Pains us to run an Apple article without the words 'fined', 'guilty' or 'on fire' in it, but here we are Apple held court in San Francisco on Tuesday to announce updates for the iPhone and Apple Watch lines. Speaking to a hand-picked crowd at the Bill Graham Auditorium (The Register was not invited), CEO Tim Cook showcased the annual updates for both the smartwatch and smartphone pieces of Apple's lineup. A very swimmable Apple …
Actually, active noise cancellation is built in to the new design, the wireless or powered connected earphones work together to counter environment nose. The benefit of connected active headphones is that they don't run out of batteries (a feature I found rather annoying on my Sony noise cancelling headphones).
Besides, there's still Bluetooth.
>Actually, active noise cancellation is built in to the new design, the wireless or powered connected earphones work together to counter environment nose.
Yep, it's like the Sony phones which have TRRRS ( Tip, 3 x Ring, Sleeve ) jacks - the extra Ring allows for *stereo* mic input at the same time as stereo output - this means that active noise cancellation can be done using the phone's existing DSP and battery. The upside is that the noise cancelling headphones don't their own battery or duplicate silicon, making them more convenient and cheaper.
Its also worth noting that whilst the common TRRS (2x Ring) adheres to a physical standard, there is no standard for the electrical implementations for the microphone and remote controls on headsets, even between different Android phones from the same vendor, let alone Apple kit. As a result, the myriad headsets 'designed for iPhone' from Sennheiser, Klipsh, B&W etc etc seldom work properly on Android kit. [ there is a useful Android app called Sound About that allows you to override overly fussy headset detection, and lets you use iPhone headsets without annoying warnings - though you still may not get full mic/remote functionality]
Generally, my headphones stay with my laptop, my earbuds stay with my phone. Earbuds get broken (always the cable) or lost, so I'm not 'invested' in the 3.5mm jack. If I were an iPhone user, the lack of a 3.5mm port really wouldn't put me off the new model. Heck, even on 3.5mm ports, I like to have a small Male > Female cable between the phone and earbuds, just to reduce the mechanical strain on the earbud cable. Ideally, I'd like a physical connector that can 'break away' - saving me money on damaged earbud cables and on damaged 3.5mm ports. (My Dell laptop has its 3.5mm port is damaged, meaning I'm using a USB speaker I had lying around).
yeah- another reason why i still carry my keyboard kindle, ipod classic and my phone with me; another bonus: phone battery not dead when i get off the plane.
Sure, the more modern planes have outlets built into the seats by now, but guess what? After strapping in, surrounding yourself with cables of all sorts, there's that person that constantly has to go to the restroom, needs something from the bag in the bin, etc. And no, you can't always get that window seat.
No thanks :-)
"...outlets built into the seats..."
Big family vacation to Asia. I literally, no exaggeration, plugged in a power bar. One outlet became six. So the kidiots and I could plug in all our gadget chargers. Back in the day, Nintendo and PSPs.
The seat outlets often have a 100w power limit. Some sort of self-resetting fuse. Not an issue with a half dozen little gadgets. But the 120 watt laptop couldn't charge and be on at the same time.
I'm sure in a few months you'll be able to buy a package of three adapters for $10 on eBay, just like you can with Lightning cables so you'll have spares.
Anyway, I hope you didn't pay a lot if you have noise canceling headphones with a permanently attached cord, because that's always what fails at least in my experience.
I've got loads of cheap ebay lightning connectors going spare, mainly because they don't work. The phone goes bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, and doesn't connect to iTunes.
I gave up buying cheap ones.
I bought three MFi certified Lightning cables for $10, all work perfectly. The ones that aren't certified are the only ones were you run the risk of the phone not accepting them (and they maybe 50 cents cheaper if that, so not sure what the point of buying them would be)
I've got loads of cheap ebay lightning connectors going spare, mainly because they don't work.
Funny that, I always found them so much better built than the shite ones you get from the Apple store. My son used to go through the official ones at a huge rate and all his mates parents made the same comments. You only have to look on the Apple store at the shit reviews the official cables get.
The cheap ones I've bought on Amazon have been much more reliable.
At least that's been my experience.
"I'm sure in a few months you'll be able to buy a package of three adapters for $10 on eBay, just like you can with Lightning cables so you'll have spares."
As long as you are happy to run the risk of it suddenly stopping working, as happened to a work mate with his no appletax Chinese QI wireless charger case... Worked wonderfully for a few weeks, then "rejected".
He had to buy a "proper" one, which ironically is less practical in that the lower portion is deeper, meaning his headphone jack wouldn't reach the socket... Well not until we shaved a few mm off the plastic with a box cutter! I can see why they deleted the socket now!
"Where's the damn adapter? Oops."
Looks like you are not actually using headphones. Here's how it works in practice: You buy an iPhone. You take the adapter out of its box and stick it on the end of your headphone cable. Done. Permanently connected. You won't lose it unless you lose your headphones. You won't take it off, because that only means you have to find the adapter and put it back on when you use the headphones.
>And when you want to plug your snazzy (non-apple) headphones into another non-apple device, you are saying you can do that with the lightning adaptor still attached are you?
If they wanted to ditch the standard audio socket, they should have replaced it with a better standard socket, not proprietary lightning. Maybe USB-C/Thunderbolt3? USB would be fine for headsets - there's a good chance the industry might coalesce around it. Lightning will always be a dongle-thing.
Remember the 80's? Apple used to boast that "everything is built in." Now, everything is dongle-connected. I hate dongles.
This just looks like a headline-grabbing distraction to avoid talking about the lack of significant reasons to buy a new iphone - not that I'm faulting Apple for that. However, a new license-free standard for some things would be nice. A combined fibre/copper comms cable would be good. I'd be happy for Apple to push for a new standard to replace RJ-45 NICs for mobile devices. Can we do "visible light comms" with an optic fibre to keep the costs down? I don't need LR lasers, I'd just like a magsafe network+power cable.
If they wanted to do something really cool, how about using two cameras and processing the image so that when running video chat, you don't look as though you are looking away from the camera when you look at the screen? Surely that's more achievable than an autonomous car.
You buy an iPhone. You take the adapter out of its box and stick it on the end of your headphone cable. Done. Permanently connected.
Unless, say, having acquired yet another set of headphones with every new device for several years (not to mention a few extras for the times you went away and forgot to pack any) you keep a set of 'phones in the pocket of every jacket for convenience ... and end up having to buy an adaptor for every jacket, too.
