Threat to remove headphone jack from future iPhone models

As many of you will know there is a petition which has to date been signed by >248 thousand people asking Apple not to remove the headphone jack from future iPhone models. It is possible that wired headphone/earphones will become obsolete as the mini-jack wires don't last forever. The worry is of course that Apple will only allow users to use their own products.

I can't see any discussion about this in the forum but would be interested to hear people's views.

I hear you will have a choice between LIGHTNING® headphones and BlueTeeth ones

Alwyn said:

As many of you will know there is a petition which has to date been signed by >248 thousand people asking Apple not to remove the headphone jack from future iPhone models. It is possible that wired headphone/earphones will become obsolete as the mini-jack wires don't last forever. The worry is of course that Apple will only allow users to use their own products.

I can't see any discussion about this in the forum but would be interested to hear people's views.

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Well, as Apple iDevices become thinner, there will not be sufficient space for the 3.5 mm mini-stereo jack - this has been discussed for a number of months - brief quote below from Mac-Rumors - I’m not sure that a petition will sway Apple and its engineers if their goal is to make a thinner device, but don’t know?

For 3-4 years, I’ve been listening to the music on my iDevices (old iPod and 2 iPads) using Bluetooth headphones or speakers (a couple of small travel ones and several soundbars in the home) - the freedom of being untethered by a cable is great IMO! Also, phones or ear buds w/ lightning connectors will be developed by Apple and third party producers - possibly, even a clunky adapter w/ a mini-stereo plug on one end the the lightning on the other?

Finally, keep in mind that this forum has no official connection to Apple, so what is discussed here will not affect their corporate policy, just saying. Dave

Apple is planning to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack on the next-generation iPhone in favor of an all-in-one Lightning connector, according to often-reliable Japanese website Mac Otakara. Apple may also release Lightning-equipped EarPods to support the new audio output on future iOS devices.

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I'm sure this won't dissuade a certain subset of Apple's consumer base.... the very same ones who will ridicule any concerns by telling us all about the other mainstay mechanisms and ports that Apple has discontinued in the past. And I'll be interested to see how the rabid fanboys who troll this forum respond to my opinion on this matter, so here goes...

Personally, I have invested in several sets of headphones that I like quite a bit and I have no intention of replacing them just because Tim Cook wants to sell me a pair of Beats to justify his absurd acquisition. I also like having the flexibility of moving those headphones between various devices. If Apple removes the headphone jack (regardless of how it's justified), it will be the last Apple mobile device I purchase. And that's really a shame as I am heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, but at some point, you have to take a stand.

I have written off a new MacBook based on some of the bone-headed moves they've pulled in computer hardware in recent years. I guess this will be the latest *******ization of what was once a great product lineup.

Alwyn said:

I can't see any discussion about this in the forum but would be interested to hear people's views.

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I can definitely see the inconvenience for the folks preferring to use wired headphones. But Apple has always been a cutting edge or "change" type of company (many times first to introduce new technologies or first to eliminate older entrenched technologies).

Apple has certainly made a lot of moves over the years that have definitely cost me (and others) a bunch of $$$ to stay "modern" the "Apple-way". This could be another one of those moves.

One of my favorite examples to poke fun at "the other guys". Is when was the last time we saw a VGA port on an Apple laptop?? I know VGA ports can be very useful in certain situations. Just sayin.

If Apple didn't make bold moves like this (not always popular)…we might still be living in a "1999 World" from certain technology perspectives.

- Nick

cwa107 said:

Personally, I have invested in several sets of headphones that I like quite a bit and I have no intention of replacing them just because Tim Cook wants to sell me a pair of Beats to justify his absurd acquisition.

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Great reminder Chris! I forgot about the Beats acquisition. I can definitely see the "Apple Wheels Turning" behind the elimination of the headphone jack on iPhones & owning Beats.

- Nick

Let's dispel a few bits of misinformation here:

1. This isn't confirmed. It's a rumor. I admit I think it's likely, but it is NOT ACTUALLY HAPPENING YET.

2. Third-party companies already make Lightning -- and Bluetooth -- headphones. So this is not a "force everyone to buy Beats" thing, it's a thinness and/or higher audio quality thing. There are some identifiable advantages to keeping digital music all-digital, and this could pave the way for mainstream support of "hi-rez" audio (man I hate that marketing term).

3. Scroll down to the part about headphones: http://www.macnn.com/articles/16/01....ask.apple.shoppers.what.they.thought.131986/

4. If Apple decides to do this, I would be annoyed as I use that jack to connect the iPhone to my (admittedly ancient) car stereo system (which lacks an Aux In port -- I have to use a cassette adapter!). But I could just switch to BT for that -- I use mostly BT headphones, so apart from the car I really don't use the jack at all. An adapter from Lightning to analog would likely be quite small -- less bulky than, for example, the 3.5mm to quarter-inch adapter everyone here has used at some point in their lives.

