Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Iphone Businesses Apple

Apple May Stop Bundling Free Earphones With Its iPhone Starting This Year (inputmag.com) 120

Posted by msmash from the next-courageous-move dept.
TF International Securities' reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is at it again with another ominous note on the iPhone 12: it won't come with wired EarPods included in the box. From a report: We can already feel the palpable anger bubbling up inside of you as you read these words, shaking your head in disbelief and crossing your fingers in hopes it's not true. But this is news coming from Kuo, an analyst who rarely misses when he spreads his gospel, so there's a good chance the information is right and Apple is summoning up its infamous courage once again. Every version of the iPhone has shipped with wired earbuds in the box and removing them would make the iPhone 12 less accessible. Imagine ponying up the big bucks for a shiny new iPhone 12 and not being able to listen to music in private unless you shell out separately for wired or wireless earbuds.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Apple May Stop Bundling Free Earphones With Its iPhone Starting This Year More

Apple May Stop Bundling Free Earphones With Its iPhone Starting This Year

Comments Filter:

  • Good, just a waste (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @02:09PM (#60083106)

    You have to think that way north of 50% of people who buy phones now already have headphones they like and use.

    If anything , they should just ship with the lightning adaptor to be able to use older wired headphones...

    It will eliminate a TON of headphones laying around doing nothing, or being thrown out.

    You know they are not widely used if you go look t the bay prices - round $6-$7 on the low end for packaged unused wired iPhone headphones...

    • My wife got a Pixel 3 phone some time ago which didn't have a standard headphone jack. Google took this approach and instead provided a USB-C to Standard headphone jack adapter in it's place.

      Not that it's very helpful, since my wife isn't known for keeping track of these types of accessories.. but its the thought that counts. =)

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Presence Eternal ( 56763 )

        I tried out an Iphone XS for a few months last winter, because I was enamored with the idea that it'd get software updates for a very long time. Got myself some handy adapters straight from Apple so I could use wired headphones too. While sitting in a hospital waiting room, I tried them out for the first time. Hard locked my phone. Obviously the headphones were to blame! Tried some other earbuds. Hard locked my phone. That was my third and last time of giving Apple a chance. I now on a 3a, and it's everythi

        • Did your headphones have a TRS or TRRS plug? And if it was TRRS, was it using the Apple pinout or the Android pinout? I'm guessing iPhones are supposed to work with regular TRS headphones too, but the Android TRRS pinout may be doing things electrically that can't be avoided by software detection. That's like putting diesel fuel in a regular engine.

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by jittles ( 1613415 )

            Did your headphones have a TRS or TRRS plug? And if it was TRRS, was it using the Apple pinout or the Android pinout? I'm guessing iPhones are supposed to work with regular TRS headphones too, but the Android TRRS pinout may be doing things electrically that can't be avoided by software detection. That's like putting diesel fuel in a regular engine.

            I've had problems with using the old Apple headphones with the adapter. Whoever wrote the software to convert the input on the lightning connector probably ought to hang up his or her hat and move on to beet farming. Software is not their thing. Using the inline buttons on the headphones screws up your device in mere minutes (5 years after Apple made the switch, no less). I gave up and bought nice bluetooth headphones - but not from Apple.

          • First was TRS. Second was TRRS.

          • Did your headphones have a TRS or TRRS plug? And if it was TRRS, was it using the Apple pinout or the Android pinout? I'm guessing iPhones are supposed to work with regular TRS headphones too, but the Android TRRS pinout may be doing things electrically that can't be avoided by software detection. That's like putting diesel fuel in a regular engine.

            Apple's TRRS jacks work with standard TRS plugs. I do not know if they work with the old-pinout (what you call the "Android pinout" of TRRS plugs, though.

            I think the actual problem is with what happens with the "remote control" switches in those plugs.

            Obviously, any actual design issue with earbuds being plugged-into a Lightning -> 3.5 mm adapter completely locking up an iPhone would have been front-page news all over the intarwebs. The fact that this anecdote is the first we are all hearing about this "

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by bn-7bc ( 909819 )
        So they provided a dac for people thst did not want tomusw bluetooth headphones, nice i guess appke will be forced rongonthe same route if thein dropnairpods now

        • I'm sorry, I tried my best to interpret that, can only assume you're typing on a phone. =)

          I think you said something to the affect of:

          "So they provided a dac (dock?, maybe dac was correct but I'm just unfamiliar) for people that did not want to use Bluetooth headphones, nice I guess; apple will be forced to run the same route if they drop air pods now."