... and, of course, the adaptor is one-way, so you can't use your new iPhone 'phones with your older iPad or your PC ...
Standards are called "standards" for a reason ... and even though it's nice to have a few to choose from one shouldn't go around inventing new ones willy-nilly.
...and the moment arm formed by adapter plus 3.5mm plug efficiently enables any small sideways force on the headphone connector to bork the iPhone lightning jack, thereby requiring an expensive trip to the Apple store.
Success!
(From the Apple POV, at least)
gnasher729 - here's how it works in practice; I've got about a dozen sets of headphones. I keep a set in my work bag, a set in my work jacket, a set in the pocket of my hand luggage, a set in my bug-out bag that goes in my hand luggage, a set in my denim jacket and two sets (IEMs) in my gig-bag and a set in the car. That leaves a few spares lying around the house for when I can't find any of the other pairs. So what now - £250 on 10 adapters?
While i'm no expert, fresh water and salt water are entirely different beasts. I got a nice FitBit a couple of years ago, and after being wonderful for over a year, a dip in the warm waters off Hawaii killed it for good. Before that I had been taking showers and other stuff.
All the pictures in the "event" showed swimmers in nice fresh water pools. A bunch less hostile!
Yes, but water resistant doesn't really mean "please take it everywhere wet", it's more about not immediately failing on you when it spots a drop of water in a 30 meter radius as they do now. Only the watch is advertised as "you can swim with it".
I'd say that after salt water exposure you best give it a quick freshwater rinse.
My understanding is that "water resistant to 30 metres(/3 bar/3 atm)" is static pressure resistance. Start moving about and things change very quickly.
This is why the manual for a wristwatch that is rated to 30 metres usually informs the owner that it's not suitable for swimming, at any depth.
To compare to a long established product line, inexpensive digital Casio Watches. Their manuals used to suggest the following:
Water Resistant. 30M Splash Resistant. Fine in shower, but don't place directly in water jet. Okay for swimming, but don't use the buttons.
Water Proof: 50M. Fine in swimming pool and shower.
The only Casio I had in my youth that died from too much water was the calculator model, which my dad placed under a tap to wash some mud off.
According to what I saw in another article, the new watch is good to 50 meters, covered by the ISO standard 22810:2010 which specifies testing in salt water with equivalent levels of salt to the sea.
Interestingly while the standard says it is good for swimming, white water rafting etc., the standard specifically says it is NOT suitable for diving which doesn't make much sense. Is your wrist exposed to greater water pressure than the depth you're at when scuba diving...perhaps because of the suit? Because I'm pretty sure you've got bigger problems than whether your watch is OK if it is submerged by 50 meters when you're wearing it while white water rafting...
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Not even Apple's lawyers would like to try that one on.
30m = 100 heels and toes, a depth that's pretty much the limit of all but the most hard core recreational divers, and that depth means diving for extended periods in saltwater, unless those extra functions are directed at the single digit demographic of freshwater freedivers.
30m is not a hardcore diving depth, PADI Advanced diver goes to 30m (and it's not that advanced really, no gas mixes, no rescue techniques,BSAC in comparison covers some of this stuff at their basic level), a lot of people on holiday will do that in addition to getting their basic OW (open water diver). BSAC basic OW goes to 20m.
Give you some idea, couple of popular wreck sites, Scapa flow the wreck depths are about 25-50m down, and Truk Lagoon is around the same. At that point you probably want to be a bit experienced as a diving past 30m (varies depending on the school) because of things like nitrogen narcosis and the bends get more risky, you probably start wanting to look at gas mixes.
The hardcore divers are either the pros who do it for a living and work at some really really deep depths, or technical divers who seem to like pushing limits on how deep they can go (and it gets super geeky with all the prep etc), think the deepest so far recreational diving is about 330m and it took almost nine hours to ascend from that depth.
Jumping in can add pressure to the watch, likewise swimming and so have an effect on water resitant watch depth ratings. From what I understand resistant is it will hold be ok at a presssure rating it says but prolonged exposure gives a chance of water ingress, waterproof it will be waterproof for full exposure at the pressure rating.
I wouldn't buy a dive watch rated for less than 100m waterproof, and usually there are not many that are less than that touted as dive watches. Dive watches are rated at ISO 6425. Which is a bit more thorough in testing. I think you also get issues with things like gas epxpansion, thermal shock etc. I have had a perfectly good brand new watch have all the screws bar one on the bezel come out on a dive, only thing I can think of may have been one of these issues as they were all tight when I started the dive.
You wouldn't take an apple watch diving, it'd be no use. I take my tmx-upgraded luna and an old Vytec DS as a backup bottom timer with the plan on a slate. Never got the point of "diving watches" other than for posing. Get a computer, get a backup.
After all, how much wifi signal will you get through that much water?
And what you gonna do with your Apple watch down there? Though I warrant it'll stop anyone nicking it from your kit.
In deference to reality, I must add I haven't dived since the late 80s (with a university BSAC group)
Never got the point of "diving watches" other than for posing. Get a computer, get a backup.
See, I've gone the other way; I still use my old Suunto Solution Nitrox, but bend the snot out of it on every dive[1]. I've got an HS Explorer computer, but I rarely use it; most of my dives are with my watch (an Apeks-branded thing ,but I don't know who actually made it) and my Solution...
Vic.
[1] The Solution Nitrox is a single-mix OC Nitrox computer. I dive CC, with nitrox or trimix diluents to suit. As such, the calculations performed by the computer are completely wrong - but I like the display, so I just use it as a dive timer.
Never got the point of "diving watches" other than for posing. Get a computer, get a backup.
I agree dive computer is king nowadays, and yes some people wear dive watches for posing values. But there are plenty plainish watches that don't really scream dive watch, I quite like wearing a watch versus digging out a phone, and so might as well get a properly waterproof one, plus I don't have to worry to much about it ever getting wet and taking it off, useful if snorkeling versus leaving it on a beach for example.
Also tbh ever really done enough harder diving yet to feel the need for a backup yet, still a relative noob.
But there are plenty plainish watches that don't really scream dive watch
Mine looks like this. Pretty unobtrusive, although it did get spotted at an airfield the other day by another diver.
plus I don't have to worry to much about it ever getting wet and taking it off, useful if snorkeling versus leaving it on a beach for example
Yep. Mine stays on my wrist unless the strap breaks or the battery goes flat. That's when my backup watch comes out. I've never taken that one underwater, though.
Vic.
