Tuesday, September 13, 2016
iPhone 7 - R.I.P. Headphone Jack!
Apple surprisingly removed the Headphone Jack from iPhone 7 and here are the reasons behind it.
Finally Apple iPhone 7 and Apple iPhone 7 plus released all over the world
at 9th September. Apple have introduced so many amazing features with iPhone 7
release which are worth a upgrade.
Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have upgraded cameras. It is the slimmest one in whole iPhone series. We will cover all the features of iPhone 7 in another post. However, along with this all new features there is a revolutionary change. Have you ever seen a smartphone, with no headphone jack? But let us brake the news- “iPhone 7 don’t have a headphone Jack”. Yes, Its no more. But don’t worry. Apple have made it easy. iPhone 7 comes with a wireless headphones. All those fancy cable headphones are useless if you own a iPhone 7. Lightning-powered headphones and Bluetooth wireless headphones are the only compatible accessories.
Waterproofing- technically, it’s only water resistant. Its not that people can take their iPhones with them when they go swimming. But it seems that Apple is going to make it possible. Waterproof phones have struggled with the headphone jack; they’ve either provided a plug you’re supposed to put in when it’s not in use, or they’ve not proven to be as waterproof as advertised. Putting a plug in headphone jack doesn’t seem user friendly. Getting over all this problems, Apple removed the headphone jacks from the iPhone 7. Removing the headphone jack left the iPhone 7 with only one port—the Lightning port—that still needed waterproofing. Lightning was introduced only a couple years ago and was presumably designed with eventual waterproofing in mind. The headphone jack was ultimately designed a century ago and Apple can’t change its design to make it easier to waterproof.
Apple's trend has been to make the iPhone thinner with each version. They can't go much thinner now without eliminating the 1/8" headphone jack. So if they're going to go thinner, they may have to remove the jack and replace it with something else, or rely on bluetooth connectivity.
Most of the space inside the phone is behind the display assembly. In this area, the thickness of components is limited; you can put chips and batteries here, but not much else. The headphone jack in the 6S probably takes up about 10% of the bezel space in the entire phone. With removal of the headphone Jack, it was possible to design a more slick phone. Freeing 10% space is a big deal while designing a phone. This leftover space can be utilized for other components, making the entire mobile more reliable and robust. All this things made Apple to rethink about the headphone jack and finally they removed it.
All we know the struggle while dealing with the Headphone cables. Have you ever noticed that the feel of the plastic in an Apple headphone cable has changed over time? That’s Apple trying to reduce the cable’s tendency to knot in your pocket. Unfortunately, the cable is long enough that it’s mathematically impossible to keep it from tangling, but they can try to make it a little bit better. Headphone cables also snag (Apple responded to this by making iPods and iPhones pause when the headphone cable is yanked out of them). The cables end up on the wrong side of clothes and straps. They end up being too short or too long. They fray and break. In general, they’re just an overall nuisance. Lightning cables are the same way, but wireless Bluetooth headphones avoid all of these problems entirely. It might piss off customers who have invested in expensive 3.5mm phones and now need an adaptor.
Apple is introducing a new wireless communications chip alongside its plans to remove the headphone jack, and it's called the W1. AirPods and other devices with the W1 chip can automatically switch between your different devices, so if you’re listening to music on your computer and then answer a call on your phone, they can seamlessly switch over without you having to unplug and re-plug a cable. That’s really convenient (and it encourages people to buy all-Apple, too).
A headphone-to-Lightning adapter is cheap enough to ship with every iPhone and compatible with all devices supported by the old built-in port. Adapters aren’t ideal, but they’re a good solution for getting us over the hump.
Apple is known for always pushing stuff and trying different things. With this they’re attempting to change the way audio is consumed through both wired and wireless mechanisms. If the lightning connector kicks off as an audio connector, other manufacturers could adapt it and it could gradually replace the 3.5mm jack that we’ve become so used to. It took a while before micro-USB became a standard; its going to take this a while as well. For all we know, it may fail and Apple may bring back the analog jack to much applause.
Let’s take a look at some other mainstream technologies that Apple was the first to remove (or not include) in their products, and which resulted in a major impact on their use globally, afterwards :
Fewer buttons. Cleaner designs. Compare the original Apple 1 button mouse to it’s multi button PC cousins. The simple click wheel of the iPod. The single ‘home’ button on the iPhone or iPad.
To move all their devices to a better technology that presumably would allow them to do more in the future the they can do with the current technology. This is why removal of headphone jack should not be treated as problem. Wireless technology is always preferred over the messy cables.
In the long run—once the price drops—Apple believes that Bluetooth is the future for casual headphone use, while Lightning will serve advanced use cases like professional audio equipment. The only real cost, they believe, is the pain of the transition. If we ever want to leave the headphone port behind, that pain will have to be borne eventually. And they believe that now is as good a time as any to get it over with.
Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have upgraded cameras. It is the slimmest one in whole iPhone series. We will cover all the features of iPhone 7 in another post. However, along with this all new features there is a revolutionary change. Have you ever seen a smartphone, with no headphone jack? But let us brake the news- “iPhone 7 don’t have a headphone Jack”. Yes, Its no more. But don’t worry. Apple have made it easy. iPhone 7 comes with a wireless headphones. All those fancy cable headphones are useless if you own a iPhone 7. Lightning-powered headphones and Bluetooth wireless headphones are the only compatible accessories.
