Apple to forego standard audio port in next iPhone

by Alicia Brown Application Developer

While there are many rumors floating around about what design elements are going to be a part of the next iPhone, one thing is for sure…it will not have the standard headphone jack. Considering the next iPhone is due next year, it is not surprising that Apple is making the plan known.

So what will iPhone users do instead? They will have to plug their headphones into the iPhone’s Lighting data port. So while the new iPhone will come with a pair of headphones that one can directly plug into the Lightning port, in order to make use of the old, regular headphones, users will have to purchase an adapter. Yes, more money for us to spend, and for Apple to make.

According to known market experts like SmartIO and more.The Lightning port is thinner than the regular headphone jack, while the actual connector is double the length. By forgoing the headphone jack, Apple could be saving up on a log of space in the iPhone internally, space that could be used for something more productive… like batteries or other electronics that have been put aside due to space constraints. Another advantage of the decision is that this would allow the sound to be transmitted digitally, which could significantly improve its quality.

This is not entirely something new for Apple. The company has taken such steps in the past, like when it replaced the data port for the Lightning connector. It’s done the same with the Macbook, where it replaced the standard USB ports with smaller USB-C ports. While from reading so far, it may seem like a problem-free strategy, combining functions of two outputs into one creates a problem for users. They would find it difficult to connect the phone to two devices at the same time. So if you want to transfer content using a cable, you can’t do that while listening to your music, not unless you have an adapter. Of course you can use content transfer apps to completely forego the cable transfer, but that’s just one cable-related function you can bypass. What about listening to music while the iPhone is being charged? Well, Apple doesn’t care. And why should it, that’s exactly the kind of attitude that got us rid of CD-ROMs, Floppy Drives and chunky extensions.