I will give up my 3.5 mm jack when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

I use that thing a lot--not the least with my excellent Sennheisers connected to my excellent Fiio X1 Digital Audio Player. I have no need to pay $150 for crappy fidelity earbuds ("Beats" I suppose  ) that I will have to charge and lose. Wow, how "courageous" of Apple to eliminate them. But now, you can drop your phone in the toilet and it will (probably) survive!! Have fun with your E.coli-phone, suckers! 

Interesing how the media (reporters are full of crap usually) are saying that Apple has "killed" the 3.5mm jack. Really? Just like they "killed" CDs and DVDs? Just like they "killed" USB flash drives? I hate the thought of a future where all my music is in the "cloud" and totally at the mercy of DRM-loving corporate overlords, and where I have to continually pay, pay, pay, month after month to access my own files (oooooooH I bet that one pisses off the overlords). Apple is bullshit. They have never cared about sound quality--and their embarrassing offerings under the "Beats" brand are more than enough evidence of that. Their latest media software (iTunes or whatever) is an abomination. In fact, it was an abomination seven years ago when I finally dumped it. (but not before it mysteriously dumped all of my music that I had ripped from my own CDs!) I never bought anything from the iTunes store--cheap, low-res MP3s don't interest me.

Long live the 3.5mm jack!

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

OK, meant to post this in the OT forum!

[Parsifal]

I use that thing a lot--not the least with my excellent Sennheisers connected to my excellent Fiio X1 Digital Audio Player. I have no need to pay $150 for crappy fidelity earbuds ("Beats" I suppose  ) that I will have to charge and lose. Wow, how "courageous" of Apple to eliminate them. But now, you can drop your phone in the toilet and it will (probably) survive!! Have fun with your E.coli-phone, suckers! 

Interesing how the media (reporters are full of crap usually) are saying that Apple has "killed" the 3.5mm jack. Really? Just like they "killed" CDs and DVDs? Just like they "killed" USB flash drives? I hate the thought of a future where all my music is in the "cloud" and totally at the mercy of DRM-loving corporate overlords, and where I have to continually replace perfectly good technology with the latest drivel. Apple is bullshit. They have never cared about sound quality--and their embarrassing offerings under the "Beats" brand are more than enough evidence of that. Their latest media software (iTunes or whatever) is an abomination. In fact, it was an abomination seven years ago when I finally dumped it. (but not before it mysteriously dumped all of my music that I had ripped from my own CDs!) I never bought anything from the iTunes store--cheap, low-res MP3s don't interest me.

Long live the 3.5mm jack!

You are uninformed. The iPhone 7 still allows you to use your 3.5mm phone jack with a supplied adapter that plugs into the iPhone lightning connector. Apple or no, the market is moving towards wireless transmission of audio and video for obvious reasons.

If you don't like Apple products, by all means don't buy them. The frothing-at-the-mouth tirade is a bit strange.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

You are uninformed. The iPhone 7 still allows you to use your 3.5mm phone jack with a supplied adapter that plugs into the iPhone lightning connector. Apple or no, the market is moving towards wireless transmission of audio and video for obvious reasons.

If you don't like Apple products, by all means don't buy them. The frothing-at-the-mouth tirade is a bit strange.

Wrong. I know they have their suck-a55 adaptor, but so what? It's just another inconvenient and unnecessary pos gimmicky item to put up with in the name of keeping up with the Joneses. The idea that they are somehow "courageous" by doing this, when in fact Motorola did it first is absurd. Two functioning brain cells will tell you that this is a ploy to sell more sh1tty "Beats" products, which themselves will probably have continuous new versions--with the greatest everything, except of course improved sound quality. I care about music and I care about sound quality, and I think this is a big step in the wrong direction, and an obvious ploy to wring more $$$ out of the sheep.

[Wanderer]

The iPhone 7 still allows you to use your 3.5mm phone jack with a supplied adapter...

...that steals the only remaining port, so that one can't charge the device and listen to music at the same time. I'm sure the aftermarket will come up with an inelegant series of dongles to address that particular issue, too, though.   

The whole thing is a big fail on the part of Apple. Instead of getting rid of the unsightly camera bumps and better hiding the antenna bands (in the name of elegance), they elect to oust a universally-used, useful and trouble-free connection (in the name of elegance!). They sure start behaving again like they did during the years before Jobs and that truly takes courage.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Indeed. You know what would be most elegant of all?! An iDevice with a single button, which when pressed, charges your high interest-rate credit card (because you are a sucker, after all) for whatever Apple deems fair to send your device in return (WOW the new "Drake" single!!!!!!!!!)

[Karl Henning]

The Evil Empire   

[Wanderer]

Eeeviil 

[Wanderer]

No, the headphone jack is not the new floppy disk. Or the new CD or DVD, the new 30-pin Dock connector or the new FireWire port.

Excising the headphone jack from its new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus isn't like those other rounds of enforced obsolescence. Apple killed a technology that's worked fine for decades and left you with solutions that are costlier or more complex and work no better at the core function of delivering sound to your ears.

