iPhone 3G Headphone Jack

Question

Level 1

0 points

iPhone 3G Headphone Jack

I was tickled when I heard the iPhone 3G had a normal jack. I assumed the 3G would be 2.5mm but was surprised when I tried my Plantronics wired headset which I had been using with a Belkin adapter on the orginal iphone and found the 3G to have a 3.5mm jack. I have tiny ears and find the inside the ear models uncomfortable, fall out, and are too clumsy to put on while your phone is ringing.

So here I was again, on the lookout for a wired headset with a microphone I could use with my new 3G. Then voila, I accidently found the answer. The Sony PSP over-the-ear headphones with microphones work with my 3G. Good thing because that PSP has been collecting dust since I became an iPhone user I think I still would like a single over-the-ear model just for the phone... but the cool thing about the PSP model is that you are ready for a call or to what the latest podcast.

HP, Windows Vista, Media Center

Posted on Jul 28, 2008 11:36 AM

Reply

Answer 1

KBeat

Level 3

800 points

Jul 28, 2008 11:47 AM in response to DonnaGeary

Yes, it's a bit confusing. 2.5 mm is the standard size for phone headsets, while 3.5 mm is the standard size for music. Obviously Apple felt people were more interested in headsets for music purposes than for phone. I guess they figured people would use bluetooth.

Reply

Answer 2

Jul 28, 2008 12:08 PM in response to KBeat

Actually, the 1st Gen also had 3.5 headpone size jacks --

The difference was that the original was recessed -- you couldn't fit anything with a bend into the slot and had to have straight headphone pins (like those on the earbuds that come with your phone).

The 3.5 has nothing to do with phones. The iPhone is first and foremost an iPod. It was designed with all iPod features intact including the 3.5 headphone jack. It's a phone built onto an iPod. 3.5 is the standard iPod (and most other mp3 player) headphone jack size.

Reply

Answer 3

KBeat

Level 3

800 points

Jul 28, 2008 12:12 PM in response to RonAnnArbor

RonAnnArbor wrote:
The iPhone is first and foremost an iPod.

Not sure I'd make that claim Ron. The name itself suggests that it is, if not first and foremost, just as equally a phone. But, I happen to agree with Apple's choice in this regard. People are going to be more interested in using quality music headsets with the iPhone than they are the standard phone headsets.

Reply

Answer 4

Jul 28, 2008 12:20 PM in response to KBeat

I think the iPhone is becoming more and more a phone -- but if you go back to their original advertising for the 1G - it was clearly marketed as an entertainment device that also functions as a phone. The exact same device, minus phone, is the Touch, and in 95 percent the same hardware.

It is only over the course of the last few months or so, that people have started looking at it more broadly as a phone...

Remember those original ads that had the guy saying "now I don't have to carry my iPod and my phone and my PDA, i can just have one device." ?

Reply