The announcement of the iPhone 7 has caused an uproar among Apple’s loyal consumers, more than any iPhone ever. Still, with many new features and specs, pre-orders have already sold out even though customers won’t even have the new phones until November.
The reason behind all the talk is Apple’s outrageous decision to remove the headphone jack on their iPhone 7 and 7 plus models. This removal was rumored to occur on the new phone a few months ago from a source in Japan, but many shrugged it off as it seemed almost impossible for them to remove something so essential to one of the phone’s primary functions.
Apple claims to have removed the port to provide the phone with better water resistance and to implement their new wireless Bluetooth earbuds. But what’s conflicting about that is the fact Samsung has had waterproof phones in their last 3 Galaxy models and all have a standard headphone jack.
We all know the true reason Apple removed the headphone jack: to make headphones for iPhones proprietary to Apple unless they are Bluetooth enabled. In order to use any third party headphones with a traditional headphone jack, you must go out of your way to purchase their Apple brand headphone to lighting adapter which they will overcharge you $40 for in order to use your headphones.
Now, I love Apple. I have multiple devices and was just as excited as the next to find out the new features of the iPhone 7. But I find it ridiculous that they got rid of the headphone jack for the stupid reasons they claim, especially when they aren’t even legitimate.
A few years back, I was lucky enough to buy a nice pair of Beats headphones. To give you a little background, Beats headphones can range from $99-$399 and are well known for their great sound quality. So, I’ve already spent over $200 on headphones, and now if I’m going to go buy a brand new iPhone 7, that’s going to be another $700 for a phone that doesn’t even have the capability to support my expensive headphones anymore.
On top of that, there is currently no form of audio to lightning cord capability so if you wanted to play music through your car stereo, you won’t be able to unless your car in enabled with Bluetooth, a new feature not many cars have.
A huge portion of Apple’s consumers are teenagers and young adults who won’t have cars with Bluetooth capability and they full well know that. They know you will only have the option, at first, to purchase their branded adapters and cords until third parties release more affordable options.
Apple does stunts like this to prove to the market that they are new and innovative, just like when they were heavily criticized for removing the CD rom drive from MacBooks many years ago. The reality is that as ridiculous as it was to remove the headphone jack, people don’t care.
The pre-orders already sold out even though the trending topic on twitter the day of the keynote was Apple’s arrogant decision to remove the headphone jack. Even die-hard Apple fans like me are upset but the odds are I will eventually end up getting that phone and they know that. Apple knows they can make a huge decision like this and that their consumers are so loyal they will buy the phone anyway, even if they hate the design and complain about it every day. They know that they can make a ton of money off of selling the new adapters that will be needed to accommodate third party headphones and audio systems.
From a marketing and financial standpoint, what they did might be genius. They are going to make a ton of money from removing something so substantial like the headphone jack; customers will need a solution for it not being there.
And from a loyal consumer perspective, the odds of us buying Apple are much higher than us switching regardless of complaints. Though I hate that they removed the headphone jack, when I am due for a new phone I will choose an iPhone 7 over something else.
