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Apple is pushing the privacy angle pretty strongly now, and I can't really blame them. It's a key differentiator between them and their chief competitor. The p

Apple is pushing the privacy angle pretty strongly now, and I can't really blame them. It's a key differentiator between them and their chief competitor. The phones are good on their own, but when choosing between having every action tracked and keeping some things to yourself, unsurprisingly a lot of people want privacy. Here's hoping their marketing can help ordinary people who wouldn't normally care about privacy see why it's important (and maybe score some wins for privacy at the polls in the future!)

analogic 9y ago
Honestly on verge of switching, despite my deep disdain for the locked down walled garden. Hopefully their privacy stance is a raging success and catches on to every other service that I only minimally use due to the 'surveillance chill' effect. (..goes back to tracking my users) If only it wasn't for that fscking no headphone jack..
- aerotwelve 9y ago
  I recently bought a new Android phone, not out of any love for Google and their horrendous privacy policies, but out of love for my headphone jack. Apple, what were you thinking?
  - hkjayakumar 9y ago
    Apparently Google is also ditching the headphone jack[1] on the new Pixel line [1] http://bgr.com/2017/07/27/pixel-2-rumors-no-3-5mm-headphone-jack/ http://bgr.com/2017/07/27/pixel-2-rumors-no-3-5mm-headphone-...
    - piyush_soni 9y ago
      All the more reason to curse Apple for its "courageous" step :(
    - guelo 9y ago
      Luckily for consumers Android is a diverse ecosystem not controlled by one single manufacturer. There are many devices with headphone jacks to choose from.
      - 2muchcoffeeman 9y ago
        What makes you think the other major manufacturers aren't going to follow suit? It may just be a matter of time. Especially if 2 major companies normalise it, then all the other companies get to drop a feature and save a few cents on every phone.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
        pebers 9y ago
        If there are enough customers that really want a headphone jack and everyone else was ditching them, it'd be a point of differentiation and hence worth those few cents for some manufacturer to offer one. I suspect that won't happen though because it'll transpire that most customers don't really care that much.
        dragonwriter 9y ago
        Samsung's still making a flagship line with a stylistic after pretty much everyone else dropped smartphone styluses; and they brought back external SD cards, too, which a number of manufacturers (themselves included) dropped from flagship lines. It's possible that dropping headphone jacks could become universal, but I don't see any reason to expect it's likely.
        2muchcoffeeman 9y ago
        I can see wireless charging and waterproof devices becoming the norm. Most people also buy headphones from popular brands rather than attempt to discern on sound quality. I see quite a few AirPods and Bluetooth headphones these days. I don't think you can discount the possibility.
      - 9y ago
    - wingworks 9y ago
      I hope so, I never use my headphone jack. Wouldn't miss it for a second. Would much rather have a more waterproof and thinner phone.
  - threeseed 9y ago
    > Apple, what were you thinking? They were thinking that AirPods and similar are the future of audio. And for those who have more discerning needs they ship a dongle with the phone that you can leave permanently attached to your wired headphones.
    - cyphar 9y ago
      Have they solved the "I want to charge my phone but also listen to music" problem yet? Or does it still require ridiculous amounts of daisy-chaining?
      - usaphp 9y ago
        I guess with wireless charging you can now do so.
        Tehnix 9y ago
        > > Have they solved the "I want to charge my phone but also listen to music" problem yet? Or does it still require ridiculous amounts of daisy-chaining? > I guess with wireless charging you can now do so. Guess that settles that debate then, glad we can put that to rest going forward. (...I realise this sounds weirdly sarcastic?, but it's actually not)
        mlnj 9y ago
        "Paired with wireless earphones, you don't need a headphone jack or a charging port" (facepalm)
        jeffhuys 9y ago
        Exactly, awesome right? I would love a future without ANY cables.
      - veidr 9y ago
        The Apple way to solve that is: you pay them a $159.00 wire removal fee, they will eliminate the wire part of your headphones. https://www.apple.com/airpods/ https://www.apple.com/airpods/
  - callumlocke 9y ago
    I used to think that was a huge issue. But my friend bought an iPhone 7 and he says it's just not a problem in practice. He keeps the adaptor permanently attached to his (non-Apple) headphones. It's not like you have to fiddle around with the adaptor every time you use your headphones. Obviously I'd prefer to keep the jack socket on my phone, I'm just saying it's a minor issue. I think people like to focus on it because it feels like the prototypical Apple dick-move, but it's not that big a deal e.g. compared to the walled garden thing.
  - cjsuk 9y ago
