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Apple releases $35 bi-directional Lightning to 3.5mm Audio Cable

Apple has quietly added a Lightning to 3.5mm bi-directional audio cable to its online Apple Store, a $35 accessory that can be used with the just-launched AirPods Max.

Surfacing in the online Apple Store on Tuesday and appearing as a recommended item when ordering the AirPods Max, the Lightning to 3.5mm Audio Cable is a fairly straightforward product. Measuring 1.2 meters (3.9 foot) in length, the cable has a 3.5mm headphone jack on one end, and a Lightning connector on the other.

Apple advises it can be used to connect the AirPods Max and Beats Solo Pro headphones to 3.5mm audio sources, which would enable the personal audio accessories to work with hardware that doesn't offer wireless connectivity. It would also make the AirPods Max usable with the headphone jacks supplied in modern airplane seats, an industry that doesn't like passengers using wireless connectivity in general.

The cable can also be used for other purposes, including connecting an iPhone or iPad to an audio-in port on a home stereo or a vehicle, again if there isn't network or wireless connectivity. As a bi-directional cable, it can be used with both audio-in and audio-out ports, and so can be potentially used to record audio to iOS devices.

Available in black or white options, the Lightning to 3.5mm Audio Cable is priced at $35.



28 Comments

Monstieur 6 Years · 8 comments

This isn't new. It's existed since the Beats Solo Pro and is cheaper on Amazon.

seankill 15 Years · 566 comments

Is it me or is Apple getting ridiculous with their prices? 

razorpit 17 Years · 1793 comments

seankill said:
Is it me or is Apple getting ridiculous with their prices? 

At a minimum you have at least one other person that agrees with you.

williamlondon 14 Years · 1426 comments

razorpit said:
seankill said:
Is it me or is Apple getting ridiculous with their prices? 
At a minimum you have at least one other person that agrees with you.

And it's such a joy for the rest of us when you all come into the forums to express that same repeated and stale sentiment over and over. ;-)

Just like being back home at MacRumors 10 years ago, oh the nostalgia.

crowley 15 Years · 10431 comments

And you'll still need to use a dongle for a wired connection to an iPhone because it doesn't have a 3.5mm jack, and there's no Lightning to Lightning cable available.

Lightning needs to go away already.