Tech Insider/Antonio Villas-Boas
Starting with this year's iPhone, we might be using either Bluetooth or the digital Lightning port to listen to music on iPhones.
There are a bunch of reasons why that isn't a good thing.
But headphone companies like Sennheiser aren't interested in whether we like it or not, and are instead looking at the bright side of the potential change.
"If Apple decides to go with a new standard, we will look at the opportunistic side and how we can exploit that change in a positive way to give a better sound experience," Dr. Andreas Sennheiser, CEO of Sennheiser, told Tech Insider at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
One of the benefits of Apple's potential change to the next iPhone that Sennheiser mentioned was better overall sound, including 3D effects. I briefly tried out Sennheiser's newly announced Ambio 3D audio technology, which uses a digital signal, and it sounded amazing compared to the stereo audio we're used to.
It's the kind of tech that would be all the more easily enabled by an iPhone that only accepts digital inputs.
Sennheiser also pointed out that, "in the audio world we've seen different connection standards come and go for many many years," meaning that audio connections have been constantly evolving since their inception.
Personally, I've only know of the 3.5 mm audio jack in my lifetime; anything that came before it has been forgotten. It's a fate that the 3.5 mm audio jack will face, whether you like it or not. Just think of 8-track, which was the standard before cassettes. Most of you either haven't heard of it, or haven't heard the word "8-track" uttered in the last few decades.
So, if you feel outraged that Apple might make your headphones obsolete, look on the bright side like Sennheiser. We really don't have a choice!
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