To me, the biggest problem with this move is that you can't charge the device and listen to music with corded headphones at the same time. Unless there is some option I am unaware of.
In any case, I just decided to replace my iPhone 5 with an iPhone 6s, which I should be able to find on sale.
Bluetooth is ok in general, but I hate to have one more battery to keep an eye on.
Macbook, iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods. That's already three different charging mechanisms for the devices you are likely to carry when traveling.
I would be very happy if they could even just add one extra USB port to Macbook USB-C charger so that you could charge the laptop and phone with the same charger.
Given that you get a lightning to audio jack converter right in the box it's pretty much the only significant objection IMHO. Converter cables aren't ideal, but hardly a ragequit issue. I wonder if third party charge/jack splitter cables are possible?
I'm still going to buy an iPhone; just not the 7. Since I generally keep my phones for three years, I will have plenty of time to see how this plays out in the market.
I guess Apple's solution is to always buy more stuff. I could easily see "needing" to now have three docks and 2 adapters. One dock at home office to listen/charge when working at home all day, one for work office for same reason and one in the car for long road trips / commuting (no BT in my car, just aux). Maybe I could get away with one adapter if I leave it connected to my headphones... But I can't be expected to reasonable carry around docks with me or even to consistently remember them when I hop into the car. I already know it would be a matter of time before winding up in a situation where I would not have an adapter on me, or needing to charge. Basically this is an anti-consumer move, there is zero benefit to consumers and actually makes everyone's lives more inconvenient.
It's strange because I don't need any of this stuff right now with my iPhone 6+, it was a solved problem. Never before, after a new Apple release have I felt that what I have now is more desirable than the newer version.
We've had bluetooth audio in cars for many many years now. The most compelling argument for needing an aux cable is if you're renting a car (since rentals usually skip most of the options, such as bluetooth audio). And with the headphone jack being removed, it's only a matter of time before some 3rd party comes out with an adaptor cable that includes a charge port so you can do both at the same time.
> there is zero benefit to consumers
Completely untrue. Just because you don't care about the various benefits doesn't mean there is zero benefit. If there was zero benefit, Apple wouldn't do it. More than any other company I know, Apple cares deeply about user experience, and they're dropping the headphone jack because they think it's holding back the product.
The most obvious benefit I can think of is dropping the headphone jack let them put a second speaker in where the jack was, which is probably what let them get 2x louder speakers.
In any case, I just decided to replace my iPhone 5 with an iPhone 6s, which I should be able to find on sale.