Mikey Campbell
Apple has patented a shrunken-down headphone connector that shaves precious volume off existing 3.5mm and 2.5mm jack standards by reshaping the plug, thereby removing — albeit temporarily — an inevitable limiting factor in its quest for perpetually thin smartphones.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday issued Apple U.S. Patent No. 9,142,925 for a "D-shaped connector" that replaces the existing low-profile headphone plug and receptacle standard with a shorter, thinner design. This "improved" model would sport all the functionality of a modern 3.5mm TRRS (tip, ring, ring, sleeve) connector, but with a trim profile suitable for use in extremely thin devices.
Much like today's headphone plug, Apple's design features external contacts positioned along a sleeve. Dielectric strips isolate contacts along the sleeve carrying left audio, right audio and microphone signals, while a ground contact lives in the plug's tip. Deviating from current standards, however, is its shape.
Taking on a "D" profile, Apple's plug has one flat side that acts as a keyed feature, meaning it restricts insertion to a matching D-shaped cavity. Some embodiments incorporate a flexible inner member that helps mitigate potential insertion issues, while at the same time reinforcing structural integrity.
Certain embodiments specify a diameter of 2.0mm from the plug's flat portion to its opposite edge, considerably thinner than current products. For a fairly sensitive electronic part, the headphone connector is constantly exposed to mechanical strain. A flexible elastomer or similar material could help cut down on breakage from repeated insertion and extraction operations.
On the device side, Apple describes a D-shaped receptacle protecting an internal mechanism designed to capture the plug, much like regular jacks. The system can be mechanical or magnetic, while some embodiments allow for a spring-loaded ground contact that doubles as a retention feature.
To Apple CDO Jony Ive's dismay, iPhones and iPads can only be as thin as their largest internal component, as evidenced by the "camera bump" on iPhone 6 and 6s. However, unlike the longstanding headphone jack format, camera technology benefits from component miniaturization trends, meaning future iSight modules will likely see size reductions in line with other iPhone innards. As an industry standard, the 3.5mm plug format is ancient compared to its high-tech iPhone component stablemates, and customers have shelled out hundreds or thousands of dollars on compatible hardware.
Apple could bypass TRRS designs altogether and introduce a Lightning-connected headphone, but that would prohibit simultaneous charging. It remains to be seen what Apple has planned, but if its portable device designs get much thinner, the demise of the 3.5mm plug is a near certainty.
Apple's D-shaped connector patent was first filed for in May 2011 and credits Albert J. Golko and Mathias W. Schmidt as its inventors.
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
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92 Comments
Not exactly something I would want to see in an iPhone. If you are hell bent on going to something non standard you might as well go with a thin flat design similar to Lightening. Further Apple will have to work real hard to make such a connector an industry standard, people are pretty emotional about head phones.
It's time to improve the jack.
[quote name="wizard69" url="/t/188422/apple-prepares-for-thinner-iphones-with-slim-headphone-plug-patent#post_2780403"]Not exactly something I would want to see in an iPhone. If you are hell bent on going to something non standard you might as well go with a thin flat design similar to Lightening. Further Apple will have to work real hard to make such a connector an industry standard, people are pretty emotional about head phones.[/quote] I've been talking about the diameter of the 3.5mm a lot recently, which doesn't include the size of the HW internally. My solution is having either the first of two thing, or both things I'm about to mention happen within 1–3 years. 1) Just move headphones to the Lightning connector (or whoever connector Apple may move to — I'm a big fan of USB-C, and maybe Apple can submit a mini-USB-C that is that the exact same exact 40% smaller in size but with all the greatness to make it thinner than even Lightning). The downside is I'm sure some people like to listen to their headphones whilst changing their iDevice, but I imagine that's likely a very small number, and those weirdos can get a 3rd-party splitter for that. That would mean including EarPods with a Lightning connector which I don't think is a big deal. 2) The other is BT headphones. This could, of course, mean including BT headphones with every iPhone, but perhaps the cost would be low enough to warrant that. The changing would likely still be via the Lightning port, or USB-C, or the mini-USB-C I mentioned as BT headphones are typically small enough that typical USB-C is a little too big and Lightning is on the cusp. This would also allow playback via the new headphone jack so it wouldn't always have to be BT. That said, I would still think that it's not the most likely avenue for Apple. The other benefit of use a USB data capable port — which includes Lightning — is that sensors in the ear phones can help with various biometrics, especially with exercise. This is technically possible with the 4-posiion 3.5mm jack Apple uses, but that's very limited, so I'd think Apple's patents on this would need a USB data capable port of BT to make this feasible.
[quote name="wizard69" url="/t/188422/apple-prepares-for-thinner-iphones-with-slim-headphone-plug-patent#post_2780403"]Not exactly something I would want to see in an iPhone. If you are hell bent on going to something non standard you might as well go with a thin flat design similar to Lightening. Further Apple will have to work real hard to make such a connector an industry standard, people are pretty emotional about head phones.[/quote]I agree, the world doesn't need or want another proprietary connector. Anyway how much thinner do smartphones need to get? It ultimately just makes them uncomfortable to hold with poorer battery life. Only selfish designers obsessed with thinness want this, not most other people.
[quote name="1983" url="/t/188422/apple-prepares-for-thinner-iphones-with-slim-headphone-plug-patent#post_2780409"]It ultimately just makes them more difficult to hold with poorer battery life. Only selfish designers obsessed with thinness want this not most other people.[/quote] You're saying the iPhone 6-series has poorer battery life despite being thinner than previous iPhones? I can show you a list where that is not even close to being true.