Just six days before Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 7 without a headphone jack, Libratone has introduced new Q Adapt in-ear noise-cancelling headphones with a Lightning connector in lieu of a standard 3.5mm audio jack.
The headphones feature a battery-free design with four levels of active noise cancellation, drawing power from the iPhone or iPad they are connected to through the Lightning connector.
The pair have in-line controls for volume, playback, phone calls, and Siri, and one for the four active noise cancellation settings and talk-through.
The earbuds have a fabric-covered cable available in four colors: elegant nude, cloudy white, stormy black, and rose pink. They also are equipped with three sizes of interchangeable rubber earpieces.
Apple introduced new MFi Program specifications in June 2014 that allow third-party manufacturers to create headphones that connect to iOS devices via a Lightning cable, with features such as passthrough power and active noise cancellation.
Libratone says the Q Adapt headphones will be available in mid-September for $179 and will ship to customers at the beginning of October.
Other Lightning-equipped headphones released to date include, among others, the Philips Fidelio M2L and Fidelio NC1L.
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Top Rated Comments
This kind of simplicity for Active NC headphones is simply impossible for 3.5mm jack based solutions.
Also, because it's straight digital, the engineers can take full control of everything.
Currently, iPhones convert the digital sound to analog, then the ANC circuits converts the signal back to digital, does the ANC, and converts it back to analog. With a digital interface, this digital / analog / digital conversion is eliminated.
Removing legacy ports forces the technological march forward. That's how standards are adopted. Of course, Macs could have accumulated all of these ports and drives over the years since there would have been people who have wanted to use them, but then new more advanced ports and formats would have never been widely adopted.
We'll see in a week, but I'm convinced that Apple will be pushing for wireless headphones. Future wearable products will rely on not having cables of any kind. Right now, that's the Apple Watch but in some distant future, Apple glasses might join in. In the more immediate future, having wireless AirPods in your ears with Always On Siri connected to all of your devices (not just one) is a major advancement from the standard we have today.
Yes, bluetooth headphones have been around forever, but when they become a priority, technology will push forward and it'll become the standard. Then, we'll look back and wonder why we ever put up with dangling cables from our ears.