[NA]Thinking about a new (Apple) phone[NA]

Let'sgoflying! said:
did so. Need adapter (adapters, in my case). Surprise.
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But still worth the upgrade to new SE in my experience. Compared to the cost of a battery replacement for my tiring 6. Speed improvement is noticeable also. Wireless charging is admittedly a bit of a gimmick, but it’s grown on me.
Need multiple adapters? - Lightning to 3mm....what else?
 
odd that Apple does not offer one adapters when checking out.
May be non-OEM adapters. Perhaps one that allows charging, and audio out, at same time?
 
SoonerAviator said:
Unless you want audio and charging at the same time . . .
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Still only need one.

shopping
 
Apple is doing this to push people into wireless headphones - they don’t care about adapters.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Unless you want audio and charging at the same time . . .
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It has wireless charging.

Also, the 7 and 8 came with audio-to-lightning adapters in the box. Not sure about the 2020 SE (I kinda doubt it).
 
Everskyward said:
That adapter I posted is not an Apple product.
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Not the point, the point is that they took away something basic as a means to sell more crap (lightning adapters, wireless airpods, etc)
asicer said:
It has wireless charging.

Also, the 7 and 8 came with audio-to-lightning adapters in the box. Not sure about the 2020 SE (I kinda doubt it).
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I'm aware of that, I had the 7. Problem was, I had to carry that adapter everywhere. Wanna listen in the car (no bluetooth but did have the aux jack) better have that adapter. Want to listen to earbuds on flight? Crap, forgot the adapter in the truck. Now I have to buy a couple of them. Want to listen to something over home audio? Find the adapter. Solution in search of a problem.
 
asicer said:
I heard the vinyl->8track->cassette->CD->streaming transition and VHS->DVD->BluRay->streaming transition was tough on some people too.
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Lol except each of those was (for the most part) an increase in fidelity and capacity. Forcing everyone to use an adapter in order to keep using your headphones or forcing the purchase of bluetooth earbuds that require constant charging is silly. Bluetooth connections are typically lower in fidelity as well, so the audio quality you were getting with the wired headphones is noticeably reduced. It's like going to satellite radio compared to regular radio, sure there addre no commercials, but you pay a bunch for it and you get crappy audio quality and lose signal under bridges. Not all product innovation is a net gain.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Lol except each of those was (for the most part) an increase in fidelity and capacity. Forcing everyone to use an adapter in order to keep using your headphones or forcing the purchase of bluetooth earbuds that require constant charging is silly. Bluetooth connections are typically lower in fidelity as well, so the audio quality you were getting with the wired headphones is noticeably reduced. It's like going to satellite radio compared to regular radio, sure there addre no commercials, but you pay a bunch for it and you get crappy audio quality and lose signal under bridges. Not all product innovation is a net gain.
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You realize this is just a rumor, Apple hasn’t announced anything yet. Heck they don’t know if all the models will have 5G yet let alone what’s in the box.
 
asicer said:
I heard the vinyl->8track->cassette->CD->streaming transition and VHS->DVD->BluRay->streaming transition was tough on some people too.
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Apple got lambasted when they started selling iMacs without floppy drives.

Then again when selling MacBooks without CD/DVD drives.

And now, when deleting headphone jacks.

I can think of only a few cases where the loss of any of those was/is a hindrance. I think it’s more Apple being forward looking and anticipating where technology is headed.

Back on point, my iPhone X is now paid for and soldiering on just fine. I have 3 different wireless ways to listen to content: custom molded earphones playing through a quarter-sized Bluetooth adapter, some “sport” Bluetooth headphones and, for podcasts, via Bluetooth to my hearing aids. Our 2 main vehicles play our phones (wife has an XR) pretty seamlessly most of the time. Physically needing to plug them for audio in has become a pretty rare occurrence. I will be taking a close look at the iPhone 12 when it comes out - $30-$40/month for something that gets used constantly does not seem outrageous.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Bluetooth connections are typically lower in fidelity as well, so the audio quality you were getting with the wired headphones is noticeably reduced.
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You're probably thinking of SBC, and nobody is using that anymore. In Apple's case the audio goes over using AAC, and at the same data rate as the original file (or stream). So there's no difference in quality over using wired headphones unless you're playing content with higher fidelity than what AAC provides. And if you need that level of fidelity, you're certainly not content to use the iPhone's DAC and wouldn't be plugging headphones directly into it to begin with.

Anyway, this is just Apple being Apple - trying to force a technology/standard on folks. I don't like it any more than you do (ask me about having only USB-C on their latest Macs!), but the bluetooth audio issue hasn't been relevant for awhile unless you demand audiophile level sound from your phone, and if you're doing that you're gonna be using your own portable DAC anyway.
 
