[tribby]

this is a false analogy. the CD drive was an improvement on the 3.5" floppy. the 3.5" floppy was an improvement on the 5" floppy. bluetooth is an improvement in form (no more wires), but a downgrade in function as the audio quality is diminished.

[neotek]

I hear people saying this a lot, but I'd be willing to bet that at least 90% of consumers would be incapable of telling the difference between Bluetooth and wired audio in a blind test.

Also, given that the vast majority of earbuds people use are sub-$20, I bet the audio quality isn't that great to begin with.

[tribby]

if 90% of consumers are incapable of telling the difference then why would apple use such an expensive DAC in their phone? I can't speak for everyone, but it's a pretty noticeable difference to me especially considering my hearing isn't very good to begin with.

[neotek]

Because (a) Apple doesn't like to half-arse things, and (b) Apple knows its consumer base includes people who like to use very expensive headphones.

[brokenmachine]

Not everyone uses crap headphones.

Some people even use quality headphones, and also don't want another device to charge.

[neotek]

Cool, so use the free adapter.

[brokenmachine]

Please explain to me how having to use a dongle that is inconvenient and will probably break or be lost an advantage over just having my good headphones plugged into a headphone jack?

Anyway, I won't be buying a phone without a headphone jack, or these airpods.