A video and several photos have surfaced depicting what could be a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter for enabling the use of traditional headphones with this fall’s iPhones, which could drop the 3.5mm audio jack.
The video and photos have been posted by Tinhte.vn. In its English paraphrasing of the Vietnamese language site’s report, MacRumors says that this adapter was reportedly obtained from a Vietnam-based Foxconn factory – and the original reporter thinks Apple itself might have designed this product.
Possible iPhone 7 Lightning to 3.5 mm Adapter Surfaces in New Photos https://t.co/boxpLnZhmZ by @mbrsrd pic.twitter.com/QjbcEThgzG
— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) July 28, 2016
There’s good reason to concur; the all-white accessory does bear a strong visual similarity to other adapters currently sold by Apple, including its USB-C to USB and Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet connectors. The original reporter also says that, while the adapter prompts an incompatibility message when attached to a device running iOS 9 or lower, it works instantly with a device on an iOS 10 beta.
Whether or not this particular accessory is an actual Apple product, the Cupertino company could be planning to package such an adapter with each iPhone 7. This could help users to make the perhaps tricky transition towards regular usage of headphones that connect solely through the Lightning port.
