5 ms·

Apple To Abandon Headphone Jack? Beats Deal Suddenly Makes Sense

36 points by cocoflunchy 12y ago

LeoPanthera 12y ago
I find it (extremely) difficult to believe that Apple would remove the headphone jack from iPhones. Lightning headphones? Sure. Premium DACs driven from Lightning? Why not. Remove the headphone jack? Suicide.
- melling 12y ago
  You should blog about it. That way your arrogance can be documented. Apple is the one company that would do it. You can join this guy: http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2001-05-20/commentary-sorry-steve-heres-why-apple-stores-wont-work http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2001-05-20/commentary-so... Personally, I think HN readers should be a little more open minded. At some point, headphones will need to evolve.
  - DontBeADick 12y ago
    Funny how you assume headphones are the only thing anyone ever plugs into a headphone jack.
    - melling 12y ago
      I'm not assuming anything. Look at the headphone jack on your phone. It's starting to look a little big. That's precious real estate.
    - dkrich 12y ago
      Well I thought the article specifically mentioned that the MFi license was for headphones that connect via the Lighting port.
    - mantrax5 12y ago
      Funny how you assume he assumes that? The lightning port can do everything you can do with the headphone port, and more. There are three problems with the headphone jack that Apple can see: 1. It's limited: it can stream analog stereo sound, and get back analog mono microphone. There's a nasty hack some headphones do so you can have a 2-3 buttons on a headphone (say, prev/next track, pause/play), but that's it. Analog sound over a long cable means you add noise. You get no noise cancelation, no surround sound, no other data streams etc. Maybe they have headphones with extra sensors in mind. 2. It's redundant: it takes space while doing a subset of what Lightning can do: that DAC circuitry takes space and wastes power, and the port itself is an ugly hole for no interesting reason than headphones don't currently support Lightning. If Apple removes the headphone port, it can use the extra power and space for more interesting things (like larger battery, more sensors etc.). 3. It's uncontrollable: Apple prefers vendors go through their programs to ensure quality and compliance, but we have players like Square, who use the headphone port for credit card swiping. They do it just so they don't have to pay Apple for licensing a Lightning solution.
      - xaqfox 12y ago
        "They do it just so they don't have to pay Apple for licensing a Lightning solution." Cross-platform support for their hardware would be the killer feature of using the headphone port.
        mantrax5 12y ago
        Cross-platform support for their hardware is not something the typical user will take advantage of. If the user has an iPhone they can buy the Lightning version, and if they use an Android phone, they can buy the micro USB version. But chances are the user won't be switching the card reader from one device to another all the time.
      - KingMob 12y ago
        While I generally agree with you, I should point out a few things regarding noise cancellation. Noise cancellation doesn't require anything from the phone. Most noise cancellation works by placing a small mic on the headphones, sampling the ambient noise, and playing an anti-phase waveform of the noise through the speakers to cancel the noise. While you could use the phone mic to do that, it's not necessary (and probably inferior, if the phone is in a pocket). Or were you referring to the fact that a digital signal degrades in the presence of noise more gracefully? (Lowered bandwidth rather than pops/artifacts.) (Technically, you don't even need digital signals to stop noise from being picked up in the wires; balanced cables will do this just fine with an analog signal, though admittedly, balanced headphones are not standard consumer gear.)
  - Arcanum-XIII 12y ago
    Arrogance ? Maybe. Still, lot of people got high investment in good headphone - and won't get any equivalent for a long time with a lightning connector. And, another point is : headphone with a jack are compatible with a lot of hardware. Why change ?
    - melling 12y ago
      What's the plan when wearables take off and you can have 1000 songs in your Google Glasses, "iWatch", or that credit card size computer that you keep in your wallet?
- kemayo 12y ago
  It seems unlikely in the short-term, at least. Give them a few years, and Beats supporting it widely, and who knows? Though as a counter-argument, I might have said that about removing the 30-pin adaptor for lightning. It involved dropping a huge legacy accessory market, after all... (Of course, this is all wild speculation and completely unsubstantiated. So there's that.)
  - cube13 12y ago
    30-pin was an Apple-only connector, though. Same with lightning. The 1.5mm jack, on the other hand, is the standard audio connector for just about every consumer-grade device in the world. Not sure what the upside is for Apple, even with them owning Beats.
    - melling 12y ago
      How's that connector gonna work on your iWatch or Google Glass?
    - Someone 12y ago
      I agree with you, but here is a weird idea: they will have to make room for a micro USB connector to comply with EU regulations. Adding a connector doesn't feel like anything Apple would do, and giving up lightning would be admitting defeat. So, let's suppose they go this route: I think that an adapter could be ridiculously small. It needs to wrap that audio connector, hold it tighter than a lighting connector holds a lightning cable (should be fairly easy), add about half a centimeter for the lightning plug, and have room for some chip doing lightning-to-audio conversion. A lot of speculation? Yes, but if it works, I can see them go that way. The main problem is the case of people who use a single headset with iPhones and non-Apple devices (extra weird idea: when do we see lightning in iMacs?)
      - projct 12y ago
        They are just fine with the EU regulations with the lightning to microUSB adapter. http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/13/apple-lightning-to-micro-usb-adapter/ http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/13/apple-lightning-to-micro-...
- chillingeffect 12y ago
  Not suicide... many smart phones had no proper headphone jack for about 3 years and the market was able to grow to this point. All Apple has to do is tell people, "You need the special Apple headphones," and they'll likely say, "Oh! okay!" Their users have handled several generations of proprietary chargers just fine. Mac laptop users have also handled numerous generations of video output interfaces just fine. They're simply not a class of user which quibbles about spending on minor electrical expenses in order to get the functionality they want. In fact, they'll likely be grateful. "Oh, I've been wanting a pair of real studio-quality headphones anyway!"
character0 12y ago
I don't see much of an upside doing this. Better audio? Not anything that will be discernible to the regular user. More controls on the headphone wire? This reminds me of the remotes that came paired with a lot of minidisc players; there is no need for a second screen if it's wired. This seems like a step in the wrong direction with the push for wearables that could communicate wirelessly.
- nwh 12y ago
  > I don't see much of an upside doing this. Well you ditch the huge, thick lightning connector for starters. That's why the MacBook Pro doesn't have ethernet anymore, it's just too thick for the case.
  - jws 12y ago
    Assuming you mean "ditch the huge, thick coax connector", yes. That make's some sense. Looking at the end of an iPhone the audio jack is the largest element by some margin. One wonders about a "watch". Would you want to plug headphones into it? The thickness would be significant there. (I view the "watch" as a notification and acknowledgement interface as an adjunct to a mobile device. I think it makes more sense to plug the headphone/microphone into the larger device from a battery standpoint. Headphone cables down a long sleeved shirt make some sense though.) Orthogonally, Apple just sprouted a bunch of ways to interact between devices at the WWDC. Maybe a person that would wear gigantic headphones would not wear a "watch", but would handle their acknowledgment functions through some interface on their head ornaments.
    - nwh 12y ago
      > Assuming you mean "ditch the huge, thick coax connector", yes. Whoops, lost a bit of meaning when I revised that sentence and didn't look over it. I'm not really sure what to think of the whole "watch" thing, even if it is a real thing that going to happen I can't see it being anything like people expect it to be. Having headphones plugged in would be a little weird, I just tried it then by taping my headphones plug to my wrist and found it got tangled in almost everything I tried to do.
alenox 12y ago
Step 1 - Wild speculation on something Apple might be doing. Step 2 - Why we are all doomed! Step 3 - Shame on you Apple!
- contactmatts 12y ago
  Step 4 - Acceptance
- sosborn 12y ago
  Step 4 - Profit!
- SrslyJosh 12y ago
  Financial news is clowns all the way down.
joewalnes 12y ago
This seems like FUD. Being able to stream audio through Lightning is necessary for audio docks and other accessories. It's quite a leap to say they're going to remove the headphone jack.
- Lx1oG-AWb6h_ZG0 12y ago
  Didn't all the accessories that relied on the old 30-pin connector stop working when Apple switched to Lightning a few years back?
  - wil421 12y ago
    I think you can use the lightening adapter on older accessories. This is the case for my logitech speakers I bought 3 years or more ago.
    - kubiiii 12y ago
      Same for the quite advanced Alesis IO dock.
  - bunderbunder 12y ago
    Or they require an adapter to work. Similar thing happened with iPod peripherals when Apple brought out the 30-pin connector about 10 years back.
- _broody 12y ago
