This particular wave of thinking started with this AppleInsider article, Analyst says Apple may forego Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter for new iPhones. From the article:
Apple will probably stop bundling a Lightning-to-3.5 millimeter adapter with this fall’s new iPhones, according to a Barclays memo obtained by AppleInsider.
And:
“We currently model no dongle this year,” wrote Barclays’ Blayne Curtis. The analyst didn’t provide any immediate evidence for the assertion.
It’s a rumor, and one I take with a fair sized grain of salt. But it did start the train going for me.
First, is it inevitable that Apple will kill off the headphone jack on the Mac and the rumored updates of the SE? I just bought Apple’s latest iPad and it comes with a headphone jack. Will future iPads kill the headphone jack or is this purely an iPhone issue, where the real estate is much rarer?
Next, consider the Lightning to 3.5mm adapter that ships with the latest iPhones. To me, it serves an important purpose, a bridge to the world of inexpensive wired headphones. I’ve got a bunch of these sitting around my house, ranging in quality, but all usable if I have access to a 3.5mm port.
I also own a set of AirPods. I love my AirPods and use them almost exclusively. But two things about my AirPods:
- They are not cheap.
- They are way easier to misplace than a pair of wired earpods. Which makes me hyper-careful about taking them out (which makes me less likely to lose them, I suspect).
If Apple does eliminate the Lightning to 3.5mm adapter or the headphone jack from the SE and future iPads, they are truly raising the bar on the cost of membership in the Apple ecosystem.
My son currently has an older iPhone and is angling for a replacement. He likes the smaller form factor of the SE, but will buy the current model (with a headphone jack) if the rumored newer model ships without a headphone jack.
His thinking? Bluetooth earpods are expensive. I tend to lose stuff. I can’t afford to replace AirPods if I lose them. And I will. And I will lose the dongle, too. If I lose wired earpods, no big deal. I can replace them for $10.
I get that logic. And the SE is the low end iPhone, the most likely purchase for someone who cares about price.
One thing that is clear to me is the complexity of this problem. I think it’ll be hard for Apple to unify its headphone strategy across its product line. And I find that interesting.
I think there is zero chance they will remove the headphone jack from the Mac, music creation is too big a part of their customer base and you cannot beat the audio quality of a wired connection, period. The iPad? Anyone’s guess.
Whether or not they bundle the dongle I think depends simply on the percent of customers actually use it. If the number is low, why bundle.
Although you can buy bluetooth headphones for a ridicuous price nowadays, something like $20 or $30 on amazon.
“They are way easier to misplace than a pair of wired earpods”
I’ve misplaced many more sets of wired earpods than my Airpods.
Apple can’t be trusted on keeping anything. Whatever whims they have, it probably has nothing to do with what customers actually want. I’ve given up on trying to figure Apple out. It’s a waste of time. The company sure doesn’t follow any industry standards as they create their own.
That thing where the HomePod needs an iPhone for setup and doesn’t support Bluetooth is something only Apple would do and I doubt it’s something any customer ever wanted. I’d think Apple would be sacrificing HomePod sales, but maybe I’m wrong. I just know all the other smart speakers allow more options than the HomePod does. I honestly don’t understand Apple’s reasoning, at all. I tend to think Apple does everything for profitability and not for the user. I hope I’m wrong about that. Maybe Apple was always that way, but I’m seeing the company differently. The Apple ecosystem’s wall is growing higher each year.
Apple’s north star is the customer experience. It’s not a new thing, either. That should walk rumors like this back from the ledge.
Or, people like your son could buy the SE2 and if he loses the EarPods along with the adapter, rebuy them.
This is a self-created problem – if the rumor is true and they stop shipping the adapter in the box that does NOT mean they are discontinuing making it. You just don’t get it for free in the box. Now, if they discontinue it altogether? Very different thing and frankly I’d be surprised if they did that unless sales are very very low.
I regularly pick them up for less than that in discount stores. I’ve got burned a few times, but mostly they’ve worked well.
I wouldn’t say a zero chance as other options are available. I’ve been looking at a USB to headphone adapter just to get a headphone port on my ThunderBolt Display where it’d be easier for my kid to reach. But yeah, it’s pretty unlikely.
As for the iPhone, even if the dongle was commonly used Apple could build a reasonable stock of them before stopping production. And I’m sure some other vendor could make one, too, probably more elegantly.
The big problem with Apple denying rumors would be that people would start to try to read something into the rumors Apple doesn’t deny.
The 3.5mm port on the Mac is analog, there is S/PDIF and as mentioned in other comments there is USB audio.
Absolutely this. The closest I’ve ever gotten to losing my Airpods has been forgetting where I put the empty case.
True, USB is an option, but you are stuck with whatever DAC the manufacturer has used. Nearly every USB adapter is made as cheaply as possible, so the DACs are not good. If Apple wants to keep the quality standard up, this needs to stay in house.
The 3.5mm and the S/PDIF are the same port on the MacBook. Not sure about the rest of the line.
How’s the Belkin one? Aside from being as expensive as @#$%.
Not sure, haven’t tested it. But Belkin does seem to use better parts than the 99% you see which are mostly China junk. Of course, with anything that comes to audio, whether something is good or not is in the eye of the beholder.
I build a USB to Analog converter as a proprietary part of my product line. Using the TI chipset, it is expensive as @#$% to make.
I took apart an Apple 3.5mm to Lightning adapter to reverse engineer it and add one to my product line. HA! There are 5 ICs and about 50 individual components inside that little Lighting connector housing. I could’t possibly make anything that could compete for the price they charge.
I think Belkin was bought by Foxconn so it will likely become junk, but hopefully not for a while.
AirPods are much harder to lose than EarPods. AirPods go back in the case, which goes back in the pocket. Easy.
Can’t do that with EarPods, or at least I resist it more because it’s a giant pain in the ass. Cables get in the way.
Honestly, Bluetooth would be pretty bad. It’s short range, not very broad (bandwidth-wise), and would likely be hellish for technical support. It may support a broad selection of devices, but it wouldn’t be a good experience.
Besides, WiFi is going to be in the box anyway.
Couldn’t agree more (did you read “that” as “they”?).
Yes! I totally did! My bad, but major points for figuring out EXACTLY where I went wrong.
I’ve got my reading glasses on now, though. 🙂
I could have phrased that more clearly.
On Apple addressing rumor, only one instance comes to mind. During an earnings call, Tim Cook warned analysts against making predictions/models based on supplier reports. As evidenced again this quarter, analysts didn’t take Cooks word for it.
There are other examples, but precious few.
From what I have seen is the 3.5mm analog port is different from the digital S/PDIF port