First, the article is factually incorrect:
Samsung has long touted a similar degree of water resistance as a major selling point for its Galaxy line of smartphones,
Samsung is a relative newbie to the IPXX world. Panasonic, Sony, etc have been there for several years now and are still way ahead of both Apple and Samsung.
Second, even pools are not necessarily freshwater. I had a "jacuzzi pitstop" on my annual trip through Europe at a German spa. I was surprised to find the water twice as salty as the Mediterranean (at least). Apparently the mineral springs run through a rocksalt layer somewhere. I want to see it surviving that for more than a couple of minutes.
Salt water? Not a problem. From the Apple website: "Apple Watch Series 2 has a water resistance rating of 50 metres under ISO standard 22810:2010. This means that it may be used for shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or ocean. "
How long will replacements be available?
How steep will be the rise in price of these?
No idea on price but let's not forget that most older Apple gear already has that connector too - I'd be interested to know if the headset would work on this too.
I just wonder how long it'll take for MacBooks to get so equipped.
Apple don't tend to put up the price of adapters, and they're only £9 for now.
For me, I was ready to not buy a 7 because of the headphone jack issue, but at £9 for an adapter, I'll buy a few (one for each of my sets of UE headphones which I use regularly) and leave them attached to the headphones rather than to the iPhone. An additional £27 on top of the almost £1k for the damned phone isn't that much after all.
Plus I'm sure it won't be long before MFi certified adapters come out in a bag of 3 or 4 for £9. Don't really see the need for getting the 'official' Apple produced one when there isn't likely to be any difference you can see or hear.
Audiophiles might fret over the quality of the DAC used in the adapter (whether Apple's or the eBay bag 'o adapters) but if so I imagine some audiophile company will come out with $100 adapters to solve that "problem".
"An ancient, single-purpose analog connector doesn't make sense because that space is at a premium"
I guess he thinks only headphones plug into a 3.5mm port. Good thing they broke away from compatibility to save a little space. I'm sure many wouldn't mind a phone that's a few millimeters thicker in order to keep the port.
Space is only at a premium if you make the phone so stupidly thin that it's hard to pick up. Duh!
I like the idea of waterproofing the phone to bring it on a par with certain Samsung models, though. The difference is, of course, that certain Samsung phones are not only water resistant, it's mandatory. What better way is there to put out the fire?
Apart from serial to USB adapters, for an old Picaxe development board, what else is there? That's the only alternate use I've personally ever seen for the extended 3.5mm jack. And it was an even bigger waste of real estate there, since programming the chip was its only function.
Apart from serial to USB adapters, for an old Picaxe development board, what else is there?
Rather good microphones? Rode does the SmartLav+, the i-XLR and the VideoMic Me, all of which are able to use an iPhone as a broadcast quality recording device (provided you use their app, otherwise you still get v. good quality, just not quite that high level). That said, they're way ahead on using the port for digital recording as well, their iXY mike has been using the Lightning connector from the moment it arrived. That said, I have picked up noise with the SmartLav+ on one phone, not quite gotten to the bottom of that yet.
(no, I don't work for them but they just have good kit - it's a side effect of many years in audio that I hear flaws too well not to spend a little bit of money on decent mikes).
As I've seen elsewhere, I'll repeat here:
Apple removed floppy - CD drive and USB flash drives were on deck to replace this function anyway
Apple removed laptop CD drives - We all knew this was coming and USB flash drives are there when needed
Apple removed ethernet - As a network tech, I find this personally irritating, but I do (kind of) understand why they did it, as WiFi is now ubiquitous and fast enough for the vast majority of workloads
Apple removed 1/8" stereo jack - There's nothing to replace it. There's no obvious problem this solves other than Apple engineers can't figure out how to waterproof it (Samsung and others have solved this). It IS an industry standard and has been for decades.
Legitimately, this is a sign of the decline of Apple engineering. They could have avoided this, but chose not to because it's hard. This isn't bravery, it's something else.
Almost valid...BUT
Given their recent history they are never concerned about standards, even their own. And having paid for a brandname in headphones why let anyone else into the party?
No this is all about wearing $300 headphones to listen to your $1000 phone and knowing those looking at you know this
Sumptuary, pure and simple, 21st century ermine, let them eat Android
The Apple PlainTalk microphone jack used on some older Macintosh systems is designed to accept an extended 3.5 mm three-conductor phone connector; in this case, the tip carries power for a preamplifier inside the microphone. If a PlainTalk-compatible microphone is not available, the jack can accept a line-level sound input, though it cannot accept a standard microphone without a preamp.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)#Modern_connectors
I'm with you on most things but the WiFi thing. At work, I get more moans from Apple users about network connections than I do from PC users simply because most PCs have Ethernet built in and Macs often don't. Just because little Ms. Apple can use her Mac reasonably speedily on their home WiFi does not mean the same machine will work on a works wifi system with 20 other users.. Wifi bandwidth *IS* an issue when 20 users are all trying to save their Photoshop/Illustrator/Premiere files to a server. There's just not enough spare capacity to cope with anything more than a couple of heavy users at any one time. Get a room full of them and things can and regularly do go wrong.
One of my clients has an office in a railway arch. They're all cool designers with all their inbuilt designer fear of wires. The trouble is, every time a train goes overhead, it totally fritzes the wifi signal so they are literally scared to save stuff to the server. Everybody (including the boss) would rather work on their own machines and wait for a quiet moment to save than fork out for ethernet connectors. Consequently, hardly anything is on the server and the whole workflow of the office suffers immensely.
Still, it means more work/money for me when they don't listen.
You say 'history of bravery', I say planned obsolescence.
How long until they replace the thunderbolt connector with a version 2.0 rendering all the apple faithful's old kit obsolete?
How many of those old firewire peripherals can you still use? Zero, I'd imagine.
I still have plenty of USB 1 kit kicking around that I can still use.
Where is the mug icon?
"I'm with you on most things but the WiFi thing. At work, I get more moans from Apple users about network connections than I do from PC users simply because most PCs have Ethernet built in and Macs often don't. "
I bought a USB / Ethernet adapter on eBay for £2.50. Works absolutely fine.
"One of my clients has an office in a railway arch...cool designers"
Arches are for taxi firms, motor mechanics (and other light industry) that isn't troubled by the roar of the commuter laden cattle truck or bits of 20th Century grime falling from the ceiling.
I bet Scandinavian designers don't go and park themselves under Victorian transport infrastructure for inspiration.