  Not to mention that Beats' business would be shooting itself in the foot by locking their products to working with iDevices only. I mean, you wouldn't even be able to jack them to your Mac! This is the worst idea ever!
  - Fuzzwah 12y ago
    What makes you think that beats would stop making headphones with normal jacks? Then they can sell two pairs of headphones to every sucker!
aditya 12y ago
Wild theory: the bezel has 4 sensors - including the earpiece, FaceTime camera, ambient light sensor, and proximity sensor[1] They already have a patent to put the proximity/light sensor in the display, now they're removing the earpiece. If they get rid of the camera, they won't need a bezel. Boom? [1] http://www.macrumors.com/2014/06/05/solar-cell-ambient-light-sensor-patent/ http://www.macrumors.com/2014/06/05/solar-cell-ambient-light...
al2o3cr 12y ago
Y'know, Forbes, there's enough somewhat-questionable stuff that Apple gets up to that an utterly unsubstantiated "well, they MIGHT be doing this and it would be BAAAAD" post is really not needed.
higherpurpose 12y ago
So Apple cares so much about audio quality...that they bought Beats? Does not compute.
- tomschlick 12y ago
  My thought is that they will probably revamp the entire line of beats products to be up to apple quality for hardware. They bought it for the brand name and the streaming service.
ISL 12y ago
Dropping the analog-output port of the headphone jack would allow all digital DRM straight to the speaker. The analog hole still exists, but it's smaller. Interesting impact on developers that use the ADC/DAC for other things, like Square and sensing apps. It'd be a surprise to see the jack go away at first, but retain it for a while before a phase-out.
- chillingeffect 12y ago
  ^^^ This is a post that didn't deserve to be downvoted.^^^ It's insightful and polite. Please control your down-voting, people!
- skywhopper 12y ago
  There is no DRM on music files, and I don't think the movie/TV industry cares about the analog-out audio.
AdamFernandez 12y ago
No one who listens to audio through headphones EVER charges their phone at the same time. What an impossible scenario.
- dkrich 12y ago
  I was wondering about this too, but it's not inconceivable that they could overcome this by releasing a new cord with a subtle connection port that accepts a device to be plugged into it. Although I'm not familiar enough with the Lighting architecture to know whether it's possible to charge the phone and stream audio output simultaneously through a single port.
- bernatfp 12y ago
  Not that impossible. I listen to music on my iPhone while charging it when I'm on my secondary laptop and Internet connection is too slow for streaming music over iTunes Match.
  - ubercore 12y ago
    I think the parent forgot to tag their </ sarcasm>
  - AdamFernandez 12y ago
    I do as well. I also listen to it while driving, and charge at the same time. I was being slightly sarcastic toward Apple, that they would scrap this functionality.
josephpmay 12y ago
I somehow doubt this will happen. What if I want to charge my phone while listening to music?
- contactmatts 12y ago
  I do this all the time at work.
brador 12y ago
Wireless headphones. Induction charging. I see where they're going. Completely waterproof closed phone. Solution to their number 1 returns issue.
- cube13 12y ago
  Man, you can tell it's June, because this stuff is coming out again. :)
jusben1369 12y ago
This to me is by far the best explanation I've seen on the deal. And it's got nothing to do with the headphone jack. https://medium.com/@mvakulenko/to-understand-beats-you-need-to-understand-lady-gaga-e334de3da6d2 https://medium.com/@mvakulenko/to-understand-beats-you-need-... Sample quote around how artists see themselves today: "“It was more about building a platform on top of music—because music, we realized, sells everything but music.” EDIT: And off topic why I don't take anything on Forbes seriously anymore. They've destroyed that brand: https://medium.com/climate-confidential/content-used-to-be-king-now-its-the-joker-d40703c18c73 https://medium.com/climate-confidential/content-used-to-be-k...
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
bernatfp 12y ago
Something that I can see happening eventually. Externally, the audio jack is the most constraining part of the iPhone. Removing it would mean slimmer iPhones, and makes sense with this trend of bigger screens and slimmer devices.
ianamartin 12y ago
I think the article misses the most obvious point: Apple wants to make phones thinner than having a headphone jack allows.
skywhopper 12y ago
Far more likely is all-bluetooth headphones.
tadasZ 12y ago
I don't think this will happen, as it would be a DISASTER.
cweiss 12y ago
What about all the various credit card dongles (Square, PayPal, etc) that rely on the audio jack for output? Currently, the major players give the dongles away for free because they're fairly cheap to manufacture. What happens when Apple does away with the headphone jack and forces a licensing fee for the new interface?

