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Why is Apple taking so much flak? They aren't even the first and no strangers on pulling this kind of move when it messes up with their vision and plans for har

Why is Apple taking so much flak? They aren't even the first and no strangers on pulling this kind of move when it messes up with their vision and plans for hardware. LeEco's latest smartphones and the new Moto Z all ditched the 3.5mm jack in favour of USB-C only. Apple also figured now is a good time to do it and had a good hardware design reason to do it. People that have 3.5mm jack only hardware can keep using their current phones, no one is making them buy the iPhone 7 and even if they do, because it comes with the adapter they'll still be able to continue using card readers and such. As with all technology being phased out in a certain field, at some point people will have to refresh their peripherals. Backwards compatibility that compromises their design and vision is usually not something Apple has ever been concerned: they'll maybe give you workarounds (adapter) or sell you one. Personally I was hoping they would also just go for USB-C on everything, but guess they need to justify their investment on the Lightning port's development and keep control over its function. Charge and listen to music on headphones? You are doing it "wrong". Not wrong, just "Apple wrong" - never did it, but can see how a lot of people do at the end of the day commuting home. Clearly Apple wants to push everyone wireless, which kind of makes sense if you buy into their ecosystem and vision (Macbook, iPad, iPhone, iWatch), since it allows you to switch device without unplugging anything, but also, in this case, those wireless earphones might (pure speculation here) be the embryo of their "Google Glasses", something they can now build upon and experiment. EDIT: Just came across a 2010 video of Steve Jobs pretty much summing up what I tried to convey, which is Apple is just being Apple and shows coherence with what happened with the 3.5mm jack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65_PmYipnpk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65_PmYipnpk

