When the rumors of Apple killing the headphone jack first made headlines, many were incredulous especially considering how many audio products rely on the port. However it was not Apple who made the first move, and prior to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus being launched, companies like Motorola actually beat Apple to the punch.
Yet for some reason, Apple is taking all the flack for it. Some might argue it’s progressive, while others have ridiculed Apple’s decision, but whatever the case is, it is done and during an interview with John Paczkowski from BuzzFeed News, Apple’s SVP of hardware engineering Dan Riccio has defended the company’s decision for removing the headphone jack.
According to Riccio, “We’ve got this 50-year-old connector — just a hole filled with air — and it’s just sitting there taking up space, really valuable space.” He adds, “It was holding us back from a number of things we wanted to put into the iPhone. It was fighting for space with camera technologies and processors and battery life. And frankly, when there’s a better, modern solution available, it’s crazy to keep it around.”
During Apple’s presentation, they claimed that by using Lightning, it would in theory allow for better audio quality which we guess technically is true. However there are some such as Nilay Patel of The Verge who argued that this could lead to DRM audio which has been rather contentious since its inception.
We suppose only time will tell whether or not Apple made the right choice to remove the headphone jack on the iPhone, but for now it is clear that there are many who aren’t too thrilled about it.
