Malcolm Owen
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.
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
28 Comments
This isn't new. It's existed since the Beats Solo Pro and is cheaper on Amazon.
Is it me or is Apple getting ridiculous with their prices?
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.