“In a bold move, Apple dropped the 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 last month,” Mac Authority writes. “Apple will do the same for the 2016 MacBook Pro.”
“Eliminating the century-old headphone jack frees up space for a lightning port,” Mac Authority writes. “This new MacBook Pro release in 2016 is long over-due, with a year having passed since the last MacBook Pro update.”
“Evidence for the new MacBook design first surfaced when it was revealed that Apple has been quietly surveying customers about their habits with the headphone jack on the current MacBook Pro. This is pretty strong evidence that the 2016 MacBook will be headphone-jackless – which makes sense from a consistency stand point,” Mac Authority writes. “Apple prides itself on consistency across products. As it discontinues the headphone on the iPhone, it’s very likely that this will apply cross platform. Apple won’t duplicate efforts to manufacture both wired and wireless headphones to go with its product lines.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We shall soon see, but we wouldn’t miss the antiquated 3.5mm headphone jack if Apple did replace it with the much more capable Lightning port.
The new MBP will be replacing my iMac.. at my desk hooked up to external monitor speakers etc.
no 3.5 mm jack on the mbp, now I’ll have to buy an adapter just for speakers.
On the road, have to bring the adapter. That’s going to be a pain.
iPhone, I use Bluetooth. Doesn’t bother me it’s gone.
Laptop/desktop the 3.5mm jack is very useful.
If the computer doesn’t ship with an adapter, you might have to shell out a whole $9. The horror!
How about the insult of having to spend $9 after having spent much more than $1000? It’s petty, but “whatever’s best for Apple, Right?”.
Look! No one wants floppy disk drives!
Bad analogy.
The floppy disk isn’t used anywhere, the 3.5mm jack is.
Actually, it’s the perfect analogy.
The floppy disk was used everywhere, when Apple removed it from Macs. Now it isn’t used anywhere, thanks to Apple. The same as it shall be with the antiquated 3.5mm headphone jack.
A reliable, driver free, license free device connection compared to a storage medium that was slow and unreliable. Yeah, that’s a fair comparison. FAR from “perfect”.
The floppy disc was not used everywhere, it was used in computers. The headphone jack is used everywhere from cell phones and music players, to televisions, clock radios, home stereos, CD/DVD players, medical devices, etc. There is even one on my Playstation 4 controller (that connects to the PS4 via bluetooth).
Someone gets it.
The floppy was already not used as much when apple “killed it”.
Yes, most software had gone to CD-ROM or DVD-ROM at the time. A few programs were sold on-line. Then when Apple started ditching the optical disc, most software was online or soon would be. The headphone jack is everywhere and will be for awhile. It’s certainly far more common than ridiculous Thunderbolt headphones. Apple might have had a better case for dropping it had they adopted USB-C for the iPhone and used that for headphones. THAT would have been a step in the right direction for both the phone and headphones since they would work on newer laptops too. The idea of Thunderbolt jacks on a computer seems ridiculous.
What are ‘thunderbolt headphones” ?
Maybe you should be familiar with the terminology and technology, before feigning outrage over it?
Then why the adapter iNstein?
Wow ‘cynic’ doesn’t do you justice. Why not slag them off for something they may or may not do in 5 years, after all you clearly don’t need anything as unnecessary as evidence to back it up. Do they allow you to vote too?
Yes, they allow me to vote, and to even choose for myself. It’s what democracies do, they burden you with the tyranny of choice.
I would reply to the rest of your comment, if only I understood it.
I’m ok with getting rid of the headphone jack but, what would you use a Lighting Port on a Mac for?
Charge your Apple Pencil;)
HA!
If I could vote for this a hundred times I would.
Perhaps you could buy a bunch of those $30 adaptors.. Lightning to HDMI, lightning to SD Card, lightning to USB with the camera connector kit, etc. Oh, and that $9 lightning to headphone adaptor.
If you ever connect speakers to your computer, you’ll need one of those.
Beyond stupid. Having a headphone jack is not an issue in a device as large as a laptop. Again, Apple drops the ball.
FIRE Tim Cook!
Lol
Just a thought regarding “consistency” across products…not so with the power/sleep button between iPads and iPhones. I really have never liked the power button move on iPhone..it gets in the way at times, feels awkward to me (just stating opinion here)..and wish, if they are committed to consistency and user motor memory, that they would either put it back on top in the iPhone, or make the iPad like the phone and put it on the side.
Regarding the MacBook..only time will tell, but people that do audio/video will be crabby about it, me thinks..at least till the adapter/dock/headphone industry catches up. Me personally, I prefer wired..but I’m getting old and realize my opinions are based on resistance to change and bad experiences with Bluetooth when Bluetooth was less reliable.
A lot of sound engineers and DJ use Macbook Pros. They would have an issue unless an a Lightning port and adapter were included. They included them with the iPhone and I can’t see why the wouldn’t with MB Pro if they go that route.
A professional will be using a Thunderbolt or USB interface with balanced outputs.
The Mac is also losing a digital SPDIF audio port inside the 3.5 mm connector. But SPDIF too is losing popularity.
The truth behind this 3.5 mm audio conector is many artists or musicians want to improve the cheap audio “computer quality” that populated the world in the last 2 decades. And I think Apple is doing the right thing. The 3.5 conector is of very bad audio quality but we got use to it because it has being almost free.
Of course, many audio professionals do not consider DJ’s to be “professional audio engineers”. Then again, they do not consider the ⅛” jack to be “professional”, either. OTOH, almost every pro sound system I’ve seen will have an ⅛” adapter cable laying around because people need to plug their phones into it. That said, having the extra lighting dongle won’t really make that much of a difference to a pro audio engineer. Doubt it will make much difference to a DJ, either. After all, even a low-end DJ system will set you back several thousand dollars (including the Mac). What’s $9 at that point?