I believe something called Bluetooth is a workable alternative, and for those who like to flail, an adaptor or suitably terminated lightning headset fill the bill.
The problem is, that the 3.5mm jack has served a function which hasn't changed in well over a century. Apart from the occasional proprietary repurposing, nobody has monkeyed with the 3.5mm plug, because it's done its job, but only its job, so admirably for so long. It's as small as anyone wants to hand wire and large enough to be physically robust.
However, when it comes to a package the size of a school issue FX-81, jammed with the best part of a thousand Cray-1s , that real estate can be put to better use. There's room for a good 200 to 300 mWh there. Or as they apparently chose an extra camera. Even a housing for a frigging lens cover would be better.
Single function, proven technology, simple and easy to use...
Of course, you CAN trade that in for Bluetooth, and drain both your phone battery AND that of the external sound device too, that's much better. Plus, you're giving up a tiny on-board connector for yet another sodding wall socket so you can have somewhere to charge up the lovely earbuds/speaker/whatever. You don't get rid of one functionality without impairing usage elsewhere.
Strictly speaking, it's the 6.35mm (1/4" for those in imperial) jack thats been around for over a century when telephones first started being a thing.
The 3.5mm was a Sony design for the transistor radio in the 60's.....hang on...could that be the answer..
Maybe its a thing against Sony? (Honest question, easy on the downvotes) Since floppy disks and CD's were Sony inventions? Or maybe just a general 'Not invented here' kind of reluctance?
At any rate, how long before 3rd party adaptors are out and causing issues (again, it's pretty inevitable when consumers go looking for cheaper than OEM parts and use cheap Chinese knockoffs that aren't upto spec and Apple aren't the only ones that suffer from this remember)?
If anyone other than Apple did this it would be slated everywhere. But here, just like the super slim iBooks that cannot connect to anything, people just but adapters. It looks cool but from a usability is a serious pain. Why the hell would you accept going back to the dark ages with a back of connectors just to have a cool pieces of overpriced iTat?
An that is then mentality of people who buy Apple, form is of greater importance than function. Just imaging trying to put those earbuds in on a train/tube/plane and dropping one. Oh dear, now you are stuffed..........
>Maybe its a thing against Sony? (Honest question, easy on the downvotes)
No, Steve Jobs had a lot of respect for Sony, and vice versa, even though they have been rivals in AV editing software and hardware, portable music etc* (And now possibly mobile gaming with Nintendo's Mario coming to iOS - though no sign of an Apple reference physical controller. Not sure how much money Sony make from portable consoles like the Vita or PSP).
- Sony's design teams used Macs before OSX
- The original PlayStation was a homage to Esslinger's Mac design language. The PlayStation designer was a Mac fan, and later went on to push Sony to create the VAIO range. Esslinger had previouskly done work for Wega (before they were bought by Sony).
- Jobs would often pop into Sony Japan as a friend if their CEO. He suggested Sony put a GPS receiver in their compact cameras, and they did.
- Jobs wanted to make exception for Sony VAIOs when he announced the end of MacOS licensing.
- Intel OSX was always demonstrated internally on VAIO laptops.
It won't bother Sony.... shit, I've come across a Sony mini audio system at a friends that had an iPod dock on top, but no means of connecting an Aux cable (no 3.5mm or Phono).
*And now possibly mobile gaming with Nintendo's Mario coming to iOS - though no sign of an Apple reference physical controller. Not sure how much money Sony make from portable consoles like the Vita or PSP
However, when it comes to a package the size of a school issue FX-81, jammed with the best part of a thousand Cray-1s , that real estate can be put to better use.
Is it though? A lot of this stems from the attempts to get so thin you could cut your ear off answering the phone too fast. Not overly impressed with the structural integrity of the 6+ the guys at work is lovely and thin, and has a nice banana curve in it, and cracked glass. Not saying android phones don't also do the same. But really if you have make a phone a few mill thicker you have all that real estate, and more strength.
Apple has changed from the customers paying a premium because they like the complete package and it (mostly) just works to customers being price gauged because fashion.
Devices you can't repair and are designed so you can't.so you have to go to an official Apple centre. Non-upgradable devices so you have to buy the more expensive model from Apple at the start instead of upgrading as you go. Ports being removed to you have to shell out for an array of cables and dongles hanging off the side which looks like a Spectrum with an Interface 1 and a set of daisy-chained Microdrives.
Macs left to rot and obviously no ideas either when it comes to iDevices except charging more for less.
And it happened from 2012 onwards so I lay the blame squarely on Tim Nice-but-Dim.
End of rant.
"Apple removed floppy - CD drive and USB flash drives were on deck to replace this function anyway"
If we're talking about the original 1998 iMac, then no, they weren't.
- The CD drive was read-only so not suitable for two-way file transfer. CD writers were starting to fall in price by that time, but they were still a lot more expensive, which is (presumably) why Apple didn't include one.
- USB flash drives weren't around at that time (having checked, the first ones came out circa 2000) and it would be around five years later before they became really affordably cheap.
- The "we'll use the Internet for file transfer" premise might sound like a no-brainer nowadays, but this was in the dial-up era and when Internet access was *far* less universal than it is today.
The fact that almost every first-generation iMac you saw had an external floppy drive in a matching transparent case proves that Apple jumped the gun.
Some will credit Apple with hastening the floppy's demise. I don't buy this; the 1.44 MB floppy was already inadequate in an era when typical new PC hard drives were in the 2 to 4 GB range, so the impetus for replacement was there regardless. The reason they were still being used was that there wasn't a universally-accepted replacement at a comparable price- had there been, Apple would have included it. They didn't, and iMac owners rushed to put back the floppy anyway.
The only time I use my phone for music is sitting at work for 8 hours.
So the only way I can listen to music is if I let the battery run down while I'm doing it? Unless I pay a fortune for wireless headphones I don't want, only for them to run down too?
I assume some hideous frankenconnector with power and headphones will become available for "a price" but still more money for bespoke crap.
I can imagine the future:
"The amazing iPhone 8 is by far the lightest and thinnest and most beautiful iPhone we've ever made. Just plug the battery into the lightning port..."
The really sad thing is that it won't harm sales, thus encouraging everyone to do it.
Similar problem here, I'll probably switch the headphone cable for a lightning cable for the commute but the dock (as suggested above) only has a 3.5mm out... so then it's switching cables. Will probably leave the current 3.5mm cable plugged into the dock and get in the habit of unplugging the headphone cable at the other end.
