I've thought of couple of good outcomes of Apple removing the headphone jack:

1. Wireless headphones will be developed much more

2. They will be available for better prices as competitors starts to compete. At this time most of the wireless headphones are quite expensive.

3. Quality over wireless will now become a priority.

But I don't support this decision and will stick with my Xperia Z5.

I've been using Bluetooth headphones for years, much better than constantly being corded to my phone.

*but* it's nice when batteries run low, or if I'm connecting to old speakers to have the option of a cord....

@phantomDuckling I've never used a bluetooth headphone for quality reasons. Not saying there's no good bluetooth headphones but they are almost always overpriced. I am hoping the price distance will go down soon

i did not see the actual keynotes, do you know if the new iphone headphones use a generic protocol (i.e. bluetooth) or an ad-hoc setup?

@tahnik I'm not an audiophile, but Bluetooth headphones are easily on par / better than the average earbuds / headphones you see most people wandering around with. Yes corded has potential for higher quality, (currently) but only if you buy high quality headphones....

I own JBL's BT headphones. I don't think the sound quality is bad. Its really good but I don't see why you need to loot users for everything.

@EpIcInCoGnItO because apple, that's why.

@cors It's like they love creating new products just to loot users. Accessories are like a method to mint more and more.

@phantomDuckling Yeah I am talking about high quality headphones. Price difference is a lot when it comes to high quality ones

I personally own a pair of wireless Beats and while I'm no music snob I think they sound as good as any wired headphones I've tried so far

@xroad I tried wired beats for a while and found them to be lacking a lot of quality. Personal preferences I guess.

@tahnik yes they are expensive, fair point.

@EpIcInCoGnItO Yeah even in new macs they removed the USB port just to add a $99 accessory. Their phones were already bending so not sure why they want to make it thinner

@tahnik actually I correct myself. I found a pair of wired Sonys that were distinctly better. Only reason I know that is because we did a blind test with a number of headphones and that one came out on top.

Beats are still pretty decent IMO. Although I'd never buy it at full price myself

@xroad Yeah I am using a Sony headphone which got the best headphone award from http://www.whathifi.com/. The quality of this thing is amazing. Equipped with Sony Z5 it works really well.

@tahnik nailed it

Has anyone seen the video where some dude takes a pair of Beats apart? The only reason they feel weighty and premium is the hefty weights they put inside every set!

@linux-colonel Give this man a cookie. I second that.

The cord isn't going away; it's just being replaced by a patented port, so you have to buy your earbuds from Apple if you lose or destroy the ones they include. They are also including an adapter, which means that they had second thoughts after the phones were already in production.

@xinuxunil the official adapter only costs $9. It doesn't seem like they are after money at that price point.

And don't forget that the iPhone is not even the first device to nix the 3.5mm port. The Moto was...a popular Android phone.

Just about every decision that Apple makes that people complain about ends up actually being good in the log run. For example, not letting Flash and Java run natively on iOS. People thought it was the end of the world for years. When in reality, they were just killing off stuff that should have died years earlier. Thus forcing us to use newer technology rather than lazily sticking to the mess that we had grown used to.

Why the heck is "less cables" a bad thing to strive for...?

I believe that they could have made something actually innovative.Like instead of removing the Jack , make a wired-detachable kind of stuff where you can attach the wire to your headphones and it becomes wired.Atleast one wouldn't have to cry everytime one loses the left side air pods.

3⅓ years later:

1. yes
2. somewhat
3. still shitty

3 1/2 years later. The port on my iPhone X is getting wonky after over two years of use, but the rest of the phone works well. BT technology has improved, and only the most sensitive audiophiles would notice any difference in quality. I’ve decided on the Lypertek Tevi, because it has good user ratings, and is lightweight, with graphene drivers. Need to be able to listen to my music on my hikes without it cutting out because the socket is no longer snug, with too much wiggle.