Here’s Why Apple Will Kill the Headphone Jack

Rumors have persisted that Apple will be dumping the headphone jack starting with the upcoming iPhone 7, and those rumors are only getting stronger as time goes by. To the technological layman, the idea of getting rid of a headphone jack must seem insane, especially with Apple pushing Apple Music so hard. However, when you walk into an electronics store and see that JBL, Philips, and Beats are all selling headphones with Lightning connectors, it all starts to make sense.

Proprietary is the word of the day, as it often is with Apple. Apple likes to do things their way, because they like to control user experience, and by nixing the traditional headphone jack they are effectively stopping their users from listening to Apple Music with a crappy $10 pair of ear buds they bought from some third-party seller on Amazon. If users want to use wired headphones with their Apple products, they’ll have to pick up Apple-sanctioned Lightning headphones from one of a handful of manufacturers, whom with Apple will surely work.

There are other benefits for Apple. Getting rid of the headphone jack will give them more physical room within the phone, or they can use that extra space to make the phone smaller. Then there’s the money, too, as Apple can charge licensing fees to any manufacturers who want to make Lightning headphones.

Of course, once/if this does happen, expect to see a lot of 3.5mm-to-Lightning adapters popping up everywhere. Users can also use Bluetooth headsets in lieu of Lightning ones. These options may even help Apple in the long run, because they can make the case that Lightning headphones aren’t mandatory, just really convienent.

This is what Apple does and this is how they lock people in their ecosystem. It’s smart business. Who’s going to want to switch to Android after purchasing a $200 pair of Lightning headphones?