Apple killed the headphone jack in 2016, when the iPhone 7 phones were the first models to ship without the old audio port. The Cupertino-based company was the only one to receive consistent criticism from fans and rivals, even though it wasn’t the first company to do it.
Since then, a bunch of Android vendors followed Apple’s lead, including Google last fall, which mocked the move a year earlier. Apple’s 2017 iPhones all shipped without a headphone jack, and the same can be said about this year’s model. But this may be the first year when Apple doesn’t include a 3.5mm adapter in the box — but there’s no reason to panic.
A Cowen research note seen by Apple Insider now claims that Cirrus Logic’s guidance for its fiscal second quarter “all but confirms that Apple will not bundle the DAC headset converter ‘dongle’ in its new iPhone models.”
The note says that the dongle will be bundled with the older models, just not the 2018 iPhones.
Cirrus happens to make the DAC chips inside the Apple dongle. And Apple contributes 76% to Cirrus bottom line, according to the note, so the prediction seems plausible. In fact, Barclays made a similar claim back in April.
When Apple killed the jack, it offered users three fixes. First of all, the EarPods in the iPhone box came with Lightning support, as audio was routed to the versatile Lightning port. Secondly, Apple packed a Lightning-to-3.5mm audio adapter in the box so owners of expensive headsets could still use their gear with the new iPhones. And third, Apple launched the AirPods, wireless headphones that turned out to be incredibly popular with consumers.
Going forward, it’s not surprising to see Apple remove the adapter from the iPhone box. In the two years that past since Apple killed the jack, the world has gotten used to the fact that the 3.5mm port is slowly being phased out. Not to mention that we’ve seen a plethora of wireless headphones launched alongside the iPhone. And that’s because many Android device makers also ditched the aging port.
In case you still want to use your old headphones with a 2018 iPhone, the chances are that you’re still going to find dongles in Apple stores and elsewhere, retailing for just $9. So there’s no reason to panic if you can’t find one in the iPhone box.
