One of the most common uses of the smartphone is as a music player. Matter of fact, when the iPhone was introduced in 2007, its music capabilities were a big spotlight.
Music mattered so much to the iPhone that Apple included a wired pair of earbuds in every box. But not only does Apple not do that anymore, the company’s phones no longer have a headphone jack.
In fact, the last iPhone to ship with a headphone jack was the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, and those two phones first landed way back in 2014.
All iPhones, from the iPhone 7 onwards, shipped without headphones jacks. If you use an iPhone, you have to use wireless headphones. There’s just no way around it.
When Did Apple Ditch The Headphone Jack?
Apple is usually the first company that moves on from aging technology. Matter of fact, they are afraid to jettison said tech without ever looking back.
When Apple introduced the original iMac in the late 90s, it didn’t include a floppy disk drive–a standard at the time.
Doomsayers said the lack of a floppy drive would be the death of the iMac. Instead, it was one of the best-selling computers of all time.
About a decade later, Apple started removing another aging standard from its laptops: the DVD-burner.
Apple first jettisoned the DVD/CD drive with the introduction of the MacBook Air, and then ditched it on all MacBook models in the following years.
Despite that, to this day, Apple’s MacBooks are among the most popular laptops sold.
Apple then took the clippers to another standard–the headphone jack–in 2016 with the introduction of the iPhone 7.
This once again caused MASSIVE controversy.
Apple’s reasoning at the time was that the 3.5mm headphone jack was archaic technology and not needed anymore in an era where headphones and earbuds were increasingly wireless.
Understanding that some people might still like wired headphones, however, Apple did include a pair of Lightning-connector EarPods in the box people could still plug into the iPhone’s Lightning port.
Does Having A Headphone Jack Matter Anymore?
So does a headphone jack on a smartphone matter anymore? You’ll also ways have people saying that the option is nice, but truthfully, Apple made the right move.
Look around when walking down the street and you’ll see wireless headphones are the norm now. And it’s not just Apple’s AirPods that you see – every major smartphone maker sells wireless headphones and earbuds – from Microsoft to Google to Samsung.
It should be noted that some professionals still rightfully see wired headphones as important. Audio-visual professionals often work with wired headphones.
However, those headphones are usually plugged into PCs or advanced audio equipment, not their personal smartphone in their pocket.
Which iPhone’s Have A Headphone Jack?
Here’s a list of all the iPhones that include a 3.5mm headphone jack built in:
- iPhone
- iPhone 3G
- iPhone 3GS
- iPhone 4
- iPhone 4S
- iPhone 5
- iPhone 5c
- iPhone 5s
- iPhone 6
- iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone SE (first gen)
Which iPhones DON’T Have A Headphone Jack
And here’s a list of iPhones that DO NOT have a 3.5mm headphone jack. Note, however, that these phones can still use wired headphones that have a Lightning connector. You can also use any 3.5mm headphone with any of these iPhones with a cheap $2 Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone adapter.
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone X
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 Mini
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2020)
Do Android Phones Have A Headphone Jack?
There are TONS of Android phones out there from cheap models under £300 to flagships that cost £1500.
Given there are hundreds of models of Android phones out there, you can easily find some with 3.5mm headphone jacks still.
However, the major Android flagships have been increasingly ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack, too.
