Apple losing headphone jack on iPhones is not all that bad

Apple’s iPhone is usually the most hyped phone of year. Well, let me rephrase. The iPhone is usually the most hyped consumer technology product of the year. So rumours about every new version start to swirl months before its expected launch. This year, things have been a little more extreme as rumours about the iPhone 7 started leaking out almost immediately after the launch of the iPhone 6S.

While the usual churn of rumours suggest a faster iPhone with a better screen and camera and perhaps a new design, Apple is expected to make a sweeping change to the iPhone this year which has frightened a lot of people. Heck, it has led to an online petition being launched, which is crazy, especially when you consider that we’re talking about an unreleased product, which could be as long as ten months away from being available in the stores.

Grapevine suggests that Apple is going to get rid of the headphone jack in the next iPhone in order to make the phone slimmer than what it already is. This would mean that almost every headphone or earphone would be rendered useless.

And that’s a frightening thought for many. People are concerned that their expensive headphones from companies like Bose or Sennheiser would be rendered useless if Apple rids the iPhone of this port. These fears are not unfounded, but the situation is being blown out of proportion.

Critics claim that Apple is a benchmark for the industry, and it could trigger other companies like Samsung to follow suit. Many believe this would create usability hassles as Apple is expected to use a digital connection using the "Lightning" connector, which is used to charge the iPhone.

There could be instances in which you wouldn’t be able to charge the iPhone while listening to music. And there may be all kinds of other hassles.

But here’s the rub. If you haven’t realised, you aren’t supposed to be using your phone while it gets charged. The 3.5mm connector itself is ancient technology, which hasn’t evolved and frankly, doesn’t belong on a cutting edge device like the iPhone. The headphone jack was invented back in 1878 and yet in 2016, we’re using this connection technology for our most prized device.

It is strange that Apple hasn’t already banished the 3.5mm jack, because it has a history of doing so with other input and output interfaces - be it the floppy drive, the CD Rom, Firewire, and in the case of the new MacBook, the USB.

If Apple decides to do away with the headphone jack, chances are it will also push the envelope in terms of the quality of audio that comes out of the phone. In this connected world of streaming, we’ve forgotten the pleasures of a vinyl recording. I am not saying Apple will provide that kind of audio, but it could be a step in the right direction with a new type of technology powering the sound in the iPhone.

There’s already chatter which suggests that Apple is working on a new form of noise cancellation and new earpod earphones. The technology will progress and for the masses it will be a good thing in the long run.

It’s not like Apple wouldn’t come up with an adaptor for the few who use their own earphones. And at the core of it, it is a case of a few people being inconvenienced, because for most, Apple’s solution will be more than adequate.

It is also not like we’ve never used proprietary earphones. Till about 2010, we still had smartphones being sold in the market that came with proprietary earphones.

It’s a storm in a tea cup to be honest. It is a case of a few people being inconvenienced, but in the long-run it will be for the better. For the advancement of technology.

An adaptor will be there for sure in the case Apple goes ahead with banishing the headphone jack. It will be expensive, but for a person who can afford a Rs 60,000 iPhone and Rs 25 Bose headphone, it will be a minor price to pay.

On Twitter, I ran a poll on this and the results were 50-50, which shows that people really don’t know if this is a good or bad thing. Let’s trust Apple, the maker of our favourite gadgets, and then decide and not run a petition on the basis of a rumour.