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Apple Appears Set To Discontinue Lightning-to-Headphone Adapter (macrumors.com) 86

Posted by msmash from the cord-cutting dept.
Apple has stopped selling its Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter in the U.S. and most countries, with limited stock remaining only in select European markets. The $9 accessory, introduced with iPhone 7 in 2016 (after the "courageous" move to stop including the headphone jack in iPhones), allowed users to connect traditional headphones to Lightning port iPhones. The discontinuation comes as Apple transitions to USB-C ports across its iPhone lineup.
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Apple Appears Set To Discontinue Lightning-to-Headphone Adapter More

Apple Appears Set To Discontinue Lightning-to-Headphone Adapter

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  • I hate it. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Vegan Cyclist ( 1650427 ) on Monday November 18, 2024 @11:00AM (#64954091) Homepage

    I sincerely hate these companies for ditching headphone jacks.

    I can't find an adapter that actually works.

    USB-C isn't a 'tight' fit, and so even the slight shifting of a phone being in a pocket causes it to disconnect for me on my Pixel 6A. It wasn't designed for being active. (Even 'lightly', as in a casual walk, or in a cycling jersey.)

    I have the headphones I want and like (and have a headphone jack), but this has seriously diminished the experience of simply listening to music (when it keeps cutting out randomly.)

    And no, I don't want to change headphones. It took me forever to find ones that fit and function the way I want. So annoying they dropped a perfectly good standard. I'm pretty much at the point where I'm looking for a separate MP3 player. Which is so stupid. But hey. "Progress."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by flink ( 18449 )

      USB-C isn't a 'tight' fit, and so even the slight shifting of a phone being in a pocket causes it to disconnect for me on my Pixel 6A. It wasn't designed for being active. (Even 'lightly', as in a casual walk, or in a cycling jersey.)

      I hate that they are necessary, but these have worked pretty well for me over the last couple months since I replaced my Pixel 4a with a 9. They fit tight enough that I can dangle my phone by the headphone wire if I want and when I get snagged, it's usually the headphones that pop out rather than the USB-C. YMMV of course, and I'm sure this will get worse over time as the port wears in:

      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y... [amazon.com]

    • I actually need to get one of those adapters, as I hadn't realized my new phone didn't have the jack, and it's really annoying in some long calls to keep holding it to my ear while trying to type on a computer or write down notes. So now, I should go and see if any are available before they're gone.

    • Physical ports, especially deeper ones like headphone jacks, are more difficult to waterproof... makes sense to get rid of them.

      But ditching an adapter.... seems counter productive unless you also manufacture and sell wireless accessories for audio.... ;-)

      • I don't know why they can't just completely seal the contact well from the rest of the phone's innards and add an outer rubber gasket for when it's not in use. If water gets into that well, the phone could simply detect the short circuit condition and disable the jack until it dries out.

        But I guess rubber gaskets are a "fashion foh-pah" with Apple.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Chozabu ( 974192 )
      What about a bluetooth receiver that outputs on an audio jack?
      something like this? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196... [ebay.co.uk]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      For a few bucks you can get a Bluetooth audio receiver on AliExpress. For a few more bucks you can get a nice one with decent DAC and amplifiers, and support for AptX and other high quality codecs.

      It's not ideal, you have to charge it, but it does solve your main problem. I have one that I use on aircraft instead of the wired cans they give you.

  • 3.5mm (and lightning) should be supported! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by firecode ( 119868 ) on Monday November 18, 2024 @11:04AM (#64954101)
    There are lot of people who have older iphone and 3.5mm in standard for professional (music-making) headphones!
    • ..is a standard.. (my typing sucks..)

    • ...3.5mm is a standard for professional (music-making) headphones!

      What happened to 1/4" (6.25mm) jacks? I kind of assumed professionals would use those.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by mccalli ( 323026 )
        Wouldn't necessarily go so far as to call myself a 'professional', but I have a lot of pro-level music production kit (mixers, synthesisers etc.). A lot use the 1/4" jack, some still use RCA (notably mixers to outboard fx processors, no I don't know why either).

        On the synths it depends what you buy - there's some really good small form factor synths now and those tend to use 3.5", with some even replacing the MIDI 5-pin DIN with a 3.5" TRS connector requiring an adapter to full-size MIDI. There's also of

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by cstacy ( 534252 )

          "Professionals" are not using the headphone jack in the studio. They are using the 1/4" line output of the synth or whatever into the a professional analog mixer (1/4"), or these days into an ADC (1/4") and thence to a DAW. They are listening to headphones on 1/4" connectors to the output of the mixer. Even the headphone monitor jacks on "non-pro" mixers are 1/4" jacks (I have a number of such mixers).