          If I got that right:

          yes, and I hope they do. It's probably a temporary problem though, I remember the first time I bought a laptop that didn't have an RS-23

          • "So they provided a dac (dock?, maybe dac was correct but I'm just unfamiliar) for people that did not want to use Bluetooth headphones

            A "DAC" is a "Digital to Analog Converter".

      • Not that it's very helpful, since my wife isn't known for keeping track of these types of accessories.. but its the thought that counts. =)

        Is it that hard to keep the adapter attached to the device?

        I have two pairs of headphones I use regularly with my iDevices. I keep a Lightning to 1/8" jack adapter on the headphone jack of each. If I lost the adapter then that means I lost the headphones. But since I keep the headphones in the same place regularly it means I haven't lost them yet.

        This also applies to my old USB-A devices that I use with my MacBook Pro. I bought a dozen USB-A to USB-C adapters (which are in fact cheaper by the dozen) so

        • A few things!

          First...

          Is it that hard to keep the adapter attached to the device?

          I ask the same thing all the time... It's a problem, more of a PBCAK situation than anything else... =)

          Second USB headsets..., yes actually I recently bought a USB-C to USB-A (I think) adapter for a couple of bucks, and she how uses USB headsets (as we have many in the house) for her phone with that. I keep the adapter personally since I work at home and can keep it in a drawer next to me so it doesn't get lost.

          I love the idea of gluing adapters to the devices to prevent losing them a

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by lessSockMorePuppet ( 6778792 )

      Apple is a natural corporate experiment in Stockholm Syndrome.

      • Re:Good, just a waste (Score:4, Insightful)

        by organgtool ( 966989 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @04:41PM (#60083800)
        I completely agree and watching Apple fans make up excuses for Apple's shitty behavior is one of my favorite new hobbies. However, this particular one seems like a tempest in a teacup. Most people upgrade their phone every two to three years which means they likely have a bunch of earphones already. And a number of people also opt to get AirPods as well, so they have no need for the wired ones anyway. Apple gives people plenty of reasons to hate them but this one seems like small potatoes.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          I completely agree and watching Apple fans make up excuses for Apple's shitty behavior is one of my favorite new hobbies. However, this particular one seems like a tempest in a teacup. Most people upgrade their phone every two to three years which means they likely have a bunch of earphones already. And a number of people also opt to get AirPods as well, so they have no need for the wired ones anyway. Apple gives people plenty of reasons to hate them but this one seems like small potatoes.

          It's actually fun

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MrNaz ( 730548 )

      So if the goal is to reduce eWaste, how about they stop convincing people they need (NEED!) to update their phones every 18 months. The most wasteful thing in an iPhone retail box is not the headphones.

      • So if the goal is to reduce eWaste, how about they stop convincing people they need (NEED!) to update their phones every 18 months.

        In what way does Apple do that?

        Apple is the company that provides software updates for five years or so.

        Apple is the company that builds sound hardware that lasts for a long time, and makes it easy to bring into Apple for repair.

        Apple is the company that said specifically in last years keynote that they wanted people to be able to use phones for many, many years to reduce waste

        • I have to agree, Apple is generally better than most at keeping phones updated. I say this as an Android user.

          • If you compare Apple to a similar level of Android phone (eg, Google Pixel or Samsung Galaxy flagships), they get updates pretty frequently too. Android just happens to ALSO be used on all the uber-cheap $30-50 phones that'll never see an update. Still though, those phones serve a purpose. A lot of people if they had to buy an iPhone or high end Android simply wouldn't be able to own a phone at all. The poorer segment of the population will also tend to use those phones for as long as they can regardles

          • I have to agree, Apple is generally better than most at keeping phones updated. I say this as an Android user.

            Generally better?

            Howabout consistently better?

      • They offer a new model every 12-18 months but no one Needs to upgrade.