I don't understand why the Reg wears a hair shirt about Apple's snubs. Let it go and just stop covering them. They aren't technologically interesting or innovative, just tediously and pointlessly minimalist. It will make no difference for most of your readers, if they want Apple PR regurge it's easy enough to find.
> It will make no difference for most of your readers
Some past Apple decisions I have later seen in my kit from other brands:
No FDD
No optical drive
No removable battery
etc.
So their coverage on the Reg is a useful prompt for a discussion about which future paths would be good to avoid, and which are worth exploring.
Personally, if there was an audio connector that was physically robust enough to not damage the host device whilst supporting a thicker cable gland so that the cable lasts a decent time, I'd abandon 3.5mm in a shot - because it would save me money. I already get short 3.5mm M low profile 'L' > 3.5mm cables to protect my phones from overly large/awkward headphone jacks.
Non of my stuff lasts long enough for me to consider I have an 'investment'.
I recently discovered the secret to Apple's minimalist designs.
It had been a while since I'd last used CAD software for any serious work so I had to relearn a new software package. At first, everything was looking like an Apple product. The secret to designing Apple products is to not be very good at CAD software, then everything is simple shapes with rounded corners and edges.
Now that I'm back up to speed I can make much better looking designs, so Apple won't be hiring me any time soon :)
>I recently discovered the secret to Apple's minimalist designs.
No, no you haven't. There isn't space here to teach you enough about products design and CAD for you to realise how little you know.
Creating fancy 3D shapes in CAD is easy - but not very useful. It's akin to the horrors we saw when home users started using DTP software... fucking hideous clipart everywhere, and as many fonts as possible.
CAD is not about fancy shapes, it is about coordinating teams of engineers of various disciplines (mechanical, electronic, RF, manufacturing), creating designs, testing (both virtually and creating physical mockups), retaining the results of those tests (mechanical properties, manufacturing considerations such as mold flow, tolerances, yields) and much more. And for all that, Jony Ive is an old school product designer anyway, preferring to shape foam models by hand.
If you notice the other article they have running where it appears that Apple will only allow people to their press events who get a major hard on for anything fruity based then I'd have to say it's all the more important that El Reg continues their coverage, so we get some alternate views on the propaganda.
Hopefully a fanboi or two may stumble upon the articles and find themselves enlightened.
I too was going to suggest that we could maybe have foregone some (okay, all) of the article on Apple's latest toy if it meant there was more room to show the uncropped photograph.
Unfortunately, I caught a slightly less cropped version elsewhere on the site and the woman in question turned out to be wearing a strategically-placed towel.
In the shower. With the water still running.
The phone's not even an Apple either if you look at it. Matter of fact, it might well be just a slab of liquorice.
I know you old hands all love your 350 quid analog headphones but all the young students at work wander round with Bluetooth headphones on. Bloody antisocial, how do you talk to a young geek when they're wearing headphones?
Anyway, toilet proof iPhone plus that does bokeh? Take my money now.
Though that's only five hours of walkabout before it's charging time for them AirPods. Now it would be neat if that Lightning adapter also did duty to charge them 'Pods from the phone's battery. iPhones aren't renowned for going full-day as it is, so that could be a self-defeating feature best solved with a Lightning break-out multi-plug :)
Seeing as they don't appear to fit into ears while in the charging dock it seems to imply they're more for intermittent/commute use than day-at-the-office.
"Pains us to run an Apple article without the words 'fined', 'guilty' or 'on fire' in it, but here we are"
Um, would "worst" do? This study has been on sites all over the web for two days now.
(Just trying to help! ☺)
Waha my 2 year old Sony Xperia Z3 has better features in many ways than this! Water resistant and stereo speakers WITH a headphone socket and higher IP68 rating, higher resolution and dpi screen, more RAM, expandable storage, FM radio, bigger battery. How the hell does Apple get away with so many sales at such a ridiculous price?
>How the hell does Apple get away with so many sales at such a ridiculous price?
Not too sure ... I think it is, as always, a matter of "looks & likes"
>Waha my 2 year old Sony Xperia Z3 has better features in many ways than this!
Maybe, but pure grunt is not one of them.
And well, Sony suck, too, don't they ?
The Japanese tech giant [...] released binary files of Marshmallow for Xperia Z3 series for custom rom developers.
src: http://www.xperiasony.com/android-m-for-xperia-z3-features-release-date/
Is this site a hoax, is it me, or have they changed from being total c*nts, over at Sony ?
How much grunt do you need, I was using a galaxy s2 recently because my z3 was lost and noticed then the phone seemed a little slower, but main issue was lack of screen size. The replacement z3 I got seems fine grunt wise, not sure how much extra I need it runs everything quick enough.
BTW this stands for other new models as well, there was nothing about the z5, new galaxies etc that made me think it was a worthwhile upgrade from getting a z3 especially when that cost £200 brand new. I think the 300 odd quid saved vs a newer phone was better spent elsewhere.
Since the Xperia Z they've released all binary blobs and supplied AOSP build packs for their phones and tablets. They even supply bootloader unlock keys for those that want to (though you lose official support once you unlock) and have a recovery partition on the later handsets so you can easily flip-flop firmware. Time will tell if they can release their Nougat that was initially available on the Z3, until Google killed it with their OpenGL 3.1 requirement and Qualcom not releasing driver updates.
At least in their Xperia Open Source engagement they've clawed back some karma points.
Good, isn't it? I do recall (and just checked by testing it) that my rather ancient Nokia N900 (released back in Nov 2009) has stereo speakers in it. Pretty sure that the 7 having them is merely a sign that they've finally run out of reasons not to include a second one. The FM radio is a nice thing to have at times, and wouldn't you know it... it uses the headphones cable as the aerial!
Whether it is old tech or not, many of us have a significant establishment of devices that connect with a standard headphone plug. If Apple was sitting on 80% market share, they would be driving the trend and leading the charge. They are somewhere less than 20% market share. If only 10% of their customers say 'no' to the new iThingy because they cannot use their established headphones & other devices, can Apple afford to lose more to Android?
This does not make sense. I find it hard to believe that limiting features will increase market share. It is counter intuitive. They call it courageous, but I disagree. Courageous is inventing the Macintosh or inventing the iPhone. Those are bold moves that redefined (and even invented) the market.
Does Apple think Android will follow their approach and dump this connector? Or is Apple so crazy to think that Android will license Apple's adapter so that Android users can buy overpriced Apple headphones? Good luck with that one.
