We may have just witnessed the most convincing piece of evidence yet that Apple intends to drop support for the old 3.5mm headphone jack.
Rumour is rife that the iPhone 7 is set to ditch the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack in favour of wireless and Lightning-based alternatives. It was looking extremely likely before, but a fresh piece of evidence seems to seal it.
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Online mobile phone seller MobileFun dropped us a line to draw attention to this little video. The retailer has gotten its hands on what it believes to be the official Apple Lightning Earphones that will ship with the iPhone 7.
As you can see see, they look much like the standard Apple EarPods that have shipped with new iPhones since 2012 – except for one notable difference. Instead of a 3.5mm connector, you get one of Apple’s proprietary Lightning connectors.
The benefits of this have been much discussed, but in a nutshell, they mean you’ll be able to get true lossless digital sound, and things like noise cancellation will be possible on the device rather than offloading it to the headphones themselves.
The video also shows how an early example of a third party iPhone 7 case, with the shape and size of the Lightning port cut-out, appears to confirm that these earphones are the real deal.
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What do you think about Apple’s plans to ditch the 3.5mm jack? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
