Relax, Apple's not dumping the Lightning plug for its iOS devices (yet). 。
A report from。 9to5Mac 。stoked fears that Apple might once again switch to a new smaller, 8-pin "Ultra Accessory Port" (UAC) for iPhones and iPads after the company gave a preview of the new plug to accessory manufacturers.。
SEE ALSO:Why your iPhone battery meter sometimes goes haywire。SEE ALSO:Why your iPhone battery meter sometimes goes haywire 。 The plug, which has been confirmed by 。The Verge 。
to be the same 8-pin port used in Nikon cameras, is non-symmetrical and will be a part of Apple's "Made For iPhone" (MFi) program.。 But make no mistake: The UAC is not a port/plug Apple will force on users or accessory makers. Apple only added the 8-pin connector to the MFi program at the request accessory makers,ArsTechnica。
reports. Do not -- I repeat -- do not throw your Lightning cables away in a fit of rage. 。
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If you look at the smartphone landscape right now, you'll see it's an ugly mess for music listeners. Here are your wired headphone options:。
Lightning (iPhone 7/7 Plus (and presumably all future iOS devices) 。
USB-C (Moto Z, HTC U Ultra, and many new Android phones)。
3.5mm (Pretty much every phone)。
The problem is your wired Lightning headphones won't work with USB-C phones (and vice versa) and headphones with the trusty ol' 3.5mm jack won't work with either. Sure, you could get a dongle, like the one Apple includes with the iPhone 7, to convert headphones with a 3.5mm jack to Lightning, but that still doesn't solve the problem of all the different aforementioned conversions, of which there aren't any dongles for. 。
With UAC, headphone makers would get a solution that (sort of) fixes the problem. Instead of making headphones specifically for each type of port, companies would be able to make headphones with a female UAC port on the earcup. With UAC, a company like Bose or Beats can sell the same wired headphone model to all customers, simply subbing out the cable to make it compatible with a specific kind of device.。
It'll be up to individual manufacturers which cable to offer -- a male UAC-to-Lightning, UAC-to-USB-C, or UAC-to-3.5mm headphone jack -- or simply offer all three, so users can switch devices easily. That would be especially useful to users who often switch between a phone and laptop or PC, which still tend to offer 3.5mm jack connectors for audio.。
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