I have never been a big Jobs fan or Jobs disciple. But the man did have creativity and a vision. With every new product since his demise it becomes more and more obvious that Apple has lost the needle on their compass.
One day iPhone will just be an elegant little featureless slab you keep in your pocket.
Screen, headphones, iWatch, camera, mic, stylus, cell radio, WiFi radio, speakers, charger brick, iPhone charger base, headphone charger base, iWatch charger, camera charger base, mic charger base, cell charger base, WiFi charger base, speaker charger base, USB hub, USB-C hub, power hub, and cables will need their own shoulder bag.
After the vitriol from last nights thread about El Reg not getting a pass to the apple Show, a reasonably sane set of comments.
Well done people!
Apple were not the first to remove the headphone jack. As usual once the rumours started, a few companies got on the bandwagon and did the same just so they can accuse Apple of copying them for a bit of kudos.
Apple innovation pah!
My wife and I are due upgrades from Vodafone imminently- suffice to say- there is nothing compelling whatsoever about the new iPhones......... Its almost like a game of catchup with their competitors- but at a remarkable price premium. At this rate- why both upgrading- best bet is probably to cancel your monthly subscription to Vodafone (O2 or whoever)- and go on a SIM only plan.........
I'm sorry- if Apple think I'm going to pay a premium for a phone that they've yanked the analogue jack from- they can piss off. As for their Beats headphones being the worlds favourite- just because they can sell bucket loads to fanatics- doesn't make them the world's favourites- me, I'll stick to my Bose and Bang and Olufsen headphones- which have far better ranges than the Beats tat that Apple peddle.
Half the point of buying an iPhone was to play your music collection- they've effectively torpedoed this for a lot of people who might once have had an iPhone at the top of their wish list........
I'm not so rich...Goldring and AKG's for me.... as for the iPhone's music playing capacity, yes It's good at displaying and organising the songs but the sound quality has been sub-par since day one (on quite a number of tests I've seen over the years.)
On a serious note, do they do FLAC or some equivalent lossless codec yet? And if you've bought songs on iTunes before do they upgrade you to the better quality for free or do you have to buy all over again? (Honest question, I've never owned an iPhone or iTunes so I've never had the chance to check)
>On a serious note, do they do FLAC or some equivalent lossless codec yet?
Yes, they have done for years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless
FLAC support is available on iOS through 3rd party Apps.
Apple Lossless is as the name suggests. It supports sample rates of up to 384kHz and a sample depth of 32bit. (384 kHz is so much higher than the sample of rate of CD audio that it can, like the even higher max sample rate of FLAC, be thought as far more than good enough).
What iOS devices don't do is output analogue audio from a 24bit >192kHz DAC - though they have supported external DACs at higher sample depth/rate for years. A digital out connector (such as Lightning or, on Android, USB Audio) allows you to use an external DAC of your choice - either a discrete unit or integrated into your headphones or amplifier.
Apple Lossless has been reverse engineered, so there is no issue in converting to FLAC and vice versa (and if you want, back and forth with a loss in quality - they are both lossless!)
LG were the first to include a 24bit 192kHz DAC in their phones, the LG G2, and they contributed some code to the AOSP. LG's weird semi modular G5 phone has a B&0-branded DAC and amplifier module - though this module actually works with any Android device with USB C
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/lg-g5-h-fi-plus-module/
(The module is branded B&O, but inside are ES9028 SABRE Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) and SABRE 9602 Headphone Amplifier, both from ESS).
Quite a few external DAC / Amplifiers already exist for Lightning and USB C.
If you have high impedance headphones, then you'll find the amplifier in almost any phone, including an iPhone, unsuitable. Having an external powered amplifier - which might as well contain a DAC away from the electrical noise inside a phone anyway - fixes that. USB C or Lightning (or even USB 2.0 Audio or Apple Camera Connection Kit) allow this. It also allows headphone manufactures to adjust the digital signal to work better with the physical limitations of their drivers.... so let Sennheiser or whoever have full control of the audio pathway, rather than puick it up halfway through from Apple, Samsung, HP or whoever.
Apple is not the only company to do so but it's no excuse. Apple blatantly exploits chinese workers to make stuff it sells with a huge margin in western countries, and does what it can not to pay taxes when using all the infrastructure paid by contributions.
We citizens are also consumers. Let make our choices really matter for big companies.
So what companies would you put on your list of those who are acceptable to buy smartphones from, and how long will it take before someone comes along and demolishes your list with details of the bad things those companies do?
If you're that worried about it, buy used, then you can say you haven't contributed a cent to whatever company made the used product you bought.
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The problem I have with those earpods is how likely are they to stay in your ears? Seems a design that has hooks to fit around the top of your ear like some in-ear Bluetooth devices would work better. I haven't tried them, so maybe falling out isn't an issue, but I'd have to see it to believe it.
Anyway, for something like listening to music on the go like when running, if I'm getting rid of wires I want to get rid of carrying the phone/ipod also. They need to make a new iPod that's just the earpods. I'd replace my Nano for that.
Anyway, for something like listening to music on the go like when running, if I'm getting rid of wires I want to get rid of carrying the phone/ipod also. They need to make a new iPod that's just the earpods. I'd replace my Nano for that.
Yes, so innovative, let's get Nike involved, a proper watch for runners, yay we've done it.
Oh bugger we hooked up the airpods but forgot the best use for them.
Or perhaps they tried but they do fall out of the ears and their 'wifi' chip drains too much power when constantly transmitting.
Though perhaps you just run down city streets in the middle of the day. Unless you live in some 'Heartbeat' village, best to take a mobile with you, unfortunately.
Why do you feel people should take a phone with them while running? Because they'll get lost? Or hurt? Or due to crime? If the latter, you'd be much better off NOT bringing your phone, as if anything is likely to attract criminals to you its that. I've never heard of someone being mugged while running for their shorts...
Oh dearie me. Am I right in thinking they've not updated iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro or Mac Pro? Well what's the point of that?! The Mac Pro especially is now an incredibly ancient machine, and no sign of an update. I've never heard of anyone actually buying the current Mac Pro at all, they're all using Hackintosh instead (cheaper, more powerful, better tool for getting a job done).
What is it with Apple? They now don't make any product I wish to buy. Admittedly it's been a pretty short list recently, but now the new iPhone has dropped off the list it's at zero. Years ago I wanted literally everything they made. Judging from their declining sales, I'm not alone.
