14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve known for a while that Apple plans to remove the headphone jack on the next iPhone, and a video that has gotten leaked earlier today seems to confirm that the company is indeed aiming for an all-purpose Lightning connector for the 2016 model.
Basically, what Apple is planning to do is remove the headphone jack and offer just a single Lightning connector that would be used for charging, data transfers, and listening to music. But the biggest question is “why is Apple planning to get rid of the 3.5mm port?”
Previous reports indicated that Apple was considering the removal of the headphone port because it wanted the iPhone 7 to be thinner, and getting rid of the old-school module was the easiest way to do that. And yet, what we’re hearing is that the iPhone 7 will be just 1mm thinner than the current 6s model, so it’s pretty clear that this isn’t the reason.
A bigger battery on the iPhone 7?
On the other hand, there are also sources suggesting that the removal of the headphone jack allows for a bigger battery, and this indeed makes more sense. It’s believed that the next iPhone with a 4.7-inch screen could feature a 1,960 mAh battery, up from 1,715 mAh on the current generation, so by removing the headphone jack, Apple could get more room for a bigger battery.
The only problem with this plan is that users will no longer be able to listen to music and charge their iPhones at the same time since the one and only port will be used for everything.
Most likely, the company will come up with a new set of EarPods right in the box with a Lightning connector, so no adapter will be provided. An adapter doesn’t seem the kind of thing that Apple would offer right in the box, but such accessories could be sold separately for those who want to use their old headphones with the iPhone 7.
What's also important to note in this leak is that the iPhone seems to have the silent/ring button, despite rumors that Apple might get rid of this feature. Fortunately, the toggle button appears to be there, so hopefully it won't be removed, as other leaks suggested.
We’ll find out more about the device in September when Apple is expected to take the wraps off the device, so for the moment, put this report in the rumors category.
