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Intel wants to eliminate 3.5 mm headphone jack like rumored iPhone 7, suggests USB-C as replacement

Apple is widely rumored to be dropping the 3.5 mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7, instead favouring wireless Bluetooth or the Lightning port for connecting headphones. Intel is also keen to eliminate the 100 year old 3.5 mm jack, citing ‘industry singling a strong desire to move from analog to digital’ (via AnandTech).

However, Intel is pushing USB-C as the future of headphone audio cables. Intel believes USB-C will win out over 3.5mm as it has many modern-day benefits including the potential to add additional smart features to headphones in the future, that can pass data down the same USB-C cable.

For instance, future headphone earpieces may want to measure inner-ear temperature for fitness tracking. Sending this kind of information over the typical analog cable would not be feasible but USB-C could handle it just fine along with the music.

Accommodating USB-C components is also smaller than the internals needed for a 3.5 mm headphone jack which is a big issue as devices like phones continue to get smaller. Manufacturers have to be careful in current smartphone designs to shield the 3.5mm analog port from interference — a digital cable would not need such affordances.

USB-C already supports analog audio transfer through sideband pins simplifying the engineering steps necessary to swap 3.5mm with USB-C in device designs. Intel is also finalizing a USB-C standard for digital audio transfer, due in the second quarter. The protocol includes features like automatic device discovery and the ability to update headphones via software with new functionality over time.

Intel says that such a transition may make digital headphones more expensive, as the headsets will have to include amplifiers and DACs, but scale will offset the early costs over time.

How Intel’s plan and Apple’s product strategy coalesce is not clear, as it seems unlikely that Apple will add USB-C ports to its iOS devices anytime soon.

Perhaps Intel’s USB-C standards will be the answer for Apple’s Mac line. Right now, the ‘one port’ Retina MacBook still includes an analog headphone jack. The removal of the 3.5mm jack on the iPhone may lead Apple to remove the port on its Macs too, in favor of USB-C.

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Comments

  1. giuseppe9000 - 8 years ago

    I would punch in the face the man who first had that idiotic idea

    • xp87 - 8 years ago

      Do you still use floppy disks too? Not all new things are a scam.

      There’s a reason your Mac doesn’t have an RCA composite analog video out jack too.

      Fun fact, the 1/8″ headphone jack we use is just a scaled down version of the 1/4″ jack which was invented for use by switchboard operators 100 years ago. It has been pushed to the most absurd breaking point at this point — Apple has added multiple rings on the side so it can also be a microphone and have multiple buttons. Of course the proprietary nature of these hacks mean you can’t buy a “standard” headset with all those features – Android makers do those differently, so the headsets come in “android” and “Apple” versions. A USB-C based signaling standard would benefit everyone

  2. applegetridofsimandjack - 8 years ago

    The jack port should have been killed years ago. I haven’t used the jack port since the one in my iPhone 3GS. I have been using bluetooth headphones since. I know many people still use the jack port but we still have the lightning port that we can use. And bluetooth too.

    One company needs to take initiative and give old technologies the boot. Apple did it with the optical drive, hard drives with moving parts, USB ports on Macbook, and now it’s the jack port’s turn.

    People will hate Apple for this but they will later admire and understand that decision. Just as they did with the Macbook Air which didn’t have an optical drive, etc.

    • Doesn’t apple still use mechanical drives?

      I am all for dumping multiple connector formats for 1 universal format.

      However, if that is the case, computers like the MacBook, really need to have more than 1 port.

      • applegetridofsimandjack - 8 years ago

        On the older machines yes. And on the retina iMac. But on the newest products they don’t

      • xp87 - 8 years ago

        The 12″ MacBook is the very first computer with that feature. Do you really believe Apple is going to not include more? First of all, it’s obviously for size reasons, and the 3.5″ headphone jack’s elimination would actually make room for the second USB-C port in that same form factor. Except instead of having only one possible use like the jack, the extra C port would have infinite flexibility. Secondly, the tiniest model is always going to have fewer ports than larger ones. It’s not for everyone. Some should just wait for a larger one which will have room for more ports. But you might be surprised. My girlfriend’s got one, and it’s literally never been an issue for her. The battery lasts all day so she only charges when not in use. The occasional flash drive is all she plugs in. This would actually be true for at least half the consumer market. Even people who plug in most of the time, most wouldn’t be that put out to go on battery power when using an external drive. Everything else is usually just networked these days. I haven’t used a USB printer in a decade. It’s only people who sit at a desk all day, and need to connect monitors and keyboards, while also being plugged in. Those are the ones who right now need to either buy a still-kinda-pricey USB-C hub with power features (IIRC there’s one on Amazon under $100 though, right?) or wait for a device with more ports. I hope the 2nd-gen 12″ swaps the jack for a second USB-C, but would also be happy with a 14″ or something. Mostly I just want i7-level performance ;)

