“A pair of photos published on Wednesday show what are claimed to be Lightning-ready versions of the EarPods bundled with iPhones, presumably intended for Apple’s ‘iPhone 7’ and ‘iPhone 7 Plus,'” Roger Fingas reports for AppleInsider.
“The images were posted to Chinese blogging site Weibo, often a source of leaks within Apple’s supply chain, and highlighted by iPhone7.nl,” Fingas reports. “Apart from the presence of a flat, elongated Lightning connector, the headphones are similar to the EarPods bundled with the iPhone 6s, including an inline remote.”
Fingas reports, “The authenticity of the gear is difficult to determine, but would fall in line with expectations that Apple is planning to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from the ‘iPhone 7’ line.”
Read more and see the photos in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If the axe the 3.5mm anachronism, do you think Apple will include a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter in every iPhone box? Do you think they should?
Of course, beyond corded earbuds, if you’d prefer no wires at all, you can just go Bluetooth. While working out, we’ve been using wireless Jaybirds for some time now (currently the Jaybird X2 Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headphones, around $100 at Amazon). They’re easy to charge, easy to pair, light and comfortable, sound great, and work perfectly with our Apple Watches and iPhones.
SEE ALSO:
Apple killing the headphone jack more user-friendly than some people think – June 30, 2016
Apple supplier preps for removal of 3.5mm headphone jack in next iPhone – June 30, 2016
Mossberg: New Even earphones tune themselves to each individual’s hearing – June 29, 2016
Alleged iPhone 7 chassis lacks 3.5mm headphone port – June 28, 2016
iPhone 7 rumored to get second speaker, larger camera – June 27, 2016
Apple is known for dumping legacy tech before the rest of the world catches up – June 27, 2016
iOS 9 code reveals Apple’s plans to dump 3.5mm headphone jack in future iPhones – January 20, 2016
Apple’s intention to kill the 3.5mm headphone jack is brilliant – January 13, 2016
iPhone 7 said to be waterproof, replace 3.5mm headphone jack with Apple’s Lightning – January 8, 2016
The fastest Lightning cable is also one of the least expensive – January 8, 2016
Apple will drop headphone jack to make the iPhone 7 super slim, source confirms; wireless charging and waterproof, too – January 7, 2016
Petition demands Apple keep 3.5mm headphone jack in the ‘iPhone 7’ – January 7, 2016
More reports claim Apple has dumped the 3.5mm headphone jack on iPhone 7 – January 5, 2016
Why Apple may axe the 3.5mm headphone jack – June 20, 2014
Apple may be poised to kill off the 3.5mm headphone jack – June 7, 2014
Apple may ditch analog 3.5mm headphone jack for Lightning to make thinner devices – June 6, 2014
Apple introduces MFi specs for Lightning cable headphones, iOS software update to deliver support – June 5, 2014
Apple preps HD audio for iOS 8 plus new Apple In-Ear Headphones and lightning cable – May 13, 2014
Apple patents biometric sensor-packed health monitoring earphones with ‘head gesture’ control – February 18, 2014
Apple paves way for more affordable iOS accessories with lower MFi and Lightning licensing fees – February 7, 2014
The problems I have with removing the jack are: 1. when using the wired headset you can’t charge and listen at the same time. 2. any benefits of sound quality can already be achieved with good headphones which most people don’t use, and are expensive – so why switch?
Problem 1 could be solved with an adapter that allows headphone and power at the same time.
Problem 2 is a wash. It could be better or not.
The real reason is to eliminate the wasted interior space. Lightning is already there and can do both. Use the space for more battery/better speaker.
An adapter is the only solution to a completely stupid decision to remove the headphone jack, but then you have another thing to carry around and keep track of. How an important port can be considered wasted interior space is beyond me. This is simply inane.
OR … Apple could be redesigning the included charging cable to allow the headphones to be plugged in while charging the iPhone 7.
I’m thinking the wire comes out of the side of the charging lightning cable, allowing headphones to be plugged into the bottom of the connection. Or vice-versa – cable out of the bottom, second connection port on the side.
What if they have two lightning ports instead of one lightning and a headphone. Wouldn’t that make sense? Or do you think that would be stupid too?
That would be stupid too.
Lightning is how many more times more expensive than the standard minijack?
Pass through cable or adapter.
You obviously have never tried a hi res device or DAC, it does make a difference in addition to good headphones.
I agree that an external DAC can be a huge improvement over the cheap DAC inside the iPhone.
HOWEVER, why force consumers to choose one or the other? With a universal analog minijack and a digital output (Lighning in Apple’s case, USB for everyone else) then the consumer has CHOICE.
For those who haven’t noticed, the sale of analog headphones is almost infinintely larger than the sale of Lightning or wireless headphones. The sales of portable external DACs designed for mobile use with the iPhone is practically nonexistent.
By the way, I use an external DAC with Apple iPhones and iPods for my home audio system. It is indeed a huge step up. But the biggest limitation to decent audio is the horrible earphones that Apple/Beats sells. You need great speakers/headphones to have great audio — and almost all of the best are analog input.
Excellent point! I wonder if there could be a hub sort of thing that allows both.
Yes I agree this is a potential problem. It appears no one designing these things drives down the road and had earbuds to talk in one ear and needs to be charging the phone as it does not last long enough for traveling. As A salesman lets hope they have a solution. I am losing a little faith in them though. My have to keep my 6s along with my hundreds of dollars in noise canceling boise headsets
I plug a 3.5mm at 90 deg, into my phone, and drop that into my pocket. No worries.
Plugging in the lighting version, I cannot say the same. I think, this is a step backwards from an ergonomic consideration.
And nobody can make a 90 degree lightning adapter?
Not without an Apple $25 licensing markup. Minijack or USB, cost would be negligible.
One would think that reliance on clunky adapters would go against Apple’s design aesthetic. But apparently extracting customer’s cash is the primary goal at Apple these days.
Should they include an adapter? Only if they do not include lightning headphones.
If this is true, I’ll have my 6s for a very, very long time.
My thoughts exactly. The only justification i can think of is the phones will be able to be waterproof. That might be worth the pain of collecting new headphones. Otherwise, no thanks.
Much easier to waterproof a 3.5mm minijack than it is to waterproof a lightning port
Apple should say that they’re going to include both lightening headphones and a lightening-to-3.5 mm adapter for SIX months only. After this it will be lightening headphone only. This would boost sales and silence many critics.
It won’t matter what they say the apple hating press with declare them “doooooooomed” no mater
They did the same with the removal of the floppy and “real keyboard and mouse ports (in favor of USB, which “no one uses”) rom the original iMac. Similarly the removal of optical drives also sparked the “the’re doooooooomed” chant amoung the tech press (and forum trolls)
Apple came out with a Phone that “didn’t have a physical keyboard” and guess what? Yep (all together now) they are… DOOOOOMED!!!
Stupid. Why put up a barrier to sales for a minute improvement in sound quality? Samsung and Motorola have figured out waterproof headphone jacks.
It seems to go back to the obsessive nonsensical quest for thinness. Guess what? Phone users want one thing – better battery life. I have to tip my hat to Samsung here. They went against the thinner trend and made the S7 thicker and easier to hold, eliminating the camera hump and filling it in with battery. An iPhone with a 3600 maH battery would go days between charges.