Apple’s iPhone launches are the biggest events in the tech world in so many ways each year. They generate the most excitement and hype, and of course they also generate the most sales by a staggering margin. In fact, Apple sells more new iPhones by the end of opening weekend than most smartphone models sell in a lifetime.
As big as Apple’s new iPhone launches are, there’s always a bit of “scandal” that accompanies them. And it looks like we already know what this year’s biggest gripe is going to be when the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus debut in September.
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Can you remember the last time we had an iPhone launch without a “gate” of some kind? Antennagate… Bendgate… Scuffgate… the list goes on and on. At this point an iPhone launch wouldn’t feel like an iPhone launch without some type of overblown complaint, and this year’s “gate” is shaping up to be a doozy.
Prepare yourself for Headphonegate. Actually, that seems a bit long. How about Jackgate?
According to numerous reports from sources with solid track records, Apple plans to remove the standard 1/8-inch headphone jack currently present on the iPhone and every other smartphone on the planet. You’ll still have options that will allow you to use your current headphones with the iPhone 7 — we explained some of them in this post — but those options won’t include simply plugging them into your phone.
Since the new iPhones seemingly won’t have a standard audio port, the company’s current EarPod headphones won’t work with them out of the box. In place of the current models, Apple will reportedly release new EarPods that utilize a Lightning connector instead of an 1/8th-inch audio plug. Now, a photo of Apple’s unreleased new EarPods may have leaked:
The source of the leaked photo is unclear, though it was posted to Twitter a few days ago by someone who seemingly found it on a Chinese website. It should be noted that photos like this can easily be faked; an example of a fake next-generation EarPods photo was posted later in that same Twitter thread.
People are always quick to get angry when Apple makes major changes to its product line. Remember the uproar when Apple moved from its old 30-pin connector to the new Lightning ports now used on all iOS devices? There will indeed be outrage if and when Apple does pull the plug on the 1/8th-inch audio plug, and then a few months later it will be like it never existed in the first place.