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Ravioli said:
Spending a lot for a piece of **** phone is foolish. And make no mistake ABSOLUTELY every smart phone is a piece of ****. iOS and Android

Want call quality? forget it
Want a capable/usable browser? forget it

The game of making them the size of a tablet hasn't really changed the fact that they don't do their primary function (phone) well at all, and the size is just to make the rest of the things they don't do well seem okay.

Note: iPhone 8 user. And is sucks every bit as much as the prior ones
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What exactly is so bad about them? My old phone did everything I asked of it, including help me navigate in the aircraft. After 5 years it got slow and obsolete, find me a computer than doesn't. Nonetheless it never failed at anything, and if I woke it up I expect it would work fine tomorrow.

And 8 is an old phone with known battery issues. Perhaps something a bit more up to date would serve you better.
 
kayoh190 said:
You're probably thinking of SBC, and nobody is using that anymore. In Apple's case the audio goes over using AAC, and at the same data rate as the original file (or stream). So there's no difference in quality over using wired headphones unless you're playing content with higher fidelity than what AAC provides. And if you need that level of fidelity, you're certainly not content to use the iPhone's DAC and wouldn't be plugging headphones directly into it to begin with.

Anyway, this is just Apple being Apple - trying to force a technology/standard on folks. I don't like it any more than you do (ask me about having only USB-C on their latest Macs!), but the bluetooth audio issue hasn't been relevant for awhile unless you demand audiophile level sound from your phone, and if you're doing that you're gonna be using your own portable DAC anyway.
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I'm talking about pairing it and hearing audio in any modern vehicle. Pre-covid, I used to rent cars an average of one week per month while on business trips. Often driving 4hrs each way down to DFW from TUL when it was a "local" trip. I have probably paired that iPhone 7 with 50+ vehicles over the past few years and the difference in audio quality over the vehicle audio system is clearly audible. Not only does it sound more compressed (versus the aux port or more typically the USB port), you also generally have to crank the volume much higher because the Bluetooth signal isn't amplified enough. This has been in everything from an Infiniti/BMW to the Fords and Toyotas. Luckily, since most vehicles have the USB port, I can just use the charger cord instead of bringing along an AUX adapter . . . but still, the BT is a compromise.
 
I’ve heard the iPhone connected to new generation of BT speakers, sounds great to me, FWIW.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
I’ve heard the iPhone connected to new generation of BT speakers, sounds great to me, FWIW.
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I bought my daughter one of these for Christmas last year. It sounded excellent:
https://www.jbl.com/bluetooth-speak...e-USA-Current&cgid=bluetooth-speakers#start=1

But it's single channel, not stereo, and it's still limited to the BT compression. So there are still compromises. And it doesn't really help anything if all you are trying to do is connect to the car audio.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
I’ve heard the iPhone connected to new generation of BT speakers, sounds great to me, FWIW.
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Yeah, it's not a Bluetooth thing per se (there's plenty of available bandwidth under today's BT) - it's a function of which codec the output device is capable of using. The old codec is called SBC and isn't all that great by today's standards - when people ***** about Bluetooth compression they're almost certainly referring to a situation where they're hearing SBC. Apple uses AAC, which is usually the same format as the source audio, and all but the cheapest of headphones and wireless speakers will support it natively natively. I don't doubt Sooner's rental car experience, but it doesn't surprise me that car manufacturers add the BT functionality to their cars as an afterthought - especially when just about anyone will jack the phone into a USB port for no other reason than to charge it as well.
 
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kayoh190 said:
(ask me about having only USB-C on their latest Macs!)
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One of the main problems is that USB-C is still in the process of coalescing. If (and that's still a pretty big "if" nowadays) it is finally successful in doing what it sets out to do, I think we'll all wonder how we got along without it. But right now it's still a pretty big mess.
 
asicer said:
If (and that's still a pretty big "if" nowadays) it is finally successful in doing what it sets out to do, I think we'll all wonder how we got along without it.
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Yeah, I've been liking USB-C. My wife has a late model Macbook Air, and our monitor in the study has a USB-C port. So one cable serves essentially as a docking station - video, audio, charging, keyboard and mouse - it handles all of it. And the connector can be inserted either way, which is nice. So IMO Apple isn't necessarily wrong for wanting to go this direction, but as usual they're forcing the issue by making it the ONLY port and requiring dongles for just about anything you'd want to connect to it.

That said they still got my money for my wife's Macbook Air (as did Monoprice for all the 3rd party dongles!) so I'm sure they care very little about what I think. I'll be likely going with Dell for my next machine, but that's more a software decision than a hardware one.
 
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