If Google and Apple both came out and said 'this is the future of audio' and showed a USB3 connection to some nice Grado or Sennheisers, i'd be all ears.

Instead I suspect Apple as usual will say 'these are your new headphones' with a crappy pair of earbuds that cost eleventy gillion pounds, and we'll all retreat back to not giving a toss.

Apple are ace sometimes - I love my Macbook Pro, but smartphones are at a point where my girlfriend (an Apple fan) is considering moving to Android after seeing my Nexus 6p. Apple don't have the weight in the industry they used to have.

Basically -

1. Headphones need to be USB3, with 2 ports available. 2. Standard protocol, with all the bit and sample rates. 3. DRM is fine, but it's optional 4. Spec is open, but well defined so manufacturers, even cheap ones, can join in.