Apple's Recipe For Success:
Laptops: CPU, RAM, GPU bump. Add some useful ports like there used to be in the good old days. Removeable battery, upgradeable RAM and storage. Don't care if that makes it slightly fatter, that'll leave room for a bigger battery.
iMac / Mac Pro. CPU, RAM, GPU bump. Upgradeable RAM / storage. Ditch the idiotic cylinder format for the Pro, build a proper workstation.
Phones. Keep the slim, idiotic models sans headphone jacks if you want, leave that to the idiot aesthetes out there. Wireless ear buds without a cord? What are we supposed to do, glue them in so they don't get lost? Has no one in Apple ever had an ear bud drop out whilst running, walking, sitting in an airplane? The most important feature of wired ear buds is that the wire stops the bud falling to the floor and rolling away into a pile of crud under the seat you're sat on.
But for the rest of us, make a phone fatter, stronger, add a bigger battery, restore the headphone socket. smaller diagonal.
Recipe Analysis: sometimes boring sells better.
>I've never heard of anyone actually buying the current Mac Pro at all,
I have, some professional video editors/compositors, but it was always a nice device. It's strengths aren't in particularly in raw CPU/GPU power, but in shunting data on and off the machine very quickly ( because the video data you care about is going to be redundantly stored off the machine anyhows). I suggest the people you know who are using Hackintoshes might not be focused on the tasks that the Mac Pro was designed for, at least not to the extent that they save money by doing those tasks quicker.
I agree though - the Mac and Macbook range really could do with a refresh.
As for earbuds - I lose thing and I break things. I usually break earbuds by catching the cable on something. I have no doubt that I would lose wireless earbuds, too. However, I am sure that a 3rd party will release a lanyard for them, much as people sell cords for spectacles. Or you could make your own from a piece of cord and a couple of those little tiny elastic bands that are sold to teenage girls for 'weaving' bracelets from. Total cost of solution less than £0.1
I really don't.
Do Apple believe that a phone is the only thing that people plug a pair of headphones into? It seems somewhat arrogant if they do.
Fortunately, my oh-so-out-of-date headphones with a 3.5mm jack can still be used on my TV, 3DS, my MP3 player (yes, I still have one, though admittedly use my phone for most of my music), my tablet, my amplifier (with an adaptor to make it 1/4"), and if I want to go retro, my PSP and GBA.
Perhaps I'm in the minority these days though, as I suppose that with a phone you can listen to music and also play games.
>Do Apple believe that a phone is the only thing that people plug a pair of headphones into?
I use headphones at home with PC/tablet, and earbuds when out and about. Generally, the earbuds are dedicated to my Android phone.
The only forcing going on is that people won't be able to use the supplied Apple Lightning earbuds with other kit... no great loss because they are leaky and don't fit everybody well. (As opposed to the Apple In Ear Monitors, sold separately, which are actually considered good value for money for Balanced Armature-based earphones. )
High end 3rd party headphones already come with several cables - one Stereo Only, the other with Mic for iOS devices, another for Android devices if you are lucky. Good headphones in future will have a cable for Lightning, a cable for USB C (again, digital audio stream), and a cable for analogue audio pass-through. Or maybe that new Qualcomm chip for lossless audio over Bluetooth.
Yep, all the whining from people about their headphones shows they have cheap crap low end headphones if they have a built-in cable. That's usually the thing that fails on them in my experience. If you paid a lot of money for headphones with a built-in cable, you can't complain about Apple buyers being suckers when you are clearly the far bigger sucker.
All this talk about some socket... just to divert attention away from the fact that they've launched pretty much the same bloody phone YET AGAIN.
I remember when Apple used to be about innovation. These days they're just about extracting £££ from dim hipsters with plenty of disposable income but little else.
Air Pods? A pair of physically disconencted earphones small enough to drop down the sofa or be snaffled by the Dog, once you drifted off to sleep,for £129 . My whole phone cost less than that and I got a pair of earphones with microphone included.
BTW I'll bet you can't buy them individually if you loose one.
If anyone takes a water resistant device into the sea, they are idiots. Total and utter idiots.
Samsung had its share of such idiots. I'd recommend (both to Apple and to Samsung) to add "intentional contact with water is not covered by the warranty".
I heard the story of one phone maker who claimed their phone to be "unbreakable". So a guy goes to the shop, buys a phone, unpacks it, smacks it hard on the counter and says "It's broken. Can I have another one?"
The testing for IP67 specifies submersion in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. For Samsung's IP68 rating they tested it with 1.5 meters for 30 minutes. Neither rating involves pressurized water so you shouldn't have it in a waterfall, shower or even under a fully open faucet.
I think exposing either to water deliberately other than maybe worrying about it less if you're carrying it and it starts pouring rain is stupid, including pouring champagne on it like Samsung apparently advises if you believe their ad. Some people will be stupid though, so if they're smart they've over-engineered it a bit to handle at least 3 meters or so in case you have an asshole friend who throws your "waterproof" phone into the pool.
There have been people who tested Samsung's claims and not all found they were able to handle submersion in water for 30 minutes as claimed. I'm sure there will be MANY on the internet people checking Apple's claims, but while Samsung's bad press amounted to a few reports on the internet that were mostly ignored, if people find the iPhone 7 can't handle submersion for 30 minutes you can bet the mainstream press will report it as another watergate (c'mon, you KNOW that's what they'd have to call it!) because the Apple haters always try to stir up a "-gate" for every new model whether there's really anything wrong or not. So Apple better be damn sure that every single one coming off the line can handle submersion tests (hopefully not done after they did bend and drop tests on it)
So it comes in black and more black? How much more black could this be?
At least with a quarter inch socket, a small child can't jam a stylus in and break top off without the situation being recoverable.
Happened to a colleague. While I was able to blow the biscuit crumbs and fluff from another worker's phone to restore functionality, my offer to take a pin vice to this jammed bit of plastic was politely declined.
Yep, seems about right. What a stupid concept. Mind you, I did say something similar when Apple's latest laptop got rid of the power connector and just had a single USB-C connector. No idea whether I was right about that one or not, as I know hardly anyone that uses Apple computers.
One thing that did occur to me is that the wireless audio solution will be using Bluetooth. I've not had any experience with Bluetooth headphones (hoping to try some next week), but can they deliver the same quality as a "classic" wired connection?
The trouble with dropping a legacy adaptor is that it's got more than 1 use.
I know plenty of people who use the 3.5mm headphone jack to connect their phones/devices to friends stereos or soundbars - very useful when you're at a party or function and want to play your music into any system easily without having to resort to bluetooth asshattery.
