Dinosaurs

[terrybooth]

Apple have scrapped the 3.5mm headphone socket. One of the reasons they're giving for doing it is that it is a 50 year old variant of something invested a hundred years ago and so 'a dinosaur' https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... hones-jack. Headphones for the iPhone 7 will cost more than $100

On the same day comes the announcement that an early invention of Einstein's has been dusted off and put into something with the potential top save lives.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... yson-award

The inventor, Will Broadway, says most of what it took to design it was in the public domain. He's not, at least for the moment, trying to 'monetize' ' his work.

I wonder what history will remember.

[jammy395]

Hopefully he will remember the 3.5 jack was shit......

But hey ho...You cant plug a 6.35 into a fukin mobile phone / kindle.

[slinger]

Apple have, of course, just rendered obsolete all of the expensive headphones/earbuds that people have been persuaded to buy for their iPhones...unless you buy an adaptor...which Apple will sell you.
I always thought Bluetooth was one of the major battery drains on mobile devices, maybe was wrong; it's certainly known to be worse than wireless for music fidelity though, so I'm guessing worse that a decent 3.5mm jack socket/plug too.

[Colin Wonfor]

Apple have, of course, just rendered obsolete all of the expensive headphones/earbuds that people have been persuaded to buy for their iPhones...unless you buy an adaptor...which Apple will sell you.
I always thought Bluetooth was one of the major battery drains on mobile devices, maybe was wrong; it's certainly known to be worse than wireless for music fidelity though, so I'm guessing worse that a decent 3.5mm jack socket/plug too.

It goes back to dumbing down so the next generation never hear good music just mushed up crap, digital is a lie and just for the lazy, OK I am from the Victorian age but vinyl sounds better to me including the bumps and hiss, just sweet to hear music not a mess of ON and OFF switches. yuk

[zebbo]

And the Apple junkies will still be queuing around the block when it's launched - fucking suckers.

[tomblackford]

I've not really looked into this, but isn't the fundamental difference here going to be where the D2A conversion takes place?

- with a headphone jack, the headphones are receiving an analogue signal converted from digital to analog and amplified by the phone
- I would imagine with Bluetooth audio, and I'd guess with whatever the new headphone plug is, it going to be a digital representation of the audio that's getting passed to the device (ie the headphones).

I guess you could argue that this allows the headphones to supply better DACs etc but does it also suggests that even for wired use they will need to be 'active' (obviously they would need to be active for Bluetooth). I guess it might be possible to power these active heahphones from plugging into that iPhone but it sounds like they might need to a bit bigger and clunkier to contain extra electronics.

....perhaps I'm wrong or misunderstanding this though. Does anybody know if the new 'wired' headphone approach will pass an analogue signal?

[zebbo]

My guess is that it's simply to make a shed load more money - no other reason whatsoever.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

It is when innovation turns to exploitation.

[Fretless]

It's the distinctive white wires that let the world see that you have an Apple iPhone with matching crappy earbuds - and they are getting rid of it !

Apple's own bluetooth buds won't be available straightaway - so Bose are muscling in with theirs.

[Geoff.R.G]

Anyone who has used 1/4 inch jacks knows that they aren't entirely without their issues*, which are shared by their 3.5 mm brothers. On occasion my iPhone has failed to switch back from headphones to ear piece, which is a pain. Both 3.5mm jacks and Lightning connectors can, and do, break off in their sockets. Ditching the socket in the phone may be a step in the right direction for those who want to listen to compressed audio from their phone but despite its problems the 1/4 inch jack is still the standard for serious headphones and live/recording applications.

*The sockets can wear causing the sleeve to break contact (think guitar cables) but newer sockets from Neutric are much better.