        I usually upgrade every 3-4 years, mostly due to lack of OS updates on the phone, for security reasons.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by MrNaz ( 730548 )

          How about not making spare parts impossible to get, and not actively fighting right to repair laws?

        • They offer a new model every 12-18 months but no one Needs to upgrade.

          I usually upgrade every 3-4 years, mostly due to lack of OS updates on the phone, for security reasons.

          I have a perfectly-functioning iPhone 6 Plus. It just fell-off the "Supported" list with iOS 13. The only reason(s) to upgrade would be to have a better camera. I am holding-out to see if they change to USB-C.

          And Apple actually does go back and update older versions of iOS for critical security issues. They even issued an Update in July, 2019 to iOS 9, FFS!

          My nearly decade-old, but still working, iPad 2 and iPhone 4s (sitting in a drawer) actually got a Software Update (iOS 9.3.6)!

    • You have to think that way north of 50% of people who buy phones now already have headphones they like and use.

      I'm on my fourth successive iPhone, and I have yet to take any of the included earbuds out of the box.

      Earbuds just won't stay in my ears. For private listening I use a BT headset.

    • This is Apple we're talking about. You really think that your old headphones will be compatible?

    • Not only that, but they should have started doing this with the newly-released iPhone SE2 to hit a (ever so slightly) lower price. It would have made sense.

      I've never liked in-ear crap anyway so I had to buy the 3.5mm adapter when I bought my SE2, and the first thing I did with the earphones was to leave them in the box after seeing how little they sell for on eBay, even brand new.

    • Re:Good, just a waste (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @03:04PM (#60083372)

      This sounds like Apple Apologist talk.

      When I got the original iPhone, it came with a nice charging base. Then my the iPhone 4 it was gone. The iPhone 6 was made from cheaper materials than my iPhone 4. my iPhone X doesn't have a traditional headphone port. or any non-apple standard port.

      These are things that are indeed missing, on what we use to have before.

      Now I don't use my headphones all that much. But that is besides the point. When I do need them they are nice to have. And being I only have one pare that works on my phone without me going and buying a new one, it isn't so much a case of waste, but it is a waste that I have earbuds for phones that I no longer use anymore.

      I am not an Apple Hater, but lets be real here. Apple is trying to cut costs, because it iPhone line is not longer such a growth market as it use to be.
      There isn't really any compelling reason for an iPhone user to switch to Android, and no Compelling Reason for an Android user to switch to Apple. So Apple isn't going to see the same level of growth so they need to get every dollar out of their replacement sales that they can get.

      We saw this in the PC Market in the early 2000's the 1990's PC were better built. But by the 2000's most everyone who was going to get a PC had one. So there wasn't much growth anymore, just replacing what they have. So the PC makers switch to more plastic parts, less ports, and made them dull and boring. So they can sell them for less but keep a profit.

      • I don't think cutting costs really factors into it, honestly. If you're the sort of person that buys the iPhone 12

        a) you have the money for headphones
        b) you probably already have headphones
        c) you probably already have APPLE headphones

        Now, I think it's a bit cheap and punitive to not ship headphones with the iPhone, much as I feel like the 5w charger is kind of insulting at this point. But given that those headphones probably cost Apple pennies, there's every reason to believe this is as much a concern about

        • The misnomer here is because someone bought something expensive, then it means they have a lot of extra money.

          We have seen people with low wage jobs buying a fancy car, buy they may live in a small studio apartment.

          a) Getting that iPhone 12 the person may have been saving up for months giving up other things just so they can get that device.
          b) The headphones they have may be with the standard jacks that Apple doesn't have ports for any more.
          c) The person who needs to save up for an iPhone 12, may not have h

      • There might be no single compelling reason for people to switch, but annoyances can add up, and both have things that might tempt people over. Apple has a far better history with software updates, their watch has vastly better integration with their phones, and they have a wearable chip that isn't singlehandedly holding back their entire wearable market. Their apps in my experience are significantly more stable and usable.

        Android has enough variety in the phones that people who are picky about features can

      • This sounds like Apple Apologist talk.

