[Misc] Apple to abandon the headphone jack?

[Bold Seagull]

Unbelievable. How can customers like a company than so blatantly takes the pee out them?

The 3.5mm headphone jack has now become the limiting item that defines how thick a device can be, it is the remaining restriction on phone design. You can either say they take the pee out of customers, or they are constantly willing to take risks and push the design envelope.

Are you saying that the 3.5mm jack should remain for eternity?

 

[StonehamPark]

If Apple do abandon the 3.5mm jack, Samsung, HTC et al will release adverts for their new phones, proudly showing off that any headset will work with their devices.

Fast forward 3 years, Samsung, HTC et all will have abandoned the 3.5mm design.

 

[Bold Seagull]

It was the same when Apple shipped USB ports on iMacs....oh know they've done away with SCSI or Serial ports, what are we going to do!!??

 

[Igzilla]

The 3.5mm headphone jack has now become the limiting item that defines how thick a device can be, it is the remaining restriction on phone design. You can either say they take the pee out of customers, or they are constantly willing to take risks and push the design envelope.

Are you saying that the 3.5mm jack should remain for eternity?

I think the main point is Apple developing a proprietary jack and charging royalties for everyone to use, as opposed to an industry agreed standard.

 

[Triggaaar]

The 3.5mm headphone jack has now become the limiting item that defines how thick a device can be, it is the remaining restriction on phone design.

How about the 2.5mm jack? And will it only be missing on the thinnest devices, or will it remain on those that can take it? And is the iPhone about to get thinner than the 6?

You can either say they take the pee out of customers, or they are constantly willing to take risks and push the design envelope.

How is soldering in memory pushing the design envelope?

 

[beorhthelm]

The 3.5mm headphone jack has now become the limiting item that defines how thick a device can be, it is the remaining restriction on phone design. You can either say they take the pee out of customers, or they are constantly willing to take risks and push the design envelope.

Are you saying that the 3.5mm jack should remain for eternity?

are you saying you need a phone narrower than currently available? are you confident they can even do this without it bending? given the limited scope to reduce the depth of number of internal components, have a case and screen, this 3.5mm limitation is a red herring. its about locking you in to their propriety connector and the Apple product eco system in general.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I think the main point is Apple developing a proprietary jack and charging royalties for everyone to use, as opposed to an industry agreed standard.

The 3.5mm jack is an industry adopted standard having been around for half a century. Anyone developing a new connection would submit a patent, doesn't mean they would charge royalties. It's possible new iPhones won't even ship with a headphone jack at all, requiring bluetooth headphones. They submit thousands of patents that don't always see the light of day.

Lot of fuss about nothing.

 

[Gazwag]

Apple know there are enough mugs around who will sell their souls just to own the latest gimmick and who will now have to pay for compatible wireless headphones, which of course will happen to be made by Apple as none others will work.

 

[Notters]

Just when you thought apple products couldn't get more crap...

 

[mikeyjh]

These are decent, and I only look a slight knob.

I acknowledge the reduction in knob value!

Does it not bug you having to be concerned with keeping the thing powered all the tiem?

 

[beorhthelm]

... Anyone developing a new connection would submit a patent, doesn't mean they would charge royalties....

of course the might not this time, but Apple have a long track record of using their own specs and charging people for the privilege. they'll probably try a modified Bluetooth if they can get away with it (technically, they can and will commercially)

 

[Bold Seagull]

How about the 2.5mm jack? And will it only be missing on the thinnest devices, or will it remain on those that can take it? And is the iPhone about to get thinner than the 6?

How is soldering in memory pushing the design envelope?

As I said above, the submission of a patent is no confirmation they're going to do anything with it. This could be a storm in a tea cup. Rumours are iPhone7 won't even have a headphone socket.

As for soldering in memory, I've upgraded my own RAM in my Macs since owning my first in 1994. It started off being fairly easy, but as designs evolved by the time I opened up my MBP late2011, it was clear that everything was getting a lot more fragile, tightly packed, making it a fiddly job. In pushing the design envelope, they have suffered with certain models over heating, or problems inside. It's not a great surprise they decided to start shipping some of their models that you just can't open. My first Mac you could swap out the graphics, video, sound, RAM cards, I think you could even upgrade the processor.

