Getting rid of the headphone jack

[robertk328]

The future is wireless... had to rip the band-aid off at some point

 

[jj2339]

The future is wireless... had to rip the band-aid off at some point

Good point, your logic is impeccable. Driverless cars are also be future, I'm going to run to the store and let my car drive itself.

Technology isn't ready for pure wireless for every situation. That 'rip the bandaid' logic is really silly, for people who have real needs that can't be met by removing a jack, which didn't seem completely necessary or courageous.

 

[Just_Me_D]

...Wireless is adequate when you just need to listen in, but sometimes its important that the other folks on the call be able to hear you. Wireless isn't good for that. ....

I suppose using some wireless accessories could be inadequate, but I don't recall any situations where using a wireless headset with any of the iPhones I've owned over the years were bad. Bluetooth connectivity has never been an issue for me.

 

[dafmay]

I agree. Unfortunate though Apple doesn't implement Aptx. We need better wireless audio quality.

 

[lusid1]

Good point, your logic is impeccable. Driverless cars are also be future, I'm going to run to the store and let my car drive itself.

Technology isn't ready for pure wireless for every situation. That 'rip the bandaid' logic is really silly, for people who have real needs that can't be met by removing a jack, which didn't seem completely necessary or courageous.

Not sure why people think it's the future. I've gone through close to 30 Bluetooth hands free devices over the years. I do hope good Bluetooth comes along at some point. "In the future".

Wireless audio is easy. People have generally low expectations for audio quality so as long as it doesn't drop out most people would call it good.

Wireless microphones are an entirely different problem set. If it was easy the Airpods would be an actual product by now. The companies that have been doing it for a while have a lot of R&D into noise cancellation algorithms and ambient noise rejection techniques, sometimes they work sometimes they don't, and you'll never know it until someone on the call says they have no idea what you just said.

 

[trparky]

Apple implemented their own high-quality Bluetooth audio standard, I believe they call it AAC Over Bluetooth. Theoretically speaking it should provide for an equal quality to aptX. Now all we need is to get other Bluetooth headphone makers to implement AAC and things will be great.

As for the adapter, I tried the adapter with my pair of Sony headphones and holy crap did it sound good!

 

[jj2339]

Not sure why people think it's the future. I've gone through close to 30 Bluetooth hands free devices over the years. I do hope good Bluetooth comes along at some point. "In the future".

Wireless audio is easy. People have generally low expectations for audio quality so as long as it doesn't drop out most people would call it good.

Wireless microphones are an entirely different problem set. If it was easy the Airpods would be an actual product by now. The companies that have been doing it for a while have a lot of R&D into noise cancellation algorithms and ambient noise rejection techniques, sometimes they work sometimes they don't, and you'll never know it until someone on the call says they have no idea what you just said.

Totally agree. It'd I had to use my phone for work calls and had to use Bluetooth for it, it would be a disaster. I deal with the lack of a headphone jack for music, but the lag makes watching video a pain, and there's is always enough of a lag that on a phone call it can be annoying . If I had to do so on a conference call, especially if I want able to charge at the same time, the iphone 7 would have been a no go.

 

[lusid1]

Yes, but have you ever tried to airplay the audio while watching a video on the phone? Thats some serious lag.

But back to the problem at hand, it looks like the belkin splitter will not work. They say "It does not support syncing or any other USB data", which would prevent getting traffic data into my nav. So... out of options, or at least ideas.

 

[robertk328]

Good point, your logic is impeccable. Driverless cars are also be future, I'm going to run to the store and let my car drive itself.

It was my opinion -- I wasn't asking you to agree Tesla has a pretty sweet auto-pilot system -- if my kids were older and I knew they wouldn't destroy it (so basically if they didn't live here anymore) I'd love to have one.

 

[trparky]

I have one of those Jabra ear pieces that I can stick in my ear for the times in which I know I'm going to be on the phone for an extended period of time, never have I had any problems with people understanding me or any kind of lag while talking on the phone. I also use my Bluetooth headphones for watching videos on my iPhone 7 Plus (hell, I used it on my old iPhone 6 Plus when I still had it) on NetFlix, not one issue with lip-sync. I also use my Bluetooth headphones with a Bluetooth transceiver when watching TV in my living room that's connected the headphone-out port on my audio receiver, if there's a lip-sync issue it's so so very subtle that I can barely notice unless I really pay attention.

Maybe all of you have some cheap Bluetooth headphones. I have Skullcandy Hesh 2 Wireless.

 

[lusid1]

The skullcandy are just run of the mill bt headphones. BT headphones have been more or less viable for about 5 years. Even when they aren't good, they're still better than the 900mhz wireless headphones they displaced.

Two way communications are where the tech fails. If apple can solve that, more power to them. It would seem they thought they could solve it, so they created this problem with plans to sell the solution, but the solution never shipped. All we're left with is the problem. I can remediate it in some situations, just not while I'm driving.

 

[trparky]

Then why does my cheap Jabra Bluetooth earpiece work with no issues? No lag, works perfectly.

 

[Dan_M]

I'm not sure I could deal with that on my phone, maybe a laptop. I use headphones a lot for audiobooks especially when I jog. However if I forget to charge i'm screwed so i just run wired headphones through my shirt. They're also cheaper to replace so really I'm not sure Apple should have ripped the band aid off just yet.

 

[lusid1]

Three factors contribute to the illusion of it working well:
- Light duty usage
- Favorable operating conditions
- People being accustomed to hearing you sound like that

 

[jj2339]

Then why does my cheap Jabra Bluetooth earpiece work with no issues? No lag, works perfectly.

As someon who has spoken to people using BT on a cell on a conference call, it may work for you, but I assure you it doesn't always work for the audience.

I use power beats 2 for my BT headphones, you tell me if they are a cheap *** solution. People I speak to often ask me to get off the headset and speak on the phone directly.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

The future is wireless... had to rip the band-aid off at some point

I absolutely agree. Only Apple wants it to be their overly-priced wireless products at some point. Hopefully at some point they'll license the W chip for 3rd-party manufacturers to implement on Apple devices.

 

[rdubmu]

This issue for me isnt Bluetooth quality sound, rather when I talk on conference calls. I perfected the wired ones. My studio wireless beats headphones work great. The battery life on the 7 plus is outstanding but sometimes conferences can go for 3-4 hours.

 

[Quis89]

I've noticed some horrible lag lately in the audio while watching videos. I've noticed the lag when using my Harmon Kardon LG Tones as well as when connected to my car. I also notice it when I'm connected to my HK bluetooth speaker. There is no lag when my headphones are plugged into my phone.

This is unfortunate considering bluetooth is the direction Apple is pushing us in.

 

[rdubmu]

I've noticed some horrible lag lately in the audio while watching videos. I've noticed the lag when using my Harmon Kardon LG Tones as well as when connected to my car. I also notice it when I'm connected to my HK bluetooth speaker. There is no lag when my headphones are plugged into my phone.

This is unfortunate considering bluetooth is the direction Apple is pushing us in.

I noticed the same thing for videos. For professionals thou, for me it's about conference calls. I use noise cancelation headphones and the bluetooth microphone normally isn't good, when I use the wired cord, I sound great

 

[ItnStln]

It wasn't a brave decision. It was an arrogant, thoughtless, greedy decision.

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