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Lightning headphones

11 'Lightning headphones' stories September 2014 - July 2016
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Deutsche Bank claims iPhone 7 will ship with Lighting-to-3.5mm dongle, not Lightning EarPods

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 22 2016 - 5:39 am PT
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A Deutsche Bank research note based on supply-chain sources claims that Apple will sell the iPhone 7 with a Lightning-to-audio dongle, rather than providing Lightning headphones, reports Business Insider.

It also suggests that the iPhone 7 Plus will have 3GB of RAM. All of the note’s other predictions echo things we’ve heard many times before: similar design to the 6s; dual cameras on the Plus, improved camera on the standard model; better sound, possibly stereo; better waterproofing; and a touch-sensitive Home button.

Supply-chain sources aren’t always the most reliable source of information on Apple’s plans, as Tim Cook himself has observed, and there are a couple of reasons to treat this report with some suspicion …


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Apple supports the average port for 15 years; the headphone socket is at 32 years

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jun 30 2016 - 5:13 am PT
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Many are viewing the expected removal of the headphone socket from the iPhone 7 as a radical move, even by a company noted for its readiness to abandon what it considers to be legacy ports. But a fascinating chart put together by The Verge (below) suggests that perhaps it’s not so radical after all.

It shows that Apple typically supports a port, or I/O standard, for around 15 years. The headphone socket has been in every Apple product since 1984 – some 32 years. Given that Apple has supported it for twice as long as most everything else, perhaps we shouldn’t be quite so surprised …


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Cirrus Logic announces dev kit for building Apple’s MFi Lightning headphones ahead of iPhone 7

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 29 2016 - 8:40 am PT
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Cirrus Logic MFi

Cirrus Logic today announced a new development kit that makes it easy for companies to develop headphones using Apple’s Lightning connector. The announcement comes ahead of Apple’s next-generation iPhone 7 this fall which is expected to remove the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack for the first time.


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Chinese accessory maker shows prototype 3.5mm aux jack-to-Lightning dongles ready for iPhone 7

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 31 2016 - 4:51 am PT
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With the iPhone 7 (or whatever Apple calls it) looking increasingly likely to lose the 3.5mm headphone socket, Chinese accessory makers are gearing up to meet demand from those who don’t want to replace their existing headphones. Macotakara spotted a couple of Chinese companies who are already advertising 3.5mm-to-Lightning adapters.

It’s unlikely these are real products yet, especially as one claims to be MFi-certified. They are more likely dummies or prototypes, perhaps created for submission for MFi status. Also pictured below are some smaller Lightning adapters and earbuds though probably not the ones Apple intends to bundle with the next iPhone.


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Apple applies for patent on headphones that switch smoothly between wired & wireless modes

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Apr 21 2016 - 4:14 am PT
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With Apple widely believed to be planning to drop the headphone socket in the iPhone 7 in favor of Lightning-connected and wireless headphones, a patent application published today describes how a single set of headphones could switch smoothly between wired and wireless modes without any interruption of playback.

There’s of course nothing new in headphones that support both wired and wireless use – many Bluetooth headphones come supplied with a plug-in audio cable that allow them to fall back to wired use if they run low on battery power or you just want the higher quality a wired connection typically delivers.

But switching between wired and wireless use typically has a couple of issues, and Apple’s patent aims to solve both of them …


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Over 200,000 people petition Apple to abandon rumored plans to ditch the 3.5mm headphone socket

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jan 8 2016 - 6:04 am PT
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Reports that Apple plans to ditch the 3.5mm headphone socket on the iPhone 7 in favor of Lightning headphones have been growing in number, and a recent poll found that 70% of you expect Apple to go this route. However, it appears some 200,000 people aren’t very happy about it.

A somewhat hysterically-worded petition calling for Apple to retain the 3.5mm socket had attracted some 204,000 signatures at the time of writing. The opening paragraph sets the tone …

Apple is about to rip off every one of its customers. Again.

Apple introduced MFi specs for Lightning headphones last year, and a few models are already available. The latest report, from Fast Company, suggests that Apple will also be introducing noise-cancelling technology, which it will be encouraging third-party headphone makers to adopt.

High-resolution audio once more rumored to be coming to iTunes, maybe to Apple Music

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Dec 21 2015 - 4:09 am PT
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sony

Japanese blog Macotakara claims that Apple is planning better-than-CD quality audio for iTunes at some point in 2016.

According to several insiders familiar with Apple, whose products are exhibited at Portable Audio Festival, Apple has been developing hi-res audio streaming up to 96kHz/24-bit in 2016.

By way of comparison, CDs offer 44kHz/16-bit. The sources cited appear to be manufacturers making Lightning-based headphones, which would support the hi-res format. It should be noted, however, that Apple has been sourcing at least some of its music at 96kHz/24-bit for many years …


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Apple adds third-party Lightning headphones to online store (at a cool $800)

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Dec 9 2015 - 5:14 am PT
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If you’re looking for a pair of headphones with a Lightning connector, either because you want better quality or for future-proofing, there aren’t yet many options out there. Apple has now added one option to its online store – but they’re not cheap at $799.99.

The Audeze EL-8 Titanium Closed-Back Headphones are the real deal, however. An audiophile brand whose headphones more typically run into four figures, the EL-8 gets you a 28-bit DAC and the company’s planar magnetic driver – four times larger than most other headphones – borrowed from its high-end LCD Series. Industrial design is by BMW.

Apple describes the driver as offering “exceptional transient response and extended bass—virtually flat to 25Hz—along with the lowest Total Harmonic Distortion.”

As an aside, Apple really needs to sort out the accessory sections of the store: you get different results depending on whether you browse headphones within Mac or iPhone categories, with no discernible logic behind the differences (you don’t get lighter or smaller headphones within iPhone, for example).

Via The Verge

Opinion: Will future iPhones lose the 3.5mm headphone socket? What will Apple do instead?

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Dec 2 2015 - 8:22 am PT
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iphone

Apple has consistently worked at making the iPhone ever slimmer, and has been willing to make compromises to achieve that, most notably in battery-life. But with the iPhone 6 and 6s, it is close to the limit on how slim an iPhone can be – and the reason for that is the oldest piece of tech in the phone. The iPhone 6/6s is not very much thicker than the diameter of the 3.5mm headphone jack.

3-5mm

The latest iPod touch shows that Apple has a little more room for manoeuvre (above photo Anandtech, below iFixit).

ifixit

But really not much. If Apple wants to continue the iPhone’s diet, at some point very soon it’s going to have to ditch the 3.5mm headphone socket in favor of an alternative. There are four possible options open to it … 
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Apple will brief MFi accessory makers on HomeKit, Lightning headphones, iBeacon & game controllers next week

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Nov 4 2014 - 7:04 am PT
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Apple’s annual MFi summit, an event for accessory manufacturers in its Made-for-iPhone/iPad/iPod licensing program, will focus on getting accessory makers ready for new technologies including HomeKit hardware, iBeacon, Apple’s new Lightning headphones spec, and game controllers, according to Apple’s official event schedule.
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