36 points by cocoflunchy 12y ago

I find it (extremely) difficult to believe that Apple would remove the headphone jack from iPhones. Lightning headphones? Sure. Premium DACs driven from Lightning? Why not. Remove the headphone jack? Suicide.

melling 12y ago
You should blog about it. That way your arrogance can be documented. Apple is the one company that would do it. You can join this guy: http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2001-05-20/commentary-sorry-steve-heres-why-apple-stores-wont-work http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2001-05-20/commentary-so... Personally, I think HN readers should be a little more open minded. At some point, headphones will need to evolve.
- DontBeADick 12y ago
  Funny how you assume headphones are the only thing anyone ever plugs into a headphone jack.
  - melling 12y ago
    I'm not assuming anything. Look at the headphone jack on your phone. It's starting to look a little big. That's precious real estate.
  - dkrich 12y ago
    Well I thought the article specifically mentioned that the MFi license was for headphones that connect via the Lighting port.
  - mantrax5 12y ago
    Funny how you assume he assumes that? The lightning port can do everything you can do with the headphone port, and more. There are three problems with the headphone jack that Apple can see: 1. It's limited: it can stream analog stereo sound, and get back analog mono microphone. There's a nasty hack some headphones do so you can have a 2-3 buttons on a headphone (say, prev/next track, pause/play), but that's it. Analog sound over a long cable means you add noise. You get no noise cancelation, no surround sound, no other data streams etc. Maybe they have headphones with extra sensors in mind. 2. It's redundant: it takes space while doing a subset of what Lightning can do: that DAC circuitry takes space and wastes power, and the port itself is an ugly hole for no interesting reason than headphones don't currently support Lightning. If Apple removes the headphone port, it can use the extra power and space for more interesting things (like larger battery, more sensors etc.). 3. It's uncontrollable: Apple prefers vendors go through their programs to ensure quality and compliance, but we have players like Square, who use the headphone port for credit card swiping. They do it just so they don't have to pay Apple for licensing a Lightning solution.
    - xaqfox 12y ago
      "They do it just so they don't have to pay Apple for licensing a Lightning solution." Cross-platform support for their hardware would be the killer feature of using the headphone port.
      - mantrax5 12y ago
        Cross-platform support for their hardware is not something the typical user will take advantage of. If the user has an iPhone they can buy the Lightning version, and if they use an Android phone, they can buy the micro USB version. But chances are the user won't be switching the card reader from one device to another all the time.
    - KingMob 12y ago
      While I generally agree with you, I should point out a few things regarding noise cancellation. Noise cancellation doesn't require anything from the phone. Most noise cancellation works by placing a small mic on the headphones, sampling the ambient noise, and playing an anti-phase waveform of the noise through the speakers to cancel the noise. While you could use the phone mic to do that, it's not necessary (and probably inferior, if the phone is in a pocket). Or were you referring to the fact that a digital signal degrades in the presence of noise more gracefully? (Lowered bandwidth rather than pops/artifacts.) (Technically, you don't even need digital signals to stop noise from being picked up in the wires; balanced cables will do this just fine with an analog signal, though admittedly, balanced headphones are not standard consumer gear.)
- Arcanum-XIII 12y ago
  Arrogance ? Maybe. Still, lot of people got high investment in good headphone - and won't get any equivalent for a long time with a lightning connector. And, another point is : headphone with a jack are compatible with a lot of hardware. Why change ?
  - melling 12y ago
    What's the plan when wearables take off and you can have 1000 songs in your Google Glasses, "iWatch", or that credit card size computer that you keep in your wallet?
kemayo 12y ago
It seems unlikely in the short-term, at least. Give them a few years, and Beats supporting it widely, and who knows? Though as a counter-argument, I might have said that about removing the 30-pin adaptor for lightning. It involved dropping a huge legacy accessory market, after all... (Of course, this is all wild speculation and completely unsubstantiated. So there's that.)
- cube13 12y ago
  30-pin was an Apple-only connector, though. Same with lightning. The 1.5mm jack, on the other hand, is the standard audio connector for just about every consumer-grade device in the world. Not sure what the upside is for Apple, even with them owning Beats.
  - melling 12y ago
    How's that connector gonna work on your iWatch or Google Glass?
  - Someone 12y ago
    I agree with you, but here is a weird idea: they will have to make room for a micro USB connector to comply with EU regulations. Adding a connector doesn't feel like anything Apple would do, and giving up lightning would be admitting defeat. So, let's suppose they go this route: I think that an adapter could be ridiculously small. It needs to wrap that audio connector, hold it tighter than a lighting connector holds a lightning cable (should be fairly easy), add about half a centimeter for the lightning plug, and have room for some chip doing lightning-to-audio conversion. A lot of speculation? Yes, but if it works, I can see them go that way. The main problem is the case of people who use a single headset with iPhones and non-Apple devices (extra weird idea: when do we see lightning in iMacs?)
    - projct 12y ago
      They are just fine with the EU regulations with the lightning to microUSB adapter. http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/13/apple-lightning-to-micro-usb-adapter/ http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/13/apple-lightning-to-micro-...
chillingeffect 12y ago
Not suicide... many smart phones had no proper headphone jack for about 3 years and the market was able to grow to this point. All Apple has to do is tell people, "You need the special Apple headphones," and they'll likely say, "Oh! okay!" Their users have handled several generations of proprietary chargers just fine. Mac laptop users have also handled numerous generations of video output interfaces just fine. They're simply not a class of user which quibbles about spending on minor electrical expenses in order to get the functionality they want. In fact, they'll likely be grateful. "Oh, I've been wanting a pair of real studio-quality headphones anyway!"

