10 ms·
> Tons of headphones obsoleted. They do provide the lightening-to-jack adapter in the box for free.
by tajen 10y ago
> Tons of headphones obsoleted.
They do provide the lightening-to-jack adapter in the box for free.
- Frank2312 10y agoI sure hope they don't force their customers into an extra 100+$.
- takeda 10y agoWho will carry that with them?
- supercoder 10y agoPeople carrying headphones around id imagine
- nsxwolf 10y agoJust leave it connected to your headphones.
- valarauca1 10y agoSee here is the crux of the issue I use my headphones for: -Listening to the environment while PC Gaming using a Windows PC -Listening to records using my stereo -Listening to music while working on my Macbook Pro -Listening to music while being mobile w/ iPhone 6 -Listening to music while driving in my car (audio jack works faster with less interruptions then USB) The big win of 3.3mm audio jack is they work with all these different systems and use-cases. There is nothing to lose, nothing to think about. Plug and Play. Dead simple. Dumb analog. Now to fully cover all my uses cases I have 2 more things to carry around with me full time, and not lose. Not a simplification, buying a Nexus. Steve Jobs is dead.
- nsxwolf 10y agoWhat's needed for your situation is a little doo-dad that tethers the dongle to your headphones, so you can disconnect it freely and not lose it.
- mirkules 10y agoNo, he should tape the adapter to the phone, using silver duct tape. Or a simple analog jack would work too.
- nsxwolf 10y agoWell there won't be an analog jack on the iPhone 7, so that's not a solution. A little dogbone shaped white silicone thing would look a lot nicer than duct tape. I think you already realize both of those things.
- mirkules 10y agoFor the record, I was being facetious on purpose to show how ridiculous this is. But more to your point, the adapter would belong with the phone not with the headphones. There are potentially N number of headphones, and one phone for which the adapter will be used. So the adapter being carried with the phone instead of N adapters for N headsets makes more sense.
- r00fus 10y agoKind of like a MacCozy for the magsafe v1/v2 adapter? I can tell you that's a very solid product.
- endemic 10y agoApple is enabling a vibrant 3rd party accessory market ;)
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- loudin 10y ago100% agree. I carry a pair of Apple earbuds with me to use interchangeably with my phone and my Mac laptop. The new lightning headphones that come in the box won't be compatible with my laptop, so I'll either need to use the old earbuds with a phone adapter or the new earbuds with a laptop adapter or I need to carry around both sets of earbuds with me. That said, their vision for the world to go 100% wireless is absolutely right. However, I don't think their execution is great in this area. Their AirPods don't hold a long enough charge quite yet and they are highly susceptible to being lost. Also, while I think Bluetooth has many many problems, I wish Apple spent time improving that standard instead of introducing their own standard.
- x_foo_x 10y agoThe AirPods are bluetooth. I think that has been a point of confusion. Also, 5 hrs may not seem like much but 24 hours w/ the case is a lot more than comparable bluetooth earbuds. And I really love the idea of a battery case: extend battery life, no connector on headphones, keeping them in the case may make it harder to lose them.
- loudin 10y agoThanks for clarifying the point about the bluetooth - this definitely got buried for me. The case is a good stopgap for improving battery life, but I still think they need to last 10 hours on a single charge to be really useful. For instance, 5 hours won't be enough for a plane trip if you include the time it takes to get to the airport/arrive at your destination. If they can just last a little bit longer, I'd be more on board with the change.
- joemi 10y agoWhile that's unfortunate for you, I'd be willing to bet most iphone consumers just use the included earbuds for their phone, and don't really have any other use for headphones. Keep in mind that you, and even most HN readers, are not necessarily examples of the average iphone consumers.
- valarauca1 10y agoA valid point, but nonetheless owning a second pair of ear buds is not a high bar. Ear buds are sold by nearly every corner gas station, grocery store, and 711. Typically for <$20 regardless of region. The primary issue is interchangeability. In the event you leave your earbuds at home. Borrowing a friend's, or purchasing an additional set is a simple. This is nolonger a simple solution.
- joemi 10y agoExcept it's still a simple solution for two reasons: 1) if you get the phone you get an adapter to let you use all 3.5mm headphones 2) many many many other people will have the same phone, so you'll be able to borrow their headphones.
- supercoder 10y agoYou're an edge case. Apple doesn't care.
- johnward 10y agoI generally need to charge while listening though.
- LordHumungous 10y agoThe other thing about that though- you can't listen to your headphones or hook up aux speakers while your phone is charging.
- elliotec 10y agoHow often do you do that?
- AlexandrB 10y agoWhenever I'm listening to something and the phone is about to die. Edit: also in the car (I have an older car with just an AUX jack).
- heydenberk 10y agoI imagine it's fairly common, since streaming music (even over WiFi) drains the battery.
- derefr 10y agoMy own setup for a while now, when playing music for long periods, has been to connect the phone to charge using the lightning cable, and then connect to a (wireless) Bluetooth speaker which itself is also plugged in and charging using its own USB cable connected to a USB charger. It has much the same effect as having a "charging dock", but just requires two powered USB ports rather than a custom piece of equipment.
- SloopJon 10y agoJason Snell "joked on Twitter last week that it’ll cost $19 if Apple’s sort of sorry, $29 if it’s not sorry, and if it’s free in the box then Apple’s really afraid of consumer backlash." https://sixcolors.com/post/2016/09/what-to-look-for-at-wednesdays-apple-event/ https://sixcolors.com/post/2016/09/what-to-look-for-at-wedne...
- Kadin 10y agoApple gets reportedly $4 per connector [1] for each 3rd-party device that uses a Lightning connector -- and that's with their new, kinder/gentler licensing scheme. The adapter that comes in the box is the proverbial drug dealer's "first one" that's always free. Imagine getting a $4 royalty on every pair of iPhone-compatible headphones that's sold in the world. That's worth a lot of free adapters in the short run. Just as a first-order estimate: Forbes says that annual worldwide sales of headphones are $300M. If the average price of headphones is around 20 bucks (taking into account there are a small number of very expensive headphones but also a lot of cheap ones, that's probably high), that's something in the neighborhood of 15M pairs sold per year. If half of those become Lightning-connector equipped, that's $30M/year in revenue (on costs of zero!) going to Apple. The connector could make the phone substantially worse as a phone and it still might be worthwhile. There doesn't need to be a compelling technical reason. [1]: http://www.forbes.com/sites/theopriestley/2016/01/11/apple-ditching-the-headphone-jack-is-less-about-music-more-about-royalties/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/theopriestley/2016/01/11/apple-d...
- Xixi 10y agoiPhones sales are over 100 billion dollars a year [1]. If this change makes the iPhone substantially worse to the point of losing even 1% of the would-be buyers, Apple will lose over a billion dollars in revenue. The risks are so staggering that I would think they must genuinely believe that the jack connector is so technically obsolete that it makes the iPhone worse than the iPhone will be without it. I just can't fathom Tim Cook (or anyone) betting 100 billions for $30M/year. Of course I can be completely wrong. [1] http://www.statista.com/statistics/263402/apples-iphone-revenue-since-3rd-quarter-2007/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/263402/apples-iphone-reve...
- lostlogin 10y agoApple isn't betting 100 billion. Some portion of users use headphones, I have no idea what percentage of users that is, but it isn't everyone. Apple would know this figure though.
- intoverflow2 10y ago