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There were two things that happened when Apple got rid of the headphone jack: (1) they added water resistance, (2) the phones got thinner. Plus, Apple had seen

There were two things that happened when Apple got rid of the headphone jack: (1) they added water resistance, (2) the phones got thinner. Plus, Apple had seen the trends heading toward wireless headphones. They still included a dongle to give you a standard headphone jack. While Apple could likely have gotten their water resistance even with the headphone jack, they couldn’t have made the phones as thin. People may disagree with the product choice, but I don’t see any reason to think that those weren’t the real reasons.

walls 6y ago
The phones are thicker now than they ever were with the headphone jack. In fact, the 7 was the last version to get thinner. https://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/301929-image/iPhone-sizes-2.jpg https://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/301929-image/iP...
- dexterdog 6y ago
  Does anybody other than PR/marketing people care about phones being thinner than they are? It's just an excuse to not give better battery life which costs money.
formerly_proven 6y ago
> the phones got thinner No. They didn't. iPhone 5: 7.6 mm thin, 6: 7 mm iPhone 7: 7.1 mm > While Apple could likely have gotten their water resistance even with the headphone jack, they couldn’t have made the phones as thin. Except that's a pretty obvious lie. Not just that the phones did not get thinner (or lighter), they stayed around the same thickness (+- 0.5 mm), while getting larger, much heavier and much more expensive. But also the thinnest Android phone with a 3.5 mm jack is just 5.1 mm thick, for example. Sony even made a waterproof phone that's 6.5 mm thin and still has a 3.5 mm jack, which is thinner than any iPhone ever. Everything about this argumentation is wrong or an outright lie. The only reason they did this is because they could moneygrab through accessoires better when they eliminate standardized I/O.
- joshspankit 6y ago
  I would argue the the camera “bump” means that the phone is not actually thinner anyway. Honesty means measuring thickness by it’s thickest point.
- joshspankit 6y ago
  It would be very straightforward as well to simply come up with a new thinner analog headphone jack: maybe something balanced and with a magnetic connector since we’re at it?
- dangoor 6y ago
  Thank you! I stand corrected. It looks like the reason most cited, in hindsight, for Apple removing it was to pave the way for a design without bezels and with more speakers https://screenrant.com/why-apple-removed-the-headphone/ https://screenrant.com/why-apple-removed-the-headphone/ https://bgr.com/2017/10/06/pixel-2-headphone-jack-iphone-x-design/ https://bgr.com/2017/10/06/pixel-2-headphone-jack-iphone-x-d... Which is, indeed, a very different reason.
- jdkdodo 6y ago
  The only reason? Doesn’t shallow dismissive posting violate comment rules here? It’s almost as if “every argument I make about frugalness and standards is maybe leading me to ignore other considerations.” “Pros” continue to make use of their wired kit, and it changes the math of recurring waste problem; I’ve thrown away many fewer pairs of $30 earbuds since iPhone 7. Saved money and generated less consumer waste over the long run. Now scale that up to the iPhone user base. You seem to believe human agency must be functionally fixed on how we used to do things. Or at least how you have been lead to believe we did. Turns out iterating away through new invention is how we do things. Or do you have your wax cylinders ready? And for people that want a wire a 2” dongle is available. Given all else they get with a life that affords an iPhone, oofda what a stretch. Let’s get to the back of the line with our first world sour grapes a bit. I can see how broader utility was enabled in a variety of ways. Sorry you haven’t been able to cope with, really, such a trivial change in 5 years.
  - formerly_proven 6y ago
coliveira 6y ago
They "had seen the trends heading toward wireless headphones" or they wanted to create the trend and sell their own headphones? The second explanation seems much better.
jimmaswell 6y ago
The Samsung S10 line is water resistant with a headphone jack just fine.
- tedd-the-tiger 6y ago
  Exactly. So is my LG G7. IP68, who wants better than that?

walls 6y ago

The phones are thicker now than they ever were with the headphone jack. In fact, the 7 was the last version to get thinner. https://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/301929-image/iPhone-sizes-2.jpg https://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/301929-image/iP...

dexterdog 6y ago
Does anybody other than PR/marketing people care about phones being thinner than they are? It's just an excuse to not give better battery life which costs money.

formerly_proven 6y ago

> the phones got thinner No. They didn't. iPhone 5: 7.6 mm thin, 6: 7 mm iPhone 7: 7.1 mm > While Apple could likely have gotten their water resistance even with the headphone jack, they couldn’t have made the phones as thin. Except that's a pretty obvious lie. Not just that the phones did not get thinner (or lighter), they stayed around the same thickness (+- 0.5 mm), while getting larger, much heavier and much more expensive. But also the thinnest Android phone with a 3.5 mm jack is just 5.1 mm thick, for example. Sony even made a waterproof phone that's 6.5 mm thin and still has a 3.5 mm jack, which is thinner than any iPhone ever. Everything about this argumentation is wrong or an outright lie. The only reason they did this is because they could moneygrab through accessoires better when they eliminate standardized I/O.

joshspankit 6y ago
I would argue the the camera “bump” means that the phone is not actually thinner anyway. Honesty means measuring thickness by it’s thickest point.
joshspankit 6y ago
It would be very straightforward as well to simply come up with a new thinner analog headphone jack: maybe something balanced and with a magnetic connector since we’re at it?
dangoor 6y ago
Thank you! I stand corrected. It looks like the reason most cited, in hindsight, for Apple removing it was to pave the way for a design without bezels and with more speakers https://screenrant.com/why-apple-removed-the-headphone/ https://screenrant.com/why-apple-removed-the-headphone/ https://bgr.com/2017/10/06/pixel-2-headphone-jack-iphone-x-design/ https://bgr.com/2017/10/06/pixel-2-headphone-jack-iphone-x-d... Which is, indeed, a very different reason.
jdkdodo 6y ago
The only reason? Doesn’t shallow dismissive posting violate comment rules here? It’s almost as if “every argument I make about frugalness and standards is maybe leading me to ignore other considerations.” “Pros” continue to make use of their wired kit, and it changes the math of recurring waste problem; I’ve thrown away many fewer pairs of $30 earbuds since iPhone 7. Saved money and generated less consumer waste over the long run. Now scale that up to the iPhone user base. You seem to believe human agency must be functionally fixed on how we used to do things. Or at least how you have been lead to believe we did. Turns out iterating away through new invention is how we do things. Or do you have your wax cylinders ready? And for people that want a wire a 2” dongle is available. Given all else they get with a life that affords an iPhone, oofda what a stretch. Let’s get to the back of the line with our first world sour grapes a bit. I can see how broader utility was enabled in a variety of ways. Sorry you haven’t been able to cope with, really, such a trivial change in 5 years.
- formerly_proven 6y ago

coliveira 6y ago

They "had seen the trends heading toward wireless headphones" or they wanted to create the trend and sell their own headphones? The second explanation seems much better.

jimmaswell 6y ago

The Samsung S10 line is water resistant with a headphone jack just fine.

tedd-the-tiger 6y ago
Exactly. So is my LG G7. IP68, who wants better than that?