Apple looks set to ditch the 3.5mm headphone port, and I couldn’t be happier

ALL SIGNS point to Apple dropping the industry-standard 3.5mm headphone port from its next iPhone, as part of a major hardware redesign. And I couldn’t be happier.

 

Apple is rumoured to be dropping the industry-standard 3.5mm port from its iPhone

 

Apple looks set to ditch the industry-standard 3.5mm headphone port from its next iPhone, dubbed iPhone 7.

Code buried within the latest beta for iOS 9.3 – “Headphones.have.%sinput.NO” – points to how the iPhone could handle audio signals without a dedicated headphone port.

It doesn’t confirm the rumour, but it does show Apple is at least investigating the possibility.

This has not been met with an entirely positive response.

Indeed, some 293,000 people have spoken out and signed a petition asking Apple to reconsider its rumoured plans.

But I wasn’t one of them.

 

And that’s not because I have an overwhelming and irrational desire to throw out my tried-and-tested headphones and AUX cables. But nonetheless, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about the prospect of Apple dropping a hundred-year old technology from its cutting-edge smartphone.

Part of that excitement is because it shows Apple is still willing to take risks with its most successful product, iPhone.

After all, this towering smartphone behemoth currently accounts for a whopping 62.5 per cent of Apple's total revenue.

You could argue that the MacBook, Apple’s svelte single-port netbook unveiled in March last year, is enough to prove the world’s most successful company is still willing to take risks. And if the MacBook had replaced the MacBook Air, I would have agreed.

 

CEO Tim Cook talking about Apple’s new svelte single-port netbook, MacBook

 

However introducing a razor-thin £1,299 laptop with a single USB Type-C port as a standalone product is a relatively low-risk strategy. At least when you consider Apple could be about to make the same kind of radical redesign to a product that accounts for more than half of its worldwide revenue.

But it’s also exactly the type of move I would expect Apple to make.

After all, this is the company that decided that CD and DVD drives were no longer relevant when it introduced the MacBook Air in 2008, a netbook that has since become the template for modern portable computers.

And while it might seem like an obvious decision now, remember that 2008 was a full three years before Apple launched its Mac App Store to distribute software updates and sell third-party apps online.

 

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs unveils the MacBook Air, which has no optical drive

 

It was also a staggering four years before Netflix rolled-out its online video on-demand solution in the UK. In other words, a lot of people still needed a way to read and write on physical media. 

Apple has since dropped optical drives from almost-all of its products, including the powerful MacBook Pro with Retina laptops, all-in-one iMac desktop computer and professional-focused Mac Pro.

Ditching the optical drive in 2008 allowed Apple to create a netbook as dramatically thin as the MacBook Air. 

So, what does the death of the humble 3.5mm headphone port bring?

 

Well, the rumours point to Apple bundling either a wireless or Lightning-enabled set of its EarPod headphones.

Lightning headphones are capable of receiving lossless stereo 48 kHz digital audio output from Apple devices, as well as sending mono 48 kHz digital input from a microphone.

Since the Lightning port is capable of charging and sending audio at the same time – it would be possible for Apple to include active noise-cancelling technology to the white headphone without adding any significant bulk or weight.

According to a report in Fast Company, not only could this help to improve audio playback – it could "help remove background noise in phone calls.” 

Apple was first granted a patent for Lightning connector equipped headphones back in December 2014. The Cupertino company also holds a patent for headphones with in-built sensors to monitor heart rate, temperature, perspiration and other statistics to track the wearer’s movements and activity levels.

 

Rather than the industry standard port, headphones could have to use the Lightning connector

 

Other pundits believe the removal of the 3.5mm headphone port will make it easier for Apple to waterproof its smartphone. Although, Sony and Samsung both managed to release water-resistant smartphones with the port intact.

One rumour that doesn’t fill me with excitement about the next iPhone is the idea that Apple desperately wants to shave “more than a millimetre” from the current smartphone design.

I don’t always agree with the Cupertino company’s fixation on thinness. Granted, it looks stunning – but I’d trade that for more battery life every day of the week, given the choice.

Another rumour is that Apple could include wireless EarPod headphones with its next iPhone.

  

The 3.5mm port is an open standard – and cheap to produce. Neither of these are true of Lightning

Bluetooth isn't able to match the audio quality provided by wired headphones, but does eliminate the hassle of being physically tethered to your smartphone, which can be pretty inconvenient as you wrestle onto a busy commuter train, or start to drag your feet on the treadmill at the gym.

Wireless EarPod headphones would be charged wirelessly in a sleek carry case, according to Mark Gurman at 9To5Mac.

When Apple redesigned its iPhone charging cable – from the large "30-pin Dock Connector" to “Lightning” – in late 2012, there was a significant backlash. Lightning brought with it a slew of new functionality, including the ability to charge a device or to allow the device to power accessories – something the rival micro-USB was unable to do.

 

Lightning was also completely reversible, something which would appear in the USB Type-C standard, albeit some three years later.

But those of us who are a little more cynical might point out that the move to Lightning could be viewed as a way for Apple quash the lucrative unlicensed third-party accessory market that had built-up around the 30-pin Dock Connector.

Unlike its original connector, Lightning cables have a built-in authentication chip designed to make it difficult for manufacturers to produce unapproved accessories. Apple charges third-parties who wish to make authorised accessories as part of its MFi – or Made for iPhone – program.

The 3.5mm jack is ubiquitous because it's an open standard – and cheap to produce. Neither of these are true of Apple’s Lightning connector.  

Apple charges manufacturers a licence-fee to use its proprietary Lightning connector in their wired headphones. This would open up a new stream of revenue for the hugely-successful iPhone maker.