        I honestly hate Apple, but shipping crappy earphones with mobile phones is just plain dumb. There are whole walls of earphones at every price point at electronics stores, they are available in the Apple store too. People should buy accessories *if* they need them.

        I've lost count of the number of cheap earbuds I've thrown away because that garbage keeps getting bundled with things. Shit man I never even used the ones that came with iPods.

        Now I don't use my headphones all that much. But that is besides the point. When I do need them they are nice to have

        So you have a set. Why do you need another pair with your next phone?

    • Headphones are included with phones because they are not just headphones. They are combination headphone/microphones, which can be used to make phone calls. If you plug in or pair regular headphones, all you can do is listen. There is no mic (the phone is smart enough to use its built-in mic in that case, but then you're stuck holding the phone up to your face, which defeats the point of using headphones).

      How this plays out depends on the person. If you upgrade phones frequently and/or are a pack rat w

    • Agreed. Over the years, I've owned 5 different personal iphones (3GS->4S->5S->6s->X) plus 3 issued to me for work. I really don't need a 9th pair of iphone earbuds. This is especially true that I also own 2 sets of wireless headphones, which are the ones I actually use.

    • You have to think that way north of 50% of people who buy phones now already have headphones they like and use.

      If anything , they should just ship with the lightning adaptor to be able to use older wired headphones...

      It will eliminate a TON of headphones laying around doing nothing, or being thrown out.

      You know they are not widely used if you go look t the bay prices - round $6-$7 on the low end for packaged unused wired iPhone headphones...

      I think you are right-on with them simply including the Lightning to 3.5 mm DAC adapter (or possibly a USB-C to 3.5 mm DAC adapter) instead of the wired 'buds.

    • I'd guess another 10-15% of users have literally never once plugged their headphones in at all. A huge number of older folks have iphones now, and of the ones I know over 60, pretty sure not one has ever used their headphones.

    • Likewise, I'd much prefer a Lightning-to-minijack adapter I'll actually use to yet another pair of headphones I'll never use. The headphones that came with the iPhone 4 I had? Never left the box. The headphones that came with the iPhone 5S that replaced the 4? Also never left the box. The headphones that came with the iPhone 11 that replaced the 5S? I actually did pull them out in a moment of desperation when I discovered a few weeks ago that my usual headphones for podcast listening as I mow the yard had g

  • No big loss (Score:3)

    by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @02:10PM (#60083112)
    I don't think this all that big of a loss. I've never found the Apple ear pods to the least bit comfortable and the sound isn't particularly special either. I've never felt as though I've been at a great loss using a pair of $5 gas station specials that are far more comfortable and don't sound noticeably worse. Anyone who cares about sound quality is going to buy a more expensive set or just use headphones.

    • Yes, a loss to you. The price of the earphones is part of the cost you paid for the phone. It's also something you never used, so their manufacturing, from raw materials to the finished product, the energy required, the pollution created, was a complete waste from A to Z.

      The only proper thing to do is either sell or donate them to someone else. There's still people out there who think those white earphones are a status symbol or whatever, I'm sure someone out there would use them with a 1985 Sony Walkman or

      • Yes, a loss to you. The price of the earphones is part of the cost you paid for the phone. It's also something you never used, so their manufacturing, from raw materials to the finished product, the energy required, the pollution created, was a complete waste from A to Z.

        The only proper thing to do is either sell or donate them to someone else.

        How do you know what I did with them? I'll have you know the very first thing I did with them was donate them to a friend who uses that style of bud. Don't make judgments you know nothing about.

        • Ah, well it was a financial loss since you paid for them with the iPhone, but I'm glad to hear they were still used by someone after all.

  • Not that I am holding my breath on this one. I don't care about Apple headphones but knocking a few bucks off the price I do care about.

    • Pretty sure Apple is not going to reduce the price of the iPhone by $1 or whatever absurdly low cost the headphones are for Apple.

      • Pretty sure Apple is not going to reduce the price of the iPhone by $1 or whatever absurdly low cost the headphones are for Apple.

        Everyone speculating about the "absurdly low cost" of Apple's wired Lightning earbuds conveniently forgets about a few things:

        1. These are not bog-standard earbuds (actually a headset) with a typical 3.5 mm TRRS plug. They have to include essentially the same electronics as Apple's Lightning to 3.5 mm (DAC) adapter. This makes them significantly more expensive to product than gas-station earbuds.

