Apple’s next-generation iPhone 7 is expected to be thinner than its current models, but this super-slim design may come at a cost.
In order to shrink the thickness of a future handset, Apple is rumoured to be looking at ways to get rid of the standard 3.5mm headphone port.
Instead, reports suggest the yet-to-be-announced iPhone 7 will feature a single, multipurpose Lightning slot that will double up as a headphone port as well as charger.
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In order to shrink the thickness of a future handset, Apple is rumoured to be looking at ways to get rid of the standard 3.5mm headphone port. Instead, reports suggest the yet-to-be-announced iPhone 7 will feature a single, multipurpose Lightning slot that will double up as a headphone port as well as charger
Apple angered many people when it introduced its proprietary Lightning port because it required specialist Apple hardware to use. This headphone change could have a similar knock-on effect.
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The reports come from Japanese site Macotakara that said the new iPhone will support headphones with either the existing Lightning connector or via Bluetooth, and these new headphones will be sold with the new handset.
It is expected that Apple may also sell a converter that would allow users to plug in their ‘old’ standard 3.5 mm headphones to newer phones.
WHY WOULD APPLE DITCH THE HEADPHONE JACK?
Getting rid of the headphone jack would help Apple shrink the iPhone 7’s thickness considerably.
Its latest smartphone, the Phone 6s, is 7.1 mm (0.27) thick but removing the 3.5mm jack could drop this by a further by one mm (0.04 in).
Such a shift would also mean larger, stereo headphones using an internal battery would be able to draw power directly from the iPhone – or other devices, if the change is enforced across the Apple board.
Elsewhere, Lightning-based headphones would experience less ‘crosstalk’, or signal interference.
Getting rid of the headphone jack would help Apple to shrink the iPhone 7 by one mm (0.04 in).
By comparison, its latest smartphone, the iPhone 6s, is 7.1 mm to inches tool (0.27) thick.
Such a shift would also mean larger, stereo headphones using an internal battery would be able to draw power directly from the iPhone, or other devices, if the change is enforced across the Apple board.
Elsewhere, Lightning-based headphones would experience less ‘crosstalk’, or signal interference, according to The Next Web.
Lightning-connected earphones are already available from third-party manufacturers such as Philips’ Fidelio but Apple could be looking to monopolise the market.
In the past, the company has famously ditched support for hardware and software once it believes it has become obsolete.
It was the first to remove the floppy disk’s slot from its computers in 1998, and it more recently did away with all but one USB-C ports on its laptops, as well as Flash on iOS.
Its Lightning charging technology was then brought into replace Apple’s previous 30-pin charger in 2012.
Getting rid of the headphone jack would help Apple shrink the iPhone 7’s thickness considerably. Its latest smartphone, the iPhone 6s, is 7.1 mm (0.27) thick but removing the 3.5mm jack could drop this by a further by one mm (0.04 in). Apple previously replaced the 30-pin charger (shown) with the Lightning connector
