Apple Scraps Headphone Jack, Introduces Wireless Earbuds

A long discussed rumor involving the headphones of the forthcoming iPhone 7 has finally been put to rest.

Today, Apple announced the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, along with the news that the next generation of iPhones will ship without a headphone jack. Instead, new headphones shipped with the iPhone 7 will have a port for Apple’s Lightning connector, which is also used for charging power.

However, if you’ve still got a pair of working traditional headphones and want to continue using them with your new iPhone, the phones will also come with a Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter.

Apple said it was making the change because the digital port allows for more control than the traditional analog interface. For wireless listening, Apple also unveiled its new AirPods headphones, separate earbuds that provide five hours of listening on a single charge. The iPhone 7 will also come with stereo speakers, as opposed to the current mono speaker, and will be twice as loud, according to the company.

Among other features included with the new iPhone 7 will also be a redesigned camera (the iPhone 7 Plus will have two cameras, including one that has a telephoto lens). The devices will also be water resistant.

During the company’s annual September product event CEO Tim Cook also announced that the Apple Music streaming service now has 17 million paid subscribers. Surely exclusive drops such as Travis Scott‘s Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight and Frank Ocean‘s Blonde and Endless must have contributed to that (along with previous other exclusives such as Chance The Rapper’s Coloring Book).

The iPhone 7 starts at $649 and the iPhone 7 Plus starts at $769, each coming with 32GB of storage. Preorders will begin September 9, with the phones becoming available on September 16. The new iOS 10 operating system is set for release on September 13. The AirPods, meanwhile, are set to begin shipping in late October for $159.