Apple missed out on next-gen wireless headsets
They could have created a new standard for wireless before removing the headphone jack.
If you know what the iPhone is then you know that Apple’s new iteration of the most popular phone in the planet is due soon. You also probably know that this particular new model will not have a standard that every single other iPhone had, a headphone jack.
Yes, Apple, the most respected brand on the planet, decided to move the one product that makes up 60% of their income out of the 3.5mm standard for audio devices. Millions of such devices now will have to resort to adapters to be able to work with the new iPhone. I am seriously disappointed, and it is not because the iPhone will no longer have this particular port, but because Apple could have taken this opportunity to make themselves even more relevant than before.
Let’s take a look back in history for a minute to one other move like this one, the CD-drive. Apple’s MacBook Air was the first famous laptop to decide to get rid of the annoying and thick drive. Successful move? Hell yes; Apple turned out to drive the whole PC market to dive into making ultra-portable laptops that did not have said drive. After that the MacBook Pro followed. Again, really successful move. A new 13-inch laptop with a high-resolution screen that resorted on elegance and power instead of clinching to old technologies, and once again PC manufacturers scrambled to follow along and achieve the infamous “MacBook killer”. Finally, the iMac, once again taking the lead on what an AIO should be.
There are two things that I would like to note from the CD-drive move. One, this move was gradual. Apple didn’t do one event in which they announced that the entire Mac lineup would lose the CD-drive. The Air was first, then the Pro, and finally the iMac. Second, there was this thing called the USB drive. The Air had USB ports. The Pro had a CD drive and USB ports before the CD drive was dropped, same as the iMac. My point? There was a technology that was there to provide transition for users. No transition in standards is butter-smooth but it did avoid making it awful and painful.
This brings me back to the iPhone 7. I thing that Apple’s decision to dump the headphone jack is the right thing to do but I disagree and am really critical of how Apple decided to make this transition. I think that Apple missed a huge opportunity to pave the way for this transition themselves. Let me explain.
Alongside the iPhone 7 Apple introduced the Air Pods. I think they are awful looking and poorly designed, but what I found incredibly interesting was that W1 chipset inside the Air Pods. For me that changed everything. Why? Well that means that the Air Pods aren’t just standard Bluetooth earbuds, but they are specifically designed for the iPhone in terms of compatibility, functionality and features. I remember that on the keynote Phil Schiller said that just opening the Air Pods case will prompt the iPhone 7 to pair. That is just so much better that the annoying flow with standard Bluetooth devices.
So here’s my case: picture two years ago the launching keynote for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Brand new phones with brand new design. Imagine Phil Schiller announcing the Air Pods back then, with that W1 chipset and all those amazing features. But also imagine him saying “here is a list of all the audio partners that are onboard with our W1 chipset: Beats, Bose, JBL and many others”. Imagine as well a Audio Kit SDK made for developers to take advantage of wireless accessories containing Apple’s W1 chipset standard. Imagine applications launching features for such devices. Why would customers not make their new audio devices wireless? Imagine the iPhone 6 and 6S having both the headphone jack and the ability to connect to a plethora of 3rd party accessories that have this W1 Apple-made chipset.
Then imagine the iPhone 7 being released without the headphone jack. Jackpot.
Then Apple would have had their own standard out there in the market and available for 3rd party accessories before they got rid of the headphone jack. Then Apple would have millions of customers that already took advantage of these accessories that wouldn't care about losing said port and would be just fine using the adapter for those occasions when it is necessary. Then Apple would redefine what wireless accessories should be and how they should work.
But instead Apple missed out on this opportunity. Instead they just approached this in a really dry way. They just cut the headphone jack. Yeah there are Bluetooth accessories out there but they are just awful. Yeah there is the Lighting jack but a port on only one device can’t be a standard (also, charging the phone and listening to music is a no-go). So yes, Apple could have done much better than this. They didn’t make a mistake, they just missed a huge opportunity and the possibility to push wireless accessories even further. Now there will be a huge, massive drive for wireless accessories and phones that don’t have a headphone jack, but this new wave of wireless will have the same awful standard as they always have.
Apple has redefined the smartphone once again. The smartphone will soon enough be an electronic device without a headphone jack. But Apple forgot to redefine wireless accessories.
