“As has been expected, Bloomberg reported that Apple’s iPhone 7 will not have a headphone jack,” L&F Capital Management writes for Seeking Alpha. “Instead, owners will be forced to use either Lightning or Bluetooth connections for audio. [Edited out unnecessary negativity. – MDN Ed.]”
“This will create a hardware revolution in the headphone market that has already started, and the biggest driver should be an expedited shift to wireless headphones,” L&F Capital Management writes. “Perhaps not so coincidentally, the biggest winner of this transition could be AAPL, the owner of Bluetooth market leader Beats.”
“Lightning headphones won’t work on any device with a micro-USB charging port, so alternate cable solutions won’t work across multiple devices. The only cross-device solution, then, is Bluetooth. In our opinion, the ditching of the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 will rush a huge Bluetooth upgrade cycle in the back-half of this year,” L&F Capital Management writes. “Perhaps not so coincidentally, the leader of the Bluetooth market is AAPL-owned Beats… As the iPhone 7 sells, so will Beats headphones, and AAPL should be able generate lots of revenue per phone.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote over two years ago back in June 2014:
Another good reason for the Beats buy. If Apple and Beats both change to Lightning headphones, the rest of the world will have to follow.
Of course, there’s such a thing as an adapter. So, you don’t have to chuck your current headphones/earbuds.
The standard 3.5mm jack is an anachronism and a design limiter that begs to die.
Also, don’t discount the ability of Lightning headphones to do more than just reproduce sound. For example: Apple Inc.’s U.S. Patent No. 8,655,004: “Sports monitoring system for headphones, earbuds and/or headsets.”
Apple’s patent abstract: A monitoring system that can be placed proximate to the head or ear of a user is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the monitoring system can be used with headphones, earbuds or headsets. The monitoring system can, for example, be used to monitor user activity, such as during exercise or sporting activities. The positioning of the monitoring system can also facilitate sensing of other user characteristics (e.g., biometric data), such as temperature, perspiration and heart rate. The monitoring system can also be used to control a an electronic device. In one embodiment, the monitoring system facilitates user control of the electronic device using head gestures. More info here.
From your ear to your wrist in the blink of an eye™.
We’ve been using wireless Jaybirds for some time now (currently the Jaybird X2 Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headphones). They work perfectly with our Apple Watch and iPhone 6s Plus units.
