Apple co-founder speaks out against iPhone 7 losing headphone jack

Woz

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has spoken out against the omission of the headphone jack in the forthcoming iPhone 7 release.

He told The Australian Financial Review: "If [the iPhone 7]'s missing the headphone jack, that's gonna tick off a lot of people."

If you've not been following the saga, Apple is very likely to shed the headphone port in its upcoming iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets, in a move that mirrors that of Motorla with its Moto Z phones… but it's got a few people pretty angry.

Woz going on?

While Wozniak left the company in 1985, he's still on the company's payroll, although he currently works for Fusion-io as 'Chief Scientist'. He railed against the loss of the popular headphone port, slating the idea that Bluetooth audio would be as good:

"I would not use Bluetooth … I don't like wireless. I have cars where you can plug in the music, or go through Bluetooth, and Bluetooth just sounds so flat for the same music."

He called for Bluetooth to be upgraded to allow for more bandwidth and audio quality, to get better sound from the wireless connection and make it a viable alternative for those who have decent headphones already, and who don't want to have to walk around with a Lightning adaptor stuck to the bottom of their buds or cans.

He also, slightly inexplicably, said Apple should move to USB-C, the preferred connection port of manufacturers on many new Android flagships, but didn't explain why he loved it so much other than to say it took his Nexus 5X to a "higher level".

It's only a couple of weeks until we see the next set of iPhones, with the launch almost certain to be the week commencing September 5 – so we won't have to wait long to see how distraught Wozniak is going to be.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.