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When I get my new iPhone 7, with the included Lightning EarPods, how will I be able to connect them to my brand new MacBook with Retina display?
Is there an adapter that converts USB-C to Lightning, or the 3.5mm headphone jack to Lightning?
BT is certainly a reasonable option. it is like listening to a record player though. I likely will go all BT with an iPhone 7, but this whole controversy could have been avoided iPod nano all versions, as small as they are, found a way to have both connectors.
The real issue is that it isn't a simple adapter. The audio output of a female lightning connector is digital. The digital to analog converter is in the male connector on the earpods. So an adapter would have to convert analog to digital for the EarPods to convert back.
tex_tech_monk wrote:
BT is certainly a reasonable option. it is like listening to a record player though.
I have no idea what that means. There is a large group of people who think vinyl is superior to digital recording. For most people, listening to steaming music or standard digital files in the sorts of environments most people use cell phones, BT headsets are more that adequate. Better headsets would not, under those conditions, yield significantly better sound quality.
No one here can change what is. No one here is allowed to speculate on why Apple did what they did or on what they will do in the future. All we can do is make you aware of the options that are available. It's up to you to chose the one that makes the most sense to you.
Best of luck.
"For most people, listening to steaming music or standard digital files in the sorts of environments most people use cell phones, BT headsets are more that adequate." - is absolutely the operative phrase. they are not for me, in most cases.
I meant with records, you do have to worry about scratches pops, etc. no matter what. though indeed I enjoy an all analog experience. I also invest in expensive DACs and amps for my iOS devices. And you left out the part where I said, indeed, I will likely go BT -- but that does not mean I'd satisfied or like it. - it only makes the most sense, because of Apples poor choices (pushing the DAC into headphones is a terrible decision). luckily, one of my DAC's is bluetooth streamable, and has good 3.5mm and 1/4 Jacks.
I highly doubt this is true because I can take any old pair of headphones with a 3.5mm jack which needs an analog signal, plug them into apple's supplied adapter and then plug into the female lightning port on my phone and they work just fine. Or are you saying there is a digital to analog converter in the adapter? but a similar adapter going the other way could not have an analog to digital converter?
A google search answered half my question: there is indeed a DAC in the lightning adapter and the headphones.
And I suppose that requires power through the lightning port, which a 3.5mm headphone jack doesn't provide, and so an adapter that seems so simple and yet missing, isn't so simple after all.
There are 3 microcircuits in every MFI lightning plug. One of them is a D to A converter. I'm sure it would be possible to create a Lightning jack with an A to D converter, but what is the incentive? How many would you sell, considering that most people already have dozens of 3.5 mm earpods and other types of earphones kicking around? And considering that most people have disdain for Apple's EarPods? I've never used one, and I had an original iPod, so I've been in the Apple audio world for a heck of a long time.
It could be quite simple, in that Apple could allow an analogue signal, via a special 3.5mm to Lightning adapter, to inform the Lightning circuitry to bypass the DAC and send the analogue signal straight to the headphones (the 3.5mm jack supplies enough power to do that). This would be the easiest way to do it. However, assuming Apple doesn't want to implement that protocol for Lightning, a third party could produce a re-chargeable adapter that provides the necessary power for a built-in ADC (which would be kind of silly to then just convert it back again, and it would have to power the headphone's DAC as well). Of course a USB to Lightning adapter would be self powered, but again, Apple has to introduce the protocol to Lightning as well. So far it seems Apple has no interest in supporting Lighting for headphones and other audio devices beyond the native compatibility with iOS.
It's not for use with Apple's EarPods (though I'd much rather carry around an adapter to use them on other devices, than another set of earbuds), it's for high end Lightning headphone's like the Audeze Sine, so as not to have to carry around more than one pair of headphones. There was a potentially large high-end Lightning headphone market, but that seems to have cooled considerably since Apple has not provided the tools to use them on anything but iOS devices.
Maybe my work experience is unique, but I don't think so. Most everyone around me at work has apple earbuds. Sometimes I have my headphones plugged into my phone, and sometimes I need to listen to a video or conference call on my computer. Currently I solve this with 2 sets of earbuds, but just because headphones are necessary enough in our open office configuration that I always carry a backup pair in case I forget them someplace. Still, Apple has a reputation for being meticulous with the details and making the user experience trouble-free, but they missed on this one.
An alternative is to carry just standard 3.5 mm EarPods and the included 3.5 mm to Lightning adapter. Use the adapter with the iPhone and straight with your computer. You need an adapter in either case; why does it matter where you put the adapter?
Preference really. I prefer to use the new headphones that came with my new phone, and I prefer to not have to use an adapter if I don't have to. Your solution requires me to use my old headphones and an adapter most of the time. Apple has said that the 3.5mm jack is old technology, and while that is true, technology fades away when it becomes obsolete. It becomes obsolete when there is a better solution. Apple has most definitely not succeeded in making the 3.5mm jack obsolete. Floppy drives got replaced by CD-roms, which got replaced by USB drives, but the new technology became prevalent, before the old one disappeared. Having lived with lightning headphones for a while now, and not having them be universally useful, I can tell you they most certainly are not better than a 3.5mm plug, and are not going to hasten the demise of the 3.5mm plug.
We have different approaches. I've rarely used any plug-in listing device. I have several Bluetooth headsets, and recently got AirPods. They are the most convenient I have used; the same listening device can be used with multiple sources, including my 2 computers, iPhone and iPad, and it switches between them very easily.
That is a bit of revisionist history, if you go back and read trade magazines each time Apple made radical changes Mr. Jobs would say it was his job to show people what they needed, not follow what they asked for and the trades would say he was doomed to fail. In no way was the replacement readily present, others followed. It is really too soon to tell about the 3.5" plug but some other phone makers have already left it out of their newer models and several companies have Lightning compatible headphones.
But I'm with Lawrence, I have several pair of Bluetooth headphones of various type and cost and I also have the AirPods.
Architor wrote:
Having lived with lightning headphones for a while now, and not having them be universally useful, I can tell you they most certainly are not better than a 3.5mm plug, and are not going to hasten the demise of the 3.5mm plug.
BlueTooth has already done that.
How Can I Use My Lightning Headphones With My New MacBook?
