Apple’s product launch events are usually eagerly anticipated. And now Apple fans brace for a deeply unpopular announcement of the removal of the headphone jack from the iPhone 7! And now Apple says it was “courageous” to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7.
During Apple’s iPhone 7 introduction, Phil Schiller summarized the company’s rationale for removing the 3.5 mm headphone jack in the iPhone 7. In its place, the company will rely on three alternatives: a Lightning-compatible pair of new included Ear Pods, a pair of $159 wireless Bluetooth AirPods that require no physical connection, and a free dongle to connect “old, analog” headphones to the device.
Schiller stated some people have asked why Apple would remove the analog headphone jack from the iPhone. When describing this change, Phil Schiller gave a peculiar defense. He said, “The reason to move on is ‘courage’. The courage to move on and do something new that betters all of us. And our team has tremendous courage”.
Schiller explained to the San Francisco event crowd that Apple would push the Lightning port standard for wired headphones and push a new proprietary wireless standard, driven by the new “W1 chip” in iOS devices, which is the first wireless chip of Apple. As peace offerings, he promised that every new iPhone would ship with a pair of headphones that can plug into the Lightning port, and an adapter so the previous headphones can still plug into the seven-hundred dollar device.
Schiller described the amount of technology packed into the iPhone, saying each element in Apple phones are fighting for space and is at a premium. He explained that no company tried to deliver a wireless experience between devices and headphones that fix the things that are currently difficult to do since there is only one major industry-wide wireless audio standard.
To promote Apple’s wireless audio push, Schiller announced the new AirPods earbuds, which look identical to the last official Apple earbud model with a small piece of plastic replacing the full cord.
While Schiller and Apple designer, Jonny Ive, talked about wireless headphones being “the future of audio devices”, they stated that Apple is not packing the AirPods into new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus boxes. Instead, those devices will ship with the updated Lightning EarPods by default and AirPods will begin shipping in late October with the cost of $159.
Of course, Apple has often been correct in its decisions to leave beyond tired technology. The company may prove right again in its bid to popularize wireless headphones and push the industry toward a more up-to-date connector.
