Cheapskate Apple Stops Bundling 3.5mm Dongles With Older iPhones, Would Rather You Pay $9
Apple is amplifying its war against the 3.5mm audio jack by no longer including an adapter with its older iPhone models. Now if you purchase an iPhone 7 or later and want to use your existing set of headphones with a 3.5mm jack, you'll need to purchase a Lighting-to-3.5mm dongle separately, priced at $9 if buying directly from Apple.
In case you haven't followed the situation, here's a recap. Apple sparked a bit of controversy in 2016 when it released its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models, both of which arrived to the scene without a 3.5mm audio jack. However, the company did include an adapter so that users could continue using their wired headphones, if they wanted do.
A dongle is not ideal, obviously, but it's better than nothing at all. Or it was better. Fast forward to today and Apple has apparently decided that its newest iPhone models—iPhone Xs Max, iPhone Xs, and iPhone Xr—don't need to come with a dongle. Apple has been grooming users for this moment for the past two years.
Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis confirmed the removal of the dongle from the newest iPhone models with Cirrus Logic, an audio chip suppler that also supplies the dongle to Apple. However, a visit to Apple's website shows that it's no longer being included with older iPhone models, either.
"While CRUS did admit the dongle was out in current generations, it’s an additional negative that they are also removing the dongle from the older products," Curtis wrote in a note to investors.
While this disappointing news, Apple is not the only company that is looking to leave the 3.5mm jack in the dust. OnePlus decided not to include one on its OnePlus 6T even though the company mocked the trend just a few months ago, and even Intel has gone on record promoting USB-C as a better alternative.
As it pertains to Apple, those $9 dongles add up, especially now that they're not being included with any of its iPhone models.
