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Capitalism: Intel and Apple insist on removing 3.5mm audio connector
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

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    Intel proposes to use USB-C single connector for headphones. This way companies can save from $2 to $5 that will go directly to their profits. Plus company clearly plans to get big profits selling special chips, as USB is very complex thing, so every company will buy interface chip with ADC/DAC, amps and USB stack.

    All new Apple phones will work only with authorized digital headphones.

  • 38 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    And this is reason why they did this

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    Of course, numbers outside US are all wrong for TWS (where Xiaomi sells much more of them than Apple).

    But idea is simple - it is smartphone manufacturers who now own very profitable market.

    All influencers and bloggers have now specific lines and instructions to push premium TWS earbuds.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Talked to one quite large blogger on how it works from his side.

    All manufacturers who provide smartphones with removed jacks ask (very carefully) to avoid any mention of this issue. In their internal surveys 90% people had been against it. But as management want to sell extremely profitable wireless earbuds ($150 one brand model cost to manufacture is around $15-20), they do not care.

    Marketing department later check transcription of all reviews and mark any questionable parts, including this one.

    If you will keep pushing 3.5mm jack agenda your sample will first start to delay, if you didn't get message, this delay can rise to infinity.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Samsung also will remove headphone jack on almost all of his phones

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    Adapter.

    People in industry tell that wireless headphones are most profitable products now for major vendors.
    So, cutting the 3.5mm jack is important.

    I think we can expect new proprietary wireless headphone interfaces within 1-2 years, so headphones will work only with your current company phones.

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  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Not only Apple discontinued all iPhones with a headphone jack, they now won't even bundle in a lightning-to-3.5mm adapter like it did last year.

    Nice news.

    Very interesting how even companies with extreme margins want to get slightly more (yes, only reason they remove connector is to save around $2).

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    More guys coming

    http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/15809/usb-audio-device-class-3.0-corporations-want-get-rid-of-analog-connectors

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    Floppy drives had fallen out of popular use, mostly, at the time they were retired in favor of optical drives. Optical drives had fallen out of popular use when they started to vanish.

    3.5mm wired headphones are still the most popular and using a pair of lightning headphones (or a lightning - 3.5mm adapter) offers no real benefits that most people will notice or care about, especially given that most people will buy inexpensive headphones with cheap DACs similar to (or worse than) the one that used to be in their phone. Bluetooth headphones offer reduced convenience as they need to be paired and their batteries die. When the batteries die, most bluetooth headphones become wired headphones again, except now with a power cable. Unless there is a major quantum leap in battery storage capacity coming in the near future, they suffer numerous drawbacks vs analog wired headphones.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Next step after phones are wearable devices. Where will you put the 3.5mm Jack on your smart glasses?

    For now this step failed miserably.

    Unfortunately creators did not account for vision nature and limits.

  • sohussohus

    Since when does Apple own Bluetooth standard? Lightning is just a stopgap measure. Real push is wireless People said the same with floppy, optical drives. Next step after phones are wearable devices. Where will you put the 3.5mm Jack on your smart glasses? Use common sense!

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    It's great when progress happens because a superior standard emerges and people naturally gravitate to it because it offers them tangible benefits and eventually, a smaller number of people are obligated to migrate as well as the outdated technology becomes unavailable.

    It's less ideal when "progress" happens because a company decides to use near-monopolistic powers to retire an existing standard in favor of their own standard which not only doesn't offer a tangible benefit to consumers, but in a number of measurable ways offers reduced benefits.

  • sohussohus

    I am not a fan of manufacuters artificially limiting their products, like most camera companies do, nor do I like planned obsolence, which almost all manufacturers do, neither do I like incremental planned updates to maximize return on R&D... but dropping a 100 year old connection for something better (in the long-term) is fine to me. Apple can force manufacturers to really get quality products out.

    Last time I checked my latest videocamera does not have Firewire 400 anymore. Capitalism!

  • robertGLrobertGL

    I think progress peaked with red book audio and frozen pizza

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    We have different understanding of progress.

    Your version is closer to "maximization of capitalists profits".

  • sohussohus

    This is called progress. There was nothing wrong with 35mm either. Stop pushing 4k gear if you are against it! Nothing wrong with removing a 100 year old connection, it served its purpose. The future is wireless. I have a Bose BT headphone and the quality is quite good.

    Progress is painful in the short term and convenient in the long-term.

  • alcomposeralcomposer

    Meanwhile HTC 10 has 24bit Headphone Jack...

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  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Soon we will see an Apple black DAC at $500.

    For sure. After disassembling you could find $50 Chinese rebranded DAC with design by John Ive account for else in the cost.

  • ghkqnghkqn

    Soon we will see an Apple black DAC at $500.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    When all the phones are inside our brains, it really won't matter, will it?

    You mean bright future where they will connect directly to brains?

    Sad thing is that every guy has individual neural network and characteristic of ears. Even more sad is that scientists still do not understand even how neurons actually work (except some specific things happening).

  • DrDaveDrDave

    When all the phones are inside our brains, it really won't matter, will it?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    The experience with bluetooth isn't even nearly as pleasant and it assumes that all of my devices speak it

    Bluetooth has many versions. Audio profile in it is complex and offers multiple formats. Some products will work only with specific protocol and specific format. Most of devices use recompression during transfer. many devices will fail completely in crowded space where you have lot of 2.4Ghz devices around.

    Main goal of Bluetooth design was to use as much as possible of patent portfolio companies who made it, and also to add new parts to this portfolio. Same is mostly true for Wi-Fi.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    Even aside from any discussions of quality, etc, wireless headphones have a long way to go in terms of security and ease of use.

    Right now, I can take my 3.5mm headphones and plug them into any of my devices. They work instantly with no headaches. When I want to use them with a different device, I unplug them and move them to a different one. The experience with bluetooth isn't even nearly as pleasant and it assumes that all of my devices speak it (I haven't checked, but I'm guessing that most of my cameras don't support bluetooth headphone pairing, for instance)... and as others have pointed out, my 3.5mm wired headphones are always ready to go / don't need to be charged.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    LOL. You mean that you heard something.

    It is always good idea to go and open some good physics book and read about all this. Even very popular articles on actual wireless charging standards will help.

  • alcomposeralcomposer

    Nikola Tesla was doing wireless electricity transmission over 100 years ago, but I suppose its hard to charge people for wireless power. :-)

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    The jack is quite an outdated tech surely. First VHS video player I got in the 80's had a friken jack and cable for the remote control!!

    In this case I propose to also ban RCA connectors and after a month all AC outlets.

    Wireless future, my ass.

    Wireless headphones are one of the most horrible things I saw. You can't beat physics and make battery small, long lasting and have good sound and bass response.

  • suresure123suresure123

    The jack is quite an outdated tech surely. First VHS video player I got in the 80's had a friken jack and cable for the remote control!!

    Wireless earphones seemed like a tech that was getting popular anyway. People in a few years will laugh at wired headphones just like they would laugh at my wired remote control. The discussion of did Apple do it for economic rather than tech reasons we will never know but it will be standard in no time.

    The argument against it has come from music purists but if you want great sound you don't use your phone on the subway anyway.

  • robertGLrobertGL

    Can't really fault them for this - it'll allow them to make phones thinner and generate lots of sales for new compatible gear.

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