Apple’s move to eliminate the 3.5mm headphone on their new iPhone 7 has brought mass skepticism from current and potential consumers. Could this be an intentional move by Apple to bring wireless headphone / earbud technology to the mainstream? More specifically, Apple’s Beats headphones? Beats by Dr. Dre was an independent music industry run by music executive Jimmy Lovine and producer Dr. Dre until 2014; where they were bought by Apple. Apple showed interest in the musical connections and wireless technology that Beats by Dr. Dre possessed.
The W1 chipset along with the integrated circuits (single function) will, according to Apple, bring a new level of convince and standards to the audio accessory market. Apple hopes to isolate their Beats headphones from the rest of the third party market by using their thriving iPhone industry. To summarize these ideas, the elimination of the headphone jack will expand the innovative relationships between Apple and Beats headphones as they rise in the marketplace together.
As of now, it is unsure how consumers will respond to this. Analysts are unsure and are calling this maneuver to be risky. In conclusion, these moves represent Apple’s attempts to strengthen its current customer force within the audio accessory market. They’re doing this by stepping away from industry standards and introducing a unique functionality that they control.
Apple’s Beats Deal Comes Into Focus After iPhone 7 Loses Headphone Jack
https://www.fastcompany.com/3055208/its-true-apple-will-drop-the-headphone-jack-to-make-the-iphone-7-slimmer-and-simpler
Apple removing the headphones rather than being innovative just follows the trend of technology ad slightly improves the hardware in the iPhone. They are helping with the push to Bluetooth like many people mentioned. The space in the phone itself allowed for the phone to be more waterproof. They added in a more advanced barometric vent to allow for more accuracy. Also, it allowed for a better feedback engine and allowed for the iPhone 7 to have a 14% longer battery life. Honestly, it seems more like they just wanted to put something out with a small change so that when the iPhone 8 AKA the 10th anniversary iPhone comes out next year it will look even better with all the supposed advances it is supposed to have like an all glass display, wireless charging, etc.
http://bgr.com/2016/09/08/iphone-7-headphones-removal-adapter-schiller-explanation/
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/16/12941040/iphone-7-teardown-plastic-behind-where-headphone-jack-used-to-be
A famous quote from Steve Jobs: ” A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them”. I believe that this is the reason that Apple has endless innovation spirit under his leading. It is impossible to ignore how Steve Jobs makes Apple become one of the most famous technology company all over the world with his unique business philosophy. However, the generation has been changed. Now Apple is not the only choice for people to purchase cellphone. Furthermore, iphone does not have any tremendous advantage that people have to use it otherwise something cannot be done. It is replaceable. I truly understand the reason that Apple cancelled 3.5mm headphone on iphone 7. Tim Cook does not intend to introduce his new earphone with different port. Actually he put his effort to motivate people to enter a world with wireless headphone. I admire his spirit that always pushing people forward, but I am a little worried about consumer reaction. Again, Apple does not dominate this world any more. People might gladly accpet Cook’s new idea, or they do not buy it at all.
I have heard many complaints about Apple’s iPhone 7 suggesting that removing the headphone jack is more of a business deal than advancing the user experience. This article explains why removing the headphone jack is in fact in the users favor and some of the points are very convincing.
To start, bluetooth technology is becoming more advanced than ever and not only is the quality better, but it is also becoming more affordable. Apple has always provided its own headphones to customers who buy their products such as iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc. These headphones have a long white wire which people notoriously spend more time untangling than they would like to. With the use of bluetooth technology, this dilemma is a problem of the past.
A common complaint about Bluetooth is that is requires charging. So in the case of the iPhone, listening to music requires not only charging your phone to provide the music but also the speaker to play the music. Apple recognized this as an issue for it’s customers and so Apple provided a free lightning to 3.5mm dongle cord so that people have the choice of listening through Bluetooth or through their previously used headphones. Apple is not the only one that notices this as an issue and many Bluetooth technology companies have advanced their products so that they can have a “quick charge” where charging the headphones for 10 minutes gives the user an hour of juice.
Another important point to consider is that this is not the first time Apple has removed hardware from their products. People were so upset when they heard that Apple removed the floppy drive and the DVD-ROM from its computers, but look at us now. People don’t realize how little purpose these options served. They were there to be there and no one used them. Much like the DVD-ROM, the headphone jack will soon be a thing of the past and people most likely won’t miss it as much as they think they will now.
Overall, while there is much criticism about this technology now, I predict that in the soon future people will adapt to the new technology and won’t even consider turning back.
https://www.cnet.com/news/iphone-7-no-headphone-jack-no-problem/
In addition to this, I noticed that the removal of the headphone jack will trigger the production of cases with a built in 3.5mm headphone port. This not only undoes the vision/reasoning behind the removal of the jack, but also results in more cost and more opportunities for iPhone users to spend even more money on owning an iPhone than they did before. Here is a link:
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/9/16/12934476/iphone-7-headphone-jack-case-lightning-port
This concept, while sort of “backwards”, isn’t completely surprising, and as Apple takes more steps towards changing the consumer mindset it can’t be too long before people snap out of the “itrance” and stop conforming to Apple’s products. This is a good way to keep up with the latest iPhone technology without being forced to buy more and more Apple products to support your iDevices (i.e. ~$200 earphones?!).
Great post! It opens the door to several other implications that the removal of the headphone port may have in the future.
I could see Apple doing something like this, but dont think this is the main reason behind it. Apple is always trying to doing something “cutting-edge” with the new technology they bring out. The new “headphone jackless” Iphone 7 is not excluded from this level if thinking. I heard one reason to get rid of the headphone jack is to make 100% that their phone has the ability to be waterproof. To me that makes more sense than Apple simply doing this to sell more Beat headphones. Im sure that the the sells of Beats headphones arent on a dramatic decline that would spark such a controversial move. But i could be wrong. It does make sense to use the iPhone as a way to boost other businesses under the Apple Logo, because of how much power the iPhone and Smart Phones alike have.
In my opinion, Apple is opting to remove the headphone jack from their new iPhone 7 model for reasons other than advertising Beats’ new wireless headphones. Ever since the birth of the iPhone, Apple wanted to make sure that they created a truly unique product that consumers would fall head-over-heels in love with, despite potential pitfalls (glass screens easily cracking, lack of sophistication, no headphone jack, etc.) Whether it was the incorporation of a total-touchscreen device, an unprecedented style of interface, or, in this case the removal of a headphone jack, the iPhone has always found a way to differentiate itself from other cellular phone devices. Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 is self-beneficial in terms of most likely increasing the amount of Beats Wireless Headphone sales; however, Tim Cook is once again creating headlines and changing the history of the cell phone with Apple’s new innovative technologies. According to Apple’s new CEO, he doesn’t “see innovation as change”, but rather “making things better.”