The Apple iPhone 7 will allegedly be 1mm thinner than the current model, which means that the Cupertino-based company has to do some adjustments to be able to go with that sleek form factor for its new generation mobile offering.
To do this, Japan-based publication Mac Otakara claims that the tech giant is ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack altogether for an all-in-one Lightning connector, which will be compatible with Lightning-equipped and even Bluetooth headphones.
For a while now, Apple has been finding ways to substitute the 3.5mm jack as its devices get slimmer and the company's search may have already produced some fruits.
In order for this to work on the Apple iPhone 7, Apple is also apparently releasing earpods with a digital-to-analog converter ready. Mac Rumors adds that this will also allow backwards compatibility with standard 3.5mmwired headphones, though a Lightning adapter will still be needed.
It isn't mentioned if Apple will also put out such as soon as the iPhone 7 launch but Apple Insider believes that either way, third-party manufacturers will most likely adapt to another pioneering change by the Cupertino tech giant. This modification, however, isn't a big of a surprise.
Last year in the WWDC, where Apple conducted an event called "Designing Accessories for iOS and OS X," the company talked about the conversion of digital to analog, which it claimed will result in improved bandwidth and system controls access.
This technology should also eliminate the use of huge batteries while supplying power to other, more advanced headphone models. Apple has already made baby steps toward this with last year's MFi Program that allowed third-party companies to build headphones that connect an iOS device to a Lightning cable.
Meanwhile, Lightning audio isn't something unprecedented as Philips and JBL already have had the technology going since last year. This makes it more possible that the iPhone 7 will indeed mark the absence of the beloved 3.5mm headphone jack.
