For well over a year, in any case, even when I had my 6S Plus (I’ve now upgraded to the 8 Plus), I’ve had several portable Bluetooth receivers which I use with my many wired headphones, so while I did occasionally did plug straight into my iPhone’s headphone jack (particularly when demoing headphones at stores that allow you to plug in!), I have mostly used Bluetooth, both Bluetooth headphones and Bluetooth dongles with my wired headphones, with my iPhone for quite some time.

I’d trade a little more thickness to bring back that headphone jack, no doubt about it!

You’re welcome, Chris!

Now that I found you guys, and you Chris, I will be checking in often.
Count me in on wanting to hear your take on all things audio.

Oh, I agree with you 100%

Thanks for reading!

Thanks!

Check back every so often for more content! We won’t always be teeing off on Apple, but we live audio products ’round here.

I think this desire can be found in this year’s decision between the iPhone 8/8+ and the iPhone X. Objectively, is the iPhone X worth an extra $200 over the 8 for an edge to edge OLED, FaceID, dual camera setup, and extra GB RAM? Is there such innovation that merits the $1000 price tag (headphone jack excluded)? I’ve been reading comments in /r/iPhone, and while some are mature enough to acknowledge that it’s ridiculous, they’re convinced that there are Apple fans who will buy the iPhone X just because it’s the top of the line model. Remember the meme from several years ago? “I want the one with the most Gee-Bees.” It’s not that the consumer really needs it (some do); some may even have trouble affording it; but they’ll hand over the money to get what they want, including Airpods.

I’ll admit to being one of those kids that wanted things, and my parents refused (money reasons) but gave in once in a while. Partly spoiled. I look back on my younger myself and want to scold him because we really shouldn’t have bought those things (household income was $32,000 in the 1990s). But unfortunately, where there’s a will there’s a way, when it comes to childish desires – especially as adults who no longer have parents restricting them. So I know what it’s like.

I refuse to use iPhones for many reasons. I’m currently using an S8, which I got for $500 after successfully trading in a free Windows HTC Titan II phone from ages ago. $500 (after taxes) was over my initial budget of $350, but when the S7 never dropped again to that price, I gave into impatience as my current Moto X couldn’t keep up anymore after 3.5 years. Can I afford a $500-1000 phone? Absolutely. Should I? Not really. I could’ve gotten by with a $250 Sony Xperia. But I prioritized a fast camera, expandable storage, and more recent OS updates, and decided to spend more.

I think this is the similar kind of behavior that will push people to continue buying the iPhone even while being screwed over by them. The iPhone does have tangible pros, such as stable battery life without the need to troubleshoot and finding a rogue app. And it has its cons, such as cornering its users into dropping another $160 for Airpods. People will weigh their options. Some will move away from Apple, and some will continue down that path. But I have a feeling that the ones who aren’t happy with Apple are the ones refusing to buy the new iPhones out of principle, not out of financial inability.

Wireless headphone is actually an annoyance. You need to charge it, after some years the battery inside will not be able to hold charge anymore, you’ll need to buy a new $200 headphone, and that battery will pollute the environment. It was an unnecessary move, but sadly Apple needs more money. But I personally get very angry with some Android manufacturers who are taking away the headphone jack (HTC, XIAOMI..). Why? Like Apple, you guys are not into wireless headphone business, you are not earning money from this move, you are just making your competitor (Apple) rich with that move, and potentially loosing a lot of customers in the process who needs headphone jack.

I agreed with every point you made Christian, you were spot on on everything, and your article
presents the definite case for keeping the headphone jack and never buying a phone without it.