
Two years later, I still miss the headphone port - sahin-boydas
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/25/i-still-miss-the-headphone-port/
======
blhack
Complete agreement from me here. I refuse to buy a phone without a headphone
jack. It's such a simple thing, but it represents such a middle finger to
consumers that it's enough for me to say no.

My iPhone 6s is fine. An older pixel will be fine too as soon as I figure out
how to ditch iMessage.

This actually feels a lot like how Facebook seems to intentionally cripple
their mobile site to try and get me to install their app so they can have more
of my info. It's inconveniencing me very deliberately to try and hold my
convenience hostage.

~~~
sys_64738
I'm sticking with the 6S myself due to lack of headphone jack. I estimate I'll
keep the 6S another 4-5 years as there's longevity in these devices I feel.
Not sure what I'd do at that point because I think the iPhone in general is
great.

~~~
blhack
Friendly reminder to go get your battery replaced before the end of the year!

------
rurp
Ditching the headphone port is a great example of the form over function
mindset that I find so grating about much of the tech industry. I don't care
about flashy or gimmicky changes, I just want things to work and work well.

FWIW, I use the port on my phone regularly and love never having to give it a
second thought. Removing the port was the biggest reason I did not replace my
old Nexus with a new Pixel. I'm just one person and am guessing the port is
doomed sooner rather than later, but at least for now I can put my money where
my mouth is.

~~~
sir_brickalot
>put my money where my mouth is

I wonder if it is enough to NOT buy a device for a certain reason... How does
the neglected company know why you didn't buy their device? Especially if you
actually want that device and there is only one reason why you decide against
it.

Maybe it is necessary to give ones opinion a voice and give feedback to those
neglected companies. (Or a petition?).

------
epistasis
It's worth pointing out just how absolutely terrible the Bluetooth experience
that AirPods provide in comparison to being able to simply plug in headphones.

When I put on my AirPods, I have no clue how long it's actually going to take
until I can listen to my phone through them. Even when going into the output
selection, and tapping the AirPods (it they even show up), I never know how
long it's going to take. Many times, after 40-60 seconds of waiting for the
damn things to finally connect, I put them back in their case, wait a few
seconds, and then put them back in, hoping that resets whatever silly and
incompetent Bluetooth implementation that prevents pairing.

They are really really terrible when it comes to connecting, just awful awful
things. So infuriating. Yet, what else am I going to do in the Apple
ecosystem? Apple provides no other option. Steve Jobs would not have put up
with quality this poor. The executive team should be ashamed of shipping stuff
like this.

~~~
hug
We have opposite experiences, to the point where I actually wonder if you have
a defective set of AirPods. The process for me, on every single one of my
Apple devices, is:

1\. Put AirPods in ears.

2\. Hit play.

There's no step #3. I do honestly wonder how our experiences differ so
greatly. For me, it's at the point where AirPods are _more_ seamless than my
IEMs, because instead of having to fiddle about untangling the damn cable, I
just pop them in my ears and go.

As far as I know everyone I know with AirPods has the same experience as me.
Perhaps you should take yours back to an Apple store.

~~~
coryfklein
Try pairing your AirPods with your laptop as well. Now when you put the
headphones in to listen to Podcasts _on your phone_ you hear the chime and
think you're good to go, so you turn on your podcast and hear nothing.

Wait, you can hear it, it's just really quiet. So you turn up the volume.
Ohhhh it's coming out of my iPhone speakers. Now take headphones out to
confirm, then put them back in. The AirPods found your laptop somewhere thirty
yards away and had connected to that! Don't mind that the lid is closed and
its asleep, and your iPhone is activated, in your hand, and playing audio.

Now on your phone:

0\. Pause Podcast

1\. Home button (close Podcasts)

2\. Home button (first press didn't work)

3\. Home button (get to first app page)

4\. Settings App

5\. Home button (because your finger slipped downward 1 pixel when you pressed
the Settings App and iOS thought you wanted to search your phone instead)

6\. Settings App

7\. Bluetooth

8\. Tap "AirPods"

9\. Wait about 10 seconds

10\. Double tap Home button

11\. Find Podcasts app

12\. Rewind 30 seconds

13\. Hit Play

This happens to me _all the fucking time._

