Apple patents magnetically detachable wireless earbuds for iPhone

piemadd · March 4, 2016

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awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple's U.S. Patent No. 9,277,309 for a "Detachable wireless listening device" details a headphone that accepts audio signals via a traditional cord in one mode, and Bluetooth or other wireless protocol in another.

The patent shares design similarities with a pair of regular earbuds. For example, both appear to sport a main audio cord branching off into two leads — one each for right and left earbuds. In practice, however, the invention relies on two separate cables; one connecting the stereo headphones together to form a listening subsystem, and another tethering that subsystem to a host device.

So with this, could the "no headphone jack" be a lie? I think it is both. They are probably going to have a very small jack that substitutes the 3.5mm jack. Either this or a lightning connector.

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Apple's hybrid earbud concept came to light as a patent application in 2012, shortly after the company launched its redesigned EarPods headphones with iPhone 5. The intervening years have seen three iPhone iterations with no colorable headphone hardware modifications.

This was released in 2012. Remember, this patent is only for the magnetic connection on the earbuds. The connection to the phone could be different.

blu4 · March 4, 2016

It's going to be a lightning connector for headphones. Trust me, I already predicted stuff

Epiclol86 · March 4, 2016

i think for the next phone we won't see this magnetic connection. it probably won't be ready enough for a massive implementation. i think it'll look like the oppo r5, which has a small cable converter which converts usb type d to headphone jack (in the iphone case it would lightning to jack).