Apple To Ditch 3.5mm Headphone Jack For A Thinner iPhone 7, Lightning-Based EarPods

Not that many people would take a look at Apple’s iPhone 6s and think that it’s a little on the thick side. As Apple has reduced the thickness of its iPhones over the years, the 3.5mm headphone port has become almost as thick as the phone itself. That’s led to many people wondering if Apple is capable of reducing the iPhone’s thickness any further without removing that headphone port, and now a new report claims that Apple is considering doing exactly that.

Citing sources that have proven reliable in the past, Japanese blog Macotakara reports that Apple is about to remove the standard 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 completely, allowing the entire device to shrink by around 1mm. With the iPhone 6s already very thin indeed, the thought of receding that by another millimeter intrigues us and even worries us a tad. Does the iPhone really need to shed any more thickness?

In place of the 3.5mm port, Apple will rely on headphone vendors making adapters that will allow traditional headphones to be connected over the iPhone’s Lightning connector or simply make wired-headphones with Lightning connectors right out the gate. Current iPhones support such a thing, though manufacturers have been slow to make headphones with that particular connector at the end of their cables. Apple is said to have a pair of its own new EarPods that connect via Lightning and that will ship with the new iPhones, though.

Apple’s decision to remove the 3.5mm port from the iPhone 7 will no doubt prove a controversial one, especially for those that like to use very specific earphones or headphones with their smartphone. Nobody wants to have to buy new accessories because Apple has dropped a port from its new iPhones, and the idea of an adapter isn’t necessarily a better option either.

We have some way to go before we know for sure what Apple has in mind for the iPhone 7, but a reduction in thickness and the nixing of the entire 3.5mm port look like they may be two boxes we can tick off a little earlier than normal.

(Source: Macotakara)