The new models are no thinner than last year's iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, so it's not as if Apple had no choice here. The company would like you to think of this deliberate downgrade—to quote marketing vice president Phil Schiller's facepalm-inducing remark at Thursday's event—as "courage."

The correct word is "arrogance."

Apple just demonstrated why people hate the tech industry

[snyprrr]

I use that thing a lot--not the least with my excellent Sennheisers connected to my excellent Fiio X1 Digital Audio Player. I have no need to pay $150 for crappy fidelity earbuds ("Beats" I suppose  ) that I will have to charge and lose. Wow, how "courageous" of Apple to eliminate them. But now, you can drop your phone in the toilet and it will (probably) survive!! Have fun with your E.coli-phone, suckers! 

Interesing how the media (reporters are full of crap usually) are saying that Apple has "killed" the 3.5mm jack. Really? Just like they "killed" CDs and DVDs? Just like they "killed" USB flash drives? I hate the thought of a future where all my music is in the "cloud" and totally at the mercy of DRM-loving corporate overlords, and where I have to continually pay, pay, pay, month after month to access my own files (oooooooH I bet that one pisses off the overlords). Apple is bullshit. They have never cared about sound quality--and their embarrassing offerings under the "Beats" brand are more than enough evidence of that. Their latest media software (iTunes or whatever) is an abomination. In fact, it was an abomination seven years ago when I finally dumped it. (but not before it mysteriously dumped all of my music that I had ripped from my own CDs!) I never bought anything from the iTunes store--cheap, low-res MP3s don't interest me.

Long live the 3.5mm jack!

Had I Posted this, they would all say Trump put me up to it or something. GO HILLARY!! All conspiracies are just only for the weak minded and butthurt and racists and woman haters.

You should be ashamed, and arrested, for your HATE SPEECH against our dear Apple.

(you better go answer that knock at the door now)

[Gurn Blanston]

Had I Posted this, they would all say Trump put me up to it or something. GO HILLARY!! All conspiracies are just only for the weak minded and butthurt and racists and woman haters.

You should be ashamed, and arrested, for your HATE SPEECH against our dear Apple.

(you better go answer that knock at the door now)

Ah yes, the sweet tears of teabilly butthurt.

And conspiracy around every corner (no, I didn't say that, I got it from Snipper...) APPLE SUCKS!!

The cool thing is that no one is making you buy one. Anyway I have bluetooth earphones already SO I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT          

People who rely on only one way to listen to their music are subject to get what they ask for, which is boxed in by the ILLUMINATI who use Apple execs as their meat puppets to control the cyborg population by CONTROLLING their listening.



(DON'T TRY to convince yourself that your hearing is SO F****** GREAT that only a MILLION DOLLAR set of phones are perfect for you)  It's ALL PART of the APPLE CONSPIRACY BEATS-DOWN!       

Just sayin'....

[Parsifal]

Channeling the snyprrr, Gurn? Not easy.

It amazes me that people who purport no interest in Apple products find themselves making apoplectic posts when apple does something like drop the old style headphone plug from their phone. I just read that the latest Samsung phones can explode without warning. Doesn't bother me a bit.

I expect my iPhone 6s to last me a good long time, but I've been eyeing Bluetooth headphones, even though I have a phone jack. I don't relish being entangled in wires.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

As far as my hearing is concerned, my ENT (doctor, MD), who is in his 60s tested it and said that it was phenomenal, probably the best he has ever encountered. But maybe we should all just buy Beats wireless and convert all of our FLACs to MP3s, just to prove we're not silly, arrogant, snobs. After all, Apple knows best!

Furthermore, I think the whole "Vote with your wallet" refrain is trite and misses the point--a lot of them in fact.

I would never bank with Wells Fargo or Bank of America (My credit union rules!), but should that prevent me (or anyone) from decrying their rampant and unchecked criminal practices of robo-signing, creating accounts customers never asked for, and suggesting that people studying the arts and humanities are clueless, naive drains on society?

I would never buy a GM product (would rather walk or take the bus), but should that prevent me from being outraged by their practices of selling cars they KNOW will kill people, because it is cheaper to pay lawsuits than to build it right the first time??

I would never by an Apple product (I received an iPod touch as a gift many years ago, and actually thought it was a very nice product, until iTunes committed the aforementioned atrocities to my music collection--at least the small fraction of it I converted to MP3 to listen to on the device). However, should that prevent me from being p1ssed about a move to a new technology with markedly inferior sound quality--one which will likely have a major effect on an industry I care about??

Just vote with your wallet!! Yes of course, that goes without saying! However, going beyond that and voicing displeasure with corporate actions when necessary is not only a right but also a responsibility of any citizen of a democracy (even if our "democracy" is a plutocracy).

[Gurn Blanston]

Channeling the snyprrr, Gurn? Not easy.

No lie! 

It amazes me that people who purport no interest in Apple products find themselves making apoplectic posts when apple does something like drop the old style headphone plug from their phone. I just read that the latest Samsung phones can explode without warning. Doesn't bother me a bit.

I expect my iPhone 6s to last me a good long time, but I've been eyeing Bluetooth headphones, even though I have a phone jack. I don't relish being entangled in wires.

