My cheap headphone jack-less iPhone mockup
It’s been widely reported that the iPhone 7 is destined to ditch the dated headphone jack in favor of wireless audio solutions and a Lightning adapter for wired headphones and speakers, and now internal iOS software code seems to all but confirm the rumor. Jailbreaker @kyoufujibaya claims to have discovered a reference to ‘Headphones.have.%sinput.NO.’ within the latest iOS 9.3 beta 1.1 software release, which would appear to be related to the transition from 3.5 mm headphones to alternative solutions on iPhones. The same jailbreaker also has another interesting discovery based on the iPhone’s codebase …
While unconfirmed, my first guess is that the headphone reference could be existing code that lets iOS know if external speakers are connected or disconnected as iOS 9 uses this status for certain Proactive features and much more, although it’s interesting to consider in the context of the iPhone 7 likely losing the current port.
The same jailbreaker shared a purported discovery a few weeks back referencing Li-Fi technology being used with iOS, which suggests Apple could be testing the new technology for future iPhones and iPads. Specifically, @kyoufujibaya recently tweeted a screenshot of the iOS 9.1 codebase highlighting ‘LiFiCapability’ while suggesting the tech could be in testing for the iPhone 7 later this year.
For the uninitiated like myself, here’s an explainer on what exactly Li-Fi technology does:
Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) is a bidirectional, high speed and fully networked wireless communication technology similar to Wi-Fi. The term was coined by Harald Haas[1] and is a form of visible light communication and a subset of optical wireless communications (OWC) and could be a complement to RF communication (Wi-Fi or Cellular network), or even a replacement in contexts of data broadcasting. It is so far measured to be about 100 times faster than some Wi-Fi implementations, reaching speeds of 224 gigabits per second.[2]
It is wireless and uses visible light communication or infra-red and near ultraviolet (instead of radio frequency waves) spectrum, part of optical wireless communications technology, which carries much more information, and has been proposed as a solution to the RF-bandwidth limitations.[3]
As Apple relies on wireless technology in favor of thick, dust-collecting ports, the move to headphone jack-less iPhones with Li-Fi speed connectivity doesn’t seem surprising in the least. Wireless transfer 100x that of Wi-Fi would make for an excellent iPhone keynote slide someday.
As for the new iPhone 7 going headphone jack-less, Mark Gurman has reported that Apple through Beats is developing a new set of truly wireless earbuds that can be charged via their protective carrying case, which in turn gets recharged, that will debut before or around the same time as the new iPhone hardware.
And 9to5Mac readers seem overwhelmingly in favor of Apple moving beyond the headphone jack for what it’s worth. My colleague Ben Lovejoy wrote his take on the likely move last month, agreeing that it’s likely destined for the iPhone 7 and no later than the iPhone 8. And now there’s faster Li-Fi to possibly look forward to as well … I wonder how this potential change could improve AirPlay?
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Too early. Li-Fi won’t make it to your iPhone until 2017.
Okay with me, it’d take me till 2017 to stop saying Wi-Fi anyway.
“Headphones.have.%sinput.NO.” could also just be a reference to whether or not the particular pair of headphones that are connected have an integrated mic, no?
For example, if I place a call when I have my Apple-supplied iPhone earbuds plugged in to my phone, it uses the mic in the earbuds. When I have a set of plain old headphones (with no mic in the cable) plugged in, it uses the mic in the phone.
Yep, I’m no developer but I mentioned the possibility after the fold.
I agree, there is likely another explanation for this. I wouldn’t expect code for an eliminated port to be in iOS until the second or third beta of the next version of iOS.
This reference is likely a key to a message that would be displayed to the user in that user’s language. The “%sinput” is a placeholder for a string parameter. Most likely this message would be something like “These headphones do not have a microphone”.
Not saying the 7 will have a 3.5 jack or won’t, but this doesn’t look like evidence to me.
I don’t understand what Li-Fi has to do with the removal of the headphone jack.
How would a wireless, light-based communication technology work to connect headphones to a phone in your pocket, bag, or frequently moving hand?
Has Li-Fi been used in any consumer products to date?
Not necessarily related. Just two potential future iPhone leaks discovered in the codebase by the same source.
In case someone thinks otherwise, Li-Fi will never replace the Wi-Fi network, it will complement it instead. Li-Fi requires line of sight, which means you must be in the same room as the Li-Fi transmitter and you must point the device to it.
Altho, Li-Fi can be used to replace wiring between rooms and floors instead while connecting the endpoints to Wi-Fi routers instead.
“Li-Fi … would make for an excellent iPhone keynote slide presentation”
Only, as soon as they turn off the lights so everyone can see the screen it stops working! It’s an interesting tech, but not practical.
Ignorant question, but what are the line of sight and range limitations. 100x would be wicked cool though.
When will the sim card tray get the boot?
This year. My speculation based on the headphone jack removal and the leaked display backlight that was purportedly for the iPhone 7, is that the logic board will be moved to the left of the device, and the battery will be moved to the right, and therefore the SIM will be gone, as it would be over the logic board and they aren’t moving that to the other side of the device, because it would be a weird design change and it would be lower than it is on the device, due to the volume buttons.
