doesn’t bother me that much. It helps that they include that adapter which will keep me from having to buy a second set of earphones. I really don’t use my earphones that much, but I can understand why some people would be really bothered by this. I think it just comes down to aesthetics. Apple doesn’t like the look of wires anymore.
Space… is the reason. There are less expensive options … going for $30 and $10.
picking nits, rick?
Apple is an anti feature company.
I just wish they would start making computers again.
what are the odds of a $50 battery replacement option for the $160 headphones, 3 years later (or later) when the batteries die.
Huh? When did Apple stop making computers?
wires vs batteries
Wires for me. I hate having to charge things.
I agree on that. I’m a Macintosh user first, everything else second.
I’m not sure what you mean. At some point all lithium ion batteries are going to stop holding the same charge. When that happens relative to the life of the product and, how affordable the replacement will be is an open question for Bose with these headphones. They’re new enough so that I doubt any are failing out of warranty.
Tesla simply replaces batteries (entire drivetrains), Depending on the number of cycles, Apple will swap out a MacBook Pro battery at no charge (fails at low cycles) or for a charge (battery has gone the distance into high cycles).
I disagree. The whole point of the Airpods is to eliminate the generally crappy user experience of regular bluetooth.
I regularly use the 3.5mm jack to connect my phone to the car radio when using navigation apps and streaming Pandora. I would be charging the phone at the same time thru the lightning port. I hope someone will come out with a viable lightning splitter for these fairly common use cases.
Stick the adapter on your 3.5mm jack. Leave it there.
How many headphones do you have? Five? That’s $45 bucks for the adapters you’ll need.
Problem solved. Some people would complain if you hung ’em with a new rope.
I think including wired lightning earphones is a sop to those who still think wired has better audio than wireless. That actually isn’t far from true, particularly for audiophiles. Bluetooth 5.0 will likely silence much of that, but we will continue to see it anyway — just as we have continued arguments about digital audio vs. vinyl.
If the AirPods have really corrected for audio and connection issues (I have read they are bluetooth), then they are likely worth the cost due to the engineering/r&d.
Bluetooth to Aux Input car connection kit. You get bluetooth connectivity, can still charge your phone. They can be had for $20 or so. Search Amazon.
No. Not at all. They got up on a stage and used the word Courage to characterize this decision. They showed a visionary video with Ive talking about how they strongly believe wireless is the future.
Then they shipped the exact same wired EarPods they always have, just with a different connector, never explaining how this made things better for the people who aren’t buying Airpods. Where’s the courage or vision in that?
But you DO NOT GET the Airpods with the iPhone. Absolutely sell them as an upgrade and characterize them as amazing, magical etc etc. But they muddled their message by saying one thing and doing another for everyone who isn’t willing to shell out $159.
And make everyone pay for the $159 Airpods, driving up the cost of the iPhone?
Courage applies. There’s been such a wave of opposition to this missing headphone jack, that’s it’s rather disingenuous to mock their use of the word courage now. Their competitors would have focus groups and that would have been the end of it.
And we’d still be paying for floppy drives.
Not picking nits, but maybe blowing it a bit out of proportion, especially since its marketing speak.
I think there is some courage, especially considering all I’ve heard since this rumor hit the tech press is moaning and groaning and gnashing and wailing and a dig from Samsung. And they can still also give a nod to people who think wired has better audio. (Can you imagine the wailing if they included cheap bluetooth pods?) Not a great big deal — although it seems to be to you, which is OK 🙂
Well, if you noticed, the actual topic of the post is the removal of the headphone jack. If someone doesn’t care to talk about it I have no flipping idea why they’d be commenting on a post that is about this topic.
My larger point, though, isn’t the decision per se but the contradiction between their message and their actions. Frankly,had the Airpods been in the $79 range I think they could credibly have said what they did… but trumpeting their courage for moving to a wireless future and shipping in the box a wired headset is a contradiction.
But hey, if you or anyone else doesn’t want to talk about this… feel free not to comment. But don’t comment on a post about a topic then deride people for talking in a detailed manner about that very topic. That’s just silly.
No need to shout – I know the airpods don’t come with the phone.
Your suggestion that Apple bundle regular bluetooth headphones with the iPhone is a non-starter. Apple doesn’t want to make the (crappy) bluetooth experience the default on the iPhone.
Making two different types of wireless headphones is what really would have muddled their message.
It wasn’t just about moving to a wireless future. Schiller spent some time explaining the benefits of Lightning over the standard audio jack, and saving space of course makes sense. Apple claims the 7/7+ have significantly improved battery life, and presumably dropping the headphone helped with this.
I doubt any audiophiles use Apple wired earbuds. Audiophiles use phones with thicker cables coming out of each earpiece.
Bose headphones aren’t the greatest for sound but I hear no difference between the cabled QC 25s and the bluetooth QC 35s. None. I was afraid there would be sync problems with video but so far, movies are perfectly in sync with their sound. We’ll see over time.
You’re probably right, Apple included the lightning pods as a stopgap to keep people happy during the transition to wireless.
the reasons all know all known and valid. you just don’t like it. future people will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about.
Schiller said very clearly there several reasons why they wanted to do this. wireless was but one (their future vision). making space for other shit, digital info for lightning headphones (ex was noise canceling), were two more.
troll
with 5 minute quick charges it’s harder to complain about this. the new Beats models get 1-3 hours of battery from 5 mins of charging.
We have bluetooth receivers. We just don’t like the compressed BT audio. I could also solve the same issue with FM transmitters but again, we would rather get the highest audio quality possible.
The FUTURE is wireless. The present is not having an 1/8 inch headphone jack.
Hard to complain unless you’re nowhere near a charger when your AirPods die.
Not everyone is going to use the wired EarPods. Not everyone is going to use the adapter. But can you imagine the press if they didn’t include them? This is a classic Apple “third-party opportunity” situation. Give users the basics, but offer a compelling advanced option for people who want it and to show third-parties how it’s done.
Not including headphones would be a huge misstep. Nintendo 3DS XL doesn’t come with a power cord. Look around and see how people feel about that. Spoiler: They’re not happy.
I think the wave of opposition was based on being forced to use or buy Bluetooth headphones or buying new lightning headphones. I think Apple responded perfectly with lightning EarPods and an adapter in the box.
Think about it, you’re getting the same thing in the box of the iPhone 7 that you got with previous iPhones; the phone, headphones and a headphone jack to use your own headphones. The only difference is instead of moving the headphone jack from the top to the bottom, they moved it from the bottom to the adapter. Out of the box the iPhone 7 is just as headphone friendly as the iPhone 6, so most people won’t care.
Agreed. It will blow over fast.
I would think a power cord is a bit different from headphones but to each his own.
Fair enough, but my point stands. Consumers expect everything they need to use their device as intended to be in the box.
Good point. I’d get rid of the “as intended” because every consumer is different. Some folks who have iPhones don’t listen to music on them ever and wouldn’t think of using the earbuds for phone calls. I’ve had every iPhone made (well, every “tock” model) and I’ve never even opened the earbud case. I listen to music and make phone calls daily and I’d be fine if the earbuds were gone.