Roger Fingas
Accessory maker Belkin on Tuesday launched a straightforward 3.5mm-to-Lightning audio cable, offering a way for owners of recent iPhones to connect to 3.5-millimeter headphones and speakers.
The MFi-certified cable converts digital signals to analog, and is available in 3- and 6-foot versions. It's intended for the iPhone 7, 8, and X, which would otherwise require adapter dongles. Apple began stripping out headphone jacks with the iPhone 7, preferring Lightning and Bluetooth instead.
Online orders are now open. The 3-foot cable is $29.99, and the 6-foot version is $34.99.
It's uncertain whether or not Apple will include a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter with this year's iPhones. Removal has so far been speculative, but might also make sense, since it costs the company extra and iPhone buyers will have had two years to go wireless or get needed adapters and cables.
At the same time, 3.5-millimeter jacks remain an audio industry standard, even still on many Apple products with lesser space and waterproofing constraints like Macs, iPads, and Beats headphones.
Christine McKee
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20 Comments
Maybe just me but I’d imagine people who now have one of these phones without the jack have already went wireless.
“… offering a way for owners of recent iPhones to connect to 3.5-millimeter headphones and speakers”
The photo shows a cable with a lightning connector on one end and a male 3.5mm jack on the other end. Wouldn’t you need a female 3.5mm jack to plug your headphones into?
If we could get even remotely acceptable audio quality from bluetooth, then this wouldn't have been such a big deal. But no one has yet supplied a high quality wireless audio solution, despite the fact that I can get 250 megabits/second WiFi across my house... Who will stand up and make a real wireless audio standard? One with lossless audio, effortless sharing of channels across multiple headphones, and none of this "pairing" stuff?
In any case, thank you Belkin. It's appreciated. But for me, I need the adapter that includes charging, 'cause I don't have a wireless charging pad in my car yet. Nonetheless, for short uses, it's a life saver. You can finally change a pair of quality headphones into lightning headphones.