It appears as if Apple might do the most Apple thing ever and may be removing the headphone jack from their devices in the coming years. This move brings much more clarity to Apple’s recent acquisition of Beats. In an article posted by Forbes yesterday, the author outlined the steps that Apple might take to make this a reality.
1. Announce the technology with Beats and headphone partners
2. Unveil clever third party app integration
3. Make this integration inaccessible in any other way
4. Make Lightning port to 3.5mm headphone jack adaptors expensive and bulky
5. In a few years remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from Apple devices citing legacy, greater design flexibility and extra space for a bigger battery
Forcing consumers to buy Apple products or adapters to make Apple’s products work better with other devices is not a new strategy for the company. This could have negative implications for the company though by further isolating consumers who do not already own Apple equipment. People may not want to buy an expensive adapter to make their favorite pair of headphones work with their Apple devices or have to buy Apple’s proprietary headphones (that will most likely have the Beats logo) to listen to music, videos, etc.
Apple really doesn’t care though. Their business model has always been about controling the user experience and they’ve been very successful with this model thus far. Apple has obviously done a lot of research into the headphone market and they wouldn’t be considering this if they didn’t feel confident about it. We will have to wait and see how consumers react to this over the next few years if Apple does move forward with this plan. Drop a comment below and let us know what you think of Apple’s plan to potentially remove the 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of using their lightening port.
EDIT: To reiterate this article is just speculation. Nothing is confirmed at this point, but Apple is definitely thinking about making this a reality.
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Joshua Beland says
This is worse then xbox's/microsoft's always online feature..
Subfreak Submonks says
i don't like this cause i have a few very good and expensive 3.5 headphones i would like to use
Vishu Mahabir says
Awfull…I don't want to use BBD. I have a perfect headset and i intend to use it for a lonnnnng time. With or without the iPhone. This would be a DICK move!
Hamza Afzaal says
If this does happen then I'll be saying thank you to the competition and good bye to apple.
Drasil Helzer says
Beats r shit anyways
Deiondre Roachford says
Beats aren't 'shit', they're just really overpriced
Dan Michaud says
Great idea for Apple to make more money that they don't need. Terrible idea for the working class. Beats by dre suck, overpriced and cheaply made, lame quality.
Kyle McComb says
If they do that, they'll have lost me completely as a customer. Many others too, I imagine.
Jadelyn Pettit says
no headphone jack= stupidest idea EVER
Conner Biggs says
It's hilarious that all these people are talking about how apple would lose them as a customer. Clearly, these people failed to follow the link to Forbes and see that this is stated as speculation. I could certainly see it happening though. BTW Apple switched to the lightning connector because…ummmm…it's much better than USB 2.0. Sure, it's a bit inconvenient, but the charge time is significantly better. Also, yes, beats by dre suck. I know from experience, but I doubt apple would spend $3.2 billion and not improve them in some way. Right? Obviously. Come on people. Beats by Apple > Beats by Dre.
Conner Biggs says
Relatively speaking……….they're shit.
Jason Lara says
I have always had an iPhone but if they did that I would have to drop apple all together
Jamien Whitfield says
How would you charge and listen?
Norman Morrison says
indeed… lets just hope apple improve them..
Patrick Dzal says
lightning adapter was not a move for usb 2.0 to 3.0. the 30 pin adapter had more than enough threading capability to use as a usb 3.0 component, but apple marketing has the world saying oh that makes sense no need to look into that any further and complacency takes over for the rest of it. How many millions has apple made off of a 40 dollar 30-pin to lightning adapter, which magically allows you to have usb 3.0 transfer speeds. (they say otherwise but run a speed test and you will see what apple feeds its consumers is bull) That is all.
Tony Robinson says
everyone that has owned an iPod or iPhone knows that the headphone jack is the first thing to go out, sucks that they're trying to force beats on the customers tho…
Fung Shway says
Wow apple, your strategy is basically fuck you, you do what we think is best.