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> there are also plenty of people who just have this unused hole in their phone.

Having a useless hole doesn't inconvenience them, but taking it away inconveniences a large swath of people who use it daily.

Well, you can always choose another phone. Except you can't really, because you want Apple. For any other manufacturer there wouldn't be any discussion about the missing plug, people would just laugh it off and choose another phone model.

Yeah the Moto Z and LeEco already sold millions without a headpone jack before the this week

Do Motorola and LeEco plan to omit the headphone jack on all new phones?

pretty sure my 6 will last me a lot longer than I originally expected it too

It takes up space. Is rather see that extra space be used for more battery than to make the phone thinner, but I'd rather have a thinner phone than one with a headphone jack.

If they had given us something we wanted, in return, we might feel different.

It's not thinner, it's just missing a headphone jack.

They added a second speaker.

Then, with all respect, my comment was not directed at you.

The premise of your comment is that removing the headphone jack inconveniences people who use it with no corresponding benefit to anyone else.

I guess they messed up with the new headquarters, should have made it more of a disc

There's a free adapter in every box. If you keep it plugged into your headphones, how is your day going to be any different?

I can no longer charge my phone and listen to audio at the same time. Something I do at my desk every day.

Give it a month or two. Someone will ship a dual adapter.

No worries, Apple's got you covered with AirPods

Which last 5 hours, and also can't be charged while in use.

I guess you could buy two pairs and swap them out...?

Luckily you get a rechargeable charger that lasts up to 24 hours. Furthermore, "you can charge the charger and charge the earphones at the same time". http://www.avclub.com/article/apple-courageously-forgets-put...

So? Unless I can wear the case on my head to charge them while I use them it doesn't help.

Apple Lighting Dock makes your desk look better.

I plug something into my phone's headphone jack in my house, my girlfriend's house, her car, at friend's houses, and at work. That means I'd need to carry the adapter with me or have one in each place. Not the end of the world, but certainly more of a pain than before.

The adapter will always be on your existing headphones though. Nothing to think about all the time.

What makes you think it's headphones, much less the same set, being used in all of those locations?

Then spend $9 and get an extra adapter.

How many $9 adapters (that will never work with a non-Apple device) does it take to admit this is a downgrade from the user perspective?

Not for most people. I just use the headphones that come in the box. My girlfriend doesn't use any headphones. Neither of us will need the adapter, unless we want to use one of our old iphone headphones.

Hope you don't plan on using the ones in the box with any non-apple product (or even any apple product without a lightning port)

I lose headphones and pens faster than I can buy new ones. How much does the adapter cost when sold separately?

But then again I don't buy apple in the first place.

I hate to break it to you but it's highly probably that many Android phones will be removing the headphone jack:

http://www.androidcentral.com/moto-z-doesnt-have-headphone-j...

The headphone jack is a waste of space, and redundant. Fortunately, it'll be a USB-C standard.

Long term digital out over USB is really the only solution that makes any sense.

DACs and additional signals processing should be fine tuned for their respective speaker/microphone drivers.

I count 5 different 3.5mm jacks I use on a regular basis (work headphones, gym headphones, car, girlfriend's car, home stereo).

Now I need to buy 4 additional adapters from Apple for $40 or carry an adapter with me everywhere I go?

nobody says you have to upgrade...

> More often than not the wired headphones become the hassle, whether it's tangled cords or just keeping them out of the way. I'm sure there are plenty of people who use wired headphones every day but there are also plenty of people who just have this unused hole in their phone

Nothing wrong with that - chances are you'll use it at one point or another. Most cars and stereo systems still use 3.5mm. Even for people who have Bluetooth in their cars they often prefer the stereo cable as it gives better quality, has no weird pairing issues and doesn't drain their battery.

I've ran both wireless and wired headphones and have settled on wired. It's just better, better audio quality, better headphones for a lower price, no waiting for the headphones to initialize, no forgetting to turn them off and finding your battery half dead, no having to charge them every few days. Just plug it in and go.

Hopefully this move will put pressure on manufacturers to get costs down on these wireless headphones and get the more off-brand audio manufacturers who often make the best products (quality/dollar wise) interested.

Also no weird BT stack issues which make sound desync with video when you're watching a movie, which is what ultimately made me stop using Bluetooth headphones with a home PC.

Yeah this really sucks for people in cars (plenty of people still drive cards w/o bluetooth). I just spent hours driving last week using my phone as a source of music (via aux cord) and GPS. If I couldn't have been charging it while doing this it would have died sooooo quickly

My car has bluetooth and its incapable of pairing. We've tried several devices. There's another subset of cars affected by this change.

Sometimes I have to turn my Honda off and then on again to get it to pair properly.

Regular wireless headphones are fine, but cordless earphones are a braindead idea because they will get lost.

There are some general disadvantages to wireless: most bluetooth headphones, even high-end ones, have lag. It's imperceptible when listening to music, but obvious when playing an instrument in a music app like Garageband or better.

Attaching a keyboard or drum pads while listening on headphones is quite a typical use case for iOS musicians.

I'm quite surprised that this issue is not stressed enough. We still don't have(avb is still under development) a solution for stereo/multichannel audio via wifi, let alone bluetooth. I understand the jack is old but why do we replace it with an inferior technology? I expected more from Apple not just to trash quality for convenience.

I think they should have started selling cables with a lightning adapter on one end and a small jack for pluggable buds on the other.

Good, sturdy cables with proper amp, microphone and remote control built-in. Headphone producers would provide the analog speaker-part only.

Pros for Apple:

. sell more hardware

. establish their lightning port

. better the good-speaker-but-crappy-cable-situation that plagues the headphone market

. stop wasting a cable on every new pair of iPhone buds

. extend their hardware eco-system centimeter by centimeter

You can set your phone down on your desk and charge it without a plugin as fast as they can ship it to you: http://www.air-charge.com/products/wireless-surface-charger

well I can find more than a few seniors who would not mind seeing everyone wearing something akin to hearing aids. Yet to be honest, part of the appeal of the current corded headphones is that they simply don't fall out and if they do, well they are attached!

plus cordless head phones are no where in the same league as using the phone in the car without a head set. finally, why yet another thing I have to charge. I do have a SENA 20s setup for my motorcycle helmet, but even then mic and headphones cannot get lost or dropped.

I would love market pressure to force them to revert for the next iphone, I doubt it will, but I think I am keeping the 6 for a long time. worse than having to charge them is the pricing, obscene

Something weird:The Apple marketers are among the best in the world.

So they surely know that this would be the response. And still they choose the word "courage". Why ?