Apple has suffered a spurt of premature jackless-ation: the company blurted out details of the new iPhone 7 on Wednesday, waaaaaay before the new iPhone 7 had actually been unveiled on stage.
The tweets were deleted within minutes, and Apple’s sponsored feed went blank.
Apple developer Janum Trivedi’s forehead-slapping tweet:
THIS IS WHY WE DIDN’T HAVE A TWITTER ACCOUNT
— Janum Trivedi (@jmtrivedi) September 7, 2016
Plenty of people grabbed screenshots of the two blooper tweets, one of which included a link to a preorder page that wasn’t even live yet:
The tweet @Apple pushed out in error WAY too early… now deleted #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/OwQwFuAKg5
— Matt Navarra ⭐️🇬🇧 (@MattNavarra) September 7, 2016
The promoted tweets let everybody know that the iPhone 7 is water-resistant and has a dual camera. Apple also spilled the beans on the pre-order date, which will be 16 September…
…and also released the page for iPhone 7 accessories, all an hour before Apple was set to announce the phone.
Gizmodo’s got photos from the page, which includes an iPhone with the rumored dual back-facing cameras.
The pictures also included a link for Bluetooth headphones, confirming the long rumored removal of the phone’s headphone jack.
As of yesterday afternoon, Apple had taken down the page and replaced it with the photo of a dog who apparently wants us to try searching on Amazon’s home page.
By the way, Apple’s answer to earbuds for its jackless phone – they’re called AirPods – got a rave review from Macworld’s Susie Ochs.
At the hands-on area at the event, she found herself dancing away, head-banging and rocking out, the earbuds staying firmly in place, blocking out the surrounding noise and thus making her oblivious to voices, sealed in “a bubble of rock and roll.”
If only Tim Cook had plugged those suckers in, maybe he’d have been oblivious to the blunders, too!
.@tim_cook getting told about the tweets#AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/CPKOqWPIgE
— Matt Navarra ⭐️🇬🇧 (@MattNavarra) September 7, 2016
Larry M
And exactly why do you think this was an accident? It looks like a PR stunt to me.
And you fell for it!
Bryan
Wish I could upvote articles, even if just for the Louie gif.
It is surprising an Apple product got a rave review from Macworld?
A tangentially-related subject inspired by the article: I don’t regard myself a dinosaur, but maybe I am. I’m sincerely requesting feedback here…
The idea of lacking a headphone jack limits my options and leaves me skeptical-at-best. What if I can’t afford the fancy wireless buds? What if their batteries died and I need to drive but still use the phone? What if I step on my earbuds while preparing for a run? Those $17 SkullCandy buds from Target (or even $3 from eBay) traditionally substitute nicely until new ones get here next week–but now?
Many new televisions don’t even have a power or source input button. If the remote breaks, the batteries die, or the Doberman chews it apart, I can’t turn on my TV–even if I *am* comfortable “turning it off” by yanking the power cable.
Am I a dinosaur? I can keep spare remote batteries, but not every battery is replaceable. Does everyone simply keep three spare devices for each category and a thousand chargers around the house at all times?
Or is that when I’m supposed to get on Twitter with no 2FA and password ‘Twitter1’ to whine for three days that I can’t go running until my new earphones arrive?
Kyle Saia
hmm they are shipping with an adapter that plugs into the charging port that allows you to plug in standard headphones. as for your TV, welcome to 2016? ;)
Bryan
Hah… I can take a friendly jab for sure. And you’re right. Several comments here today have assuaged me on my iDevice paranoia, except I don’t understand why removing TV buttons became a thing, as Mahhn would say.
In the board meeting where someone said, “fugettaboutit, everyone has remotes,” I have trouble imagining SOMEone didn’t reply with, “but what if the dog ate it or the batteries die?” The components couldn’t cost more than a few dollars, even if it’s just power, input, menu, up, down. But maybe that’s simply it–five dollars times a 100,000 shipped units. Plus we’ll sell it as convenient to the user!
I also learned afterward that the AirPod case also charges (which still doesn’t address damage, but slowawake did with lightning headphones).
Mahhn
Get a Bluetooth device that you connect your headphones to (R-clip, $20). Use it as a necklace, belt buckle, tie clip, nose ring, or if you wear glasses, attach it to that, or even tape it to your phone. but really, if you can’t afford BT head phones, you certainly can’t afford the phone.
Paul Ducklin
What about battery life? Playing music hits your phone’s battery hard enough…how much does having Bluetooth on as well add to the power usage? Or does Bluetooth transfer the bulk of the power demand to the headphone receiver instead, because that’s where the actual analogue sound signal gets generated?