Dear Apple:
Please include compatible EarPods with ALL Macs that lose the 3.5mm jack. You’ll save yourselves some major customer complaints. Oh and have a 3.5mm jack adapter as well. A LOT of users (me!) plug their Macs into home stereo systems.
I’ll second that EarPods sentiment heartily!
AirPort Express/AirPlay. Seriously. It’s well worth the money, and great for playing “song wars” with friends 🙂
I just love these tech writers: “Apple will”
They must have a crystal ball or something.
Come one. Let me guess, it takes up too much space.
Why not put both?
I agree with Apple. No point in giving the customer what the need and want
Now it can finally be more water resistant! I just hope the dont use that crappy flat keyboard thats on the macbook. I like my chicklets.
There really is no reason to remove such a cheap component on such a (relatively) large device (it’s not like the MBP is hurting for space).
I use 3.5 mm wired headphones at work so as not disturb my coworkers. I guess I’ll be buying a pair of AirPods soon…
I’ve been using the 3.5 jack only for the digital in/out, but I suppose an adapter will be fine.
Well, so much for being a ‘pro’ model.
Now we know what Apple has been working on the last 2 years since last updating the MBP. The delay is all about re-engineering the MBP to eliminate the jack. We can look forward to a very fancy video of Johnny Ive extolling the brilliance of the missing jack at the launch.
Oooooh. Maybe we get that barometric vent the MBP has lacked all these years!
Fine with me, can we at least get a release date on those friggin AirPods though? Dropping the ball to reveal such a hot product and NOT make it available with your head-jack-less iPhone 7 flagship devices for 6 weeks!
I look forward to the day when Apple really commits to lightning (or USB-C or the next new standard – I don’t really care which), to create cables which are all compact male-male, direction-free, and reversible (a la firewire). All devices will have female jacks (headphones, computers, phones, tablets, etc.), and the standard, chunky USB jack will become a thing of the past.
Since the Digital to Analog HW on most Macs is low grade it is no great loss. There are any number of USB devices with far better DA conversion.
My Desktop Mac is connected to a set of Focal USB speakers with a built in DA Converter that works much better than Apple’s. When I am on my laptop I use a Bluetooth Plantronics Headset. My iPhone mostly is used in the Car over Bluetooth or USB for CarPlay.
I really do not care about the Headphone Jack as I really do not use it.
If you want a High Quality USB DA Converter here is a good option.
http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/one/mac
> If you want a High Quality USB DA Converter here is a good option.
> http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/one/mac
Wow only $249, no wonder they dropped the headphone jack.
Does anyone know if there have been any published reviews of the adapter that ships with the iPhone7? I’m curious if the DAC in that and the new headphones is any improvement
I have a 7 and have noticed no difference in sound quality. I commonly park my iPhone on my Focal Speaker set and it uses it’s own DAC.
Personally, I think they ought to drop the headphone jack and include an additional USB-C. Then they should use USB-C on the iPhone and iPad. Yeah, it’s bigger than Thunderbolt, but it’s also universal. It can now do audio, so there’s little need for the proprietary connector. A Thunderbolt jack on the MacBook/MacBook Pro would be a waste since it’s based on USB-2. I suppose they could upgrade Thunderbolt to to Thunderbolt and make it USB-C compatible. That would be interesting and annoying.
@%$# damn it!
The lighting port is already obsolete, it does nothing that USB-C doesn’t do better, so there is no chance of anyone but Apple making anything that lightning headphones could plug into. I HAVE bluetooth headphones but syncing them up to new devices is much more complex than plugging in a 3.5 mm jack.
It is like Apple are making fun of us for our dependence on them.
Free Bluetooth beats or airports for every mackbook
I meant airpods
I’m finding the comments on here are getting less and less intelligent over time. That must mean Apple are now hitting the everyday people who do not understand what it’s all about.
Dump the stupid outdated connector I want the latest with the best throughput options so I can be productive and i want it thin and light so i can take it with me when I work.
if there is anything to complain about it’s that Apple is taking too long updating and scrapping the old tech!
I am finding that the replies here are getting more and more arrogant over time.
Your opinion is not necessarily more valid than that of others. Guess what, Apple has been propelled to the success they have because they finally reached the market of “everyday people”, not just the die hard Apple fan base and early adopters.
As a shareholder, I don’t think the opinions of “everyday people” can be ignored by Apple.
As for the audio jack on a computer, I don’t care one way or the other as long as we get a decent adapter so connecting to the rest of the legacy audio world is not an issue.
So much for ‘insanely great’, now not so much.
I like the headphone jack, I use it all the time. I have at least 4 good sets of headphones that use it, plus external speakers and other equipment. The end result of this is I get to put another dongle in the dongle bag, and carry it around. Not a showstopper, just a pain in the *ss. I’m in the market for a new laptop, a MacBook Pro. Still deciding whether to go for the existing model with the jack.
personally, i like it a lot better when Apple provides new capabilities instead of taking away things that just work.
Bluetooth for example, does not just work.
WiFi does not just work.
Wireless everything does not just work. Because no matter what, users have to debug their tangled wireless connections, manage passwords, put up firewalls, VPN, deal with bad connections, and so on.
With a wire, it’s significantly easier. Ethernet in, look for the light, you are now online, maybe a VPN or something, but you know when you have a connection.
Same with audio ports. If Apple removes the DAC to save 5 bucks, it’s gonna charge users many times over for the klunky highly loseable $9 to $50 adapters so that people can plug in a wire that just works.
Bottom line, I would like to think that Apple listens to its users. But with the MacBook they obviously didn’t. So who knows how stupid Apple will choose to be the next time around.
It would be really great to see Apple improve its wired connectivity BEFORE they started removing stuff.