    I’m going to be honest, I bought a 6s instead of a 7 because of the 3.5 jack and within a week managed to shut the earphones in a car door. This lead to a trip to my local electronics retailer to get some replacements. They only had lightning ones so I reluctantly bought them. So far, this isn’t really crippling. I use some sennheisers when at home with the mac and use the earphones when I’m out. If they remove the 3.5 jack from the Mac I’ll be more pissed.
  - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
    > Apple, what were you thinking? Reasonable steps towards a waterproof phone?
    - AndrewDucker 9y ago
      Sony has no problems making a waterproof phone with a headphone jack. (Although you do have to give it a shake when you take it out of the water) https://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/dm/water-and-dust-resistance/ https://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/dm/water-and-dust-r...
- stefco_ 9y ago
  This is exactly what's keeping me in Apple's garden... I hate how they're moving core MacOS services away from open source, how they don't document their APIs, how they lock down their phones... and yeah, I miss my headphone jack, too. Obviously they know damn well that there are people like us who value privacy enough to buy Apple in spite of all of the other unpalatable stuff. I just hope the demand gets high enough that other companies start catering to it as well.
  - JKCalhoun 9y ago
    > I just hope the demand gets high enough that other companies start catering to it as well. Well, it's kind of the business Google is in though — selling your "privacy".
    - stefco_ 9y ago
      Yeah, I don't expect anything better from them. I'd love to see some kind of decent open-source linux distro for phones, but I'm not holding my breath for the near-term future.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- photonios 9y ago
  I was also upset about the lack of a headphone jack. When I got robbed and lost my iPhone 6S, I bought an iPhone 7. Similar to a comment down here, within a week; I was on a bus and I got stuck with my earphones cable. Phone went flying. I decided I had enough of cables and bought a pair of wireless headphones. I am never going back to cables. The battery of mine lasts for 12 hours when continuously used. I charge it while I sleep. Now I am not missing the headphone jack anymore.
  - jusaduder 9y ago
    Do you realize you can have both a headphone jack and wireless headphones? Best of both worlds.
    - hmhrex 9y ago
      I don't believe that's the point he's making here. He's saying that he was annoyed that the iPhone 7 doesn't have a headphone jack, but after an accident (while using an adapter with the iPhone 7), he's convinced that wireless headphones are the best option, regardless of the device having a headphone jack or not.
  - bigbugbag 9y ago
    great move towards accelerating climate change and end of limited resources. you're a good obedient consumerist. keep privileging your own comfort over the global good.
  - zimpenfish 9y ago
    I use a Taotronics dongle with non-wireless Etymotics with my 7. Gives about 20 hours between charges. Apart from a couple of ANNOYING UX glitches, it's a magical device. Brilliant on long walks - phone can go in the bag with a battery pack.
forapurpose 9y ago
> when choosing between having every action tracked and keeping some things to yourself, unsurprisingly a lot of people want privacy Do they? I hope that's true, but the fact that Apple is selling it doesn't mean people are buying. Most people I talk to still have zero concern for privacy, unfortunately.
frik 9y ago
"iOS 11: toggling wifi and Bluetooth in Control Centre doesn't actually turn them off" https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/21/ios-11-apple-toggling-wifi-bluetooth-control-centre-doesnt-turn-them-off https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/21/ios-11-ap... "Quick switch simply disconnects phone from access points and devices rather than turning off the radios, in move criticised by security researchers." "On iOS 11, pressing the wifi toggle immediately disconnects the iPhone or iPad from any wifi networks, but leaves the wireless radio available for use by location services, scanning for the names of nearby wifi access points. The Bluetooth toggle operates in a similar fashion." "To actually turn off Bluetooth and wifi users will need to head into the Settings app and manually turn them off, which deactivates them until 5am the next morning" "But security researchers warn that having either wifi or Bluetooth active when not in use puts users at risk of attack, calling the change “stupid” and “not clear for the user”. Only recently researchers demonstrated that, due to a weakness in the implementation of Bluetooth in some smartphones and tablets, hackers could wirelessly hijack a device without the user having to accept a connection or download anything."
- Brotkrumen 9y ago
  >which deactivates them until 5am the next morning How cynical can you get? Jeez...
- adamlett 9y ago
  But security researchers warn that having either wifi or Bluetooth active when not in use puts users at risk of attack, calling the change “stupid” and “not clear for the user” Let’s be clear. Leaving WiFi or Bluetooth active puts users at risk of attack in the same way that leaving your house to go anywhere puts you at risk of getting in a traffic accident.

