Headphone makers quietly prepare for the iPhone 7

Also, there are reports that the 6S has digital noise/interference that affects the headphone out. Lachlan got bit by it, which is why he returned his 6S.

 

As people said before, adding any adaptor or dongle of sort negates the effort to get thinner phone body. Apple is an asshole company by many means, but undoubtfully they push for the idea of easy-to-use. The overall pleasant and smooth user experience is what Apple shoots for. If Apple abandons 3.5mm jack for the Lightening, these scenarios probably will happen:

1. A whole new generation of headphones and IEMs with lightening cord. Higher cost (from internal amp for the least part, and also a visible increase in R&D cost). Dollar store earphones would likely go extinct. Not wireless. When you need to charge your phone you can't use your headphones to make calls or enjoy music. Not the most convenient.
2. A slight increase of sale of external DAC/amps. This solution reduces convenience quite a bit, but a. it saves your previous headphones and b. extends your headphones of choice and c. might add some personalities.
3. People go wireless. This is IMHO the most convenient solution. For users, it doesn't conflict with charging, eliminates the cord, and might even add a point or two into being more fashionable. No adaptor, no external DAC/amp brick.

I think 3 might be the answer of most consumers. Then what's in it for Apple and Beats? My guess is that Apple might be brewing its own wireless transmission standard. Beats can take this chance to eat up more wireless market.

 

Why are people fussing and worrying about what connector will be used for audio? Frankly, if I wanted to push and had major market share, I'd ditch the cables entirely and do the bluetooth or some new wireless voodoo and leap into the 3D surround sound immersive dolby atmos wtfbbq processing. For the audiophile nuts, then I'd introduce a wireless dongle (oxymoron?) with a regular jack and built in hifi dac and amp and colon massager.

 

Nicely put will, I agree. This is a smart move for Apple, their customer base is already used to paying a preium for their products, getting other headphone companies like Audeze [I also read Sennhesier might be trying to make a move here to] is a good idea. Even better is their position with beats!

All in all, I'm excited to see how they integrate the new Beats Headphones with the iPhone 7

 

Honestly, the more I think about it, streaming hi-res digital wireless to a mini amp/dac has serious potential to drive improvement in portable audio.

It's not tethered to the phone anymore so you can either completely eliminate the cable for maximum flexibility (think CIEM with a tiny BT receiver/dac/amp built in) or greatly reduce it's length for maximum performance (think GOv2 or smaller device).

 

yea that's the article I was thinking about thanks much

but I do rather like the idea of putting the cost of "quality" audio on headphone makers, Enough Apple compatiable portable dac/amps are out there. It only makes sense to start building those into the Headphones and going pure digital out for Apple imo. Given that the iPhone IS what drives Apples worth atm

I'm excited to see who else steps up an tackles what could be a new emerging market!

 

*cough* Sony *cough*

 

We'll only see a few headphone makers even bother with lightning connected headphones. The rest will go bluetooth.

 

Not the industry, For Apple. Apple is by definition a super closed Standard, they are the only ones using lighting connectors, ALAC is apple exclusive [yea you can convert it or what ever] , hell iOS an OS what ever is exclusive it doesn't play well with Windows or Android, so what better move for Apple then to take even more control from their customer base,

Apple is about a standard or expected level of quality, not about Freedom. You accept the cage Apple puts you in, and in all reality it's a nice cage. Seriously they Apple has given it's customers a very nice and very easy to own... ecosystem. Their products are some what intuitive an they offer a really nice gambit of features an above acceptable quality

So really, for Apple to drop the 3.5mm Connector and push ppl into the hands of either their Beats Brand or bigger players like Sennhieser an Audeze makes sense for them, it brings a better overall sound quality to their eco system, an allows for a lower production cost on their iPhone line. In addition to a thinner product overall. Yea in the end it costs the customer more, but their are apple Fanatics they are already used to a higher price for what they like.

 

ALAC has been open source and royalty-free since 2011.

 

well hot diggidy I was wrong about ALAC

 

I just pulled up a random album on HD Tracks (The Division Bell, there was a banner for it on the site). Purchase options are: AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, WAV.

So no, not right.

I'm not saying Apple is open the way Google is. They're not. But you're wrong about ALAC.

 

welp alrighty then! I appreciate the info

I just don't like Apple as a company, forcing me to pay for their "asethics" and convenience. ANything you can do with an Apple, you can do just as good with a Windows/Droid for less

either way, it's a smart move for Apple. It'll make them an their retailers more money, and their customers will accept it the same way they've accepted the need to pay for a majority of the Apps in the Apple Store

and ofc if you don't like it come to Android, unless you've already invested into the Apple Eco system, in which case it's cheaper for you to spend more to on either Blu Tooth of LIghting SUpported headphones, than it would be to switch over to another OS/Eco System

 

Apple aren't forcing you to do anything. Don't buy their products and move on.

 

Not so, if you own the iPad, the iWatch, the Mac Book and an Apple Tv as they start to update their OS to iOS 10 an what ever verison of OS X[or what have you] they will start to implement more features into the software, leading to slower and slower performance on the older devices. I know Apple Claims that iOS9 doesn't bog down an iPhone 5s [but in reality it does, I seen at lest 3-4 a week sluggish and even buggier with each new update]

The reality is, Apple is pretty good at migrating customer to their newer devices. So while Apple isn't forcing customers outside it's target audiance to do anything, the many millions who are running in purely Apple Eco Systems will more than likely accept the newer thinner faster iPhone and new Headphones it mandates

 

I admire your enthusiasm(?) but you really have no idea what you're talking about.