character0 12y ago

I don't see much of an upside doing this. Better audio? Not anything that will be discernible to the regular user. More controls on the headphone wire? This reminds me of the remotes that came paired with a lot of minidisc players; there is no need for a second screen if it's wired. This seems like a step in the wrong direction with the push for wearables that could communicate wirelessly.

nwh 12y ago
> I don't see much of an upside doing this. Well you ditch the huge, thick lightning connector for starters. That's why the MacBook Pro doesn't have ethernet anymore, it's just too thick for the case.
- jws 12y ago
  Assuming you mean "ditch the huge, thick coax connector", yes. That make's some sense. Looking at the end of an iPhone the audio jack is the largest element by some margin. One wonders about a "watch". Would you want to plug headphones into it? The thickness would be significant there. (I view the "watch" as a notification and acknowledgement interface as an adjunct to a mobile device. I think it makes more sense to plug the headphone/microphone into the larger device from a battery standpoint. Headphone cables down a long sleeved shirt make some sense though.) Orthogonally, Apple just sprouted a bunch of ways to interact between devices at the WWDC. Maybe a person that would wear gigantic headphones would not wear a "watch", but would handle their acknowledgment functions through some interface on their head ornaments.
  - nwh 12y ago
    > Assuming you mean "ditch the huge, thick coax connector", yes. Whoops, lost a bit of meaning when I revised that sentence and didn't look over it. I'm not really sure what to think of the whole "watch" thing, even if it is a real thing that going to happen I can't see it being anything like people expect it to be. Having headphones plugged in would be a little weird, I just tried it then by taping my headphones plug to my wrist and found it got tangled in almost everything I tried to do.

alenox 12y ago

Step 1 - Wild speculation on something Apple might be doing. Step 2 - Why we are all doomed! Step 3 - Shame on you Apple!

contactmatts 12y ago
Step 4 - Acceptance
sosborn 12y ago
Step 4 - Profit!
SrslyJosh 12y ago
Financial news is clowns all the way down.

joewalnes 12y ago

This seems like FUD. Being able to stream audio through Lightning is necessary for audio docks and other accessories. It's quite a leap to say they're going to remove the headphone jack.

Lx1oG-AWb6h_ZG0 12y ago
Didn't all the accessories that relied on the old 30-pin connector stop working when Apple switched to Lightning a few years back?
- wil421 12y ago
  I think you can use the lightening adapter on older accessories. This is the case for my logitech speakers I bought 3 years or more ago.
  - kubiiii 12y ago
    Same for the quite advanced Alesis IO dock.
- bunderbunder 12y ago
  Or they require an adapter to work. Similar thing happened with iPod peripherals when Apple brought out the 30-pin connector about 10 years back.
_broody 12y ago
Not to mention that Beats' business would be shooting itself in the foot by locking their products to working with iDevices only. I mean, you wouldn't even be able to jack them to your Mac! This is the worst idea ever!
- Fuzzwah 12y ago
  What makes you think that beats would stop making headphones with normal jacks? Then they can sell two pairs of headphones to every sucker!