My reasoning for the battery and logic board swapping positions is due to the fact that the display and backlight driver ribbons are located on the far opposite side of the leaked backlight part, in comparison to the backlight of the iPhone 6S and previous models. Currently, the ribbons lie right beside the camera models in the iPhones, however, I believe they don’t want the ribbons there on the iPhone 7, because I speculate that the iPhone 7 will house a dual-array camera system, and therefore, the ribbons would be in the way of the second camera sensor, thus, they need to move to the other side of the phone now. With the removal of the headphone jack, and SIM card, they can easily make that switch. This might also mean that the speaker will now be where the headphone jack currently is, instead of the bottom right side.
Not to be dense, but wouldn’t “LiFi” more likely be co-opted by Apple as a PR term for “Lightning Fidelity”, to describe some yet unannounced higher-bitrate audio feature that would hinge on headphones being connected via the Lightning connector? Injecting “Li-Fi”, a whole ‘nother technology, is just over thinking this.
My guess? When Apple yanks the 3.5mm port, they’re going to make a big hoodoo about it. There ALWAYS HAS to be an upside with Apple. One way will be to PR that the Lightning connector, with all of its SUPER MAGIC UNICORN POWER, will support higher bitrate digital audio, which will SOUND SO GREAT! (Of course, that’s mostly bullshit…analog is analog is analog. A 3.5mm analog audio jack doesn’t in any particular way muck up the audio path if electrically handled appropriately, beyond that it is common ground, highly susceptible to interference, and a terrible electrical interface…but folks with $8,000 bamboo cup earphones with cobalt drivers don’t seem to have been complaining up to this point about THAT.) And the “new” audio-over-Lightning will be labeled “LiFi”. Like HiFi–High Fidelity–but over LIGHTNING!
Sheesh.
The bigger question still remains: will Apple yank the DAC/amp from the iPhone and push the driving electronics into the headphones. If they DO, then there won’t be an inexpensive conversation dongle (Lightning-3.5mm). OTOH, without a DAC/amp, how do they drive the iPhone speakers? Or, do they go SUPER cheap there, and drive a mono speaker with an SoC-integrated ClassD speaker circuit.
“Like HiFi–High Fidelity–but over LIGHTNING!”
This seems more likely to me than using optical anything on a device that’s usually in your pocket.
How is 56% of respondents saying either “No,” “No, unless they include an adapter,” or “No, I want to kill Jony Ive” vs. 41% for “yes” equal “overwhelmingly in favor of Apple moving beyond the headphone jack”?
All well and good, as long as those wireless beasties do last more than a couple of hours (of playback) before needing a recharge.
I’m just plain tired of keeping tabs on what I need to not-forget charging before going to bed (or waking up realising that I forgot to charge X and Y so bummer, they’re not gonna make it through the day).
Right now I’d be more interested in hearing about AirDrop reaching outside the iOS/OSX ecosystem. Not every computer + smartphone I want to exchange data with runs these OSes. And as long as we keep lacking an iOS “Finder”, along with “interoperable” AirDrop, I’m keeping my flash drives very very handy.
That’s the point of a recharging case. It acts to store them because they are both separate entities, and recharge them without you thinking about it. The only thing necessary to do is remember to charge the case which shouldn’t be that much of a burden on your poor soul.
Also, no headphones need to last longer than 4hrs on a single charge, because 99.9% of people don’t listen to music for more than 1-2hrs at a time, and 99.9% of films are less than 4hrs in length.
No but some of us talk on the phone for well over 4 hours a dsy
Talking with Bluetooth earbuds will never be a thing people do much of. It’s socially disliked by almost everyone.
For your alternative AirDrop needs, there is an app called Weafo that does just that. It allows the transfer of any files to any device using the share extension. It even allows transfer of files from computer to iOS device.
it would be totally awesome if they could build light energy cells into the screen that could charge the battery while the phone is on the desk… this would be true wireless…
Not to sure on Li-Fi….it seems fairly limited at the mo
As for the headphone jack.. i wont miss it… i have bluetooth headphones and speakers — plus i now have the apple tv to stream to… i havent used the headphone jack for over a year now.
Am I the only one that finds switching wireless (Bluetooth) pairing between devices to be cumbersome and flaky? I can barely get my phone to switch reliably between me car stereo and home speaker. I dread the idea of a wireless headset that needs to jump between an phone and computer. There is something wonderfully simple and reliable about hew irked headsets.
Am I the only one that remembers IR networking built into laptops 10-15 years ago? It’s was flaky as hell… I know LiFI is amazing in the lab, but I’m doubtful it has any use on a mobile device for several years.
Am I the only one wondering if the “new case material” will finally be an application of Liquid Metal?
I really hope the rumours are wrong about the headphone jack – really, why on earth would you remove it? This is such a non-problem. Don’t make the device thinner and start including a battery life of a day under normal use for a start. Who cares about the thickness? Leave it alone and focus on proper battery live for once. No battery improvements really since iPhone 3G? tired of apple focusing on these non-features.. used 3D touch maybe twice