iOS 9.3 code seems to confirm Apple will drop 3.5mm headphone jack in iPhone 7

BY Killian Bell

Published 20 Jan 2016

iPhone 7 concept without headphone jack

A piece of code discovered in the latest iOS 9.3 beta suggests Apple really is planning to remove the headphone jack for upcoming devices. The find follows a number of reports that have claimed the Cupertino company is ditching the port to make the upcoming iPhone 7 even thinner.

iOS developer @uloshe posted the screenshot below on Twitter, which shows a line of code in iOS 9.3 that reads, “Headphones.have.%sinput.NO.” It’s very cryptic, but it’s thought that this all but confirms future iOS devices will have no headphone jack input.

iOS 9.3 code suggests no headphone jack

Of course, it’s not definitive just yet; it certainly seems like Apple is testing devices without headphone jacks using iOS 9.3, but that doesn’t mean the final iPhone 7 design won’t have one. Although, there have been a number of rumors that have claimed this will be the case.

Should it happen, it’s thought Apple will push Lightning-compatible headphones instead, and may even give away new wireless Bluetooth EarPods with the new iPhone. Some manufacturers are already making Lightning-compatible headphones, but we haven’t seen many so far.

This finding comes just days after another developer discovered references to “Li-Fi” technology in iOS 9.3, which suggests Apple could be working on new devices that use light-based wireless data networks.

Thanks Cody, Sebastian!