So, Why did Apple remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7?
Ports are difficult to waterproof, Headphone jack also:
Waterproofing- technically, it’s only water resistant. Its not that people can take their iPhones with them when they go swimming. But it seems that Apple is going to make it possible. Waterproof phones have struggled with the headphone jack; they’ve either provided a plug you’re supposed to put in when it’s not in use, or they’ve not proven to be as waterproof as advertised. Putting a plug in headphone jack doesn’t seem user friendly. Getting over all this problems, Apple removed the headphone jacks from the iPhone 7. Removing the headphone jack left the iPhone 7 with only one port—the Lightning port—that still needed waterproofing. Lightning was introduced only a couple years ago and was presumably designed with eventual waterproofing in mind. The headphone jack was ultimately designed a century ago and Apple can’t change its design to make it easier to waterproof.
To improve the iPhones figure :
Apple's trend has been to make the iPhone thinner with each version. They can't go much thinner now without eliminating the 1/8" headphone jack. So if they're going to go thinner, they may have to remove the jack and replace it with something else, or rely on bluetooth connectivity.
The space was needed for other things :
Most of the space inside the phone is behind the display assembly. In this area, the thickness of components is limited; you can put chips and batteries here, but not much else. The headphone jack in the 6S probably takes up about 10% of the bezel space in the entire phone. With removal of the headphone Jack, it was possible to design a more slick phone. Freeing 10% space is a big deal while designing a phone. This leftover space can be utilized for other components, making the entire mobile more reliable and robust. All this things made Apple to rethink about the headphone jack and finally they removed it.
Headphone cables suck :
All we know the struggle while dealing with the Headphone cables. Have you ever noticed that the feel of the plastic in an Apple headphone cable has changed over time? That’s Apple trying to reduce the cable’s tendency to knot in your pocket. Unfortunately, the cable is long enough that it’s mathematically impossible to keep it from tangling, but they can try to make it a little bit better. Headphone cables also snag (Apple responded to this by making iPods and iPhones pause when the headphone cable is yanked out of them). The cables end up on the wrong side of clothes and straps. They end up being too short or too long. They fray and break. In general, they’re just an overall nuisance. Lightning cables are the same way, but wireless Bluetooth headphones avoid all of these problems entirely. It might piss off customers who have invested in expensive 3.5mm phones and now need an adaptor.
Apple's first wireless chip :
Apple is introducing a new wireless communications chip alongside its plans to remove the headphone jack, and it's called the W1. AirPods and other devices with the W1 chip can automatically switch between your different devices, so if you’re listening to music on your computer and then answer a call on your phone, they can seamlessly switch over without you having to unplug and re-plug a cable. That’s really convenient (and it encourages people to buy all-Apple, too).
Perfect compatibility is possible :
A headphone-to-Lightning adapter is cheap enough to ship with every iPhone and compatible with all devices supported by the old built-in port. Adapters aren’t ideal, but they’re a good solution for getting us over the hump.
Innovation :
Apple is known for always pushing stuff and trying different things. With this they’re attempting to change the way audio is consumed through both wired and wireless mechanisms. If the lightning connector kicks off as an audio connector, other manufacturers could adapt it and it could gradually replace the 3.5mm jack that we’ve become so used to. It took a while before micro-USB became a standard; its going to take this a while as well. For all we know, it may fail and Apple may bring back the analog jack to much applause.
Apple has a history of removing things :
Let’s take a look at some other mainstream technologies that Apple was the first to remove (or not include) in their products, and which resulted in a major impact on their use globally, afterwards :
- Floppy Drives were replaced by better, cheaper, faster (& higher capacity) USB Sticks. Interestingly their use is now fading as well, as we move to cloud storage and sharing.
- Adobe Flash in smartphones was replaced with HTML5
- Optical Drives though still in use are much less common (people get their software, music, videos etc.. directly from the internet now via streaming and downloading)
- Smartphone keyboard was replaced with bigger touchscreens and software based keyboards
- Laptop Touchpad Buttons were replaced with bigger pads that are now clickable.
- CRT Monitors were replaced with better flat screen monitor technologies
The Apple design philosophy is ‘less is more’ :
Fewer buttons. Cleaner designs. Compare the original Apple 1 button mouse to it’s multi button PC cousins. The simple click wheel of the iPod. The single ‘home’ button on the iPhone or iPad.
Apple believes the future of everything is all wireless, all the time :
To move all their devices to a better technology that presumably would allow them to do more in the future the they can do with the current technology. This is why removal of headphone jack should not be treated as problem. Wireless technology is always preferred over the messy cables.
In the long run—once the price drops—Apple believes that Bluetooth is the future for casual headphone use, while Lightning will serve advanced use cases like professional audio equipment. The only real cost, they believe, is the pain of the transition. If we ever want to leave the headphone port behind, that pain will have to be borne eventually. And they believe that now is as good a time as any to get it over with.
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