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You can charge an iPhone 7 and listen to music at the same time – but it’ll cost you

Apple’s decision to scrap the 3.5mm headphone jack for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus is beginning to sink in with users.

For example, if they want to listen to music on wired headphones, what do they do when the phone needs charging? And vise versa.

It’s quite a pickle for those who have no intention of buying AirPods/Bluetooth wireless headphones, or those who like to physically connect their phones to wired speakers in the car or around the home.

As with every question asked about the single-port USB Type-C MacBook, the answer is, of course, buy an adapter.

Related: Why you’ll need ‘courage’ to wear AirPods in public

The £49 Lightning Dock which Apple is selling with the iPhone 7 still features a 3.5mm jack. However that’s only really going to cut it for those who plan to be sat at a desk.

Lightning Dock

A more mobile-friendly solution, perhaps for the car or sitting around at home, comes from Belkin with its Lightning Audio + Charge Rockstar dongle.

It’s effectively a Lightning splitter that also sends audio to the iPhone.

It costs $40 (around £30) and you’ll still need that bloody Lightning to 3.5mm dongle if you want to plug in wired 3.5mm headphones.

We expect more third-party solutions to arrive in the next few weeks to make this less of a pain in the rear.

Buy Now: iPhone 7 at Amazon.com from $78
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Video: iOS 10 hands-on

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