~~~
tsul
When moving from my laptop to my phone, I just open the settings tray, 3D
touch the media control, tap the AirPlay icon and select my AirPods. Sure,
that’s still a few taps but your flow is about as roundabout as you can get.

~~~
coryfklein
Duly noted and that will certainly help _me_ in the future, but I have to
point out that plugging in 3.5mm headphones never required knowledge of a
super-secret shortcut. You just simply had to plug them in. And even _that_
takes less time than the 3d-touch-media-tray method.

------
chasing
No shit. It’s bizarre that I can’t use my headphones and charge at the same
time. It’s bizarre that I have to carry around an adapter (or two sets of
headphones) when I work because my MacBook and iPhone have different headphone
jacks. I’m generally happy with Apple’s products, but this choice leaves me
baffled.

~~~
mustacheemperor
I’m disappointed we got the touchbar instead of an integrated wireless
charging component in the MacBook Pro. If it’s technically feasible, it’d be
so convenient to charge my phone by putting it on top of my laptop.

~~~
a11595
just get a usb charging mat and plug it into your laptop. then take a look at
how big it is. then add that size to your laptop. then ask yourself if this
15% bigger laptop is something all the other people want, or would they rather
have more battery/cpu/ram for that 15% of space. They probably won't. But they
don't want the wireless charger in that space either. They want the smaller
laptop.

------
largehotcoffee
Two years later, and I honestly forgot they removed it. The lack of a
headphone port hasn't impacted my daily life at all.

~~~
mrexroad
Yep, I was a bit confused earlier today why my wife was looking for wired
headphones—-that is, until I got on an airplane and realized I can’t use my
AirPods with the inflight entertainment system.

At this point, I’d rather go without entertainment than carry around anything
more than AirPods (or equalavent). I know it probably sounds pretty smug, but
I use my AirPods ~5-10x more on average than I did wired headphones.

~~~
Jedd
> At this point, I’d rather go without entertainment than carry around
> anything more than AirPods...

This, and parents' comment, is pretty much the archetype of misunderstanding
the point being made by tfa and other 'I want the headphone port back'
argument.

We all understand some people are happy without a headphone jack.

That's fine.

You guys can use a headphone jacked phone with low quality Bluetooth audio
just fine, but we can't use a non headphone jacked phone at all -- hence the
feeling of brutally enforced unfairness.

~~~
vict00ms
> with low quality Bluetooth audio

I'm not an audiophile but I don't think the cheap DACs in most phones are in
any way superior to the quality that Bluetooth delivers these days.

~~~
Jedd
Not an audiophile either, and only a vague understanding of sbc, aptx, etc ...
however the quality issue for me is more around the overall bt audio
experience than just the sound reproduction.

------
NikolaNovak
I never see an argument from consumers who agree with the removal more
comprehensive than "well _I_ don't need it so it shouldn't exist".

There is no value to consumer in the _option_ for 3.5mm jack not existing on
their phone. The phones are not thinner, they are not cheaper, and they do not
have better battery life. A phone with 3.5mm will do Bluetooth just as well.

So on what grounds is this decision defended? Whatever the portion of audience
that benefits from it, what is the motivation from those who don't need the
jack to so gleefully deny it to those who do need the jack?

I can list any number of reasons for why 3.5 jack makes my family's life
easier - but why do I have to? Given it doesn't cost you anything, why not
give it to me?

\---

Reason why I like the _option_ for 3.5 headphones and headset even though I
don't always use it

Cheap quality headsets. I do hours of concalls and lots of travel. I have
cheap wired headsets everywhere - at home, in office, in car, in backpack.
They all sound better, on average, than any Bluetooth because they sound great
always. Sooner or later any participant with Bluetooth will go digital or
wonky and delay us all while hey reconnect or just remove the darn thing. They
are just never 100% reliable to those who have to listen to you, even if you
believe their convenience is worth it (and if they don't have a boom they pick
up much too much extraneous noise - again which may not bother you but is
certainly annoying to others) I can borrow anybody's wired headset and it'll
just work instantly. I can change headsets easily and switch them between
phones and tablets and other devices. I can purchase one cheaply and quickly
if I loose or forgot mine. I can lend it to others with equal ease.

And oh yes the idea of dongles or inability to charge while talking is just
ridiculous - apple never understood business users, with headphones on bottom
next to charger that they kept moving even while they supported it - so you
couldn't easily use it with a basic dock. The iOS not showing mute on same
screen as keypad further shows basic misunderstanding of professional use
case... But i digress

