iPhone 7 Setback?

Earlier today, Apple unveiled the new iPhone 7 at an annual conference that took place in San Francisco. There are many improvements to the home button, the camera, and the battery, although there was also one major setback.

In its pursuit to make the next generation iPhone slimmer, Apple removed the traditional headphone jack. Instead, headphones will connect through the lightning adapter. Now, users will have to buy an adapter to be able to use existing headphones.

Although it does indeed shave 1mm off of the width, I do not believe that this change was necessary. It actually makes the new iPhone less appealing, because first of all, it means that you won’t be able to charge your phone while listening to music.

It’s a well-known fact that listening to music drains your phone, especially if you use apps like Spotify or listen through YouTube. Now, instead of listening indefinitely, iPhone users will have to choose between their personal enjoyment and their battery life.

Secondly, this means that everybody will need to get new headphones and transition over to the lightning adapter just to be able to listen to music on their phones. Say goodbye to that auxiliary cord in your car; you’ll need to buy a new one. You won’t be able to plug your phone into your stereo either.

The worst part of this transition is that people will need to switch between pairs of earphones if they use them for multiple devices, such as computers or tablets: One pair will be solely for the iPhone 7, while “traditional” headphones will be used for everything else.

Hopefully, Apple will either switch back to the headphone jack we’re used to, or companies like Windows, Google, and everybody else will switch over. Life is too short to worry about which headphones work with which device. It would be much better to listen to music in peace, even if it means that the phone will be 1mm thicker.