Do you have a source saying that the analog over lightning is being used here? Because the slide I posted in my other reply says it is "digital audio" over lightning, which I assume to be true for both lightning earpods and this adapter (though I very well could be wrong).
Articles about the Lightning headphone spec from a couple of years ago suggest that it only includes digital audio. They even specify a DAC that should be used.
I have doubts that the EarPods are digital also it's not stated anywhere.
Some of the lightning docks had some circuitry in them but no DACs.
The lightning to 30pin converter works with older DAC-less audio setups/docks.
Overall my hunch is that it's not digital only yet.
Hmm not sure most of the "digital" stuff was not about the earpods but about the wireless ones AKA the "AirPods"
The ones that come with the iPhone 7 in the box are the regular earpods we have now just with a lightning connector, there have also been a few videos going back to july about the 3.5mm connector some of them taken it apart it doesn't seem to have anything in it.
o.0 Did you click the link? It goes to right when he starts explaining Earpods switching to lightning, with "digital audio" written in the slide, and reiterating "digital audio" multiple times.
I imagine it doesn't have any DAC. The DAC is still inside the phone, just like on previous iphone, the dongle is just a physical adapter to the 3.5mm standard.
I had assumed it had a DAC since I haven't seen apple use lightning for analog audio yet. I could be wrong, but couldn't find any source for clarification (upon googling). This slide from yesterday seems to suggest lightning is being used for digital out: https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ghvFaov2v5hQ-mZ8y-r6VM5oTWI...
Unlikely; the audio had to be converted from digital to analog on the phone previously so now that's being moved to a dongle so it's still the same process (roughly). If it does add latency I would bet it's very unnoticeable (like sub milliseconds when compared to the built-in solution).
Entirely possible. Onboard DACs use I2S which adds basically zero latency; one of the ways of getting audio out over Lightning is to use USB which requires additional latency-causing buffering. It's possible that there's another lower-latency way of getting audio out over Lighting but only Apple knows.
How so? If they were through carriers, you probably still paid for part of it through your monthly bill, and part of it was subsidized by your carrier.
Either way cmdrfred's
> An Android phone costs less than the dongle.
is incorrect. Most people are paying for their phones in some way, whether Android or iOS, whether directly or via their carrier, and the dongle is free with the phone.
Unless these were gifts, you paid for them. If the phones were "free" or just a penny from a mobile carrier, the real price of the phone was hidden in the monthly service charge. That's why you had to sign a long-term service contract to get the "free" phone.
Thank goodness the carriers have been moving away from that kind of deceptive pricing.
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