~~~
mordant
>They all sound better, on average, than any Bluetooth

No, they don't.

They may sound better than cheap Bluetooth headsets.

But I guarantee they don't sound better than my Nuraphones, or the Sennheiser
Momentum 2 Wireless/HD-1s I was using beforehand.

Note that I own both Shure 535s and 846s, as well. The Nuraphone sounds better
than either of them.

I use my Nuraphones for business con-calls every day. They sound great on my
end and I've been told they sound great on the other end(s) of those calls, as
well. Same with the Sennheisers.

~~~
NikolaNovak
I'm not convinced (they may in ideal condition, but it does not appear that
the Sennheisers or Nuraphones have a boom - they're just headphones with a
microphone, so I'd be skeptical of their performance in a noisy environment or
if you're typing on a keyboard or any other distracting audio input; as I said
I love my wireless Sennheisers and Plantronics for listening, but there are
times I still want 3.5mm option) , but for the sake of the argument, my
question remains - how would _your_ experience be worse, if your phone also
had a 3.5mm jack?

(and lest we go down the argument of "what, do you still need a parallel port"
etc - this is a standard that existed, depending on how you count, anywhere
between 50 years and a century, which still performs the function cheaply,
reliably and conveniently; whereas that lightning to 3.5mm to charging dongle
will, if all goes well, be in the dustbins of history in 5-10 years or less -
and we'll see how well the Bluetooth headsets work with audio devices 10 years
from now)

------
ryanchoi
I definitely care more than the average person, but all things considered I
prefer my wired IEMs over over-ear wireless headphones, or today's chunky
earbuds that need to be charged too often for my liking (and/or their charging
cases, to be exact). Same reason I didn't get into smart watches, the pros
were outweighed by the cons. But like wireless gaming-grade mice, I think
we'll get there with audio.

I'm the meantime I'll be keeping an eye out for the 3.5" jack in the future, I
guess. I do think that it's very convenient to not fiddle with wires, but I
like the choice I have now: Preferred shape/sound, vs all the friction
associated with wires (sorry ;).

The way I see it, if wireless is here to stay, my situation should only last
until someone comes up with a wireless product that I like more than today's
lineup. It's just that I prefer my wired setup for the time being!

~~~
hug
As a possible solution, you can buy a pair of IEMs with MMCX connectors and a
bluetooth MMCX cable. This is the route I went with my Shure SE315s that I use
while I'm on my motorcycle, and it works pretty flawlessly for me.

------
rcarmo
I made the transition to Bluetooth long before the headphone jack became an
endangered species (in fact, back when SonyEricsson was still a thing), and
have fared well, with one exception: iOS music/synth apps have varying latency
issues with Bluetooth, which means I will need an USB audio adapter sometime
in the future.

But for general entertainment purposes, I’m fine. Not being an audiophile, I
can still say that using the right Bluetooth DAC makes a world of difference,
and that you may need to go a bit upmarket for good sounding headphones, but
the price differential falls more on the side of the hardware than the DAC.

