It’d be funny as hell for Apple to now not kill the headphone jack

According to every hot-take on the Internet Apple is about to kill the headphone jack.

And just as we saw with tablets and watches, competitors are now trying to beat Apple to market with headphone jack-free phones. Right…

Lenovo today announced a Moto Z without a jack. I swear there was also an OPPO phone announced without one recently, but maybe I’m mistaken.

Now, look, I’m not gonna say the rumours are wrong. Mark Gurmann is probably already using a headphone-free iPhone knowing his luck. But jeez, how funny would it be if Apple were to just keep the headphone jack in the iPhone 7.

Instead of competing with Apple with a feature iPhone users actually pine for, battery life, Android phone manufacturers are instead trying to beat the iPhone with thin phones that ditch the jack. It’s kind of insane. Gutsy, maybe stupid, but totally insane.

As Engadget also points out, this change, as well as costing consumers money in the form of new headphones, while removing the ability to play and charge your phone, also means that:

With the switch to USB-C (or Lightning) for headphones, your phone’s DAC and amp (it’ll still need one for the speaker) are being bypassed. That means this all-important component will now reside inside either the adapter (for your existing cans) or the headphones themselves (for USB-C or Lightning headsets).

It wouldn’t be the first time Apple fed outlets rumours for their own gain, and it’d be even more funny for Apple, the smartphone market leader, to head into 2017 with a phone that still contains that vital little jack, even if the Apple Watch already ditched the 3.5mm jack.

Or maybe they’re just as gutsy, maybe stupid, and totally insane.

Photo: Engadget