      • The 1/4" TRS jack is probably the most ubiquitous connector out there. The 3.5mm plugs are sucky because it's too easy for physical damage to occur. That being said, there are probably many people out there who are using 6.26mm to 3.55 adapters with 3.5mm headphones for musical applications. If the headphones belong to a studio, you can be sure they are 6.25mm but many people making music at home are likely using their favorite 3.5mm headphones with an adapter. For single-user setups, it's fine.

      • ...3.5mm is a standard for professional (music-making) headphones!

        What happened to 1/4" (6.25mm) jacks? I kind of assumed professionals would use those.

        Most of the PRO level headphones (SS VSX for one) have the quarter inch wrapped around a 3.5mm jack for compatibility, since so many folks want to hook their good quality stuff up to the average/shitty MP3 player or phone output. I don't think I've ever seen a piece of equipment touting itself as PRO that doesn't have a quarter inch option at least. Unless it's XLR or possibly optic only.

      • Adapters happened. Virtually all headphones on the market come with 3.5mm jacks, even studio headphones or DJ headphones. They all ship with some form of adapter. In some cases the adapter is even secure, i.e. you can screw the 6.35mm adapter over the 3.5mm connector, for example https://www.canford.co.uk/Prod... [canford.co.uk] for Sennheiser HD25s. Others captively engulf the entire 3.5mm jack to make it look like it's a seamless 6.35mm jack https://www.canford.co.uk/Prod... [canford.co.uk]

        I have a funny memory of seeing a guy at a LAN

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Merk42 ( 1906718 )
      and what % of those people, with that very important need, haven't already bought the adapter?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      There are lot of people who have older iphone and 3.5mm in standard for professional (music-making) headphones!

      Apple will blame the EU (and other countries) regulations for forcing USB-C on them, so they're going to discontinue all Lightning accessories because USB-C is the mandatory port.

      And Apple will happily sell you a new iPhone and USB-C to 3.5mm headphone adapter to go with it.

      EU didn't say Apple needed to keep old stuff going, so they're going to blame all the e-waste on regulations.

      Of course, in pra

  • USB-C (Score:4, Interesting)

    by JBMcB ( 73720 ) on Monday November 18, 2024 @11:06AM (#64954115)

    The Apple USB-C headphone adapter is ludicrously good for the money. With high efficiency headphones, it compares favorably with the Topping D-10, that costs $130, and the Chord Mojo, that costs $600.

    https://www.audiosciencereview... [audiosciencereview.com]

    • It's been true for a decade that there's no excuse for the DAC to not be transparent. Heck, even twenty years ago, there really wasn't an excuse for poor DACs.

      • Its not just the DAC. The digital part is straightforward, and coming up with the equivalent voltage is not a critical problem. The critical problem is the filtering to remove the switching noise and the analog output drive circuit.

        • Neither of those things are a problem and both are insanely trivially dealt with. There's no excuse for your audio path to your headphones to not be transparent. I suspect the OP included the analogue domain in his overarching use of the term "DAC".

          • Both of those things are the driving problem in digital music systems, there is nothing else. I am not sure what you mean by "transparent", all. repeat, all analog devices have significant limitations that do affect the results.

    • ASR loves anything from Topping. They are the poster website for the statement "numbers are not everything".

      • The funny thing about the "numbers are not everything" crowd is that they fundamentally fail to demonstrate that they can actively beat the numbers. ASR doesn't love Topping, they love everything with good numbers. There are plenty of products from a wide variety of suppliers that get their blessing. Topping happens to be like my Chinese car, pretty damn good value for money.

        • ASR doesn't love Topping, they love everything with good numbers

          Some of which are objectively awesome and subjectively awful. Because you don't listen to numbers. And you don't drive them either. Some objectively slow cars are incredibly fun to drive. Some really fast ones not so much. Likewise some objectively noisy tube amps can sound glorious (because harmonics are a thing). Yes numbers can be useful data points to be sure, but if you are buying something based on numbers you are not doing it right.

