All texts copied from my original Facebook post
Let’s have a look at audio measurements of the world’s most popular audio sources from the world’s richest company (as of 2017) – the iPhones.
iPhone 6s was the last major iPhone to feature 3.5mm headphone port. The picture features iPhone 6 which is externally identical to the 6s. Credit: Ubergizmo
With its vast resources, Apple can hire top talents to create wonders, even with their tiny $9 lightning to 3.5mm audio adaptor (A1749) which measures much better than some audiophile external DAC/Amp units. iPhones are also very capable audio performers for mobile devices, beating the crap out of AudioQuest Dragonfly (1.2) in noise, crosstalk, and THD level. This indicates that unless you’re not getting enough power from the headphone jack, you do not need any inferior, subpar, and underperforming external DAC/Amp units from audiophool companies. However, as confirmed by the FR graphs in the attached link, neither of both iPhones is capable of 96kHz playback, which isn’t necessary at all unless you can hear beyond human capabilities.
Yeah, even the audio engineers at Apple don’t see the importance nor potential of Hi-res audio, despite the fact that Apple is one of the bravest and most innovative firms in the industry.
Apple Market Capitalization, as of Dec 2017.
Please also note that Apple has removed analog audio outputs from its newer iPhones since the launch of iPhone 7 in 2016. That same year, it removed standard USB-A ports and MagSafe from MacBook Pros, a line of prosumer laptops, for smaller and more versatile USB-C ports. In 2017, Apple A11 Bionic SoC managed to get 10,000 CPU score that rivaled the Intel Core i5 6267U in 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. You can see how fast the fruit company is continuously refining its products, yet iPhone’s audio capabilities stop at Redbook, a standard introduced 30 years ago. That’s not because Apple’s indifferent, but because the audio quality has already been always good enough.
Suggested Readings:
iPhone 4 and 6 audio measurements http://archimago.blogspot.com/…/measurements-apple-iphone-4…
Apple A1749 Lightning audio adaptor measurements
http://www.kenrockwell.com/…/lightning-adapter-audio-qualit…
http://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/…/apple-lightning-audio…
artnoi 