Report: Apple to Ditch Headphone Jack for Future iPhones

[SonOfVoorhees]

Thats Apple for you, they take the iPhone 5, change one pointless thing and release it as iPhone 6. lol. Only mugs buy from Apple. They remind me of Pokemon games, nothing much really changes from one version to the next, yet they release them and millions still buy them. They have no reason to make a new proper game when people are willing to keep paying.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Stephen, the first word of your title should read "Rumor:", not "Report:."

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Well, if anyone here absolutely has to get their iphone fix after this possibly happens, you better go to somewhere like monoprice or ebay and get an cheaper adapter instead of paying Apple or one of its in cahoots 3rd party accessory makers $40 just to be able to use some good headphones.

Apple products are a hell of a lot easier for the less tech savvy (like say my parents for example) to use, my Dad struggles to use an Android phone but he doesn't with an iPhone.

That is one way they get more people to hose. I'm not saying your dad is an idiot(some things in OS X I liked, though most I hated), but there are dupes don't know why Windows slowed to a crawl after installing a dozen browser toolbars. Or people who fuck around on the net without taking any precautions against viruses and the like. Apple knows they can be suckered into the "it just works"[footnote]Hint: it doesn't, I've heard bad things about the last couple OS X versions. And the hardware for many PC OEMs not just Apple is made by the same handful of plants in China, same physical quality.[/footnote] mentality of Macs after one bad Windows experience that might have really been their fault.

After that they can pull this proprietary crap on more victims. I remember how they begrudgingly dropped ADB for USB and then tried to make Firewire the next big thing yet most other computer makers just put it on their high end PCs. Then they started making mini-DVD ports on Macbooks which no one else used or made cable for and charged $30 to $40 for a passive adapter.

 

[Zipa]

Well, if anyone here absolutely has to get their iphone fix after this possibly happens, you better go to somewhere like monoprice or ebay and get an cheaper adapter instead of paying Apple or one of its in cahoots 3rd party accessory makers $40 just to be able to use some good headphones.

Apple products are a hell of a lot easier for the less tech savvy (like say my parents for example) to use, my Dad struggles to use an Android phone but he doesn't with an iPhone.

That is one way they get more people to hose. I'm not saying your dad is an idiot(some things in OS X I liked, though most I hated), but there are dupes don't know why Windows slowed to a crawl after installing a dozen browser toolbars. Or people who fuck around on the net without taking any precautions against viruses and the like. Apple knows they can be suckered into the "it just works"[footnote]Hint: it doesn't, I've heard bad things about the last couple OS X versions. And the hardware for many PC OEMs not just Apple is made by the same handful of plants in China, same physical quality.[/footnote] mentality of Macs after one bad Windows experience that might have really been their fault.

After that they can pull this proprietary crap on more victims. I remember how they begrudgingly dropped ADB for USB and then tried to make Firewire the next big thing yet most other computer makers just put it on their high end PCs. Then they started making mini-DVD ports on Macbooks which no one else used or made cable for and charged $30 to $40 for a passive adapter.

In the case of my Dad i'm talking IOS on an iPhone, he can use it enough to do simple things like make calls, check the weather send whatsapp messages and the like with it. When he had my old Samsung Galaxy S3 his eyes just sort of glazed over. Stuff like Apple screwing with the charger cables or headphone jack don't really come into it for him either as he just uses the charger that comes with the phone and doesn't use his phone for music.

He doesn't use any kind of PC though Mac or Windows though, my mum who is tech savvy enough to use a PC knows better than to install toolbars or strange programs. Plus she uses Kaspersky antivirus.

 

[viranimus]

Does anyone else feel that the whole Apple VS Android thing is kinda like the whole Consoles VS PC? One keeps trying to lock you down and the other one finds new ways of being more adaptable and customizable?

I dunno... that seems an incredibly gracious assessment. Google may have got in late to the "pointlessly dick our blindly loyal zealots for no rational reason than our corporate profit" game but fact is fact Google has done an amazing job of playing catch up. The more google as an entity moves toward "evil empire" territory, the more customer unfriendly design choices restricting users freedom in the name of towing the line to ensure not only their own profits, but the profit of tightly tied partners like HTC, Samsung, etc. rear their head.

So true! Also, the consoles vs PC as a platform breaks down a bit too, unless you're talking about Linux and the like (or just hardware, rather than operating system), because Microsoft are trying to lock you down all the time, and quite successfully too.

Yeah definitely on the console side, but at least for windows Ive not suffered too many points of restrictions. (though I refuse to use windows 8 again after one minor round of troubleshooting) As for MS, honestly I just wish they would stop trying to tell me HOW to use windows when they do things like arbitrarily change things or locations of things for no other rationale than THEY "Think" their way is better.(Go fuck yourself Ribbon, In fact go fuck yourself with the disheartened tears of the shell of a program that was left after the violation of MS Paint)... Or even worse when they act as if they know what you need/want better than you do. It wouldnt be so bad if they were occasionally right but it seems like they are not only constantly wrong, but so wrong it leaves one dumbfounded on how anyone could have found it a better idea.

This is a big reason why I am heavily vested in Open Source software and DRM free software. Software is supposed to make tasks easier, more efficient, more user friendly , more intuitive. Not hell bent on trying to concoct new and painfully interesting ways to stop you from doing things that logically normal users would desire to do. Until you get money out of software, it will only stay the same and likely get worse. At least with Apple doing it, you can forgive it because hell, needless restrictions are practically part of the cost of admission and the loyalists yearn for it because it tickles.

