Apple’s Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter might have met its final end, considering it is listed as sold out in the company’s online stores in the US and most of the world. It is still available in some countries including Sweden, Norway, France, Denmark, and Finland, according to a MacRumors report, but that will likely only be true while those countries have stock. Following that, it seems the product is being culled from Apple’s ranks with the rest of the Lightning range.
Gone Like Lightning
Apple first unveiled the headphone adapter in 2016 as an included accessory with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. That was the very same year it decided to stop putting headphone jacks in iPhones. What a brave choice and definitely not driven by the need to sell more accessories.
It allowed customers to connect wired headphones with a 3.5mm jack (which many still enjoy for lower latency and no battery worries) to Apple’s Lightning connector. The adapter was even included with new iPhone purchases at no additional cost for a few generations before 2018’s iPhone XS.
From then on customers either had to buy their own, switch to a pair of wired Lightning EarPods, or relent to the AirPods hype – which was easier to justify as the quality continued to improve.
Though the adapter remains available in a few countries, these countries will likely run out of inventory eventually. Earlier this year SuperDrive, Apple’s USB-powered CD player, was phased out the same way, selling out first in the US and eventually worldwide.
Apple’s Lightning range has been approaching the chopping block since last year‘s introduction of USB-C to the iPhone 15. The line has continued to dwindle to a handful of adapters, Lightning AirPods, and cables (including the AirPod Max’s special audio cable). The only iPhones with Lightning ports still available on the Apple store are the iPhone 14, 14 Plus, and SE, all of which are expected to be discontinued next year.
Fortunately, South African customers can still pick one up for R240 but there’s no telling how long the stock will last.