Apple rumored to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from the next iPhone

According to the latest rumors, Apple will remove the 3.5mm headphone jack on the new iPhone and replace it with an all-in-one Lightning connector. The company might also released Lightning-based EarPods that will support the new audio output on future iOS-based devices.

The rumor is coming from Mac Otakara, which is pretty reliable, with the site adding that it has a "reliable source" that claims Apple will use a same-sized Lightning connector that will support Lightning-based and Bluetooth headphones. It'll also have a DAC, or digital-to-audio connector, that will offer backwards compatibility with wired headphones that use the standard 3.5mm headphone jack. To use this, a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter would be required.

If Apple did remove the 3.5mm jack on the new iPHone, it could be 1mm thinner than the already super-thin iPhone 6S which comes in at 7.1mm. The new iPod touch is something we should look at comparing it to, which is 6.1mm thick - but the iPod touch still rocks a 3.5mm headphone jack. We'll find out early next year if the new iPhone drops the 3.5mm headphone jack.