    • o0smoothies0o - 8 years ago

      Yeah, it’s too bad others are holding them back on getting rid of the SIM card. How sad is it that there is still an ejection tray to put a physical SIM card into on smartphones.

      • taoprophet420 - 8 years ago

        The 9.7″ iPad Pro has an eSIM, so maybe the iPhone 7 will have eSIMs too. It will be a long battle with carriers to get them to drop physical SIM cards. Also they are countries like China that won’t let Apple send iPhones and iPads with Apple SIMs.

      • applegetridofsimandjack - 8 years ago

        Exactly. I hate the sim card tray. But I once read Apple has been trying to get rid of it since 2012. But they can’t because of regulatory issues in many countries. So it’s the governments that need to agree on doing this.

      • While the 9.7″ iPad Pro does have an eSIM, it does still have a SIM tray for other carriers such as Verizon. Plus for there to be an only eSim device, all carriers would have to accept eSIM capabilities.

      • xp87 - 8 years ago

        First we have to be able to outlaw slimy companies like AT&T who are now PERMANENTLY LOCKING their customers’ Apple SIMs, both the replaceable and the internal kind. (The euphemism they use is “dedicating”). Fucking ridiculous. Imagine buying an unlocked phone for close to $1000, using it on AT&T once, and having them tell you they decided you should only be able to use it on their carrier forever. That’s what they did to the iPad – but the only thing is that the iPad has a physical sim slot too, so you have another option.

        We have come a long way with phone locking legislation, requiring carriers to unlock phones when you don’t owe them any money. I am very concerned that they’re going to claim that a phone with only an onboard, non-replaceable e-SIM is “unlocked” even when the carrier has locked its SIM. We need the FCC to declare that locking of any kind of SIMs in an unlocked phone is illegal, and locking of e-sims in a subsidized/leased phone is subject to the exact same unlocking requirements as phone locking is.

  3. Robert - 8 years ago

    The future iPhone port should be the new female MagSafe type design (as in patent descriptions). This design could allow multiple port adapters to connect and some could finish fit flush with the phone casing, so you could snap in a Lightning port or take it out and snap in something else. The design is also waterproof.

  4. Neil Billingham - 8 years ago

    3.5 mm Jack – it just works :)

    • taoprophet420 - 8 years ago

      It’s also form 1875.

      • The premise is from 1875, the implementation is current. Fire is from hundreds of thousands of years ago. Still works. The wheel? Thousands of years old – should we replace those with cubes?

        Change the size, and unlike a wheel, maybe even the shape, but don’t get rid of the ability to move an analog signal from the DAC inside the phone to a driver on the outside.

      • Robert Cain (@cain2003) - 8 years ago

        Stupid comment system wouldn’t let me respond to Bruno… but… that argument is self contradicting. Argues that we shouldn’t dismiss the 3.5 jack just because its old, then offers up “the wheel”. “The Wheel” has evolved greatly from from simple concept to the airless tire. Its not such a simple concept. so the concept of the audio jack also can evolve from a analog jack to a wireless connection. Times change.

        I do wish Apple would open up the lightening plug for other manufactures. IMHO would be a much better solution than USB-C, if updated to support 3.1.

        Just to be clear. Nothing in this statement was meant in anger or in any way hostile. I say that to clarify. Election season is in full swing here in the US and people seem to be getting angry over the simplest of statements. Just a humble onion from a fellow idiot.

      • taoprophet420 - 8 years ago

        &robert You have to go to the post to comment, I have had no luck posting from the Notification Center lately. I have lost track over how many replies I have written and not posted l, because I did so using the Notification Center.

        The problem with the lightning cable is Apple having the authentication chips and driving the costs up. The MFI program
        Currently sucks and is why I would prefer USB-C over lightning.

