this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2024
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At the time, there weren’t really many good options for replacement devices.
Using the charging port means listening to music and charging at the same time wasn’t possible.
Now we have split-cable dongles for power banks, and we have wireless charging when possible. It’s better but it’s not great; both have downsides, and accessories are more $.
Do they make type C headphones with a powerbank in them? Do I want a lithium battery that large on my head?
There aren’t many upsides for the consumer or the environment. Still seems to me like this isn’t even a lateral move. Internal components have gotten smaller and more efficient since, so that space could be reclaimed. I really don’t need my phone to be that thin, a phono jack next to the charging port would be just fine. The only real downside might be waterproofing but if you can make it work for the type C port…
I've heard that argument against having a 1/8" TRS port on smartphones before, and I don't buy it. Yes, there are lots of devices where there's just air between the connector and the rest of the electronic device, so water entering through the port can flow into the rest of the device...but there is no fundamental requirement imposed that requires devices to be designed like that. It'd be entirely-reasonable to seal it off, have the port external to the rest of the phone, have no way for water to pass from one area to the other.
There are some types of data or electrical connections for which you cannot do that, where the problem is that water's conductivity causes problems for a port itself, and the interface isn't designed to handle things being shorted, but that shouldn't be an issue for 1/8" TRS. Hell, you short its contacts just plugging the device in.