According to the Japanese tech site Macotakara, Apple is planning to cut the ubiquitous 3.5mm headphone jack in the iPhone 7, opting instead for Lightning-based headphones.
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Apple will bundle the iPhone 7 with EarPods that have Lightning connectors – a spec that third-party headphone makers will have to match, according to the report. It could mean major changes for those audio companies if Apple decides to switch things up with the newest device. It is widely known that the 3.5mm headphone jack has been a standard in the industry.
As the iPhone 6s looks set to bring a lot of sales to Apple this year, the company is gearing up for the launch of next year’s iPhone 7 which is due in September. Engadget also pointed out that Mac Otakara isn’t highly reliable when it comes to its reports, so this could possibly be inaccurate or entirely wrong.
Unlike many of Apple proprietary hardware designs, the 3.5mm headphone jack is a design that is free for any manufacturer to use. Eliminating the headphone jack would make the new phone incompatible with almost all wired headsets on the market.
Leaks have revealed that Apple might be getting rid of the iPhone headphone jack in the new iPhone model. They could be charged by your iOS device, or be used to charge it (power can flow both ways through the Lightning connector). It’s possible that some companies will make iPhone-only versions of their headphones and earphones. The new smartphone will come with a pair of headphones that can plug directly into the port, but in order to plug in regular headphones, users will need a separate adapter, according to the report.
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The standard 3.5-millimeter headphone jack hasbeen a technological feature on computers, smartphones and stereo equipment for decades – but it may be obsolete in the next iPhone, writes Mac Forum.
