Outrageously, next year's iPhone 7 will force you into paying more to use headphones. If the latest Japanese rumor chatter is true, Apple will remove the standard one-eighth-inch headphone jack, forcing you to connect your cans via the Lightning connector (or suffer terrible Bluetooth quality).
And of course, that means you'll have to buy new headphones. Which means additional 3rd-party licensing and/or certification fees for Apple—costs that will be passed on to you.
Or you could just buy a Apple DtoA adaptor, which will probably cost you an extra $100. Hey, why not buy two? Drip drip drip...
Seriously? Doesn’t Apple exert enough Soviet-like control over its ecosystem? Isn’t the ridiculous profit margin on an iPhone already enough?
In IT Blogwatch, bloggers fear for their ears. Not to mention: Do not make Cthulhu swim...
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment.
[Developing story: Updated 04:25 am PST with more comment]
Who do we know who's always good for a juicy rumor? Oh yeah, “Danbo”—Apple to remove headset jack from next iPhone 7?:
According to a reliable source, [the iPhone 7] screen shape such as radius will be kept, however, it will very likely be more than 1 mm thinner.
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[But the] headset jack can hardly be thinner [so] Apple seems to make the phone thinner by removing it.
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[The] supplied Ear buds will [have] a Lightning connector [with] a DA (Digital to Analog) converter...built in the Lightning connector.
That rumor flew across the Pacific like a balloon in the jet-stream. Here’s Joe Rossignol, with Apple May Replace 3.5mm Headphone Jack on iPhone 7 With All-in-One Lightning Connector:
Apple is planning to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack...according to [the] often-reliable Japanese website.
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Apple introduced new MFi Program specifications in June 2014 [for] manufacturers to create headphones that connect...via a Lightning cable.
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Should this rumor prove to be true, Apple's decision...could face the same kind of controversy as when the company retired its proprietary 30-pin dock connector.
Ain’t that the truth? “synthfanatic” is but one such spittle-flecked commentator:
This idea is terrible. As an pro audio fanatic...I am going to stick with my iPhone 6S or simply get an Android phone.
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I don't really give a damn how much thinner my iPhone is. ... The fact there is a camera bump on the iPhone 6/6S because they wanted to make it thin irks me everyday.
It’s usually about now that we hear the “I told you so.” Gordon Kelly doesn’t disappoint, with Apple To Abandon Headphone Jack? Leak Reveals Massive Gamble:
17 months ago, I called it. Apple opened up its MFi (Made For) licensing program to include headphones...and I predicted this would lead to it replacing the standard 3.5mm headphone jack “in a few years.”
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From Apple’s perspective, the move makes a lot of sense. It can gain control over the last industry-standard port on the iPhone for increased revenue. [It] would prove another powerful way to lock users into its ecosystem.
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Of course when it comes to the arguments against, there’s one that stands out above all others: it would be really irritating. ... What about...the level of anger from customers when the original iPhone had a recessed 3.5mm jack which caused many headphones not to fit?
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It’s a huge gamble.
Update: Is nobody happy? Well, Boxer Fanatic seems OK with it:
If Apple sells an adapter that looks something like [one] adapter for Apple Pencil, but with a Lightning Male to 3.5mm female port with [a] D/A converter inside it that grips tightly, or even tethers to the headphone cable, “legacy” headphones will still be viable. [It's] not too much different than adapting the 3.5mm plug to the old larger plug format that audio equipment uses.
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Personally, I haven’t worn speakers on my ears to listen to music in years. ... And Bluetooth makes more sense without a cable anyway.
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3.5mm female sockets take up a lot of ancillary real estate anyway, along the sides of the socket, as well as being a point of moisture, dust, and debris intrusion. A lightning port is likely less of an intrusion point into the inner volume of the phone, and with modern coatings, can likely be sealed against water and dust.
And Finally...
Veronica Belmont explains why it's a bad idea to make Cthulhu swim
[Hat tip: Cory Doctorow]
You have been reading IT Blogwatch by Richi Jennings, who curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites… so you don’t have to. Catch the key commentary from around the Web every morning. Hatemail may be directed to @RiCHi or itbw@richi.uk. 
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