Someone explain this apple prediction

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Batman

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#159758 11-Dec-2014 18:35

How unsmart is this article http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/64051710/Why-Apple-might-ditch-the-headphone-port

I'm pretty sure 10 years ago my nokia phone had a headphone jack half the thickness of the 3.5mm one

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#1195752 11-Dec-2014 18:38

And how well have Nokia done since?

Batman

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#1195761 11-Dec-2014 18:54

Ah but Apple fans will queue up over night to buy a 1.5mm to 3.5mm Jack converter for $55 easy

Hammerer

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#1195767 11-Dec-2014 18:58

I did prefer the 2.5mm jacks which were more common several years ago. I'm not sure if the 3.5mm won out over the 2.5mm jacks because of market resistance or, maybe, lack of durability.

I can think of good reasons to drop the headphone port:

It has been done before. My old Sony-Ericsson phones had a proprietary connector that handled all connections including power, sound, and controls.
The cost of the potential interface modules is reducing.
The current USB port could do it.

But it is handy having a connector that can be inserted 360 degrees rather than at only one position. The end is rounded/pointed to make insertion easier.

Batman

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#1195772 11-Dec-2014 19:03

Ok I take it back ... Sounds like either way the fans will buy a connector oops

michaelmurfy

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#1195800 11-Dec-2014 19:44

That would just annoy the heck out of me personally.

But I do run an external DAC on my Oneplus One.

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blakamin

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#1195807 11-Dec-2014 19:56

Hammerer:

It has been done before. My old Sony-Ericsson phones had a proprietary connector that handled all connections including power, sound, and controls.

And how well did that work? *looks at current sony phone, finds 3.5mm jack*

Remember that 3.5mm jack also handles microphone, volume controls...
I have BT IEMs for my phone, but with a battery life of <5 hours, they're pretty much useless at work when I'm listening to podcasts for 8 hours a day.

Beats will come in 2 versions and apple people will buy both after the initial uproar. One for the macbook and one for the phone. Sad but true.

richms

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#1195825 11-Dec-2014 20:20

The 3.5mm sockets always give issues for me. Usually loud buzzing noices, cracking when the plug moves, thinking I am pressing a button and redialing people, thinking I have headphones with a microphone plugged in when I dont and disabling the phones internal microphone. Would love to see something replace it, but the problem is if you want to charge and use the output on the phone at the same time if they both use the lightning hole.

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muppet

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#1195866 11-Dec-2014 21:17

richms: The 3.5mm sockets always give issues for me. Usually loud buzzing noices, cracking when the plug moves, thinking I am pressing a button and redialing people, thinking I have headphones with a microphone plugged in when I dont and disabling the phones internal microphone. Would love to see something replace it, but the problem is if you want to charge and use the output on the phone at the same time if they both use the lightning hole.

Dude, do you even know how to headphone?

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

alasta

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#1195877 11-Dec-2014 21:47

For music I always use the Lightning port with my AVR/car audio/portable amp. However the built in 3.5mm jack is useful for talk radio, TV shows, etc. I would be annoyed if I had to buy a separate adaptor.

eth

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#1195952 12-Dec-2014 00:08

So the writer is speculating about something that they think Apple could potentially do in the future and everyone's commenting angrily about how Apple is so evil for removing headphone jacks from their devices. Seriously people read the article.

In all seriousness though, I don't think Apple would actually remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from any of their devices in the foreseeable future. Imagine the consumer backlash if everyone had to buy some new form of headphones for their Apple device that don't work with any of their non-Apple devices. It just isn't going to happen.

Hammerer

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#1195958 12-Dec-2014 01:00

blakamin:
Hammerer:

It has been done before. My old Sony-Ericsson phones had a proprietary connector that handled all connections including power, sound, and controls.
And how well did that work? *looks at current sony phone, finds 3.5mm jack*

It worked really well because my phone came with a remote cable that had a 3.5mm adapter and 3.5mm headphones. :p

Yeah, Sony Ericsson discontinued the old Fast Port in 2010. The connector tended to get loose with frequent use.

I may have found out one reason why phones dropped 2.5mm connectors. GSMArena.com only has the "3.5mm jack" in its specification data.

Another reason for dumping the headphone jacks is that there is no cross-platform standard for electrical connection although the Wireless Association (CTIA) has a standard used by most new smartphones and the PlayStation 4.

richms

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#1195960 12-Dec-2014 01:08

Ah yes the no standards so you get no sound unless you hold one of the buttons down.

I would like to see more buttons on phone mics. My vintage mini disk player had loads of things on the remote. Now all I have is a button that is just as likely to redial someone and 2 other buttons whose actions are unpredictable.

Richard rich.ms

jonherries

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#1196002 12-Dec-2014 08:03

richms: Ah yes the no standards so you get no sound unless you hold one of the buttons down.

I would like to see more buttons on phone mics. My vintage mini disk player had loads of things on the remote. Now all I have is a button that is just as likely to redial someone and 2 other buttons whose actions are unpredictable.

If I remember correctly it was a 3.5mm connection with some adjacent additional pins. This meant you could use a normal set of earphones or the remote (with LCD) to which I could then choose my earphones.

I struggle to think of any other examples where technology today is demonstrably worse.

BlueShift

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#1196051 12-Dec-2014 09:17

eth: In all seriousness though, I don't think Apple would actually remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from any of their devices in the foreseeable future. Imagine the consumer backlash if everyone had to buy some new form of headphones for their Apple device that don't work with any of their non-Apple devices. It just isn't going to happen.

In all seriousness though, I don't think Apple would actually change their connector plug to a smaller format. Imagine the consumer backlash if everyone had to buy some new form of charging cable or docking device for their Apple device that now doesn't work with all their existing hardware. It just isn't going to happen.

And yet, Lightning strikes.

geekiegeek

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#1196112 12-Dec-2014 10:21

I thought they were talking a while back about creating a standard for lighting connector headphones.

Personally I prefer using a DAC via a lightning to USB connector for when I'm on longer flights but day to day I use standard headphones and would ber pretty annoyed if my choice was limited to those that had a 2.5mm plug or a lightning connector.

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