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Comment by jaytaylor | Hacker News Reader

No reintroduction of the headphone jack? Apple seems completely detached from the reality of what the trend setters actually desire.

Needlessly locking customers to Apple-only ecosystem of hardware since iPhone 7, Apple now signals clueless consumption rather than high-status to me.

Will be interesting to see what happens with the upcoming arrival of Pixel2.

Edit Why the downvotes? If you disagree I'd prefer (and be interested) to hear how I'm wrong, rather than drive-by downvotes with no communication.

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>Apple seems completely detached from the reality of what the trend setters actually desire

iPhone sales have been mostly fine, right? It's not like the removal of the headphone jack cratered sales or anything.

>Needlessly locking customers to Apple-only ecosystem of hardware since iPhone 7

Pretty sure non-Apple Bluetooth headsets work with the 7.

>Apple now signals clueless consumption rather than high-status to me

Anyone here with an iPhone might not like being called clueless; might have led to a downvote or two.

I'm an iPhone owner who downvoted, but honest truth if he'd been taking about Samsung I'd have downvoted. Uninformed bile like that has no place on HN. Passion, high standards, a critical attitude fine, but at least get the facts right.

> Apple seems completely detached from the reality of what the trend setters actually desire

I upvoted you, but the idea of techies being "trend setters" is a ship that sailed long ago. People know I'm a tech geek, and up until 2010 or so, they'd ask me advice about what to buy. Today, nobody asks. My wife actually berates me every time I try a non-Apple product.

1) if you have Bluetooth headphones, they just work. Any brand.

2) if you prefer wired headphones, they just work too using the contents of the box your phone came in.

Seriously, you act like Apple released a smartphone without a screen. Grow up!

Bluetooth headphones are far from being at a point where they "just work". Pairing, battery life, and comfort have a long way to go.

Try out the AirPods, all three of your issues are addressed. Sound quality still doesn't remotely rival my studio monitors, but I also wouldn't be caught walking down the street with them either. YMMV!

I find it remarkably difficult to actually get a pair of AirPods to try. Nobody wants to lend you theirs to stick in your ears to see if their comfortable or not, nobody I know or work with actually owns any.

I wrote them off immediately because they look identical to the pack-in iphone earbuds, and those are unbearably painful for me to wear.

> I find it remarkably difficult to actually get a pair of AirPods to try.

Guess you don't have an Apple Store nearby?

That said, if the regular Apple EarPods were as painful as you describe, then you'll hate the AirPods. They are almost identical fit wise.

I don't agree. I found EarPods very painful, and the AirPods were rough for about a day and then my ears got used to them.

They look very similar, but something about how their weighted changes the fit.

Thanks, that has restored my faith a bit. There's not an Apple store here within 2 hours drive, so I kinda have to go on word of mouth for now.

Apple has a great return policy, "they don't fit comfortably" seems like a very valid reason to return to me if you don't like them.

You can try them on at an apple store.

Or any of the Beats W1 enabled headphones...

Comfort? How does bluetooth affect headphone comfort?

And all the Apple ones with the W1 chip "just work" when pairing.

Shit, even the 20€ chinese Bluetooth FM transmitter in my car "just works".

With hanging battery packs and behind the head cables, comfort is still an issue.

I'm about to buy my third Apple Lighting to 3.5mm adapter since last September, so yes it "works", but I don't have to pretend that this flimsy junk is how it should be.

Why do't you just open a warranty claim and have Apple send you a new one? Takes about 60 seconds on the website or in the apple support app.

I can make a warranty claim for the original headphones (which did break within about 6 months of use) themselves online, and pay $33 until I send the broken ones back. As far as I know there's no online process for replacing the adapter. I could take it to the Apple Store and probably get either replaced at no upfront cost, but that's a two hour drive for me, and none of these options solve the problem of Apple selling accessories that aren't remotely reliable enough to justify their price tags.

I have no vested interest other than trying to be helpful, but this is the top rated adapter I saw on Amazon and it's less than $10 w/ prime: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074Z471T7

Added it to my cart, thanks!

Just FYI, they do not charge you the $33 unless they don't receive the original after 14 days or something like that. I've done this on my debit card several times, and no charges ever, and the minute fedex scans the return label I get an email from Apple saying the return is complete.

Replaced due to damage or due to loss?

Damage, generally either it stops working in the left or right channel, or it starts causing the phone to "receive" random pause, play, or long press signals.

Then you need to do as the other commenter suggested and send it in for warranty replacement. For things like that, I've never had a problem getting it replaced just by walking in the store. I'm pretty sure you don't even need to go in, but that was always easiest for me.

Yeah, like I mentioned in my other comment, it sucks to need to do that in the first place. The store is well out of the way for many people, myself included, and I shouldn't have to be okay with wasting my time and generating landfill just to do something as basic as plug a pair of headphones in.

You can use any Bluetooth headphones with the iPhone, it's not hardware lock-in.

I believe Android phones are starting to abandon the headphone jack as well.

They started years before Apple did.

Courage! In all seriousness, if you were expecting a reintroduction of the headphone jack, you might as well wait for them to reintroduce floppy disks. Apple only looks forward. That's just how they roll.

of course they would not reintroduce the headphone jack, Apple does not do such a thing. They just accept that they did it too early and sit it out.

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