analogic 9y ago

Honestly on verge of switching, despite my deep disdain for the locked down walled garden. Hopefully their privacy stance is a raging success and catches on to every other service that I only minimally use due to the 'surveillance chill' effect. (..goes back to tracking my users) If only it wasn't for that fscking no headphone jack..

aerotwelve 9y ago
I recently bought a new Android phone, not out of any love for Google and their horrendous privacy policies, but out of love for my headphone jack. Apple, what were you thinking?
- hkjayakumar 9y ago
  Apparently Google is also ditching the headphone jack[1] on the new Pixel line [1] http://bgr.com/2017/07/27/pixel-2-rumors-no-3-5mm-headphone-jack/ http://bgr.com/2017/07/27/pixel-2-rumors-no-3-5mm-headphone-...
  - piyush_soni 9y ago
    All the more reason to curse Apple for its "courageous" step :(
  - guelo 9y ago
    Luckily for consumers Android is a diverse ecosystem not controlled by one single manufacturer. There are many devices with headphone jacks to choose from.
    - 2muchcoffeeman 9y ago
      What makes you think the other major manufacturers aren't going to follow suit? It may just be a matter of time. Especially if 2 major companies normalise it, then all the other companies get to drop a feature and save a few cents on every phone.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - pebers 9y ago
        If there are enough customers that really want a headphone jack and everyone else was ditching them, it'd be a point of differentiation and hence worth those few cents for some manufacturer to offer one. I suspect that won't happen though because it'll transpire that most customers don't really care that much.
      - dragonwriter 9y ago
        Samsung's still making a flagship line with a stylistic after pretty much everyone else dropped smartphone styluses; and they brought back external SD cards, too, which a number of manufacturers (themselves included) dropped from flagship lines. It's possible that dropping headphone jacks could become universal, but I don't see any reason to expect it's likely.
        2muchcoffeeman 9y ago
        I can see wireless charging and waterproof devices becoming the norm. Most people also buy headphones from popular brands rather than attempt to discern on sound quality. I see quite a few AirPods and Bluetooth headphones these days. I don't think you can discount the possibility.
    - 9y ago
  - wingworks 9y ago
    I hope so, I never use my headphone jack. Wouldn't miss it for a second. Would much rather have a more waterproof and thinner phone.
- threeseed 9y ago
  > Apple, what were you thinking? They were thinking that AirPods and similar are the future of audio. And for those who have more discerning needs they ship a dongle with the phone that you can leave permanently attached to your wired headphones.
  - cyphar 9y ago
    Have they solved the "I want to charge my phone but also listen to music" problem yet? Or does it still require ridiculous amounts of daisy-chaining?
    - usaphp 9y ago
      I guess with wireless charging you can now do so.
      - Tehnix 9y ago
        > > Have they solved the "I want to charge my phone but also listen to music" problem yet? Or does it still require ridiculous amounts of daisy-chaining? > I guess with wireless charging you can now do so. Guess that settles that debate then, glad we can put that to rest going forward. (...I realise this sounds weirdly sarcastic?, but it's actually not)
      - mlnj 9y ago
        "Paired with wireless earphones, you don't need a headphone jack or a charging port" (facepalm)
        jeffhuys 9y ago
        Exactly, awesome right? I would love a future without ANY cables.
    - veidr 9y ago
      The Apple way to solve that is: you pay them a $159.00 wire removal fee, they will eliminate the wire part of your headphones. https://www.apple.com/airpods/ https://www.apple.com/airpods/
- callumlocke 9y ago
  I used to think that was a huge issue. But my friend bought an iPhone 7 and he says it's just not a problem in practice. He keeps the adaptor permanently attached to his (non-Apple) headphones. It's not like you have to fiddle around with the adaptor every time you use your headphones. Obviously I'd prefer to keep the jack socket on my phone, I'm just saying it's a minor issue. I think people like to focus on it because it feels like the prototypical Apple dick-move, but it's not that big a deal e.g. compared to the walled garden thing.
- cjsuk 9y ago
  I’m going to be honest, I bought a 6s instead of a 7 because of the 3.5 jack and within a week managed to shut the earphones in a car door. This lead to a trip to my local electronics retailer to get some replacements. They only had lightning ones so I reluctantly bought them. So far, this isn’t really crippling. I use some sennheisers when at home with the mac and use the earphones when I’m out. If they remove the 3.5 jack from the Mac I’ll be more pissed.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago
  > Apple, what were you thinking? Reasonable steps towards a waterproof phone?
  - AndrewDucker 9y ago
    Sony has no problems making a waterproof phone with a headphone jack. (Although you do have to give it a shake when you take it out of the water) https://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/dm/water-and-dust-resistance/ https://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/dm/water-and-dust-r...
stefco_ 9y ago
This is exactly what's keeping me in Apple's garden... I hate how they're moving core MacOS services away from open source, how they don't document their APIs, how they lock down their phones... and yeah, I miss my headphone jack, too. Obviously they know damn well that there are people like us who value privacy enough to buy Apple in spite of all of the other unpalatable stuff. I just hope the demand gets high enough that other companies start catering to it as well.
- JKCalhoun 9y ago
  > I just hope the demand gets high enough that other companies start catering to it as well. Well, it's kind of the business Google is in though — selling your "privacy".
  - stefco_ 9y ago
    Yeah, I don't expect anything better from them. I'd love to see some kind of decent open-source linux distro for phones, but I'm not holding my breath for the near-term future.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
photonios 9y ago
I was also upset about the lack of a headphone jack. When I got robbed and lost my iPhone 6S, I bought an iPhone 7. Similar to a comment down here, within a week; I was on a bus and I got stuck with my earphones cable. Phone went flying. I decided I had enough of cables and bought a pair of wireless headphones. I am never going back to cables. The battery of mine lasts for 12 hours when continuously used. I charge it while I sleep. Now I am not missing the headphone jack anymore.
- jusaduder 9y ago
  Do you realize you can have both a headphone jack and wireless headphones? Best of both worlds.
  - hmhrex 9y ago
    I don't believe that's the point he's making here. He's saying that he was annoyed that the iPhone 7 doesn't have a headphone jack, but after an accident (while using an adapter with the iPhone 7), he's convinced that wireless headphones are the best option, regardless of the device having a headphone jack or not.
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  great move towards accelerating climate change and end of limited resources. you're a good obedient consumerist. keep privileging your own comfort over the global good.
- zimpenfish 9y ago
  I use a Taotronics dongle with non-wireless Etymotics with my 7. Gives about 20 hours between charges. Apart from a couple of ANNOYING UX glitches, it's a magical device. Brilliant on long walks - phone can go in the bag with a battery pack.

