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Is it time to concede Apple was right to eliminate the headphone jack?

9 points by WallyN 3y ago

hehehe89 3y ago
Yes and I think in the future, we would have phones where all buttons and ports are removed. Volume control and screen on/off would be automated based on context and charging and data transfer would be wireless.
- orangecat 3y ago
  Volume control and screen on/off would be automated based on context Well that's horrifying.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  That sounds simply awful in every way. I hope that future never happens.
craigts 3y ago
If dongle quality was better I would be happier, but all around, not having a headphone jack is not a huge inconvenience.
WallyN 3y ago
My take is that I was cranky about it at first, but now that i've finally lost all of my legacy wired Apple earbuds I'm happy to have the 1-2% extra battery.
KingLancelot 3y ago
[dead]
fragmede 3y ago
> Revealed preferences I don't think they can really claim revealed preferences because Apple never sold a product that was identical except for the headphone jack and battery life. Of course people are going to buy the better new one. Apple could have just sold two versions, one without the jack, with a bigger battery, and one without, and a smaller battery. That would be massively more expensive for Apple to do, but it's not like Apple isn't swimming in ridiculously giant piles of money.
- WallyN 3y ago
  The rest of the market largely followed suit though, despite the fact that at times Google tried to specifically market a 3.5mm jack as a feature. If the presence of a headphone jack was really critical, wouldn't some premium handset maker have capitalized on it?
EfthimisHN 3y ago
I do think that Apple wants to eventually move to a compelely "portless" phone. The headphone jack was the first big step towards that direction and I wouldn't be surprized if they eventually remove the charging port as well, in favor of magsafe-only charging. Sounds even more plausible now that they can't monopolize the sales of lightning cables since the introduction of USB-C.
infotainment 3y ago
No, it was a bad decision and it's still bad.
violinds 3y ago
I'd be less cranky about this if I didn't have bluetooth disconnection issues at least once a day.
JohnFen 3y ago
No, because they weren't right to do so. Well, I'll soften that a bit. Not having a headphone jack is something that doesn't work well for me, personally. Bluetooth is not a good replacement for it.
efas 3y ago
No feedback on that page; it's just an ad. I use a wired headset. Nothing else work for me.

9 points by WallyN 3y ago

Yes and I think in the future, we would have phones where all buttons and ports are removed. Volume control and screen on/off would be automated based on context and charging and data transfer would be wireless.

orangecat 3y ago
Volume control and screen on/off would be automated based on context Well that's horrifying.
JohnFen 3y ago
That sounds simply awful in every way. I hope that future never happens.

craigts 3y ago

If dongle quality was better I would be happier, but all around, not having a headphone jack is not a huge inconvenience.

WallyN 3y ago

My take is that I was cranky about it at first, but now that i've finally lost all of my legacy wired Apple earbuds I'm happy to have the 1-2% extra battery.

KingLancelot 3y ago

[dead]

fragmede 3y ago

> Revealed preferences I don't think they can really claim revealed preferences because Apple never sold a product that was identical except for the headphone jack and battery life. Of course people are going to buy the better new one. Apple could have just sold two versions, one without the jack, with a bigger battery, and one without, and a smaller battery. That would be massively more expensive for Apple to do, but it's not like Apple isn't swimming in ridiculously giant piles of money.

WallyN 3y ago
The rest of the market largely followed suit though, despite the fact that at times Google tried to specifically market a 3.5mm jack as a feature. If the presence of a headphone jack was really critical, wouldn't some premium handset maker have capitalized on it?

EfthimisHN 3y ago

I do think that Apple wants to eventually move to a compelely "portless" phone. The headphone jack was the first big step towards that direction and I wouldn't be surprized if they eventually remove the charging port as well, in favor of magsafe-only charging. Sounds even more plausible now that they can't monopolize the sales of lightning cables since the introduction of USB-C.

infotainment 3y ago

No, it was a bad decision and it's still bad.

violinds 3y ago

I'd be less cranky about this if I didn't have bluetooth disconnection issues at least once a day.

JohnFen 3y ago

No, because they weren't right to do so. Well, I'll soften that a bit. Not having a headphone jack is something that doesn't work well for me, personally. Bluetooth is not a good replacement for it.

efas 3y ago

No feedback on that page; it's just an ad. I use a wired headset. Nothing else work for me.