        2. For the same reasons as above, they are produced in far-lower quantities than gas-station earbuds. This also i

    • You can get wired earbuds in a dollar store, so they might knock one dollar off the price.

    • No. That's how Apple works, from their hiring process to their sales.

      They offer you less and less, for more and more of your value until they're done laughing at robbing you blind or you give up in disgust.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • No. That's how Apple works, from their hiring process to their sales.

        They offer you less and less, for more and more of your value until they're done laughing at robbing you blind or you give up in disgust.

        Citation(s) needed.

      • No. That's how Apple works, from their hiring process to their sales.

        They offer you less and less, for more and more of your value until they're done laughing at robbing you blind or you give up in disgust.

        That's how every company works.

  • Why? (Score:3)

    by Hydrian ( 183536 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @02:26PM (#60083196) Homepage
    Why are they taking them away? You know the consumer isn't going to see a price break because we know Apple isn't going to change it's pricing over $5-$10 pair of earbuds. All this does is inconvenience the consumer. Apple may also be hoping that the lack of earbuds will push/ people to 'upgrade' to a pair of Apple Air Pods. This mainly for the unknowing people that other options exist.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 )

      The reason behind doing this, apart from possibly increased profits, is to lower the amount of electronic waste. It's the same reason why all companies (except you-know-who) switched to having USB-C ports on their phones for charging them and eliminated the bundling of a power supply with each phone sold.

      If Apple switched to USB-C too back in the day, they could have stopped including that little 5W power adapter too. That's a low-hanging fruit to make more profits, I don't know why Apple didn't take it. I

      • The reason behind doing this, apart from possibly increased profits, is to lower the amount of electronic waste.

        This is good, no?

        It's the same reason why all companies (except you-know-who) switched to having USB-C ports on their phones for charging them and eliminated the bundling of a power supply with each phone sold.

        The reason all other phone companies switched to USB was because of government mandates. Consumers, which includes governments which buy a lot of phones for their employees, got rather tired of the proprietary lock in of every phone needing a different kind of power adapter. They started to require, through various kinds of regulations and legislation, that phone manufacturers find a standard means of charging their phones. Apple still complies with these mandates because they have cable

    • Why are they taking them away? You know the consumer isn't going to see a price break because we know Apple isn't going to change it's pricing over $5-$10 pair of earbuds. All this does is inconvenience the consumer. Apple may also be hoping that the lack of earbuds will push/ people to 'upgrade' to a pair of Apple Air Pods. This mainly for the unknowing people that other options exist.

      Apple does a lot of market research and they are likely taking them away because they find people just don't use them. I have a few of these earbuds and I think that they suck. I prefer over the ear headphones, and I spent a lot of money on the ones I have.

      I would not be inconvenienced by the lack of earbuds because I don't use them. I can imagine a lot of people don't use them. In the early days of iPhones, and other competing smart phones, a big selling point was the ability of these phones to play mu

  • Free is a marketing term, included is accurate.

  • Free (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Retired ICS ( 6159680 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @02:33PM (#60083226)

    Free earbuds are worth exactly what you pay for them.

    Already they are only suitable for the dustbin, so saving $0.001 on the cost for a piece of shit that will just be thrown away with the box is reasonable.

  • When the announced that they would stop shipping keyboards (and mice) with their computers (I think it was in the 90s?), there was a huge uproar about how they were cheating everything. But then, what they said (about most people already having them already) was true, and I am sure fewer keyboards went into landfills as a result. Yes they will make more money, and that is likely the driver, but I am ok with less e-waste going to landfills.

  • Just drop back to the standard for earphones and nobody will mind, because suddenly nearly every product on the market will become viable again.

    I've never understood the urge to make phones smaller/thinner/bezel-less when that means they're less useful. I don't complain about fingerprint readers I will never use, or multiple forward/rear/side/upside-down cameras I will never use, because someone else might. Modern phones aren't large or cumbersome, so removing a few dozen cubic millimeters of volume isn
    • You are off by one there, but that's a common programmer mistake. 3.5 ftw.

