2018 iPhones may not include the Lightning headphone adapter

[midian182]

Apple’s so-called “courageous” decision to drop the long-used headphone jack in the iPhone 7 brought the company an avalanche of criticism, but it tried to placate wired headphone owners by including a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter in the box. According to a new analyst report, however, it won’t be bundled with any of the new iPhone models launching later this year.

In a research note obtained by MacRumors from Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis and his associates, it’s stated that "we currently model no dongle this year." There was no explanation or evidence given as to why this might happen, and Apple hasn’t confirmed or denied the report.

Barclays analysts last year correctly predicted that the adapter would remain a part of the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X, but added that it would go away at some point, “potentially in the 2018 model.” MacRumors reports that analysts regularly visit Apple’s supply chain partners in Asia to gather this information.

Apple seems to be putting faith in the fact that an increasing number of consumers are turning to wireless headphones, including its own AirPods, but there are still plenty of people who prefer the traditional, wired options. From Apple’s point of view, the decision should help push down the cost per unit of the new iPhones, if only by a small amount.

Assuming the report turns out to be accurate, those who still intend on buying a new iPhone and want to use their wired headphones with the handset can purchase a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter as a standalone product for $9 from Apple’s store.

While several phone manufacturers, including Google and Sony, have followed in Apple’s footsteps by removing the headphone jack, it remains a part of rival Samsung’s handsets.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74398-2018-iphones-may-not-include-lightning-headphone-adapter.html

 

[psycros]

Removing the 3.5mm didn't lower costs because it was replaced by the more expensive Lightning connector which is just as large so the "space saving" argument is also bogus. Everyone knows what the goal was - to sell you another overpriced peripheral that was only usable with Apple hardware.

 

[ForgottenLegion]

This is just Apple being Apple. Nothing new here. Remove a feature one year and then charge users to use it again the following year.
It never ceases to amaze me how people in record numbers keep bending over year after year.

 

[VitalyT]

It never ceases to amaze me how people in record numbers keep bending over year after year.

It goes beyond bending, check out Apple making humancentipad

 

[BSim500]

It's been quite amusing to watch discrete MP3 players from budget (AGPTek, Fiio) to premium (Astell & Kern, Sony, etc) brands make a comeback over the same period that "smart"-phones have been dumbed down so much, they've now become virtually useless MP3 players that can't really "replace" anything if you want to use a decent set of headphones / external DAC, a battery that lasts more than a day or have a cr*p-ton of music on 256GB Micro-SD cards. It's almost like there's a large quiet group of people who just want to listen to music without the pretentious contrarian "anti-feature" design BS getting in the way of basic functionality...

 

[ChrisH1]

Removing the 3.5mm didn't lower costs because it was replaced by the more expensive Lightning connector which is just as large so the "space saving" argument is also bogus. Everyone knows what the goal was - to sell you another overpriced peripheral that was only usable with Apple hardware.

The lightning connector was already there. The iPhone 5/5+/6/6+ had both. Also, while you might be right that it's technically larger (haven't calculated it), it's long and thin rather than a round hole, which means the phone itself can be thinner. That in itself imho is not a good thing, I'd rather have a thicker phone with a bigger battery (ideally, a separate battery so I could choose how big a one I wanted, as big as a housebrick if I choose), but is their design direction - that's why they want to save space.

I don't think Apple makes money from selling overpriced peripherals. Overpriced phones, yes.

But as far as the expensive peripherals is concerned, competition sorts that out pretty fast. You can buy an equivalent just as good, all the way down to as cheap and crappy as you want, or not use them at all. A $9 adaptor for standard 'phones ($2 from China) is all you need, or lightning headphones/buds if you don't want the adaptor, a quick lookup shows $4.99 from eBay.

 

[m4a4]

I don't think Apple makes money from selling overpriced peripherals. Overpriced phones, yes.

Oh, they most certainly do, or they wouldn't bother with so much proprietary crap (that needs conversion cables) on their devices.
Heck, they've even added chips to their chargers so that you had to buy official Apple ones to use them (but those were spoofed quickly).

 

[Theinsanegamer]

This is just Apple being Apple. Nothing new here. Remove a feature one year and then charge users to use it again the following year.
It never ceases to amaze me how people in record numbers keep bending over year after year.

I can think of 3 reasons why some people like me stick with apple.

1. size. The iphone SE is a tiny flagship, and there is nothing on the android market to compare. Only sony still makes a "compact flagship" but that stopped with the Z5C in 2015. If you want a powerful tiny flagship, your only option is apple.

2. Updates. So many android phones are abandoned after a year, flagships get maybe 2 years of support. Iphones get 5. Meaning I can keep my iOS hardware for 2-3x longer then an android headset.

3. hardware support. If my iphone breaks, I can just take it to the apple store to have it fixed or replaced. If that happens with an android phone, you have to send it away in the mail and wait a few weeks while some third party company attempts to repair it properly for you. You can have apple replace the battery in an iOS device, doing so in an android device is a game of russian roulette.

Given that most users are tech illiterate, the presence of apple stores is what pushes a lot of iOS demand.

 

[Masaad]

This is just Apple being Apple. Nothing new here. Remove a feature one year and then charge users to use it again the following year.
It never ceases to amaze me how people in record numbers keep bending over year after year.

I can think of 3 reasons why some people like me stick with apple.

1. size. The iphone SE is a tiny flagship, and there is nothing on the android market to compare. Only sony still makes a "compact flagship" but that stopped with the Z5C in 2015. If you want a powerful tiny flagship, your only option is apple.

2. Updates. So many android phones are abandoned after a year, flagships get maybe 2 years of support. Iphones get 5. Meaning I can keep my iOS hardware for 2-3x longer then an android headset.

3. hardware support. If my iphone breaks, I can just take it to the apple store to have it fixed or replaced. If that happens with an android phone, you have to send it away in the mail and wait a few weeks while some third party company attempts to repair it properly for you. You can have apple replace the battery in an iOS device, doing so in an android device is a game of russian roulette.

Given that most users are tech illiterate, the presence of apple stores is what pushes a lot of iOS demand.

The only reason would be lack of tech savviness. You can get phones for half the price and get updated regularly (Nokia, oneplus, etc..) only problem is that people compare iPhones to Galaxy and that's it, people are suckers for marketing on both sides of the mobile OS.

 

[ChrisH1]

Oh, they most certainly do, or they wouldn't bother with so much proprietary crap (that needs conversion cables) on their devices.
Heck, they've even added chips to their chargers so that you had to buy official Apple ones to use them (but those were spoofed quickly).

I'm sure they would like to, but my point is that much like you say - "(but those were spoofed quickly)" - the peripherals are easy to reverse engineer and duplicate, you don't have to buy the Apple stuff. It's hard to make much money selling charging cables at $29 when you can pick them up on eBay for $5.

 

[m4a4]

I'm sure they would like to, but my point is that much like you say - "(but those were spoofed quickly)" - the peripherals are easy to reverse engineer and duplicate, you don't have to buy the Apple stuff. It's hard to make much money selling charging cables at $29 when you can pick them up on eBay for $5.

And yet they still see enough value in doing so every chance they get.
Besides, Apple fanatics aren't going to go cheap when they can have the "official" Apple accessory.

 

[ChrisH1]

And yet they still see enough value in doing so every chance they get.
Besides, Apple fanatics aren't going to go cheap when they can have the "official" Apple accessory.

Ah well, you're right there. But I still doubt it's a major percentage of their income stream, speaking off the top of my head without checking the facts ... I think most of the dosh comes from the phones/pads/macbooks.