        On Brini and the wheel. I wrote a reply that didn’t post. Saying he must also wanted to keep the steam engine or not wanted electronic fuel injection added to the internal combustion engine. The phone jack was meant for phone call relay boards, not high fidelity audio or headphones.

  5. taoprophet420 - 8 years ago

    Put a port on the iPhone that supports both USB-C and lightning.

    I really hope Apple goes with USB-C. I have no trust in the MFI program and think having lighting headphones would mean small availability of headphones and higher prices. AirPlay,iBeacons,HomeKit devices, and Healkit devices have all been slow to market.

    Look how long manufacturers have been able to make lighting headphones under MFI and yet they are just a couple of headphones in the market with lightning.

    At least Apple had prototype iPhones 7 with USB-C. The only way lightning cables would not be a disaster is to change the MFI program.

  6. Ilko Sarafski - 8 years ago

    Okay, the industry is leaning towards USB-C and hopefully towards the unification of standards. It would be cool if Apple hop on the train and just ditch the jack and replace it with USB-C. But as we already know, Apple is a stubborn and may not consider such action. However, ditching the jack for just Lightning would still appeal many of us, me including. We’ll need to wait and see. I have 6S and I’ll wait for the 2017 iPhone, so I am pretty sure I won’t see any jack from that point on.

  7. Neil Billingham - 8 years ago

    Just wondering; has anyone gone with just a USB-C connector and dumped the jack? Just wondering if anyone’s had the nerve to do it yet.

  8. caydjj - 8 years ago

    This really bugs me. I’ll admit there are a ton of benefits, but analog audio will always sound better in my ears compared to digital audio.

    • Audio in your ears is now and will forever be analog. Nothing will change in that respect. Audio may suffer is the DAC inside the headphones is of lesser quality than the one inside the iPhone. And in many cases it will be, and in some cases, $$$$$$, it won’t be.

  9. José F. - 8 years ago

    I’m on it! Kill the thing already

  10. The major downside to this would be the ability for Apple and other device makers to restrict headphones to be certified by them, giving them a cut of profits on something they have had no bite of before. Assuming they go the digital route at least. As device makers go digital it also may hurt support for things like FM radio reception in portable devices. My only hope is they take the opportunity to offer support for higher audio quality (24/96 or 24/192).

  11. Scott (@ScooterComputer) - 8 years ago

    Might should be noted that the new double-sided Lightning connector in the iPad Pro 12″ could easily support these same standards, and the current single-sided Lightning connector should be able to support the analog audio mode.

  12. This is like instead of deciding to make tires out of different materials, they should instead be made a different shape, like oval.

    Audio is analog. Audio will always be analog. Signal transmission and audio recordings may be digital, but the actual sound? Analog. At some point you’re going to need a DAC. So moving to a digital connector is only moving the conversion of the digital bitstream from one device to another device. From a device that’s high end and potentially specialized, to another that’s probably going to be low end.

    Imagine a high end AV receiver or pre-procesor/pre-amp. Instead of simple copper from the amplifier to the speaker or to the power amp, let’s replace that with a digital connection. Now let’s stop using the high-end processing and digital to analog conversion of the receiver/pre-pro and instead duplicate all that functionality in every speaker. Oh, and let’s also put an amplifier inside every speaker to drive it and also ignore the ones in the receiver or the discrete one(s) already part of our setup.

    And we can’t forget to add power supplies and power cables for every speaker now too so the DAC and amps can be driven.

    It’s like a cart pushing a horse. Just plain stupid. Almost as stupid as the idiots commenting in applause for the loss of the 3.5mm analog jack.

  13. pdixon1986 - 8 years ago

    already you have bluetooth headphones that can be used via usb… i think having bluetooth headphone with a wired usb-c option is perfectly acceptable…

    of course many new phones are shipping with usb-c…new laptops are adding usb-c… sadly apple will probably stick to their lightning on the iphone just to be awkward :-(

  14. The connector doesn’t matter. Lightning and USB-C will both deliver analog output. Otherwise, what comes out of your headphones would be indecipherable.

  15. Lucious Lee - 7 years ago

    Great post, but how where we find usb-c headphones factory to use in our new smartphone, maybe this article could give you an opinion: https://usbcproduct.com/2017/09/02/hardly-find-usb-c-headphones-factory-china-supplier/

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Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.