The decision to do away with the audio jack is uncalled for
By: Missy Arneson
Copy Editor
The iPhone 7 was released on Sept. seventh this year, and as with the vast majority of Apple products, the release was a big deal. Apple products are extremely popular: Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., recently announced that the billionth iPhone had been sold.
One of the new ‘features’ of the iPhone 7 is the lack of an audio jack. Headphones now share a port with the charger cable — and not even regular headphones. The 3.5 millimeter plug has been completely removed, so regular headphones now require an adaptor to be used.
And it just so happens that Apple is set to release wireless earbuds, which they’re calling AirPods, in late October. What are the odds?
Apple products have never been cheap — the original iPhone sold for $499 in 2007 for four gigabytes of memory, and the 4.7 inch iPhone 7 is selling for $649. With the removal of the separate headphone jack, iPhone users can either not be able to charge their phone and listen through headphones at the same time, or they can shell out another $159 for the AirPods.
This isn’t the only case of Apple charging for a quirk in their product. If the battery in an Android phone fails, a replacement can be purchased and installed by the person who owns the phone. If the battery in an iPhone fails and the warranty has expired, the phone will have to be sent to Apple to be replaced for a ‘small’ fee of $79. In comparison, a replacement battery for the Samsung Galaxy S5 can be purchased for about $15 on eBay.
But hey, the iPhone 7 is water resistant. Because withstanding a little splash — not long term or deep submersion, but the occasional dip in the sink — definitely makes up for the lack of a headphone jack. Listening to music on one’s phone is totally unimportant to young adults; no, we need to be able to put our phones in a fish tank without ruining them.
The removal of the headphone jack is absolutely ridiculous. It’s merely a ploy to get customers to spend more money on a product they don’t need. Most people who frequently use headphones already own a pair of headphones; they don’t want to spend more money on a redundant product. There will always be a market for the iPhone, no matter what changes. Over a billion iPhones have been sold — and there’s little chance of sales dropping. But changing important features without any reason to, change for the sake of change, is gimmicky and uncalled for.