      And I have bought three smart phones (ok, one was a flip phone), and not a one came with free earbuds or headphones. Is Apple the only one that does/did this, or just over-priced phones in general?

      • You are off by one there, but that's a common programmer mistake. 3.5 ftw. And I have bought three smart phones (ok, one was a flip phone), and not a one came with free earbuds or headphones. Is Apple the only one that does/did this, or just over-priced phones in general?

        Right you are. Mea culpa.

        My last three smartphones (Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 4, Pixel XL) all came with earphones. So yes, over-priced phones in general.

      • Re:Add a 2.5mm jack and it's a deal. (Score:4, Informative)

        by MNNorske ( 2651341 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @03:25PM (#60083482)
        I think it's a legacy of iPods really. When iPods first hit the market Apple packaged headphones with them so that when you opened the box you had earphones that were reasonable quality (for the time). When the first iPhone hit the market Steve Jobs billed it as an iPod that you could also make calls with. It was only several iterations later that we reached the point where a smart phone was primarily a handheld computer that you could also use to listen to music and make phone calls with. When they first dropped the 3.5mm jack they were shipping with lightning earphones and a lightning to 3.5mm adapter. But, they stopped shipping the adapters with them after the 8 I think. I got an adapter when I finally upgraded my phone recently because I like having wired headphones as a backup. But, I mostly use bluetooth. And, I think most people who are willing to pay for an iPhone will similarly have bluetooth headphones around or be willing to buy them with or shortly after buying their phone. The only thing is if its your first smart phone or you missed out on the fact that they dropped the 3.5mm jack you'll be annoyed after purchasing it until you also buy some headphones that work.
  • I never take them out of the box anyway!

    • Welcome to the club!

      Actually it would be hilarious to start a real website, where the only thing you can share online is exactly one photo, of your still-in-the-box Apple earphones.

  • I've been buying 1-2 phones a year, so 8 or 9 phones total, I don't think I've ever used the headphones except to maybe test to see if they work.

    Earpod headphones don't work for a lot of people, they just fall out, maybe 20% of the population.

    And yeah most people already have headphones that they prefer. Headphones haven't improved appreciably in the last 30 years besides noise cancelling and wireless, and neither of those features are especially new. I upgrade my (over ear) headphones every

    • Problem: you upgrade your headphones every three years or so, typically because they break or get left on the train or something.

      Solution: stop breaking them and stop taking the train.

    • I don't think I would want to "lose" or "break" either my $1,000.00 in-ear monitors or my $4,000.00 electrostatic in-ear monitors. I haven't "lost" or "broken" the $600.00 in-ear monitors I bought 15 years ago either. And if you think "noise cancelling" or "wireless" is an improvement, then you are obviously one of those deaf people who like Apple Earbuds and think 4 kbit/s MP3 is "high quality audio".

  • This would be OKto me.. so long as the phone had a fucking headphone jack. I recently âoeupgradedâ to a phone that doesnâ(TM)t have one.. and I fucking hate it.

  • The real reason they will be removed... (Score:3)

    by Merk42 ( 1906718 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @02:56PM (#60083342)
    Is because there won't be a lightning (nor 3.5mm jack) to plug into. They'll go completely wireless rather than switch to USB-C, and having a port of any kind is preventing them from making even more money on Air Pods.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mark-t ( 151149 )

      There can be accessibility issues in some cases with using wireless headphones.

      Of course, this is just a minority of the population, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Apple doesn't care if it discriminates against the disabled.

      • There can be accessibility issues in some cases with using wireless headphones.

        As well as with interfacing with telecommunication devices for the deaf.

        Of course, this is just a minority of the population, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Apple doesn't care if it discriminates against the disabled.

        Apple may or may not care but the FCC does. The FCC will not license a cell phone for sale unless it can interface with TTY/TDD devices, and for cell phones this means some kind of connector to get audio in and out. Since Apple includes software TTY/TDD features in their phones it appears that they are going above and beyond FCC requirements on this.

    • And not having a port at all means they can not only drop the included earphones, but also drop the 5W power adapter and the cable that goes with it.

