Major leaks have indefinitely confirmed that Apple will ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack from the brand new iPhone 7 and use the Lightning Port instead. The device may also be waterproof.
This move is made to produce an even thinner iPhone model and to drive users to wireless headphones. Aside from that, it is rumoured that Apple will introduce audio output profiles to compensate for the loss of this jack.
Another source also claims that Apple may be working to adapt the audio chipset in the iPhone to work with the Lightning port, which is used for charging. The chipset, which may also include a noise-cancelling technology, will be used to transmit sound to wired headphones.
With this, Apple may opt to sell noise-cancelling Lightning-connected headphones separately under its Beats brand.
Clearly, many iPhone lovers aren’t happy and over 200,000 people have now signed a petition, urging Apple to abandon their plans and keep the headphone port.
According to the petition, “There’s only one reason for this change: to leverage Apple’s market share in order to extract even more profit from its customers. With virtually no third-party manufacturers ready to fill the new market gap, Apple stands to make a killing.”
The petition also points out the tremendous environmental impart of such a change. “Not only will this force iPhone users to dole out additional cash to replace their hi-fi headphones, it will singlehandedly create mountains of electronic waste — that likely won’t get recycled. … According to the United Nations, up to 90% of the world’s electronic waste is illegally traded or dumped each year. We need to bring more care and attention to this growing issue — not aggravate it through reckless, profit-driven decisions that will deliver countless perfectly useable items straight to the landfill.”
If you wish, you can also sign the petition here.