forapurpose 9y ago

> when choosing between having every action tracked and keeping some things to yourself, unsurprisingly a lot of people want privacy Do they? I hope that's true, but the fact that Apple is selling it doesn't mean people are buying. Most people I talk to still have zero concern for privacy, unfortunately.

frik 9y ago

"iOS 11: toggling wifi and Bluetooth in Control Centre doesn't actually turn them off" https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/21/ios-11-apple-toggling-wifi-bluetooth-control-centre-doesnt-turn-them-off https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/21/ios-11-ap... "Quick switch simply disconnects phone from access points and devices rather than turning off the radios, in move criticised by security researchers." "On iOS 11, pressing the wifi toggle immediately disconnects the iPhone or iPad from any wifi networks, but leaves the wireless radio available for use by location services, scanning for the names of nearby wifi access points. The Bluetooth toggle operates in a similar fashion." "To actually turn off Bluetooth and wifi users will need to head into the Settings app and manually turn them off, which deactivates them until 5am the next morning" "But security researchers warn that having either wifi or Bluetooth active when not in use puts users at risk of attack, calling the change “stupid” and “not clear for the user”. Only recently researchers demonstrated that, due to a weakness in the implementation of Bluetooth in some smartphones and tablets, hackers could wirelessly hijack a device without the user having to accept a connection or download anything."

Brotkrumen 9y ago
>which deactivates them until 5am the next morning How cynical can you get? Jeez...
adamlett 9y ago
But security researchers warn that having either wifi or Bluetooth active when not in use puts users at risk of attack, calling the change “stupid” and “not clear for the user” Let’s be clear. Leaving WiFi or Bluetooth active puts users at risk of attack in the same way that leaving your house to go anywhere puts you at risk of getting in a traffic accident.