Intel Wants to Replace 3.5mm Headphone Jack With USB

Intel is joining Le-TV LeEco pointing out the advantages of the new USB-C connector as a replacement for traditional 3.5mm headphone jack. The Chinese company recently launched several smartphones without 3.5mm headphone jack, focusing on the use of USB-C as an audio port.

At the forum for developers in Shenzhen (China), which took place this month, Intel described a similar proposal to “remove 3.5mm jack as an audio source.” But what is the biggest problem with current connector for headphones? It is an analog port that works with digital devices with multi-purpose orientation.

With the digital connection available via USB-C, the headset can integrate digital-to-analog converters and amplifiers, thus providing a constant sound quality of different devices. Furthermore, thanks to flexibility the USB-C, the headset can be used for tracking data as health, temperature and fitness activities.

On the rumors that iPhone 7 will come without a 3.5mm headphone jack, which will be replaced by a Lightning port, most people opposed because to listen to music and charge your phone at the same time you will need an adapter. But now we see that companies like JBL and LeEco already have a range of devices that use USB-C for audio output, which means that the industry is already dealing with 3.5mm jack as unnecessary and outdated.

Of course, the transition will not be painless, on the market has tons of devices that use precisely 3.5mm headphone jack, and people will have to pay more money to acquire new generation of handsets and compatible devices. But the technology industry seems determined to drop the last remnants of analog technology.