
Apple will drop headphone jack to make the IPhone 7 slimmer - ksashikumar
http://www.fastcompany.com/3055208/its-true-apple-will-drop-the-headphone-jack-to-make-the-iphone-7-slimmer-and-simpler
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leoedin
When phones first started playing MP3s the manufacturers were very reluctant
to put a 3.5mm jack in them (I'm not quite sure why...). I had phones which
required custom adapters, either for proprietary ports or for 2.5mm jacks.
They were a complete pain to use, really easy to forget at home, and as a
result I never really listened to music using my phone.

Just think of how many times this will really annoy an iPhone user. In an
older car? Aux cable doesn't fit. Lost your headphones? 90% of the
replacements won't work (I'm sure eventually headphone manufacturers will
catch up, but it'll take a while). At a party? Can't play music.

In my experience, trying to get Bluetooth or other wireless streaming systems
working at a party when 10 different people want to play music is a nightmare.
The aux cable is a solid reliable backup.

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mrfusion
Has anyone ever asked for a slimmer phone. Doesn't everyone ask for a bigger
battery when asked?

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Arnt
People want small, lightweight, elegant phones with large screens and
batteries. Something has to give.

I'm surprised there's a net market advantage in making a phone slimmer than
7mm or so, though.

~~~
static_noise
Do you actually happen to know anyone of these people?

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Arnt
People who want a small phone with a large screen, and a lightweight phone
with a large battery? Sure.

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cesarb
Something similar can be done with USB.

If you look at the USB type C connector specification, you'll notice that it
already defines one alternate mode in its single appendix: a headphone
alternate mode. That is, with the correct hardware in the phone, and a passive
USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter (also described in that appendix), new phones from
other manufacturers which use the type C connector would be able to follow
Apple's lead and drop the headphone jack. (And in case you were wondering,
that alternate mode can charge at 500mA and connect to the headphone jack at
the same time in a single USB-C connection.)

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Piskvorrr
Elephant in the room: vendor lock-in.

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TheCams
Why not use the 2.5 jack connector?

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joefarish
Because it's not proprietary enough?

Edit: Original response was a little tongue-in-cheek. More seriously though
perhaps they will start bundling Bluetooth headphones as standard. A slim
phone plus a "bulky" lightning to 3.5mm adapter doesn't sound like something
Apple would do.

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martiuk
> A slim phone plus a "bulky" lightning to 3.5mm adapter doesn't sound like
> something Apple would do.

Oh no, that sounds exactly what Apple would do.

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Zekio
Sounds like they want to make their phones easier to bend :)

