[imran3740]

> Port shortages

Would it hurt anyone to put two USB-C ports on a smartphone? Thank goodness my phone still has a 3.5mm jack, but some people would like to charge their phone and listen to (wired) audio without having to buy an adapter. And it's not like this is an uncommon use case either, anecdotally some of my friends with iPhones face this issue.

[magduf]

You're not supposed to charge and listen to wired audio without an adapter. You're supposed to use bluetooth headphones called "AirPods", which cost far, far more than regular wired headphones. If you don't like this and resent being pushed to buy very expensive accessories and dongles, then maybe Apple isn't the company for you.

[wvenable]

What's the explanation for every other phone company removing the ports? No phone manufacturer benefited financially from the purchase of my Bluetooth headphones.

[magduf]

I have no way to prove this, but the standard explanation is that other companies are stupid and just want to ape Apple, thinking they'll somehow capture Apple's loyal customers. Cargo-cult mentality.

Of course, there's also the fact that extra ports take up more space, and it's easier to just eliminate features that not enough customers care about. But enough people seem to be complaining that it looks like it really is just cargo-cult behavior, just like these companies have needlessly aped Apple on other design decisions instead of trying to pursue other market niches.

[kalleboo]

The latest trend of adding iPhone X-style display notches, even by companies that mocked that design when it came out, supports the "cargo cult" theory.

[pas]

OnePlus 6, still has 3.5 mm jack, and has USB-C.

[kec]

A second port would remove a significant amount of internal volume, as well as increasing the cost due to the port and whatever electronics you'd need to mux them. I doubt those tradeoffs would be worth it for the majority of consumers.

[blacksmith_tb]

I agree - I'd like to have one on either end, that way you should never have to fish around to plug things in.

[hinkley]

Ever since the Palm V, I've wanted a handheld device with a second charging port built into the side. When LiPo batteries came into production I was hoping for the day where the flip cover had a supplemental battery built in instead of cardboard.

Apple went exactly the other way and built a data port into it. And did the same thing with the Apple Watch (the prototypes had an extra set of contacts in the band slot that people were excited about). Disappointed.

[MBCook]

Would you really have a second USB-C port over just keeping the headphone jack?

[imran3740]

I mean, USB-C seems to be the direction we're going anyways, plus it offers a lot more flexibility for audio eg. allows for active components like a higher-end DAC or amp on the headphones.

Most people probably wouldn't really care for this, and the ones who do probably have portable media players already, so I would prefer to keep the headphone jack. The reality is, though, that USB-C appears to be the future.

[paulmd]

You don't need type-C for running an external DAC/amp. Most smartphones support USB-OTG over micro-B and many DAC units use generic audio drivers.

Of course you'd still need two ports if you wanted to charge at the same time.

It would probably be more interesting to see smartphones that could use the headphone output as a digital signal, like a coaxial output. We want the 3.5mm output anyway, so why not just let it dump a digital signal to an external amp?

[pas]

Can one port source data (digital audio) and sink power at the same time to a splitter?

[mjevans]

I prefer keeping the headphone jack, but am not against a second USB-C port. If you make the device thick enough for a headphone jack to work properly then you've got room for a reasonably large battery and the extra ports without any issues.

Mobile phones are thermally constrained these days anyway.