> And yet most people still need to buy external DVD/Blu-ray drives. I don't agree with you on that point, and that's coming from someone who has a computer which came with a DVD drive. I've literally used it maybe, what, twice since I got it? And honestly I can't find an example off the top of my head of a mac-owning friend of mine who'd complain about not having a optical drive on their machine.

Even if the headphone jack were dying out (which IMO is not the case, but anyway), one has to admit that replacing it by a proprietary system like Lightning is a bad idea. Now, I get their goal is pushing toward the use of wireless, but they'll have to explain themselves as to how they're planning on pulling that off when the only official wireless alternative they offer is a $159 pair of earphones as opposed to their wired alternative which is literally more than 4x cheaper.

I agree with you here. If the goal was to get people moving to wireless, including the AirPods with the iPhone would have been real 'courage'.

A decent pair of earbuds can cost about $10, even their wired alternative is grotesquely overpriced.

> which IMO is not the case, but anyway

The headphone jack was not dying out up until yesterday. As of today, it is. In the next five years a whole bunch of phone manufacturers are going to do the same thing.

You're going to absolutely shit yourself when Apple removes the lightning port from the iPhone 10.

> one has to admit that replacing it by a proprietary system like Lightning is a bad idea

Apple's view: we've replaced it with wireless. Use Bluetooth or Apple W1-enabled headphones. It is much better for many reasons. If you can't use them for some reason, use the Lightning headphones we shipped in the box If you can't use them, use the 3.5mm=>Lightning adapter we shipped in the box.

> the only official wireless alternative they offer is a $159 pair of headphones

The only official laptops they offer start at $700. Apple is a premium brand. As of today the complete range of choices Apple enables you to make on headphones, right out of the box:

1. Wired lightning headphones

2. Wired 3.5mm headphones via lightning dongle

3. Any pair of bluetooth headphones

4. Any pair of Apple W1-enabled wireless headphones

If you don't want to spend $159 on a pair of bluetooth headphones then you can go ahead and buy some cheaper ones!

suuuuure 3.5mm is dying. Just as uUsb is dead. Seriously, though, it's an well-established standard with design that has withstood the test of time. It is not dying today. Nor tomorrow.