(Higher-specked headphones are often dual wireless/wired models, too)

------
irrational
So true. The fact that they still don't have a solution that allows for
concurrent charging and wired headphone use is crazy. I've tried wireless
headphones and have found all of them lacking. The two big issues are they are
never charged when I need them to be and they don't pair/sync without a lot of
fiddling.

~~~
cpach
Isn’t that possible with iPhone 8 and never? AFAIK you can use wireless
charging and still use the Lightning port for your headphones.

~~~
vinni2
As a side note, one thing that I hate about wireless charging is I can’t use
the phone while charging.

~~~
cpach
Good point. Would probably irritate me as well (currently using iPhone 7).

------
sporkland
Two years later I'm so happy they killed the headphone jack and forced me to
switch to Bluetooth headphones. I would have stuck to the wired earbuds I was
using and missed out on how much less annoying and freer these wireless
headphones are. It was a fairly big step up in my quality of daily life as an
open office employee and train commuter.

------
prodimmune
As someone using his smartphone as a portable music player every day, I really
regret having a smartphone without a headphone jack. Although I agree that
using Bluetooth headphones is more comfortable than using wired ones, the loss
of sound quality simply is not worth it. Especially the constant static noise
in the background while the Bluetooth headphones are active is something I
just can not get used to. Unfortunately, it seems that every pair has that
issue [1].

[1]
[https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/8ethpj/are_all_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/8ethpj/are_all_bluetooth_headphones_noisy/)

~~~
mordant
>the loss of sound quality

My Nuraphones sound great, as did my Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 2/HD-1
Wireless Bluetooth headphones before them. No static whatsoever.

Just because you're too cheap to pony up for decent Bluetooth headphones
doesn't mean the rest of us are.

~~~
cannonedhamster
So the fact that a pair of $20 headphones that have wires sound better than a
pair of wireless headphones at the same price point is somehow the person you
are responding to's fault and makes him cheap for not buying something that he
wouldn't need to buy if a feature that did exist still existed. Yeah I think
the problem is that you don't realize everyone doesn't have the money you
obviously do.

------
digitaltrees
I just bought a new iPad Pro and realized it doesn’t have a headphone port.
And it doesn’t have thunderbolt either so I am now in a situation where I need
three different adapters to listen to music on my iPhone, MacBook and iPad.
It’s just silly. I have AirPods too, and switching between devices is as
seamless as could be expected but still sucks compared to just plugging in
headphones.

I might return it and stick with my first gen iPad.

------
sinstein
Really confused about Apple's recent design choices.

You cannot charge Apple's flagship smartphone with Apple's flagship laptop
without an adapter that does not come bundled with either of the two!

~~~
richardwhiuk
Huh? You can charge an iPhone over USB and their latest laptop includes USB?

~~~
_asummers
Macbook Pros have USB-C and the latest iPhones have the Thunderbolt charging
port. Critically however, the non phone end of the included charging cable is
not USB-C, so you need an adapter or different cable to charge it.

~~~
richardwhiuk
Ah, I'd forgotten that they only included USB C, and it's not backwards
compatible. Thanks for the correction!

------
i5h4n
I wanted to get myself the next Pixel, after a couple of really good years
with my faithful OnePlus 3 - only to be annoyed that the Pixel 3 didn't have
the headphone jack either. Thats after they made all those ads about the
iPhone not having it.

------
syntheticnature
> Oh, wait: now I want to listen to music while I fall asleep, but also charge
> my phone so it’s not dead in the morning. That’s a different, more expensive
> splitter dongle (many of which, I’ve found, are poorly made garbage).

Or a wireless charging pad plus regular adapter.

