Without question there will be a lightning to 3.5mm dongle. If they remove the headphone jack, I promise you they will sell you an adapter for $29 (maybe $39). Don’t forget Apple owns Beats.
If I can’t charge and use my headphones at the same time without an adapter I wont be buying one of these phones. As to Beats, well, I assume people will buy the wireless version instead but I don’t see anyone who knows anything about music buying Beats.
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I’m still of the opinion that Apple doesn’t care about Beats headphones. The acquisition was strictly about the curation and streaming service.
It wouldn’t surprise me if even after the next iPhone (assuming the 3.5mm jack goes away), the Beats headphones lineup doesn’t change, or changes very little for a considerable amount of time.
If Apple introduces a new wireless audio protocol (hypothetical here. No need to debate about whether or not Bluetooth is good enough) it wouldn’t surprise me if Beats didn’t implement it for some time.
You would be well surprised how much the lifestyle headphone market is worth these days. If Apple doesn’t care they should start caring quite promptly.
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Write them a letter maybe? I’m sure they’ll read it.
Looks like my 5 or an SE will be my last iPhone. We’ll see.
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Me, too. I have no plans to have a phone without a standard port for my headset or, indeed, for other things (one of my BGL meters, for example). Innovation for its own sake is not a great idea, they will lose a lot of customers if they have decided to go ahead. Except for the fanbois who will buy anything if it has an Apple label. The prospect of the lack of standard port is what drove me to buy the 6S, and that will be my last iPhone.
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It’s like all the iSheep here with their iWallets changing their bank account to be in the Apple ecosystem. I might like Apple products but not that much!
Oh come on, no need for name calling of that kind.
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Wow. 169 posts about something that may happen.
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But but but… We just can’t help it. 
I think it shows how interested forum users are in the Apple ecosystem and how seriously we regard the directions that current Apple management are taking the company.
IMO that’s away from professional users, away from prosumer users and towards mainstream (and that’s not me).
The potential loss of the 3.5mm headphone port is just the latest in a long line of changes that make Apple products harder to upgrade, less compatible with generic components and more locked down.
I think people are exaggerating the issue.
Let’s look at the possible scenarios:
- Apple bring out one of their phones with the lightning option and leave the others as is (no problem for those who like the 3.5mm headphone jack)
- Apple only have the lightning option and give you a free converter which you can leave permanently attached to your headphones (no problem for those who like 3.5mm headphone jack)
- Apple only have the lightning option and make you pay $25 for a converter (probably not as big a headache as people think but I still doubt Apple would only have this option for the release)
Personally I think they will go with #1 or #2. My guess is that it will be #1 and they will phase out the jack over a period of time so people who still like the jack can stick to it. I don’t see why this is as big an issue as people are making out.
A free ‘convertor’ (lets just say dongle ok), is a problem in and of itself.
They’re going to get lost (quickly), they’re going to cost $29.95 (or there abouts) to replace, they’re not compatible with a lot of in vehicle phone storage compartments and phone docks and most un Apple of all they’re unaesthetic!
But as I mentioned in a prior post it’s in line with Apple’s move away from user upgradable components and open hardware and towards a more locked down ecosystem.
As I said above if my phone goes flat because I have to use an adapter it makes the whole effort of bringing my phone to work/university/whatever utterly pointless. It’s not an exaggeration.
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How do you know the default adapter doesn’t include a charging point?
If you leave the adapter permanently attached to your headphones, how will you lose it?
As I said, we are all still making assumptions. Let’s wait and see what they do, it could be a complete mess or it could make complete sense, but I think we are making a lot of assumptions and guessing about something we haven’t seen.
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That would require me to have quite a number of adaptors!
Another adaptor is a waste of resources, another point of failure and overall annoying. I use 3 different headphones and frequently swap between my iPad, iPhone and Macbook. That would require multiple adaptors and taking the adaptor on and off leaving it very very very easy to loose.
Theres no way Apple will include a free adaptor anyway, it will be a $29 adaptor and will not include charging unless you pay for the more expensive model.
Yes this is based on assumptions, but it is based on Apple’s MO.
3? I wish.
I’ve got 6 pairs of earphones plus 2 sets of head phones.
Let’s put this into perspective…the 3.5mm jack was developed when? I’m guessing at the beginning of the last century. And you don’t think that 100 year is long enough to consider a replacement? So you want Apple to stick to 19th century technology that was developed before people were born who have already died of old age? Wow, if we were stuck to that logic, we would never have seen HDMI or any new connectors. 4K screens would be unachievable.
Remember the massive tears about the Apple lightning cable switch from the old adapters. People survived, life went on, and during that time, Samsung changed their connectors and nobody said a word, there were no tears about it, life didn’t stop. And looking back, I’m sure 95% of people will agree that the new connectors weren’t as big as people made them out to be.
Honestly, 6 pairs of headphones? And you use them all with your phone? And people here are saying “Apple is not environmentally friendly” when you have people who feel they need 6 sets of headphones to survive? Talk about first world problems.
It’s really not that hard. Let’s wait and see what Apple do. They may phase out the connector over 3 years or a couple of generations of phones, we don’t know, but I really think that people are making a mountain out of a molehill in this case.
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