iPhone 7 Will Ditch 3.5mm Headphone Jack To Shed A Millimeter Of Fat

iPhone wants to be thinner and that demands sacrificing of the age-old, trustworthy 3.5mm headphone jack. The rumour that's making a buzz on the Internet originates from #-Link-Snipped-#, a Japanese technology blog dedicated to Apple machines. The blog reported that reliable sources have tipped them about the absence of standard headphone jack from iPhone 7, likely to be announced in the next few months.

The standard 3.5mm headphone ports have been ubiquitous on almost all entertainment devices - from headphone and tablets to televisions. Apple's designers are likely to replace that port with one port that does it all - the Lightning port. It will allow the iPhone 7 to be the thinnest phone in the entire iPhone lineup. Expect the iPhone 7 to be a millimeter thinner than iPhone 6s.

The Japanese blog also informs that Apple will introduce new earpods that will use the Lightning port. Apple may launch adapters or dongles that will allow you to use your old headphones with the new iPhone. But as of now, it all stands in the rumor zone.

There are strong points favor of the rumor. First of all, Macotakara has a history of leaks that have proven to be true. It means there is a 'high chance' of iPhone 7 shipping without the headphone jack. Last year, Apple had introduced the new MFi (Made for iPhone) specifications to the audio gear manufacturers that make way for the Lightning based headphones to replace the regular 3.5mm headphone jacks.

iPhone-7-35mm-Headphone

The specifications hint at two possible configurations for the new headphones - 'Standard Lightning' is the one that requires minimum components when hooked to digital to analog converter. The 'Advance Lightning' headphones would offer richer round with active noise cancellation, a technique that allows real time filtering of surrounding noise to deliver pure sound.

Apple's been ditching ports from their machines since last few years. The latest 12" Retina Macbook ditched all the USB, Networking and memory slots in favor of a single USB Type-C Explained Along With Its Significance In Modern Electronics port that does it all.

That said, Apple isn't the industry leader in ditching the headphone jack from their smartphone. That credit goes to HTC, which dropped it from their G1, an Android phone. However, when Apple does it, the industry follows. This could just be the beginning of the end of the 3.5mms.

We'd like to know from our fellow engineers whether they support ditching of headphone jack from the next iPhone. Is the headphone jack worth the sacrifice in order to make the phone thinner? We look forward to your opinions.

Replies

  • Satya Swaroop Dash
    Satya Swaroop Dash
    Ya, the capitalist Apple does it again. Force people to buy specific accessory for just their iPhone. Imagine a well off Apple customer who has bought a Rs. 22000 Bose Quiet Comfort (True Noise Cancelling) Headphone which he uses with his tablet, laptop and smartphone. When he buys the iPhone 7 he has to spend another 20 grand to buy the same Bose Quiet Comfort Headphone but with a Lightning jack. How rubbish is that. This way not only Apple gets the money for licensing Made for iPhone right the companies will have an excuse for selling new variants of their existing products with a small alteration.

    Kaustubh Katdare
    Apple's been ditching ports from their machines since last few years. The latest 12" Retina Macbook ditched all the USB, Networking and memory slots in favor of a single USB Type-C Explained Along With Its Significance In Modern Electronics port that does it all.
    If you talk about the 12" Retina Macbook ditching the USB and all ports for a single USB Type 3 port, let me mention the “Apple's Multiport Adapter”. Yes this little thing that costs $79 (approx Rs 5050) is required to be bought with the Retina Macbook just to use something as basic as your pen drive with the Macbook.Thats the Apple way my friend.
  • Anoop Kumar
    Anoop Kumar
    Wait anyone remember iPhone does have Bluetooth.
    Apple should have its own network. If you buy iPhone7, you can call to only iPhone7 customers☕
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    I'm sure with the future phones, I'll be able to cut vegetables.
  • davefranco
    davefranco
    But what if i want to use Sennheiser headphone with apple?
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    davefranco
    But what if i want to use Sennheiser headphone with apple?
    Apple is likely to make the lightning - 3.5mm dongle available as an accessory. The problem with Apple products is that even the most 'obvious' thing requires you to shell out a ton of money. Remember how Apple ditched the CD drive and suddenly all your existing CDs became redundant?

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