(I'm a fine one to talk; I have an OG Pixel, and I use my headphone jack
entirely for the headset functionality when doing a conference call while
remote. A sub-$10 wired headset gets the job done... for now)

~~~
blhack
Yeah but that wireless charger should be an added convenience, not an anti-
user move to get you to buy more crap.

It feels like a recent thing to me, but companies (especially tech companies)
have gone from:

"We will make the best product we can, and you will pay us for it."

(Or perhaps some graph where marginal profit is the highest)

To

"We will make the worst product we can get away with making because you don't
have a choice."

The focus seems to have gone from what customers want to what customers will
tolerate.

------
tlrobinson
I just ziptied an adapter to every pair of headphones I use (when I’m not
using AirPods) and moved on with my life.

------
eresing
I'm at wedding in 2017. The dance floor has opened up and the party begins.
Then the "DJ" in charge of music disconnects her phone to take a call - boo,
party over. But aha! I take my S8 from my pocket, plug the standard auxiliary
cable from the sound system into the headphone jack and push play on a club
banger mix. The party resumes. I am a hero. Now it's 2018 and I have a Pixel 3
with no headphone port. I will never be a spontaneous DJ hero ever
again....and this makes me sad.

------
Simulacra
We all miss the headphone jack. I begrudgingly upgraded to the iPhone 8 Which
I’ll try to keep for the next 3-5 years. I waited so long to upgrade from the
five because of the headphone jack.

------
ATsch
What annoys me with the headphone jack isn't so much that you need an adapter.
I have one pair of headphones and I wouldn't have a problem gluing an adapter
to it.

Instead, what really annoys me is the lack of a secondary port in a convenient
location. If they replaced the headphone jack with some other accessory
connector, I doubt anyone would complain.

------
einso
Cmon, having a phone with a headphone jack is like having a computer with a CD
drive...

OK sure it can be annoying that 0.1% of times when you want to read a CD to
your computer, but then you can get a USB CD drive. Same with the headphone
jack, it's an old piece of shit port that nobody really needs, but if you need
it, get a dongle.

------
kentbrew
Headphone jack, escape key, Magsafe adapter.

------
ngcc_hk
Not convenient but I did have plug that charge and listen to music. I need
that for car driving for gps for hour long driving. It cones with two version.
One is two lightening and one is one lightening and one 3.5mm. The two
lightening you need to use a 3.5mm adaoter.

------
WheelsAtLarge
Why are people still fighting the headphone issue? Whatever Apple says they
made a decision to get rid of it not for the sake of the user but to sell more
gadgets to the user. As long as they make a marginal profit with the new
headphones vs the old headphone port ones they will not go back. Given that
most people aren't protesting by not buying the new phones then Apples has no
reason to go back on their decision. Yup, in a few years, the port will be as
rare as vacuum tubes in electronics.

Nope, the port is not coming back. It's best to accept that and move on.

~~~
walterbell
Touch ID is coming back. 2018 iPhones are being discounted. The upcoming iPad
Mini Pro is rumored to include a headphone jack.

~~~
zapzupnz
> Touch ID is coming back

Touch ID never left… still around on the 2018 iPad (non-Pro) and the MacBook
Pro/MacBook Air, but then the 2018 iPad is the budget version of the iPad
line, and Face ID wouldn’t work on MacBooks because people don’t hold the
front camera up to their faces the same way that people hold iPhones or iPads.

~~~
walterbell
It's rumored to be returning to iPhones via in-display sensor, as that
technology matures.

~~~
zapzupnz
I doubt the technology matters to Apple anymore. They've found a better
solution and have already made their stance clear that Face ID is the future
for iOS devices.

------
obfk
Two years later: not looking back. It's not that bad, just get a set of
bluetooth headphones and stop complaining.

------
xellisx
I still miss slide out keyboards.

------
tmwed
the cost of being on the edge of technology is the inconvenience you will
encounter.

this "article" (if you can call it that, feels fitting to a blog) doesnt
really touch on anything meaningful. The author echos the same tirades that
we've seen since the announcement of the iPhone X.