aditya 12y ago

Wild theory: the bezel has 4 sensors - including the earpiece, FaceTime camera, ambient light sensor, and proximity sensor[1] They already have a patent to put the proximity/light sensor in the display, now they're removing the earpiece. If they get rid of the camera, they won't need a bezel. Boom? [1] http://www.macrumors.com/2014/06/05/solar-cell-ambient-light-sensor-patent/ http://www.macrumors.com/2014/06/05/solar-cell-ambient-light...

al2o3cr 12y ago

Y'know, Forbes, there's enough somewhat-questionable stuff that Apple gets up to that an utterly unsubstantiated "well, they MIGHT be doing this and it would be BAAAAD" post is really not needed.

higherpurpose 12y ago

So Apple cares so much about audio quality...that they bought Beats? Does not compute.

tomschlick 12y ago
My thought is that they will probably revamp the entire line of beats products to be up to apple quality for hardware. They bought it for the brand name and the streaming service.

ISL 12y ago

Dropping the analog-output port of the headphone jack would allow all digital DRM straight to the speaker. The analog hole still exists, but it's smaller. Interesting impact on developers that use the ADC/DAC for other things, like Square and sensing apps. It'd be a surprise to see the jack go away at first, but retain it for a while before a phase-out.

chillingeffect 12y ago
^^^ This is a post that didn't deserve to be downvoted.^^^ It's insightful and polite. Please control your down-voting, people!
skywhopper 12y ago
There is no DRM on music files, and I don't think the movie/TV industry cares about the analog-out audio.

AdamFernandez 12y ago

No one who listens to audio through headphones EVER charges their phone at the same time. What an impossible scenario.

dkrich 12y ago
I was wondering about this too, but it's not inconceivable that they could overcome this by releasing a new cord with a subtle connection port that accepts a device to be plugged into it. Although I'm not familiar enough with the Lighting architecture to know whether it's possible to charge the phone and stream audio output simultaneously through a single port.
bernatfp 12y ago
Not that impossible. I listen to music on my iPhone while charging it when I'm on my secondary laptop and Internet connection is too slow for streaming music over iTunes Match.
- ubercore 12y ago
  I think the parent forgot to tag their </ sarcasm>
- AdamFernandez 12y ago
  I do as well. I also listen to it while driving, and charge at the same time. I was being slightly sarcastic toward Apple, that they would scrap this functionality.

josephpmay 12y ago

I somehow doubt this will happen. What if I want to charge my phone while listening to music?

contactmatts 12y ago
I do this all the time at work.

brador 12y ago

Wireless headphones. Induction charging. I see where they're going. Completely waterproof closed phone. Solution to their number 1 returns issue.

cube13 12y ago
Man, you can tell it's June, because this stuff is coming out again. :)

jusben1369 12y ago

This to me is by far the best explanation I've seen on the deal. And it's got nothing to do with the headphone jack. https://medium.com/@mvakulenko/to-understand-beats-you-need-to-understand-lady-gaga-e334de3da6d2 https://medium.com/@mvakulenko/to-understand-beats-you-need-... Sample quote around how artists see themselves today: "“It was more about building a platform on top of music—because music, we realized, sells everything but music.” EDIT: And off topic why I don't take anything on Forbes seriously anymore. They've destroyed that brand: https://medium.com/climate-confidential/content-used-to-be-king-now-its-the-joker-d40703c18c73 https://medium.com/climate-confidential/content-used-to-be-k...

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

bernatfp 12y ago

Something that I can see happening eventually. Externally, the audio jack is the most constraining part of the iPhone. Removing it would mean slimmer iPhones, and makes sense with this trend of bigger screens and slimmer devices.

ianamartin 12y ago

I think the article misses the most obvious point: Apple wants to make phones thinner than having a headphone jack allows.

skywhopper 12y ago

Far more likely is all-bluetooth headphones.

tadasZ 12y ago

I don't think this will happen, as it would be a DISASTER.

cweiss 12y ago

What about all the various credit card dongles (Square, PayPal, etc) that rely on the audio jack for output? Currently, the major players give the dongles away for free because they're fairly cheap to manufacture. What happens when Apple does away with the headphone jack and forces a licensing fee for the new interface?