Apple have assessed their market, and decided most want a beautifully shaped and design machine, and will accept a lack of user upgrades for this. I think they still do a MBP model and the Mac Pro that you can upgrade.

My MBP 2011 is still a superb little machine with 16GB of RAM. Going into it's 5th year of use in CAD, 3D visuals, graphics etc. it's been well worth it. Can't see myself needing to upgrade for sometime yet.

 

[StonehamPark]

I acknowledge the reduction in knob value!

Does it not bug you having to be concerned with keeping the thing powered all the tiem?

Haha! Thanks.

Not at all. I've had them for over a week now, use them every day and haven't had to charge them yet.
It's just a mini-usb thing, a couple of hours plugged into the laptop and ready to go again.

I bought them due to being irritated by the wires when running. So far, so good.

With regards to Apple ditching the 3.5mm - I really can't see it happening. They'll alienate millions.

 

[LlcoolJ]

What's wrong with the whole electronics industry developing a standard that would allow all bits of kit to connect up with all other bits of kit, regardless of who the manufacturer is?

The same argument applies to light bulbs.

But they sort of already do, except for Apple.

Micro USB is the standard for connecting / charging pretty much any phone, tablet etc isn't it? Certainly every device that we've had in the last five years+ has worked with the same chargers / connectors. Apple know that they can make everything "exclusive" and millions will still pay through the nose for it despite "exclusive" actually meaning incompatible. They even got away with making their chargers incompatible with their own products (and don't get me started on not having an SD card slot so they can charge extra for memory).

Apple may well ditch the headphone jack. Won't harm their sales one iota and will increase profits as loads of people have to buy another adaptor (which will probably cost £15 for a £1 piece of kit). They must piss themselves laughing as they come up with this shit.

 

[1066familyman]

It's about locking you in to their propriety connector and the Apple product eco system in general.

Pretty much what Apple is always about isn't it.

What they do particularly well is marketing - charging way over the odds for all their products and locking you in. Why do you think they hand out free ipads to a lot of new University students. All about trying to hook the next generation into their products. A horrible horrible company in my book.

 

[Bold Seagull]

But they sort of already do, except for Apple.

Micro USB is the standard for connecting / charging pretty much any phone, tablet etc isn't it? Certainly every device that we've had in the last five years+ has worked with the same chargers / connectors. Apple know that they can make everything "exclusive" and millions will still pay through the nose for it despite "exclusive" actually meaning incompatible. They even got away with making their chargers incompatible with their own products (and don't get me started on not having an SD card slot so they can charge extra for memory).

Apple may well ditch the headphone jack. Won't harm their sales one iota and will increase profits as loads of people have to buy another adaptor (which will probably cost £15 for a £1 piece of kit). They must piss themselves laughing as they come up with this shit.

USB - the connectivity that Apple took the punt on!? Compaq, Intel, Microsoft, HP and Apple all contributed to the development, but Apple were the first to take it to production. So ironic that USB, microUSB, USB-C all taken off because Apple led with it is the very connecting standard you've waving back at Apple with!

 

[LlcoolJ]

USB - the connectivity that Apple took the punt on!? Compaq, Intel, Microsoft, HP and Apple all contributed to the development, but Apple were the first to take it to production. So ironic that USB, microUSB, USB-C all taken off because Apple led with it is the very connecting standard you've waving back at Apple with!

That would make it even more ironic that they ditched it in order to rip off their customers then.

 

[StonehamPark]

That would make it even more ironic that they ditched it in order to rip off their customers then.

Not really. They've helped develop it to it's full potential (1/2/3), and now moving onto hardware which can perform better (Lightning/Thunderbolt).

 

[Bold Seagull]

That would make it even more ironic that they ditched it in order to rip off their customers then.

What are you talking about, Apple are likely to include USB-C as a standard on all their computers. Are you moaning about the far superior power connector to iPhones and iPads? Despite all this nonsense, they may even have the USB-C as a universal port on iPhones & tablets - all this other stuff is just rumour.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Not really. They've helped develop it to it's full potential (1/2/3), and now moving onto hardware which can perform better (Lightning/Thunderbolt).

There is talk of them integrating that technology into USB-C which would be an all encompassing port - monitors, drives, audio, power, all could go through it. Thunderbolt hasn't really taken off despite it being superior to USB 3.0.