5. As mentioned above, plugs change sometimes. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when 3.5mm came out and suddenly all those quarter-inch headphones were useless without an adapter. It happens from time to time, and it's annoying when it does -- but generally the rationale is sound enough that we go along with it. We survived it last time, we'll survive it this time. The sky, she is still not falling. I'll keep an open mind about it until I hear Apple's explanation for why (if it does it at all, again just rumour at this point).

I'm not a conspiracy theorist so I don't see anything nefarious in the change, if it's made. Technology moves on. Apple came out with a laptop with ONLY USB-C and within weeks there were third party adapters to allow multiple USB-C connections, USB-3 connections, etc. So if Apple goes to a Lightening connection, either they or a good third party will have a Lightening/3.5mm connector within days. Personally I don't see the crazy rush to thinness as particularly desirable. Remember the bend-gate episode? As the phones get thinner, will they be able to keep them strong? I suspect the engineering is not so much about thinness as it is battery size. That's the biggest key to phone usability, so being able to have even that little bit of space where the socket is for battery space is a desirable, as long as they do provide some mechanism for the legacy earphones. And frankly, fewer than 250,000 signatures is pretty pathetic given how many iPhones exist. 248,000,000 might get some attention, but not 248,000.

MacInWin said:

Personally I don't see the crazy rush to thinness as particularly desirable. Remember the bend-gate episode? As the phones get thinner, will they be able to keep them strong?

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One of my first thoughts as well. iPhones are reasonably thin at the moment…so maybe more cons than pros to a thinner phone.

Getting thinner & lighter are the "sexy" things to do with many electronics at the moment (phones, tablets, notebooks, etc.). And maybe companies will do whatever they can to achieve this…in the constant one-upmanship that is the electronics industry.

- Nick

I am still bitter Apple removed the floppy drive from the Bondi Blue iMac in 1998! Things change so don't worry Alwyn it is only a minor matter.

harryb2448 said:

I am still bitter Apple removed the floppy drive from the Bondi Blue iMac in 1998!

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Yes you are!!!

I'm still bitter when Apple got rid of Apple-Talk!!!

- Nick

Ah you young johnny-com-latelys! APPLE BASIC 4 EVER!!

(also still bitter about podcasting tools being removed from Garageband, but again I'll survive)

I can't see any discussion about this in the forum but would be interested to hear people's views.

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You can read all about the iPhone 7 being thinner and the headphone jack removed here.

harryb2448 said:

I am still bitter Apple removed the floppy drive from the Bondi Blue iMac in 1998! Things change so don't worry Alwyn it is only a minor matter.

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A friend of mine and I were at Frys electronics in Sunnyvale California the weekend the Bondi Blue iMac came out. I heard 100's of people all griping about no Floppy. My friend and I agreed in that case it was a good idea as Floppy disks were so unreliable anyway! With a USB flash drive like we have today, who needs the floppy!

I was forced to buy an Apple External Floppy Drive for my Bondi Blue iMac in 1998 and I remember being a bit miffed that it only came in grey and white (no blue).
Personally I have all Bluetooth Speakers now except my Harmon Kardan home stereo for which I purchased this.


A plug in Bluetooth Audio receiver.

dtravis7 said:

A friend of mine and I were at Frys electronics in Sunnyvale California the weekend the Bondi Blue iMac came out. I heard 100's of people all griping about no Floppy. My friend and I agreed in that case it was a good idea as Floppy disks were so unreliable anyway! With a USB flash drive like we have today, who needs the floppy!

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Yep, I was thrilled w/ the appearance of the first flash drives - quote from Wiki below - the year 2000 - purchased my first one online shortly after that time - as I recall, probably 32 MB and likely paid about $60 (cannot remember) - BUT, the equivalent of over 20 1.44 MB floppies at the time! Dave

Trek Technology and IBM began selling the first USB flash drives commercially in 2000. Trek Technology sold a model under the brand name "ThumbDrive", and IBM marketed the first such drives in North America with its product named the "DiskOnKey", which was developed and manufactured by M-Systems.[21] IBM's USB flash drive became available on December 15, 2000,[22] and had a storage capacity of 8 MB, more than five times the capacity of the then-common floppy disks.

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It's absolutely mind-blowing the advancements in storage technology over the years. Currently micro-SD cards (the size of a small fingernail) are available that can store 256gig of data. And I'm sure there are 512gig micro-SD cards on the way. As well as other micro/nano sized high-capacity storage devices in development.

- Nick

p.s. I'm sure if I revisited this post in 1-2 years or more…what I just said would be laughable/obsolete!

If Bluetooth hadn't significantly improved a few years ago I would be much more "upset" about this potential change than I am now. Bluetooth 4.x is the bomb.

As you can see Alwyn technology advances and we have to live with it and enjoy the benefits.

Could just be me, but the fewer wires the better is my general view.