Apple’s iPhone 7 won’t have a headphone jack – don’t freak out

We’re three and a half months or more away from Apple’s next iPhone announcement, but this one could be as controversial as the iPhone 5 when Apple changed the charging cable – the next iPhone (iPhone 7) won’t have a headphone jack.

There are rumours all around, and there have been for some time actually, but more and more the likelihood stands that the iPhone 7 to be announced in September for October availability (EFTM’s best guess) will not have that small round hole in the bottom where we’ve been plugging in our headphones since headphones were a thing.

Don’t Freak Out.

So many people are already starting to get ancy about this one, claiming its an outrage and how can Apple do it etc etc.  Well, I’m not privy to what Apple has planned, and we don’t even know for sure yet if it won’t have a headphone jack, but lets work on the assumption it doesn’t.

Out of the Box

Rest assured, if Apple releases an iPhone without a headphone jack, the headphones that come with it in the box will be wired headphones that plug into the lightning port instead.

Now this means you can’t listen to headphones and charge at the same time, which could for some be an issue, but there will be an adaptor you can buy for that:)

Buying new headphones

Already today more and more headphones are wireless, this will simple grow exponentially.  Both wireless and lightning will be offered as headphone options, and some companies will probably offer a standard 3.5mm adaptor too in the box because some headphones aren’t used for Apple iPhones:)

What about my old headphones?

While it probably won’t be included in the box, Apple (and third-party brands) will have a lightning to 3.5mm adaptor. Could be clunky, but your old headphones will still work.

WHY?

Well, two reasons.  Firstly – space.  That 3.5mm hole and the surrounding enclosure are a limiting factor to the ability of the design team to further reduce the thickness of the iPhone.  Remove the jack, bingo, you’ll quickly see a much slimmer iPhone

Quality over history.

The Second reason to preference the lightning adaptor for headphone output is Digital.  A DAC is a “Digital to Analog Converter” which when used correctly in the chain of audio can produce a higher quality sound output.  Dumbing down to a 3.5mm socket you’re losing quality.  Plugging in a set of headphones with a lightning connector means you’re plugging directly in digitally so there should be a discussion about a better quality sound with the new iPhone 7.

So, relax.  We adjusted to Lightning as an adaptor, we’ll adjust to the lack of the 30pin adaptor from the original iPhones and iPods.

Nothing is confirmed, we won’t really know until later in the year – but all signs point to a slimmer and headphone jack free iPhone 7.