iPhone 7, No Headphone Jack Creates a Recipe for e-Waste

Apple's decision to remove the 3.5 mm headphone connector on the new iPhone 7, while continuing to use their proprietary Lightning connector, could mean more electronic waste as users discard their old headsets and many OEMs rush to develop new ones using Apple's connector.

Pablo Valerio, International Business & IT Consultant, Sept. 27, 2016 – 

I'm not going to argue against Apple's decision to drop the 3.5mm headphone connector on the new iPhone 7; maybe it is a good idea. The 3.5mm audio jack has been around for over 60 years and gained worldwide popularity when Sony used it on the Walkman in 1979. 

Apple is not the first smartphone manufacturer to ditch the audio jack. Motorola launched the Moto Z series earlier this year without a dedicated headset connector and included a 3.5mm to USB-C headphone port adapter with the devices.

The issue with the iPhone 7 is that Apple has decided to continue using the proprietary Lightning connector instead of the new, standard, USB Type-C. If the Lightning connector is better than USB Type-C, why did Apple choose the latter for the new Macbook?

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