What I have seen so far is that once one drinks the Kool-Aid, it is hard to get back out again. There is such a big investment in hardware, and a commitment to the style and "ease of use" propaganda, that it resembles brainwashing in a way. I'm not putting all that down, I just regularly see people who can't make rational choices anymore because they all start from a place that goes like "OK, so I have this iPhone/iPod/iMac whatever, so what [ Apple product category name here] do I go to now, and when I do, how will I use my [whatever]?

You seem to be bucking the trend, and have the mindset more of a PC user. More power to you! But Android is going the Apple direction too, so oddly enough, the PC users now seem to represent the rebellious few.

[Gurn Blanston]

As far as my hearing is concerned, my ENT (doctor, MD), who is in his 60s tested it and said that it was phenomenal, probably the best he has ever encountered. But maybe we should all just buy Beats wireless and convert all of our FLACs to MP3s, just to prove we're not silly, arrogant, snobs. After all, Apple knows best!

Furthermore, I think the whole "Vote with your wallet" refrain is trite and misses the point--a lot of them in fact.

I would never bank with Wells Fargo or Bank of America (My credit union rules!), but should that prevent me (or anyone) from decrying their rampant and unchecked criminal practices of robo-signing, creating accounts customers never asked for, and suggesting that people studying the arts and humanities are clueless, naive drains on society?

I would never buy a GM product (would rather walk or take the bus), but should that prevent me from being outraged by their practices of selling cars they KNOW will kill people, because it is cheaper to pay lawsuits than to build it right the first time??

I would never by an Apple product (I received an iPod touch as a gift many years ago, and actually thought it was a very nice product, until iTunes committed the aforementioned atrocities to my music collection--at least the small fraction of it I converted to MP3 to listen to on the device). However, should that prevent me from being p1ssed about a move to a new technology with markedly inferior sound quality--one which will likely have a major effect on an industry I care about??

Just vote with your wallet!! Yes of course, that goes without saying! However, going beyond that and voicing displeasure with corporate actions when necessary is not only a right but also a responsibility of any citizen of a democracy (even if our "democracy" is a plutocracy).

So what are you complaining about then? If you don't have any of their shit, why worry? Or are you just commiserating with those poor hapless bastards who are stuck with the Apple view of the future?  I believe that the rest of the tech world isn't going to follow Apple's lead on losing headphone jacks until there is a great technology to replace it, not some proprietary junk that won't make things better. That's what has happened with every other technology, and that's what will happen here too.

Even under the best possible circumstances, your hearing cannot exceed normal human capabilities. You have merely been fortunate to have avoided those usual things which are deleterious to the hearing. I wish you well. Anyway, as you get older it goes downhill, no matter what you do. Google up a scale for derating hearing by age and gender. Works for everyone.

[Parsifal]

No lie! 

What I have seen so far is that once one drinks the Kool-Aid, it is hard to get back out again. There is such a big investment in hardware, and a commitment to the style and "ease of use" propaganda, that it resembles brainwashing in a way. I'm not putting all that down, I just regularly see people who can't make rational choices anymore because they all start from a place that goes like "OK, so I have this iPhone/iPod/iMac whatever, so what [ Apple product category name here] do I go to now, and when I do, how will I use my [whatever]?

You seem to be bucking the trend, and have the mindset more of a PC user. More power to you! But Android is going the Apple direction too, so oddly enough, the PC users now seem to represent the rebellious few.

I was a PC user until we wanted a tablet. I tried an android and some sort of Windows tablet and it felt like I was fighting with it. Then strolled into an Apple Store and tried an iPad mini. It felt like it was reading my mind. Flip phone died, got an iPhone. Needed a notebook computer, got a MacBook. Still running a win7 machine for work, though. On thing I really like on the MacBook is that if you open a terminal window you essentially have a UNIX workstation. Very convenient for a scientist and former UNIX/Linux user.

For pop music I find iTunes and the iPhone perfectly adequate and convenient. Works very well with Bose Quiet comport phones. It is not designed for serious classical listening. For that it's CD or SACD media or flac files and heavy iron. (Apple lossless would work just as well, I suppose) I can't imagine listening to classical with a phone.

[Holden]

What Apple have done is not new.

I currently use their camera connection kit (a simple cord with a lightning connector) to connect to my iPhone 6 at one end and a portable amplifier at the other via mini USB. This gives a direct digital stream of music to a little portable amplifier which uses its excellent DAC to give far better sound than the basic 3.5 jack ever could. I've been using this same concept with my PC for a number of years now allowing audiophile sound to come from the music files on my computer.

the Bluetooth idea is also a potentially good one but Bluetooth does need to be improved somewhat before you could describe its sound as high quality.

So well done Apple for once again having the courage to show the way and also provide an alternative like their dongle for those who want to retain the old way of doing things. I'm due for a replacement phone next month and will happily get the iPhone 7. Rather something well thought out as opposed to Samsungs latest device which is versatile enough to double as a fire lighter.

[Parsifal]

Holden.  What DAC do you use? I have an NAD 1050 that I use with a computer. Never thought of trying it with a phone.