As expected, the iPhone 7 removed the headphone port. I thought the explanation on stage yesterday was pretty good about why they did it. Although I wouldn’t have called it “courageous”. People at Apple have done courageous things. Removing the headphone port, however, does not raise to that level.
BuzzFeed got an exclusive interview with the Apple team where they address the removal of the headphone port more thoroughly and, in my mind, better.
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“The combined promise of sound quality, a steady Bluetooth connection, the battery life, the voice control, and ease of pairing across devices, all free of wires — if it all works, these things do seem to provide value an order of magnitude greater than even the priciest wired buds. But it’s also up to Apple to sell these things, to convince people that they want them. That’s harder, but not impossible.”
If you want to understand Apple’s argument (and spin) on this issue, I’d read the entire article. I do think including the adapter in the box was smart. It doesn’t solve all the problems (you still can’t simultaneously charge and listen to wired headphones) but it solves most of them. I’m starting to think the removal of the headphone port isn’t going to turn into the public blood-bath I originally thought it would.