iPhone 7, Airpods and courage: the internet reacts

Apple's Airpods are wireless headphones designed for the iPhone 7

Smartphone launches are normally all about finding out about added features.

But in the case of the iPhone 7, what everyone wanted to know was how Apple would justify its widely leaked decision to remove support for normal headphone jacks.

At the San Francisco event, marketing chief Phil Schiller suggested his firm had been motivated by "courage".

But it seems that was an invitation to the net's many cynics and critics to weigh in.

Below are some of the comments posted about the firm ditching the 3.5mm socket and promoting its new Airpod earbuds.

Phil Schiller has been mocked for saying it took "courage" to remove the 3.5mm socket

Techcrunch

Removing the headphone jack from the iPhone is not an act of courage, it's an act of leverage... They're in a position of immense power and they're using that power to eliminate something good and replace it with something that makes them money. It's not a conspiracy theory, it's a business plan.

The Guardian:

The beauty of the headphone cable is just like the beauty of a tampon string: it is there to help you keep track of a very important item, and help you fish it out of whatever nook and cranny it might have fallen into. Apple's apparent blindness to this blindingly obvious problem is perplexing.

Wall Street Journal

Apple's rationale for this change- that we want too much jammed into our tiny phones - fell flat to me. It's an annoyance, but one I think we'll get used to soon enough.

Mashable

Do you want your iPhone's home button to vibrate sometimes, or do you want to be able to plug in pretty much any set of headphones ever made in the entire world? The old Apple mantra, "it just works," is officially dead this week.

Engadget:

If Apple's Earpods never really fit snugly in your ears, well, you'd probably do well to stay away [from the Airpods]. I've personally never had a problem with their fit, so they nestled nicely into my ears and stayed there even as I wagged my head around like a huge dork.

The Verge

These things just scream out to be instantly lost. If you're not the type to hold onto things (I'm certainly not), you're going to want to stick with wired headphones or wireless cans. [But] they seem like classic Apple design - simple, and well-integrated into the iPhone experience.

Apple says removing the socket provides more room for other components

Quartz

The Airpods are even more of a design success than the iPhone. Airpods are minimalism materialised: Each earbud is a glossy monolith. And they'll be able to fully control Siri, a step up from the Apple Watch... users won't even have to raise their wrists.

The Intercept

It's hard to swallow Apple's use of the word "courage" to describe the corporate ethos that pushed the company to remove the headphone plug... Courage is more often found in, say, running into a burning school to rescue the students and class rodent. Or, maybe, you could call courageous the act of paying the many billions you owe around the world.

Twitter:

I just shoved a piece of gum into my USB port. #Courage - @davepell

Now you have to choose to either charge your phone or listen to music. #Courage - @TheMarcStone

Courage is contagious. thanks @apple, i just followed your example, filled in my headphone socket with glue and set my tax withholding to zero. - @fraggletastic

Apple taking away the headphone jack for space reasons then not including the dual camera system in the 5in model is very tough to swallow. - @chrismlacy

Apple with release Find My Airpod and revolutionise everything, again. - @ethan_rose

Q. How do I listen to music while my AirPods are charging? A. Buy a second pair of AirPods. @JonyIveParody

I suspect Apple may rue the day it decided "courage" was the best word to use - @c_davies

Facebook:

Apple is charging £159 for a set of its Airpods

People [are] stuck in old technology. Apple thinks forward to the future and is innovative. Guarantee Samsung will move to removing the audio jack as well soon. - Paul Duerson III

So, I get a phone that's 1mm thinner, but now I have to carry around an additional dongle. Not a very good trade off. - Jesus Darwin

Just wait a month. There will be dozens of earbuds that have a iPhone connector instead of the 3.5mm jack. John Shields

You don't need something to be broken to look for a better alternative Mahi Mahi

Technology should not be tossed because it is old. The jack is extremely time-proof because it is very sturdy, nearly fail-proof [and] has a watertight build... it is about as close to being optimal as anything made by humans can be. J Khaos Laz

Reddit:

The Airpods come with a case that recharges them when they are inside it

Having to charge both your phone and your headphones isn't a step forward. - Bhalgoth

I'm in the minority, but I welcome the innovation. With change comes resistance. I bet my right leg that we look back on this thread in a couple years and admit that we don't miss the 3.5mm jack anymore. TheJMoore

Here's the thing, advances in technology come at a cost. You abandon old tech for the new. If you don't like the idea of not having 30 year old tech, then fine. Don't buy the phone. - Syrielmorane

I will say this - Apple has always operated on the idea that consumers don't know what they want. - Zoso471