 

[hermes]

So lets see;

Apple forced the new flat icons (everyone I know, which is more than a few, hates this change), the mail app is broken (well, buggy to the point of non-useable), and now they are forcing their loyal (lol, amiright?) customers to buy (more) over priced crap. You know what? Apple are just upset that people are buying cheap ear buds rather than the overpriced (and absurdly fragile) official Apple product.

Steve Jobs has rolled over in his grave so much, that he has drilled through the earth all the way to China.

Not likely, since he pretty much was the creator of "making customers buy overpriced stuff"

 

[nickpy]

I'm not even vaguely surprised. Apple have form in this regard, I had to purchase an adapter to use a HDMI cable with my MacBook.

Well, to be fair to Apple, in this case, Display Port (which is the hole you'd have neeeded the adaptor for) Is actually a completely standard port, and is the official successor to DVI for computer monitors, its just that VGA/DVI/HDMI are already good enough for 97.95% of the population and consequently almost nothing actually supports it outside of Apple.

Having said that I do agree that it seems absolutely ludicrous to not include an HDMI port as well, even a Mini or Micro one if they're concerned about space/sleek-ness.

Source: I used to have to sell these things for a living. It wasn't easy.

What are you talking about DisplayPort is available on most gpu and PC monitor, while it should be there on most professional laptop (got one on my Lenovo Thinkpad T520, which is a 3 years old model and it is still there on modern Thinkpad series, but it is miniDP connector these day), but consumer laptop usually have hdmi, as where DisplayPort never appear is on a TV, as it's a PC standard.

I grant you that it does appear on modern mid-to-high-end graphics cards, including my own, but I have never, ever in my entire life (and I worked at an electronics retailer for three years) seen a single TV, Monitor or Laptop OTHER than an Apple product sporting a DisplayPort of any kind.

Maybe it was just bad luck, or maybe these things only appear on high-end equipment (which for the most part we didn't stock) or maybe, being in Europe, the SKUs we get are less likely to have DP built in. In any case, I was basing my statement on experience, and I apologise if I am indeed incorrect about the prevelance of this technology.

Having said that, it doesn't really change my core point, which was that DP is indeed a standardised product and NOT "apple proprietary", its just that most things you might want to actually connect it to don't have it, so people are not normally aware of it and so assume that it is proprietary.

 

[truckspond]

As one of the few people that actually DOES use ALAC .mp4 files on my iPod I can see the potential in this. There is only so much you can do with the digital to analogue conversion chip that powers the headphone jack on those devices and a fair bit of information is lost in the process because the chip has to be fairly small and not put out too much heat due to how crowded modern day smartphones are and the distinct lack of a fan to cool the thing. By moving the chip outside the device you can suddenly have much better cooling performance enabling you to put more power into the chip which allows you to get a more accurate sound output from the digital input which is a good thing for the audiophiles that use such a thing. However I am certain that if they do this then they will also have a model which retains the headphone jack even if it's not the latest and greatest in order to give consumers the choice between convenience and audio quality.

 

[Glaice]

This is a total dick move for Apple if this is true.

 

[prpshrt]

Wow lot of people hating on apple's users... It's little unfair to judge a lot of us in such a way don't you think? If they honestly do something that stupid, then people WILL move away. People are smarter than that
Reason people don't move from apple is because the iOS is very user friendly and well designed. Granted if they do something like this, I'd probably move to Windows.

EDIT: Didn't notice that it was a rumor. Link to forbes and title saying that its a report was misleading. Got disappointed for nothing :|

 

[Rozalia1]

Apple if they are even aware of the "little people" at this point should look at responses in threads such as this one...and go through with doing such a thing as its money, money, money.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Welp..guess who's gonna buy a Galaxy then once I get money and interest in a smartphone.

This guy right here.

 

[iseko]

huh...

I thought apple learned from their mistakes when they forced you to use that firewire crap in the early 2000's when roughly 80% of non mac computers did not even have that port... Does this show that I am an idiot or they are. Not sure...

Apple's major problems:
1) innovation of technology without regard of economical impact. Lightning is better then jack but 99% of people use jack earphones. Lets make lightning the only option on our new phone. BRILLIANT. If you want to make the transfer then make lightning OPTIONAL at first. If 90%+ of your consumers then use lighting, then you can get rid of your standard jack. NOT before. PS: most people still use MP3 format to save space. Think about it...

2) overpricing the hell out of their shit. So far I have always found an alternative for every apple product in existence that is at least 20% cheaper and just as good. This 20% sometimes even stretched to 40-50% in the past. The only reason apple got away with this is because of steve jobs. That man was a marketing genius. He could literally shit in a box. Call it the Ishit. And then sell it for 50$ a pop to loyal apple fans as the next best thing. Jobs is gone and you can no longer pull this shit apple (badumtish).

However I will give apple this much. What they make is usually pretty good and especially user friendly. Basically: if you know fuck all of what you are doing and don't mind spending 20-30% more just so you can stay blissfully ignorant -> buy apple. And this is not meant as an insult! This is a good thing. Because a lot of people don't care how you can fix a computer. They can't be arsed. They just want the damn thing to work perfectly 100% of the time. Again -> buy apple.

A lot of people don't want to do the research for what product is best price/quality and is everything that you need. Simple example: You don't need a i7(3.2ghz) 16gig ram gtx880m if you just want a computer for work. When you use it for fucking office 2013... An ultrabook i3 U, 4-8gig ram, full had screen and 128-265gig ssd will do just fine. You don't need to spend 1500$ on a laptop. You can find a good deal for 7-800$. Now if you don't want to be arsed and do some research. Just buy a fucking macbook air. (i.e. --> buy apple)