Lightening Could Strike Apple Over Headphone Jack
‘FURY’, ‘anger’, ‘outrage’. Just three of the words bouncing around the Internet in response to Apple ditching the headphone jack from its latest iPhone.
The 3.5mm jack has been omnipresent on mobiles and seen wherever folk use them.
But now the iPhone 7 will come without a headphone socket and users will need to purchase Apple’s own Lightening headphone connector or use a Bluetooth solution instead.
Apple is probably right to think that the 3.5mm jack has had its day.
It was introduced to the world with the transistor radio in the 1950s.
It is an analogue, not digital, device and its sound transmission capability suffers badly as a result. The Lightening connectors will deliver a far higher audio quality.
However, the Lightening solution suffers from two major drawbacks.
Firstly, it cannot be used while the iPhone charges, because that needs the same port on the phone.
Secondly, it can no longer be shared with non-Apple devices.
Someone with an iPhone 7 and a Samsung tablet, for instance might need different headphone sets dangling from each ear.
That is not expected to change. Other manufacturers are likely to move to USC-C as the de facto headphone connector for the future.
With luck, they will do it right and provide the old port on their phones as well for a spell while their loyal customers migrate to the future solution.
Apple, in its press conference, claimed that it had been ‘courageous’ in dropping the old jack.
Others would suggest they had been ‘arrogant’.
Do you dictate to the market what it needs or make it an offer?
Do the former and it may walk away.
