If Apple goes through with a major change to the iPhone set up next year, your entire headphone collection may need throwing in the bin, as a new patent release suggests the company is working on a headphone jack that won’t be compatible with your current headset.
The patent shows a new connector called a D jack that is only 2.0mm in diameter compared to the normal 3.5mm headphone jack found on most smartphones.
Apple is rumoured to be working on a way to make the iPhone 7 thinner than ever before, and the 3.5mm jack is getting in the way of that – so the idea is to shrink that down so the whole phone can shrink.
Replacing headphones
This patent was filed back in 2011 but has only just recently been released to the public. That means Apple has been working on it for a long time and it may be ready for the release of the iPhone 7.
As we’re expecting a major redesign next September when the handset launches, the new headphone socket may come alongside that.
When the iPhone 6 was just rumours and hearsay there was a suggestion that Apple would ensure all Beats headphones should feature a separate jack to only be compatible with iPhone and iPad.
This may end up happening come next September as well – but for now it’s all just rumoured and we can’t judge it as fact. After all, we’ve only just heard about the latest phone from Apple.