  • only impacting Apple purists (Score:5, Informative)

    by rkhalloran ( 136467 ) on Monday November 18, 2024 @11:25AM (#64954157) Homepage

    Lightning-to-3.5mm adapters are trivially available from any number of sources for similar or lower cost than Apple's; inexpensive wired-for-Lightning earbuds the same. This is only an issue if you're one of those who wants all-Apple accessories for your iThing.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 602 ( 652745 )
      Agree. I use the Belkin adapter in my car and it works great. Available on Amazon.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by drnb ( 2434720 )

      Lightning-to-3.5mm adapters are trivially available from any number of sources for similar or lower cost than Apple's; inexpensive wired-for-Lightning earbuds the same. This is only an issue if you're one of those who wants all-Apple accessories for your iThing.

      They were also included with various early lighting based iPhones.

      • I think one was supposed to be with my 6SE, but it was "used/reconditioned" so it had no extras in the box. I've been procrastinating about getting an adapter, but assumed it was going to be much more expensive then $10, as that's the Apple way. So trying to get an order now (nearby stores don't have one, bleh, online purchase it is despite my dislike of that).

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by drnb ( 2434720 )
          I'd check to see if Belkin has one. They seem to pick up the adapters Apple drops.

    • Of course there is.

      The next step in Apple's quest to deprecate lighting accessories and force people to move to a newer phone will be to stop licensing these products once licensing ends. And then they vanish from any retail outfit you can find, leaving you screwed. Which, of course, is the point.

  • Courageous? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by lsllll ( 830002 ) on Monday November 18, 2024 @12:02PM (#64954259)

    Courageous is not what I would call the move to stop including the headphone jack. Dim-witted is more apt here. With a wired headphone, I don't have to worry about it running out of juice and can be sure I'm receiving the highest quality, only limited by my headphones and the DAC in the phone. In addition I can use my phone as source for any audio device that has an aux in. The only good thing about the wireless headphones is the elimination of the wire. It's inferior in every other way.

    • Re:Courageous? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by organgtool ( 966989 ) on Monday November 18, 2024 @12:33PM (#64954359)

      Courageous is not what I would call the move to stop including the headphone jack. Dim-witted is more apt here.

      I'm not sure Apple is the one who is dim-witted. Shortly after removing the headphone jack, Apple released wireless Airpods. Those sold extremely well and sales of the jackless iPhones didn't seem to suffer much at all. Apple seems to know exactly who their customers are and how to extract the maximum amount of money from their wallets.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cstacy ( 534252 )

        Shortly after removing the headphone jack, Apple released wireless Airpods. Those sold extremely well and sales of the jackless iPhones didn't seem to suffer

        "Jacksomething" devices, anyway....

        PS. I own iPhone, iPad, Airpod Pro, and of course the Lightning and USB-C adapters for when I need to plug into something. I even have a set of wired headphones with a Lightning connector on the end of it.

        • I even have a set of wired headphones with a Lightning connector on the end of it.

          Because of the simplicity of just leaving the damn dongle on your headphones, I've never really understood why people have such a cry over this. If you are always using your wired headphones with your phone, just leave it there and plug / unplug as necessary. If you need to use with another device that has a proper 3.5mm TRS, just take the adapter off and put it in your pocket or something. Hey look, you now have a universal solution that works literally everywhere, and is absolutely no different from if

          • Some people don't want a dongle hanging down off of their phone at all times, especially when they're using it for calls. And putting the dongle in your headphone case is great if you only ever use one set of headphones and always keep them in their cases. And neither of those solutions resolve the issue of being able to charge your phone while listening to music.

            I am just as baffled about what Apple gained from going out of their way to remove a useful feature (outside of pushing their customers to bu

            • It's always been an Apple style - keep things very very very simple. Steve Jobs did not like the micro-computer style where there were lots of hardware options, expansion cards, etc. Jobs wanted a device like a toaster, one-size-fits all. It was only reluctantly that they allowed memory expansion in the early Macs, and the professional Mac SE. Once Jobs left Apple the first time, the professional oriented Macintosh II project with its expansion board slots went forward. But this attitude stuck with App

            • Some people don't want a dongle hanging down off of their phone at all times

              Care to read what I actually wrote?

              Leave the dongle on the headphone wire, not the phone.

              Re: charging; there are dongles that do both, but they aren't as sleek. [amazon.com]. $5.

          • Because I have several sets of headphones. They're cheap, you get them included in older phones so you keep them around. So one is in my work backpack, to be available at inopportune times (waiting at an airport), which is also very handy because the headphone works on my laptop as well as airplanes. One is at home on my desk for when I wanted to make calls. One is in my suitcase. I think I have one more on my coffee table.

