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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

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.
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    Which usually don't have OS upgrades beyond what they were sold with, and Project Treble won't change that, because OEMs are the ones expected to ship OS updates. So headphone jacks without updates, hurray!
    - dragonwriter 9y ago
      > Which usually don't have OS upgrades beyond what they were sold with Flagships usually do (Samsung flagships, and numerous phones lower in their line, tend to get two major version updates.) > and Project Treble won't change that If update practices are something a worthwhile market segment looks to in buying decisions, and Trello makes it easier on OEMs because their is a cleaner isolation of the device-specific pieces, then, I'd expect it to make more OS updates happen.
      - pjmlp 9y ago
        On my home country the minimum wage is around 400 euros, not many people can afford two month salaries for the privilege of getting OS updates.
    - la_oveja 9y ago
      Good thing I can compile my own Android builds.
      - pjmlp 9y ago
        99% of regular consumers don't.
- 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...

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.
- pjmlp 9y ago
  Which usually don't have OS upgrades beyond what they were sold with, and Project Treble won't change that, because OEMs are the ones expected to ship OS updates. So headphone jacks without updates, hurray!
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    > Which usually don't have OS upgrades beyond what they were sold with Flagships usually do (Samsung flagships, and numerous phones lower in their line, tend to get two major version updates.) > and Project Treble won't change that If update practices are something a worthwhile market segment looks to in buying decisions, and Trello makes it easier on OEMs because their is a cleaner isolation of the device-specific pieces, then, I'd expect it to make more OS updates happen.
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      On my home country the minimum wage is around 400 euros, not many people can afford two month salaries for the privilege of getting OS updates.
  - la_oveja 9y ago
    Good thing I can compile my own Android builds.
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      99% of regular consumers don't.
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...