A Japanese tech site has suggested that the Apple iPhone 7 will not include a headphone jack. Apparently, the removal of the jack is part of an effort to further slim down the upcoming device; although the rumour suggest that the this would only result in a device that is 1mm thinner than the current model.
Apple introduced the specifications for Lightning-based headphones back in June 2014 through the MFi program; which allowed manufacturers in Apple to create headphones that connect to iOS devices via Lightning cables rather than regular 3.5mm headphone jacks.
This wouldn’t be the first time that a manufacturer ditched the headphone jack in an effort to reduce the thickness of a smartphone. Oppo experimented with this last year with the Oppo R5; and raised a lot of eyebrows in the process. The R5 wasn’t a flop by any standards, considering the proliferation of Bluetooth enable headphones. It could be that Apple has seen the same trend, and is moving on it. The acquisition of Beats could easily fuel the requirement for Bluetooth headphones as well.
Whether Apple would implement such a radical change to its flagship product is questionable; although it is certainly possible. The most recent Macbook only ships with a single USB Type-C connector, which sets a precedent for the minimalist approach to ports. This really could be the start of a very interesting trend.
[Source: Mac Otakara (translated)]
