Apple Inc. (AAPL) Gets a Warning From “The Woz”

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When the co-founder of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) speaks, you listen. Especially when Steve Wozniak is airing his thoughts on the much-derided rumor to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7.

iPhone 7 Pro a No Go

Source: Apple

“If it’s missing the 3.5-millimeter earphone jack, that’s going to tick off a lot of people,” said Wozniak — one assumes from a pulpit, because he was preaching to the choir.

It’s touted in some circles as the natural progression of technology; in the vein of the 1998 killing off of floppy disk drives by the iMac, the lack of Flash in the iPhone and the single USB-C port on the latest MacBook. In other circles, it’s considered consumer-unfriendly.

Wozniak appears to fit in with the latter circle:

“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.”

Thank you, Woz.

But if Apple truly has decided to forego the traditional headphone jack in favor of a slimmer, more adapter-friendly iPhone, then even the words of the great Woz cannot send Apple back to the drawing board.

The iPhone 7 is expected in September, possibly Sept. 16, and is likely an incremental upgrade rather than full overhaul.

Its operating system isn’t in for any major changes, either. (I’ve been using iOS 10 in beta form for a few weeks now, and the differences are more aesthetic than anything.) The slim factor will likely be touted as a key selling point.

So, we’re sorry, Steve … looks like you’re going to have to stand in line with the rest of us for an overpriced adapter. That’s the only way you’ll get high-quality audio in your car.

But there’s always Samsung.

As of this writing, John Kilhefner did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/08/apple-inc-aapl-iphone-7-steve-wozniak/.

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