~~~
irrational
How can it be the "edge of technology" two years later? Not being able to
charge and use wired headphones concurrently is still a major issue for me.

~~~
max76
If the issue is major then I suggest specialized dongles, wireless headphones,
or a wireless charging station.

------
ferros
There is no reason to miss the headphone port unless cost is the main factor.

------
jstewartmobile
I miss people having a modicum of self-control and a mild tolerance for
personal sacrifice.

Just buy a shitphone with a headphone jack. They exist! I have one. You'll
live. Apple will get the message. Problem solved.

------
scarface74
It amazes me that now eight years later that everyone seems to agree that not
supporting Flash was a good idea - like the article did- but for years after
the iPhone and iPad were introduce, people were complaining that Apple’s wall
garden was hurting consumers that wanted Flash.

[https://techcrunch.com/2010/02/18/jobs-flash-will-murder-
the...](https://techcrunch.com/2010/02/18/jobs-flash-will-murder-the-ipad-
really-now-lets-be-realistic/)

People were also complaining about Apple ditching the floppy and the CD ROM
Drive.

~~~
gyuserbti
Not really the same. People were complaining about Flash for years before
Apple's decision, there were good alternatives, and the complaints were about
Apple not supporting Flash when it could have. I hated Flash but also thought
it was unacceptable for Apple to unnecessarily ban it.

Floppies I'm not sure what you're talking about... Optical drives are still
supported externally, and one of the big issues with that was really the same
issue as with wired headphones: lack of ports. It's not just removing a type
of port, it's reducing the number of ports--although removing a centrally
important type of port is problematic enough also.

Removal of wired headphone ports was a solution imposed in order to create the
appearance of a problem. Bluetooth headphones don't provide as good of
possible audio quality, and are more power hungry. With wired ports, if you
wanted Bluetooth anyway for whatever reason (and there are many), you could
have them.

Whenever a topic like this comes up, it reminds me of the Onion satire (maybe
it was not the Onion) about the laptop with just one big button instead of a
keyboard.

A better analogy than CDs or Flash in this regard might be tablets: for a time
people talked about the end of the keyboard, etc. and how everyone would use
tablets. Many of us thought this was absurd for heavy work, and our concerns
proved true. Tablets still are useful in all sorts of ways in the same way
Bluetooth will be but getting rid of a physical port for audio seems
premature.

~~~
scarface74
_Apple not supporting Flash when it could have._

Adobe claimed in 2007 that they could support Flash on the original iPhone.
When Adobe finally did bring full Flash to mobile on Android, the minimum spec
was 1Gb of RAM and a 1Ghz CPU. The original iPhone ran at 400Mhz and had 128Mb
of RAM. It wasn’t until the iPhone 5 in 2011 that Apple shipped a phone that
met those specs.

Adobe was repeatedly late shipping Flash to mobile. One of the biggest selling
points of the Motorala Xoom - the first Android tablet to get any buzz - was
that it would run “the full web” by supporting Flash. But it didn’t until
after it was being sold. The same happened with Palm phones.

As far as floppies, there was a massive outcry when thr first iMac didn’t have
a floppy in 1997.

------
miles_matthias
Don't care one bit about this. Whatsoever.

~~~
seattle_spring
Then don't comment. Just because you don't give a shit about sound quality
doesn't mean others don't either. Enjoy your bluetooth Beats.

------
courtneyfyi
It feels in tone like the "I'll miss VCR" stuff that went around in 2016 all
over again. A little over dramatic given the difference.

[https://www.wired.com/2016/07/vcr-officially-dead-well-
never...](https://www.wired.com/2016/07/vcr-officially-dead-well-never-
forget/)

~~~
blhack
There were good, ubiquitous replacements for VCRs when DVD players came out.

This would be like if Sony stopped selling VCRs in 1998 when they just
_happened_ to own the patent on blu ray, and a major movie studio.

Actually it's exactly what Sony tried to do with minidisc, except it worked.

~~~
rahoulb
Not really. I use Bluetooth headphones - they are branded but not a major
brand (in fact a company known for something else).

Bluetooth is pretty ubiquitous and has been for a decade.

The charging case means I have to recharge them every ten days or so (so I
don’t worry about it), the sound quality is good enough and I don’t get
tangled any more.

The only disadvantage is switching between multiple devices can be a bit
fiddly at times - which is where AirPods do come into their own.