  • They've found that some subset of their customers will pay $1000 for a monitor stand, so I'm betting in a year or so we'll see a $500 lightning to 3.5mm custom Apple cable. Maybe it will be a cross-promotion with Monster.

  • I still wager there will be long, long lines of people desperately eager to get their hands on the new iphone.

    Until the sheeple stop rewarding them financially for their fuckery, it's a perfectly legit moneymaking decision.

  • I thought I heard that Apple was going to eliminate the lightning connector in favor of the "wireless" charging pads anyway...

    IF that rumor is true, then including a set of headphones in the box with that new 100% connector free iPhone is pointless, there is nothing to plug them into in the box. Further, the only Apple solution to this is to give you a set of AirPods which would add about $100 to the retail cost of a phone.

    Again, this is all just rumor and information that I cannot confirm because I don'

    • I really hope the rumor about removing the charging port is true. As someone who enjoys watching Apple fans make excuses for them, I can't wait to see how they justify never being able to use a set of great-sounding wired headphones as well as having to buy or carry around charging pads for their home, office, car, etc. Speaking of cars, a charging pad probably wouldn't work very well since the phone would slide all around when accelerating or braking. I imagine you may have to buy a dock and I wonder how
  • At this point if someone is going to buy an iPhone, chances are they already have a previous model. Or at the very least some other smartphone they are replacing. If that is the case you already have earphones. And...you know even before the smartphone most people already had a pair of head phones. I haven't used the one that came with my smartphone for maybe 5 years now. The ones that have came with the iPhone over the years have been functional, but have had low sound quality. Conclusion: While it would b
  • Well, once coronavirus splices it's genes into our DNA 5G will activate it and give us sound right in our head. Of course, there will be the obligatory ad every few minutes. Every hour if you have it turned off.
  • This bothers me not at all. My "earphones" are a 3mm patch cable straight into my sound processor unit. I ended up giving those headphones away, anyway.

    • This bothers me not at all.

      As a person with normal hearing and no special needs it doesn't bother me either. Seriously there isn't a person in the world who hasn't at some point simply tossed these in the bin, either because they want something with more quality or because they already had 3 other cheap earphones bundled with their previous phones. It is an utter technological waste.

    • When I hear you say "patch straight into my sound processor unit" you sound like a cyborg!

  • The market for iPhone users is pretty saturated, so most people already have a pair. They only need to be included over and over because Apple changes the port so often.

    • The market for iPhone users is pretty saturated, so most people already have a pair. They only need to be included over and over because Apple changes the port so often.

      They have changed the sound I/O port exactly once. From 3.5 mm analog TRRS to Lightning digital interface. And when they did that, they included an adapter for backwards-compatibility.

      So, what was your point, exactly; other than to prove your ignorance?

      • My point - exactly - is clearly stated in the first sentence. The rest was just an excuse why they used to include them. And you seem to miss the point that the port has changed on the Apple iPhone line infinitely more times than it has on most devices lines.

  • They didnâ(TM)t come with my various receivers/amplifiers and portable stereos I purchased. I also donâ(TM)t use the ear pods as I use the much nicer headphones I purchased separately because I like music.

  • They were worth every penny they costed.

  • Since when has Apple given anything away for "free"?

  • Fact is I found the earphones that came with my top of the line iphone bought this year are absolute crap and irritate my ears. I could not use them, similar to what happens with the crappy throwaway earphones from flights. I am using now $30 cheap bluetooth earphones that are wired to be draped on the back of your neck. Quite cheap and they don't sound incredible, but at least they are usable. If that's the free ones they give you I'd rather buy my own.

  • Now that the throw-away headphones have a $160 alternative, the cheap version has no place among the Apple-loyal. The whole point of owning Apple products is to try to project success and affluence, since you pay about 50% more for the same level of computer you could elsewhere for cheaper (and sometimes, even better-spec'd). You don't want to be the poor bastard wearing those cheap headphones when all your peers are walking around everywhere with their Airpods (or $250 Airpod Pros) and risk the social sham

  • Perhaps they could include an apple-store coupon for a set of ear buds or a Lightning adapter or $10 off a set of airpods.

Slashdot Top Deals

It's a naive, domestic operating system without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption.

Close