Mahhn
The BT should take less power than the amplifying of the audio, so yeah they BT receiver/amplifier will take the hit on power, and reduce power consumption on the phone. How long will someone be able to listed on BT headsets,,, a quick search says 2 to 10 hrs depending on which overpriced headset you buy. Personally I prefer, and use wire. But I never wear headphones for music while walking or driving. It detracts from being aware of ones surroundings (I’m into non-IT security also, and like to live).
Bryan
The BT should take less power than the amplifying of the audio
interesting; I would not have guessed that at all. thanks!
slowawake
You could just use the Lightning headphones that come with the iPhone and stop with the theoretical emergency situations.
Bryan
I didn’t realize they sell those–I’m an Android guy. That succintcly answers my question *and* preempts the issues I speculated. No doubt they’re significantly cheaper than the wireless ones as well. Thank you.
Bryan
Downvote if you must, but I truly am asking in earnest–and am genuinely wanting/willing to learn. Please someone articulate why I should embrace changes like these; I’m all ears. Absent a coherent explanation I see only two options:
1) accept that something you use and love will be unavailable at some unanticipated point for an indefinite period involving at least time spent obtaining support, freight costs, and time waiting.
2) keep spares of everything (AirBuds, remote batteries, a spare remote), many of which will languish into expired warranties before they’re ever needed, provided one cares for their toys. My stuff lasts a long time but hey…accidents happen.
Typically of an “old-school” bent, maybe I’m hypocritically stretching a first-world problem to the definition of necessity. I do my running at night, going anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes; it’s rather dull without music. I eschew apparent consistency because as a musician, I find it significantly easier to not hate running aided by aural distraction.
The absence of television buttons lacks this arguable caveat. If the remote breaks/fails, TV buttons enable *walking* to switch channels/services/inputs, watch a BluRay or off-air antenna. Highly advantageous to being completely unable to _even_turn_on_the_device_. Still a first world problem, but not as filled with hubris. Unless it’s early enough in the evening to hit Best Buy and waste a hundred bucks for a smart remote–one that can be programmed without the original. If convenience were the sole factor for buttonless TVs then the USB port would accept a keyboard as well as mass storage, because typing even a marginal NetFlix password with a keypad button is torture–first world speaking at least.
True, it wouldn’t kill me to hear an hour of crickets, but I don’t buy electronics in Las Vegas; when spending that much money I expect quality. If I’ve missed something stupid I’m more than willing to admit I’m wrong or made an oversight…tell me.
If your disagreement is because a Doberman once barked at you or YayPlus1AppleDoNoWrongBecauseShiny then yes… hide behind the anonymous thumbs-down button.
Mahhn
“why I should embrace changes like these” You don’t need to, it’s just a thing. The only real reason to buy the latest devices is for fun or want. Embrace what you like/need. Last years phone will likely have 5 years of life to it. In 5 years phones will be as small as a watch with attachable screens or BT type connection to glasses that you control with eye movement. And it will still be just a thing.
Bryan
I always like your perspective. Thanks for replying–it helps.
I realize change is inevitable and try to embrace it, but some simply perplex me; I wonder why anyone saw this change was an improvement. I know wireless is shiny, and cables tend to feel restrictive, but they bring benefits that often get disregarded by marketing pamphlets. A great example is how most people have no idea they shouldn’t do banking over WiFi, that it’s still broadcasting every direction no matter how good their password. It’s easy to sit on the couch and make that quick transfer or check the balance.
Of course many readers here get that, but we’re not the ones heading the R&D dept.
…and yes, my DroidX (from 2010–the late cretaceous) only saw retirement in July. :-)
Opaque Oracle
I don’t use iStuff, but if that becomes the new normal, we may all have to deal with it! Luckily it looks like there will be an adapter of some kind, which is better than nothing. Maybe if we all complain enough, they will put the headphone jack back in the next one?
I’m too young to be a dinosaur but I still get annoyed by the new tech some days. Wireless is amazing, but I always like to have a backup option and I really hate being locked into proprietary apps/accessories.
Bryan
Also an Android guy, I was thrilled to hear about it and its Linux roots and eagerly awaited my flip phone’s expiration date. Never looked back.
I’m too young to be a dinosaur but I still get annoyed by the new tech some days.
well, I also lack fossils, but I use the word to postulate whether I’m merely stubborn and clinging to old ways. I work tech so I should be ahead of the curve. Yet I’m a practical guy, so I want to know our collective curve is navigating the proper corners.
Wireless is amazing, but I always like to have a backup option and I really hate being locked into proprietary apps/accessories.
Amen, agreed, canna getta witness!
Bill
Bryan, there is an adapter to allow you to use regular headphones. It even comes with the phone for “free”. The problem with and adapter is then you can’t charge the phone at the same time.