14 DAY TRIAL // It’s always a good idea to look at Apple’s patented inventions, especially if you’re in the business of tracking tech companies, either for journalism or stock trading. The moves it makes there are quite possibly the best clues as to where the company is headed.
An Audio Lightning Connector invention filed by the Cupertino company with the USPTO (patent number 8,911,260) describes a pair of headphones that use Apple’s proprietary connector rather than the traditional jack plug that has been around for longer than many of you have been alive.
Farewell... Jack!
Apple credits Albert Golko, Arthur Brigham, Roger Chen, and Alice Yang as the inventors of a new concept that swaps traditional TRS audio plugs for the company’s own Lightning connector. The patent is one of many that involves routing audio through the Lightning plug.
It may sound like a mere attempt to boost convenience, but in reality, such a move would have a tremendous impact on the way we consume music on our Apple portables, the design of the devices themselves, and even some repercussions across the entire tech industry.
One major implication would be the removal of the jack plug altogether. There would be multiple benefits here, starting with a more streamlined design of future iPhones, iPods, and iPads, additional space inside the devices (for sensors and stuff like that), more business opportunities for accessory makers (headphones designed specifically for Apple users, adapters, etc.), and more.
A trendsetter still
Perhaps an even bigger implication would be the extinction of TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) connectors in portable devices across the entire industry. Apple has often inspired fellow electronics vendors to follow it in its footsteps, and this time could be no different.
For example, fewer and fewer notebooks are now designed with an optical unit. Apple eliminated optical drives from its Macs years ago, and it’s something that competitors only recently began to see as a real advantage. The same happened with solid state storage. Apple has been among the first to equip some Macs with SSDs as standard, not just an optional storage medium. Again, the competitors started playing catch, and are still at it today.
And let’s not forget that the jack plug has been a major pain in the neck for Apple’s design team, not just in the iPhone, but also in the iPod line of players. Especially the smaller ones, like the nano and the shuffle. A lightning plug will not only occupy far less space, but it would actually look better too. Even dirt would have a harder time getting inside Apple’s devices. The benefits are endless.