The pricing is also absurd. Seriously, are they going to break the "grand for a phone" barrier? I think they will pretty soon. Even this time last year they were selling an 8 Gb 5c through their own website for over 300 quid. That's now a discontinued/legacy item. Yet they never adjusted their pricing prior to that happening and are now happy to tell everyone to upgrade. Madness.
How is it different from any other iPhone, which always started at $649 for the new one? The Plus with 256 GB costs $20 more than the Plus with 128 GB cost last year, due to the spread between all varieties of regular and Plus models increasing by $20 (due to the feature gap widening I guess)
Or are you talking in pounds? I don't know how this year's and last year's pricing in pounds compares, but if the GBP price has gone up across the board rather than blame Apple you might want to blame the people who voted to leave the EU...
Have been wanting a really slick wireless earphone solution for some time.
So with the appearance of the AirPod questions come instantly to mind:
- If I'm going to depend on Bluetooth (assuming they use Bluetooth not a propriety Apple standard) is aptX offered?
- How the heck did Apple manage to sync L and R to enough perfection so the user does not notice coherence issues?
The human ear depends a lot on the time of arrival and phase of sound, this needs perfect sync between L and R speakers in HiFi equipment, this is why top HiFi speakers have recessed tweeters, to line them up with the other cones in the time domain.
- Will a custom piece of string be available in Ebay to hang them round my neck with when temporarily not in use (seriously)?
How closely do they need to be synchronized for people not to notice issues? I mean in real terms, not something crazy audiophiles claim to hear? Because these aren't intended for the audiophile market, so they only need to satisfy average people. You know, the people who decided MP3s were good enough over CDs, while audiophiles were trying to push SACD and DVD-A.
Think about it - the phone has the digital synced audio, and sends it out via Bluetooth. The only possible difference that you can account for in when the actual sound comes out the L and R sides is the difference in light speed travel for the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth to reach each. If you seriously believe that the at most 1 nanosecond of difference in arrival time is going to mess with your audio perception, I guess these are not for you.
The 2.4GHz spectrum is typically quite noisy, at least all those Wifi hotpots around, and even though Bluetooth does a good job frequency hopping to avoid that, that frequency is very susceptible to obstacles such as meat sacks, be those bodies/crania. An arrival difference of around 660µs is easily detected. Signal paths can be very different two L/R ears depending on whether you wear your iPhone left or right, shirt/jacket pocket, or trousers. I know if I'm between my Bluetooth keyboard and the receiver, it's observably less reliable than if their on the same side of me.
And Sony has touted it even longer, since 2013.... In fact their smart watch is also waterproof, and has onboard GPS... Hmm..... Hang on,call xperias since the Z2 has had onboard hardware active noise cancelling..
Is it just me, or was apples press conference 90% of what Sony has been doing for the last 3 years?????
Of course Sony didn't remove the headphone jack, that would be just silly...
> Hmm..... Hang on,call xperias since the Z2 has had onboard hardware active noise cancelling..
And Sony did that by using a TRRRS headphone socket instead of a TRRS socket (basically enough analogue connections that you can have stereo mic in as well as the usual stereo audio out). My point is that the implementation of 3.5mm headsets is not standard, even if the physical dimensions are.
There is also a rather cute stereo condenser microphone I bought for my Z3 Compact that makes use of the TRRRS socket (thank to another Reg commentor who alerted me to its existence). Really though, more serious sound recording would be done with an external ADC connected to the phone by USB Audio.
3.5mm is a good thing, but so often poorly implemented - often the plugs on headphones extend too far from the phone, resulting in excessive mechanical stress on the cable or phone socket. I've had this problem with MiniDisc players, Creative MP3 jukeboxes, laptops, phones.... all with damaged 3.5mm sockets. And then there are the countless headphone cables I've damaged.
They didn't get rid of any wires, almost all iPhone owners will use the provided wired Lighting earphones, or the provided adapter to connect to wired 3.5mm earphones/headphones. Listening via Bluetooth was an option before, and is an option now. Hardly mandatory.
Wireless charging is a gimmick until it can work at greater distances than that required to place your phone on a pad. Who wants to carry a pad along with them when they travel? I want to carry less, not more! And before you say "places you go will have a pad" how many really do? And which wireless charging standard do they use, and how many phones does that leave out in the cold because they use a different standard?
And why is placing your phone on a pad more convenient than plugging it into a charger? Either way you have to be in a certain location - where your pad is or where your charger is. Is the two seconds you save by not plugging it in really that big of a deal?
Anyway, I NEVER need to charge my phone during the day. In fact, I generally plug it in only every other night, despite several hours of usage during the day. Having a pad on my nightstand where I plug my phone in to charge would save me about 10 seconds a week. Dunno what I'd do with all that extra sleep!
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I remember hearing the same whining when they dropped the old dock connector for Lightning. If a decades old analog connector isn't a "legacy" connector in the same category as the floppy and serial ports, I don't know what is...
There is already one Android phone who beat Apple to the punch by a couple months in dropping the 3.5mm connector, and I'm sure it won't be the last. When Samsung drops it and includes USB audio earphones, people will find another thing to complain about Apple doing, I'm sure.
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Has anyone mentioned the security of these new earphones. LIke someone just ripping them from your ear as you walk down the street. OK, they need to do it twice, but the current deterent is that most average earphones cost £15 quid and are attatched to wired which act as a bit of a deterent. These things at £150 are a different proposition altogether. I can't see many walking down the street with them on.
"An ancient, single-purpose analog connector doesn't make sense because that space is at a premium," Schiller reasoned.
The extra space is only required because apparently a phone being really thin is the most important factor. It's amazing the way things work in a three dimensional world - a little more thickness means a fair chunk more volume, and suddenly you have all the space you need for your fancy features (I hesitate to call most of any smartphone's features "benefits").
I'm a reasonably content iPhone 6 user (also comfortable with Lumia, Moto G etc) and have never once stopped and though to myself about any smartphone "wow, this is ridiculously thick, they should compromise elsewhere and do something about it".
So, will Apple also remove the head-phone connection from their stable of iPod products?
I like my no-name wired ear buds and iPod Classic. I never lose the ear buds as I wind the cord around the unit between use. Always being careful to first disconnect the jack, a sure-fire way to screw the jack connection and the ear bud wire!
Also, I never need to recharge my ear buds, and they cost so little I carry a spare set.
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