pawadu 10y ago
Why people were not as upset when Lenovo did this? Actually they were. But also, this is the nature of Android: if this years offering from Vendor A doesn't suit me I can always buy from Vendor B-Z ; without loosing my paid apps and subscriptions. With iphones, its Apples way or the highway. So Mr. Gibson will whine then give in and buy the new iphone because he simply doesn't have a choice.
- SocratesV 10y ago
  True, but everyone buying into Apple's App Store (both iOS as well as OS X and now MacOS) should already know that there is no alternative and that they are locked in if they want to keep using their purchases.
  - pawadu 10y ago
    This is the first thing people complain about when they jump ships, so I would say it is not very well known to the average joe.
zouhair 10y ago
I had no idea what LeEco was and not interested in Moto stuff. Apple is getting more flak because there are way more people with iPhones that would love to keep using their headphones without the need for another cable, which is ironic when you think about it.
- SocratesV 10y ago
  Just pointing out that this is now becoming a trend and you'll start seeing even more, especially for vendors just making for the high end market and with just a couple of models. Running the risk of being completely wrong, a watershed moment has happened or will happen within the next year or two with more and more vendors doing the same thing. People with iPhones can still use their current iPhone, if they want the new one they either continue following Apple's vision (jump onto the bandwagon) or accept the hassle of carrying another cable. By now people should know that when Apple pulls these moves, it won't go back (it's not done on a whim and I imagine they are pretty sure people will just adapt), and it's banking on more and more people buying bluetooth headsets as their main ones (personally I've seen that trend around me in the last few years, which sure, it's purely circumstantial and not a general representation of society). Personally I have only bought a bluetooth peripheral because I had to (hardware "requisite" - iPad keyboard), as I dislike running out of battery (use wired keyboard, wired mouse, wired headphones, etc), but the experience has made me less worried with battery life. This is where I think Apple will have to improve and make charging stuff pretty seamless. And yes, there will be that time when you really want to use your headphones and they will be out of battery... And will have to wait a few minutes to get some juice.
  - zouhair 10y ago
    Would it be possible to change the battery on those AirPods? I think they are going to lose a lot of people and only the fanboys will stick with it.
    - SocratesV 10y ago
      Not sure, but taking into account the latest move in the Macbooks, I would say they probably have it pretty much integrated into the design and didn't cater for that. Do others cater for that? From what I've seen, most don't and a good part of them have less battery life. I would assume switching batteries would make them bulkier and introduce more complexity to their hardware design. From their tech specs, 15 minutes in their battery case will give you 3 hours of usage (50% volume). This is if the battery is drained when you start charging them. I assume the more battery charge they have, the slower it is to charge them further. Would be interesting to know the predicted lifetime of both the phones/charging case's battery. Haven't found information on that and personally if, with daily usage, it's less than a handful of years, it would make me less likely to buy them. At the moment I have no plans to do so, will wait for the market response to that price point, since similar ones are mostly more expensive.
GarrisonPrime 10y ago
In a few years, when practically no apps will run on one's iPhone 6, then they'll be forced to change. >no one is making them buy the iPhone 7 Not today, perhaps. But if they wish to remain in the iOS universe, eventually they will be forced to adapt or die.
- lwhalen 10y ago
  Perhaps folks will wake up to the evils of that pernicious 'drm' stuff the likes of the EFF, Doctorow, and even Stallman have been harping on about for decades now. It's not like people haven't been warned, cautioned, lectured, blogged to, and eventually harangued at, 'hey, giving up control and ownership of your bits is a Terrible Idea (tm)'. This is just step N in a long line of steps where those particular chickens come home to roost.
unprepare 10y ago
how is this even a serious question? USB-c is an open standard. you can buy laptops and desktops with it right now - even macbooks! There are numerous phones with this connector, so an investment in usb-c headphones is something you can be sure will be compatible with most things going forward. Where am i gunna plug in my lightning cabled headphones? Theres no lightning port on my mac, no other company does or will ever make a device with a lightning port. Oh and god forbid apple change their connector again - how much would you stake on the lightning port being around half as long as the 3.5mm connector? How many millions of Beats headphones have they sold through their own apple stores? How many people did they fleece into paying 300$ for a pair of headphones they wont be able to use with new ios devices? How many have they sold since they knew they were removing the headphone jack? This isnt just about people being upset their current headphones are basically useless, but knowing that any new headphones they buy have a limited lifetime. This is a major cultural shift in external audio components, which have been standard for decades - to proprietary connectors with known limited lifespans.
- SocratesV 10y ago
  That's assuming you buy Lightning headphones. They are clearly pushing for Bluetooth. Until you do, dongle, and you'll be able to use them. P.S.: I also agree USB-C would have been preferable and was hoping they would make that move in this keynote.
treebeard901 10y ago
> Why is Apple taking so much flak? > Personally I was hoping they would also just go for USB-C on everything A common reason stated for the flak being given is because to many people it is a clear way to pad profit margins. This is likely the reason they went with the 30-pin proprietary connector on the original iPhone and doubled down on the idea with the lightning port. If they went with USB they wouldn't have as much control over their peripheral ecosystem and by control I mean being able to charge third parties to license the proprietary connectors and protocols.

pawadu 10y ago

Why people were not as upset when Lenovo did this? Actually they were. But also, this is the nature of Android: if this years offering from Vendor A doesn't suit me I can always buy from Vendor B-Z ; without loosing my paid apps and subscriptions. With iphones, its Apples way or the highway. So Mr. Gibson will whine then give in and buy the new iphone because he simply doesn't have a choice.

SocratesV 10y ago
True, but everyone buying into Apple's App Store (both iOS as well as OS X and now MacOS) should already know that there is no alternative and that they are locked in if they want to keep using their purchases.
- pawadu 10y ago
  This is the first thing people complain about when they jump ships, so I would say it is not very well known to the average joe.

zouhair 10y ago

I had no idea what LeEco was and not interested in Moto stuff. Apple is getting more flak because there are way more people with iPhones that would love to keep using their headphones without the need for another cable, which is ironic when you think about it.

