Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login




Many people on this thread are very keen to show how many things you can get to work around the lack of 3.5mm jack

What exactly is the benefit to not having a 3.5mm jack?


Well, my son also has a car without Bluetooth and he had an aux cord that he left in his car with a lightning adapter attached. He even found it much more convenient to just turn on his car and it paired to the Bluetooth adapter above. A $10 adapter that just stays attached to the cord you would need for your car anyway if you don’t have Bluetooth doesn’t seem that inconvenient.

However, a wireless cigarette lighter adapter that supports Bluetooth is much more convenient either way.

For me personally, Bluetooth headphones in general and AirPods Pro in particular are much more convenient - especially going back and forth between my cellular watch when I am jogging or in the gym (pre-Covid),my phone, my iPad, my laptop, and my AppleTV. Besides cords get tangled, yanked out, caught on things, etc.


>For me personally, Bluetooth headphones in general and AirPods Pro in particular are much more convenient

You're free to use Bluetooth headphones even if you have a headphone jack; being able to use them doesn't seem like a "benefit" of not having the jack.


So did you also complain when computer manufacturers stopped including PS/2 and VGA ports?

People have been complaining about Apple getting rid of things since the original iMac got rid of the 3-1/2 drive. High end android phones from Google and Samsung got rid of the headphone jack also.


I didn't complain about PS/2 and VGA ports because the replacements were decidedly better.

I've yet to see anything that makes the removal of a 3.5mm jack seem comparable. You couldn't use DVI or HDMI without replacing the port, which isn't the case with Bluetooth (which you can use regardless of having a 3.5mm jack or not).

A more apt comparison in my eyes seems like wireless mice/keyboards. They don't have cords so they're significantly nicer for cable management, look better on your desk, have longer reach, and probably have other benefits (as well as their own set of tradeoffs like latency, battery, etc). You can use them now or you can use wired versions... but just imagine if a company started selling computers where you could _only_ use wireless keyboard/mice unless you bought USB dongles. Sure, you could just buy the dongles and deal with the loss of choice/convenience, but... why would you want to?


but just imagine if a company started selling computers where you could _only_ use wireless keyboard/mice unless you bought USB dongles.

You mean like the one port MacBook that once you plugged it in for power you had to use wireless accessories, the current MacBook Air and 13” MacBook Pro that only has two ports - but once you plug in power and a monitor you don’t have any ports left?


Yeah, kind of like that (except laptops have a built-in keyboard/mouse, so it's not as much of a problem as, say, a desktop where people rely on their own existing hardware would be). I'd wager most people buy those devices because the rest of the machine is so compelling, despite the lack of ports.

Anecdotally, it seems like each HN thread about new macbooks also has plenty of comments from people complaining about the lack of ports and/or wishing for more. I don't see a lot of people saying the equivalent of, "Apple's never gonna bring those ports back, get over it and get used to it."


It doesn’t look like Apple will ever bring back Ethernet ports, HDMI, dedicated power ports to free up a USB port or even USB 3 ports to laptops.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: