Alleged 'iPhone 7' cable suggests Apple could include 3.5mm headphone jack after all

*alleged 

The sad thing is that all this rage is based on rumor alone. IF the 3.5mm jack remains the enraged crowd will claim victory over Apple. And all because of a rumor. Sad.

Other than "ALLEGED" size, there is no reason to get rid of the 3.5mm jack.  All headphones, all speakers are analog devices.  They are simple motor windings that move a diaphragm either up or down; depending upon current flow and the displacement is based upon the amount of the current.  If Apple went digital, all they would be doing is moving the D/A converter from the phone, to the speaker - simply moving the conversion a matter of a foot or two would do ZERO to the fidelity of the music.  I would say that the fidelity of the music would be more affected by the overall quality of the D/A converter, and the quality of the Power Supply that would power the D/A converter.

Odds are that the Quality of the D/A converter in a vast majority of headphones, would be inferior to the quality of the D/A converter and power supply found in your common cell phone.  Why?  Well, for starters your cell phone has a pretty nice microprocessor and a pretty robust battery.  There is a huge quality in your cell phone, and the price drop found in mass production cannot be discounted - when compared to the individual costs that would be passed on to the consumer among the multitudes of headphone suppliers - who will all use their own brand of D/A converters and other cost savings in power supplies - in order to maximize profits.  The odds are that unless you spend an inordinate amount of money, you will be worse off with a USB-C headphone, than you are with a decent quality 3.5mm headphone.

hodar said:

Other than "ALLEGED" size, there is no reason to get rid of the 3.5mm jack.  All headphones, all speakers are analog devices.  They are simple motor windings that move a diaphragm either up or down; depending upon current flow and the displacement is based upon the amount of the current.  If Apple went digital, all they would be doing is moving the D/A converter from the phone, to the speaker - simply moving the conversion a matter of a foot or two would do ZERO to the fidelity of the music.  I would say that the fidelity of the music would be more affected by the overall quality of the D/A converter, and the quality of the Power Supply that would power the D/A converter.

Odds are that the Quality of the D/A converter in a vast majority of headphones, would be inferior to the quality of the D/A converter and power supply found in your common cell phone.  Why?  Well, for starters your cell phone has a pretty nice microprocessor and a pretty robust battery.  There is a huge quality in your cell phone, and the price drop found in mass production cannot be discounted - when compared to the individual costs that would be passed on to the consumer among the multitudes of headphone suppliers - who will all use their own brand of D/A converters and other cost savings in power supplies - in order to maximize profits.  The odds are that unless you spend an inordinate amount of money, you will be worse off with a USB-C headphone, than you are with a decent quality 3.5mm headphone.

"No reason" to get rid of the headphone jack? You mean other than the fact that less holes in the phone mean better sealing from water and dust right? Or what about the fact that it is an old technology that eventually will fade out. There are other reasons too, but to say no reason is extremely ignorant. 

I never trust a plethora!