            I haven't used them in a year and a half, because I replaced my phone and the ne

            • Adapters are cheap. Buy several. I’ve got a fat stack of cables that are USB-C on both ends with captive adapters for USB-A on the power end and micro and Lightning on the device end. $12 each and if you use the USB-C plug on the power end, you get 65W power delivery. They’re great and I just buy a bunch. When I lose some, I lose some. I give them out as impromptu gifts.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by lsllll ( 830002 )

        Oh, I don't think it was a dim-witted move when it came to Apple's pockets. They obviously made a ton of money off the decision. It was a dim-witted move for almost all the rest of us.

    • Some wireless headphones have a feature that wired will never be able to do: connect to multiple sources at a time.

      Example: you have a bluetooth connection to both your laptop and your phone. You can get any sounds coming from your laptop as you work, but if your phone rings, it rings through the headphones allowing you to answer and just keep going without fumbling around with your headphones and handset before the call goes to voicemail.

      There are still arguments against bluetooth audio that people will m

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by _merlin ( 160982 )

        The wastefulness pisses me off. The batteries in any of these wireless devices have limited lifespans, and can't practically be replaced in many cases.

        • Apple has always been anti-Green, regardless of the feelings of their upscale consumer base. Their goal is that you always buy new stuff and have created many ways to encourage even thrifty people to either upgrade or leave the Apple market.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by pjt33 ( 739471 )

      Courageous [wikiquote.org] is a term of art:

      "Controversial" only means "This will lose you votes". "Courageous" means "This will lose you the election"!

  • Just another attempt to make sure you pay for every listen.

    • Yeah, or they've deprecated Lightning and there's 3rd party licensed products out there, and Apple doesn't want to continue making stuff they've deprecated.

      The new phones and iPads are all USB-C and they still make a USB-C audio adapter, and there's still tons of 3rd party versions of that too.

      Not really sure what you're on about. FYI they don't make 34-pin iPod connector cables or adapters any more either, just like they don't make Mini-SCSI for the PowerPC-based PowerBook 3400 any more, IEEE-1394(FireWir

  • This is just a way to force you onto Airpods, which have a lifetime of 2 years (max) before they irreparably fail and you have to shell out another (at least) $200 to Apple.

    Does not affect "professional" audio at all, as nobody in a production studio is connecting a phone or iPad to anything in that context.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ksevio ( 865461 )

      Iphones support any bluetooth earbuds don't they?

      • Yes, but they're all based on a battery, and all have limited lifetimes, and are all more expensive than a wired headphone.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Ksevio ( 865461 )

          If you really want it, you can also buy usb-c adapters

          • Yes, but I have no need of this. I have a gazillion USB-A power adapters for charging, zero USB-C power adapters. The only USB-C device I have is my work laptop and I have the adapters that came with it.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by cstacy ( 534252 )

          Yes, but they're all based on a battery, and all have limited lifetimes, and are all more expensive than a wired headphone.

          Also, I am not sure that iPhones fully support third-party Bluetooth ear-things. In particular, the hands-free control features (you press hidden buttons on Airpods to Answer/Hangup, Play/Pause media, and do other stuff). I am not sure, but is that all a proprietary Apple protocol?

          3d party earfrobs might not have all the super fancy noise cancelling and shit that Apple Airpods have, but you probably get what you pay for. But do they actually have the basic control functionality working? (I'd really like to

    • Yeah, or you can buy a "Made for iPhone" logo'd and licensed version from a 3rd party for $5 and continue on as you have been.

      If it was a grand conspiracy to sell AirPods, why would they continue to license 3rd party solutions that easily circumvent that conspiracy?

  • Apple has stopped selling its Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter

    OMG! Late-stage capitalism, corporate slavery, etc. etc.

    The discontinuation comes as Apple transitions to USB-C ports across its iPhone lineup.

    Oh, so they're discontinuing an old product with an obsolete connector. In other news, Creative no longer makes SoundBlaster cards for ISA slots.

  • This wouldn't be so much of an issue if Apple wasn't making it hard to use third-party alternatives. If Apple decides to unblock third-parties from filling the gap, then I wouldn't care.

  • When Apple decided to see how greedy they could get and removed the headphone jack so they could boost
    sales of either their adapter or their Airpods, I simply quit listening to music on the Iphone.

    ( I've always loathed iTunes anyway )

    I still have a Galaxy S5 complete with a headphone jack, removable battery and a removable micro-SD card
    that plays music just fine thank you. I don't use it for much else but, for portable music, it works great with my
    selection of wired headphones.

    Hell, I still have a function

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