Headphone makers quietly prepare for the iPhone 7

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Darsus, Jan 9, 2016.

  1. Darsus

    Darsus Insatiable bowels - Member

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  2. ulikmadik

    ulikmadik New

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    That'd be an absolutely retarded thing to do, but then, so is their target audience..
     
  3. meloman

    meloman Acquaintance

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    As long as Apple keeps a way to get digital audio from iPhone with CCK, I don't really care what they do with the headphone jack. Pretty sure there is an army of adapter makers waiting to make a quick buck for those who really need the jack. Curious to see what Apple will do with their lighting headphone. Maybe port some of the biometric sensors from the Watch to the ear?
     
  4. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I do have an iPhone and do use it for music. Not as my main source, obviously, but it's always with me and I have iTunes Match so I can stream a lot of my library. It's very convenient. If Apple does remove the analog headphone jack, it will be solely for the profit motive of selling adapters, which would be obnoxious. If that happens, I'll just end up taking the Pono with me much more often. I certainly won't be buying lightning connector headphones.
     
  5. Bourne Perfect

    Bourne Perfect Friend

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    Apples are for sheep.
     
  6. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

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    I think this is more likely driven by a design goal of removing physical barriers to thinness.
     
  7. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    As a certified sheep shagger I recommend feeding your sheep grass, not apples.
     
  8. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I would agree, except the iPod touch line is thinner than any iPhone has ever been and has an analog headphone jack.
     
  9. riker1384

    riker1384 Acquaintance

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    Removing the 3.5mm jack is atrocious, but there could be benefits to using the Lightning jack for some headphones. Having a cable with power and digital audio would allow headphones to have EQ built in, as well as other functions such as noise cancelling, without having a battery or an A/D/C onboard.

    Regarding adapters, does the Lightning carry an analog signal that just requires a physical adapter, or does it only do digital and thus require a DAC and amp to be built-in to the adapter? The latter would be horrible; it would be expensive and defeat the purpose of having a a phone that is just one thing you have to carry all the time.
     
  10. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Here's the thing, even if Apple removed the headphone jack, they'd still need to have a DAC in the phone so it can play sound out of the built in speakers.
     
  11. kapanak

    kapanak Canucklehead - Friend

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    Lightning does not carry analog audio, but there is nothing stopping Apple from adding that in the later iteration.
     
  12. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    I believe I read somewhere that it would be the case for the iPhone 7. Not sure if it was a dedicated DAC for the lightning port or if they still just used the one chip for the phone though.
     
  13. burnspbesq

    burnspbesq Friend

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    Place needs a way to give "dislikes."
     
  14. mtoc

    mtoc SBAF's Resident Shit-Stirrer

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    Never use anything from Apple (can't afford, my Android phone cost only $66), are they good?
     
  15. Azteca

    Azteca Friend

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    Good news for all the Apple opponents - you all, simultaneously, are unique and special and know The Real Dealâ„¢, not like those other guys! You are the only one. Congrats.

    I am not going to speculate too much until it's definite but it makes sense that the jack is probably one of the things keeping the case at its current thickness (or thinness). Still, I think we've reached a point where many would prefer more battery in a similarly-thick case rather than a thinner one.

    There has to be some sort of way to hook up normal headphones, it just might involve a dongle. Which would suck. It wouldn't suck so bad if cases could provide this headphone jack from the case.

    Anyway, I'll wait and see. But keep in mind that while Apple owns Beats and will be introducing Beats with Lightning connectors, they would not be wise to torpedo all of the Beats that are currently out there.
     
  16. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    I never got around to upgrading my Iphone 5s to the 6s in the fall and at this point had been inclined to hold out for the Iphone 7 since between my 5s and my Samsung Galaxy phone for work I have not been exactly jonesing enough for a new Iphone to want to lay out the money for a new one. However, I use my Iphoen for music daily and am thinking maybe I should just grab a 6s which will hold me over for at least 2 years if Apple does make the switch.
     
  17. Will

    Will Massdrop

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    High probability they do this IMO, but not for the reasons specified, curious to hear what ya'll think of this idea.

    In the scope of things apple makes, the iPhone is low margin. This is because it's a complicated device with lots of circuits and functions.

    Apple purchases Beats, beats becomes the highest margin product in apple's portfolio. $16 est BOM cost on a pair of beats (via bolt.io blog), $199 retail price.

    Apple's board, investors, stake holders at large are excited about this acquisition, but they're constantly pushing to optimize cost of the iPhone because they make and sell so many.

    Apple removes the DAC and headphone amp from the iPhone, brings down the cost by a percentage that's probably an order of magnitude higher than what they're used to seeing (at this point I imagine they're making .5% cost optimizations, this could be close to 2-5%). Board is super happy, investors supper happy, stock goes up, yay.

    But that's necessary hardware right? How will they get headphone companies to should the burden of including a DAC/Amp with all their products?

    Good thing they own the most popular headphone manufacturer.

    TL;DR - Apple is trying to increase their margin on iPhones while decreasing their margin on beats because this is a good trade in the eyes of their board, investors, and stake holders.
     
  18. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Interesting you say that Audeze actually has a cable with an amp/dac built into it. As well as the lightning cable being able to support amps/dacs such as the new Audioquest Dragonfly.
     
  19. Will

    Will Massdrop

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    Yup, and Audeze made that cable/amp/dac thing RIGHT as they closed their deal to be in the apple store.

    I'd guess it was a condition of being allowed to sell in the apple store, their merchandising planners want a high end headphone with lightening cable ready when they make the switch.
     
  20. IndySpeed

    IndySpeed Friend

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    Probably a reasonable theory of what might happen. If it does, leave it to Apple to create another product that won't be compatible with anything other than another Apple product. I don't like iProducts because of this. They have a tendency to want to lock you into their ecosystem. If you are all Apple, and you are good with that. No problems there, but I personally want products that can be used with the majority of everything else...
     

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