Swordmaker, meet Lil' Wayne. Here he introduces you to a phone that has an actual 3.5mm audio jack AND is waterproof. Imagine that!
Helps immensely. Such a jack also takes up space inside the casing that could be used for other components, such as more battery, adding to the utility of the device.
Yes, a BIG connector (like a monster CUI unit - much bigger than in your phone) takes all of 0.5cc. How much battery are you going to gain from that? Not to mention there are several phones that are 1+mm THINNER than the iPhone 7s - and still have 3.5mm jacks.
In a day and age of multiple functions, why dedicate a port to a single purpose? Oops, another reason to keep it gone.
If only there was a way to use that port for other things. Like a microphone. Or something like an IR emitter for remote control applications. Or read credit cards. If only the 3.5mm jack was more than a single-purpose port, why the world would be great!
Like the other anti-Apple Hate Brigade members, you choose to ignore anything that doesn't fit your meme. Such as "Apple included a Lightning to 3.5mm Jack adaptor." That covers your useless and snide comment.
Shanghai Dan, meet Consumer Reports. Here they report that Lil' Wayne's vaunted Samsung's Galaxy 7 phone that has an actual 3.5mm audio jack is NOT SO waterproof, repeatedly failing their water resistance tests! Imagine that!
Not to mention there are several phones that are 1+mm THINNER than the iPhone 7s - and still have 3.5mm jacks.
Who said anything about "thinner" or "thinnest?" No one at Apple even mentioned it in reference to the iPhone 7. Nice Strawman. They only were talking about room inside the case is at a premium for other items such as more battery space.
Yes, a BIG connector (like a monster CUI unit - much bigger than in your phone) takes all of 0.5cc.
Did you notice how that CUI unit you linked to, its size, just to hold the jack (the barrel of the jack is 5mm in diameter), is 8mm thick from solder tabs to top? Note that the iPhone 7 is a mere 7.1mm thick. Hmmm. 8mm minus 7.1mm... equals 0.9mm. Say, Dan? What are you going to do with the excess 0.9mm of thickness? Add another bump on the case?
That's just before you try to INSTALL that female jack inside the case. How are you going to solder that unit on a circuit board (they do have a thickness, you know. Apple's are 1mm thick.), then mount that circuit board below the complex laminated screen assembly (which ALSO has a thickness which is 0.76mm), Then fit it inside a machined aircraft aluminum case (which ALSO has a thickness, which according to the Apple blueprints for the iPhone 6S is 0.95mm) and then squeeze all of that into 7.1mm?
Let's see, you have only 5.39mm of open space left inside the case. Oops! Almost forgot, you have to CENTER that jack on the case on the outside. That limits the dimension you have to work with, so it's NOT that entire dimension, because you have to allow for the 1mm of the circuit board (or could you use a cut-out in the board? Hmmmm. Possibly. Now, position all that in front of the hole in the bottom or top of the case, and oh, Dan, keep it waterproof while pushing a jack repeatedly in and out several hundred times a year. Hmmmm.
The ONLY way to keep a 3.5 mm jack is to make an open work jack on the circuit board, but then how do you make it water and other liquid proof? That is a real poser. You can machine your jack into a pocket in the case which would be sealed with gaskets. But then that adds lots of costs of running multiple wires through the gaskets which requires a separate step in manufacturing and adds another connector on the circuit board.
Now you have STILL have a circuit board to hold the open design jack (which is much more fragile than a barrel design) so the pocket has to be much larger in area a barrel design, because what was done in three dimensions is now done essentially in two and the spring contacts have to be more robust and longer because they don't have a housing. Some kind of inert coating has to be added to prevent electro-active liquids from shorting the contacts and leads, since we are talking water and liquid proof. Alternately, a rubber glued on dam added to the existing circuit board's 3.5mm jack which is also glued to the case around the opening. Oh, I can see all kinds of potential for that not holding over time.