Look, I'm not on some big high-horse about audio quality in the modern era (cough Pono cough), so I really don't see any reason to be upset with Apple deciding

Look, I'm not on some big high-horse about audio quality in the modern era (cough Pono cough), so I really don't see any reason to be upset with Apple deciding "thinner" is an improvement by way of ditching support for a widely used industry standard. We're talking about consumer electronics, an industry where (subjectively speaking) over-priced, under-performing headphones like Beats command significant status and market share. iDevices are nice-to-have items, and after having several, I can honestly say I care less about upgrading for 'features' and more about build quality concerns (having various buttons giving out across different models, etc) so I'm really comfortable viewing Apple products as expensive yet disposable items. Shrug Oh, and anybody who is surprised by such a mentality might want to refresh a few historical examples. CD-Rom drives, gone. Final Cut? Turned into consumer-class software. Now they have a high-priced laptop with a single connector which really doesn't make sense for live performers and professionals. It's kind of how the company does business, so yeah I buy this rumor somewhat.