They do provide the lightening-to-jack adapter in the box for free.
https://sixcolors.com/post/2016/09/what-to-look-for-at-wedne...
The adapter that comes in the box is the proverbial drug dealer's "first one" that's always free.
Imagine getting a $4 royalty on every pair of iPhone-compatible headphones that's sold in the world. That's worth a lot of free adapters in the short run.
Just as a first-order estimate: Forbes says that annual worldwide sales of headphones are $300M. If the average price of headphones is around 20 bucks (taking into account there are a small number of very expensive headphones but also a lot of cheap ones, that's probably high), that's something in the neighborhood of 15M pairs sold per year. If half of those become Lightning-connector equipped, that's $30M/year in revenue (on costs of zero!) going to Apple.
The connector could make the phone substantially worse as a phone and it still might be worthwhile. There doesn't need to be a compelling technical reason.
[1]: http://www.forbes.com/sites/theopriestley/2016/01/11/apple-d...
The risks are so staggering that I would think they must genuinely believe that the jack connector is so technically obsolete that it makes the iPhone worse than the iPhone will be without it. I just can't fathom Tim Cook (or anyone) betting 100 billions for $30M/year. Of course I can be completely wrong.
[1] http://www.statista.com/statistics/263402/apples-iphone-reve...
Tim Cook's Apple is all about grabbing extra small amounts of cash from users. e.g MacBook being unable to use USB devices or HDMI displays without a $90 dongle
2- do you seriously think a company with a $515B market cap is doing this solely for the financial reason of adding a $30M/yr revenue stream? If Apple TV was considered "a hobby" for years the wired headphone market is... I don't even know. A momentary flash of color?
Can't the reason be exactly what Apple said? Wired headphones using an analog connection kind of suck. wired headphones with a smart connection are a little better because power and noise cancellation or other "smarts" don't have to all be bolted on to the earphones, but honestly still kind of crappy because of wires.
Clearly Apple thinks that wireless audio is the future but today wireless kind of sucks as well (pairing, moving between devices). Apple thinks it can make that better. So if in their view that is the future why would they waste energy and time and space on a 2nd dedicated IO port for audio?
When your[1] answer to a dongle problem is "add more dongles", you really need to rethink the situation.
1. The generic "you", not specifically you, Phillip.
Why does this matter? Because I can still have my phone's audio going to the car by way of an AUX cable.
There are lighter-plug Bluetooth receivers that have an analog out specifically for cars, I'll likely have to buy one of I end up getting the 7.
Edit: also in the car (I have an older car with just an AUX jack).
maybe they'll make a lightning hub/splitter so you can do both?
Hopefully with the improved power features of the new CPU, the amount of time when you want to simultaneously listen and charge is reduced.
(Sarcasm)
I use my headphones for:
-Listening to the environment while PC Gaming using a Windows PC
-Listening to records using my stereo
-Listening to music while working on my Macbook Pro
-Listening to music while being mobile w/ iPhone 6
-Listening to music while driving in my car (audio jack works faster with less interruptions then USB)
The big win of 3.3mm audio jack is they work with all these different systems and use-cases. There is nothing to lose, nothing to think about. Plug and Play. Dead simple. Dumb analog.
Now to fully cover all my uses cases I have 2 more things to carry around with me full time, and not lose. Not a simplification, buying a Nexus. Steve Jobs is dead.
