Apple's 2018 iPhones Will Reportedly Give Up The 3.5mm Dongle Life

Many smartphone fans out there have a favorite set of headphones that they use on-the-go for listening to music. For most people, that favored set of headphones has a 3.5mm plug and needs to be plugged in for use. Apple, on the other hand, has been trying to steer iPhone users away from wired headphones for several years.

That fact was never more obvious than when it did away with the integrated 3.5mm headphone port. While the integrated port might have disappeared, Apple has been offering Lightning to 3.5mm adapters in the box with its iPhones. A new research note that originated with a Barclays analyst has said that the 2018 iPhone will no longer come with the Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter in the box.

The removal of an included dongle was allegedly confirmed to Barclays by Cirrus Logic. Cirrus Logic reportedly makes the dongle for Apple, and the research note indicates, "Cirrus didn't update its FY19 guide… but they did finally confirm the dongle loss, adding more support for our below estimates."

The headphone dongle first appeared with iPhones starting with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in 2016. The main issue that fans of wired headphones had was that if they wanted to use the dongle to listen to music, they couldn’t charge their device at the same time. The only bright spot in that dongle-filled picture was that Apple gave the dongle to users at no cost. People looking forward to the 2018 iPhone models will need to shell out $9 for the dongle or bring one with them from a previous device. The only other option is to upgrade to Bluetooth headphones and skip dongles altogether.

There have been plenty of iPhone rumors churning about over the last several months. In late July alleged images of the iPhone X Plus and the LCD iPhone were leaked. Rumors have also suggested that the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone for 2018 will use full active display tech with extremely thin bezels.