SocratesV 10y ago
Just pointing out that this is now becoming a trend and you'll start seeing even more, especially for vendors just making for the high end market and with just a couple of models. Running the risk of being completely wrong, a watershed moment has happened or will happen within the next year or two with more and more vendors doing the same thing. People with iPhones can still use their current iPhone, if they want the new one they either continue following Apple's vision (jump onto the bandwagon) or accept the hassle of carrying another cable. By now people should know that when Apple pulls these moves, it won't go back (it's not done on a whim and I imagine they are pretty sure people will just adapt), and it's banking on more and more people buying bluetooth headsets as their main ones (personally I've seen that trend around me in the last few years, which sure, it's purely circumstantial and not a general representation of society). Personally I have only bought a bluetooth peripheral because I had to (hardware "requisite" - iPad keyboard), as I dislike running out of battery (use wired keyboard, wired mouse, wired headphones, etc), but the experience has made me less worried with battery life. This is where I think Apple will have to improve and make charging stuff pretty seamless. And yes, there will be that time when you really want to use your headphones and they will be out of battery... And will have to wait a few minutes to get some juice.
- zouhair 10y ago
  Would it be possible to change the battery on those AirPods? I think they are going to lose a lot of people and only the fanboys will stick with it.
  - SocratesV 10y ago
    Not sure, but taking into account the latest move in the Macbooks, I would say they probably have it pretty much integrated into the design and didn't cater for that. Do others cater for that? From what I've seen, most don't and a good part of them have less battery life. I would assume switching batteries would make them bulkier and introduce more complexity to their hardware design. From their tech specs, 15 minutes in their battery case will give you 3 hours of usage (50% volume). This is if the battery is drained when you start charging them. I assume the more battery charge they have, the slower it is to charge them further. Would be interesting to know the predicted lifetime of both the phones/charging case's battery. Haven't found information on that and personally if, with daily usage, it's less than a handful of years, it would make me less likely to buy them. At the moment I have no plans to do so, will wait for the market response to that price point, since similar ones are mostly more expensive.

GarrisonPrime 10y ago

In a few years, when practically no apps will run on one's iPhone 6, then they'll be forced to change. >no one is making them buy the iPhone 7 Not today, perhaps. But if they wish to remain in the iOS universe, eventually they will be forced to adapt or die.

lwhalen 10y ago
Perhaps folks will wake up to the evils of that pernicious 'drm' stuff the likes of the EFF, Doctorow, and even Stallman have been harping on about for decades now. It's not like people haven't been warned, cautioned, lectured, blogged to, and eventually harangued at, 'hey, giving up control and ownership of your bits is a Terrible Idea (tm)'. This is just step N in a long line of steps where those particular chickens come home to roost.

unprepare 10y ago

how is this even a serious question? USB-c is an open standard. you can buy laptops and desktops with it right now - even macbooks! There are numerous phones with this connector, so an investment in usb-c headphones is something you can be sure will be compatible with most things going forward. Where am i gunna plug in my lightning cabled headphones? Theres no lightning port on my mac, no other company does or will ever make a device with a lightning port. Oh and god forbid apple change their connector again - how much would you stake on the lightning port being around half as long as the 3.5mm connector? How many millions of Beats headphones have they sold through their own apple stores? How many people did they fleece into paying 300$ for a pair of headphones they wont be able to use with new ios devices? How many have they sold since they knew they were removing the headphone jack? This isnt just about people being upset their current headphones are basically useless, but knowing that any new headphones they buy have a limited lifetime. This is a major cultural shift in external audio components, which have been standard for decades - to proprietary connectors with known limited lifespans.

SocratesV 10y ago
That's assuming you buy Lightning headphones. They are clearly pushing for Bluetooth. Until you do, dongle, and you'll be able to use them. P.S.: I also agree USB-C would have been preferable and was hoping they would make that move in this keynote.

treebeard901 10y ago

> Why is Apple taking so much flak? > Personally I was hoping they would also just go for USB-C on everything A common reason stated for the flak being given is because to many people it is a clear way to pad profit margins. This is likely the reason they went with the 30-pin proprietary connector on the original iPhone and doubled down on the idea with the lightning port. If they went with USB they wouldn't have as much control over their peripheral ecosystem and by control I mean being able to charge third parties to license the proprietary connectors and protocols.