Every
other year, Apple releases a totally redesigned iPhone. In 2012, it was
the iPhone 5, in 2014 the iPhone 6. So next year we should see the
iPhone 7, which — even though it’s probably ten months from being
released — is already enjoying its spotlight in the rumor mill.
The latest “insider report” on Apple’s next phone: It won’t have a headphone jack. Sound crazy? Maybe not.
The headphone jack is the widest external port in the iPhone, and it
can't get any thinner than it currently is. So Apple may get rid of it
completely to shave off another 1 mm from its current iPhone model.
Japanese blog Mac Otakara, a “reliable source” cited by Apple news blog 9to5Mac,
is claiming that Apple’s iPhone 7 will be a good deal slimmer than the
company’s current handsets. Among other things, that reportedly means
that the long-standard 3.5mm audio jack will be deleted.
In
its place, Apple will purportedly push the iPhone’s Lightning port as
the new standard connector for wired iPhone headphones. After Apple
introduced audio-over-Lightning support in iOS 7, some companies began
selling headsets offering “high resolution audio” when connected via that port.
Mac Otakara’s iPhone 7 rumor blog — which does have a decent track record
— went on to suggest that Apple would, if the headphone jack does go
bye-bye, ship the next iPhone with Lightning port EarPod headphones .
Owners of unreasonably expensive third-party headphones
can expect that Apple will also release some kind of 3.5mm-to-Lightning
port adapter. That way, you could continue using your old gear with
Apple’s new gear — for a price, of course.
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