Analyst says Apple will leave the headphone adapter out of the box for the 2018 iPhone models

As you might have figured out by now, every securities house and bank that buys and sells stock, whether for themselves or for clients, has an analyst that is focused on Apple. That isn't surprising considering that the company is the most valuable publicly traded firm in the world. Today, Barclay's Blayne Curtis wrote a note to clients stating that he doesn't expect Apple to include a Lighting to 3.5mm headphone jack dongle in the box with the 2018 iPhone models. ""We currently model no dongle this year," the analyst said in his note.

Last year, Barclays correctly predicted that Apple would include the accessory with the Apple iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. However, the analyst's prediction for the 2018 models is not definitive; the note says that they might not know for sure that the dongle won't be included this year until May or June. If this report proves true, those purchasing any of the 2018 iPhone models can always spring for the $9 it would cost them to buy the Lighting to 3.5mm headphone jack dongle as a stand-alone accessory.

While Apple is thought of as the first company to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack on its smartphones, the first handsets released sans the jack were actually the LeEco Le 2, Le 2Pro and Le Max2. In addition, the Motorola Z Force also was unveiled without the headphone jack prior to the introduction of the Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Those two phones were the first from Apple not to sport the 3.5mm port.

Top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities expects Apple to unveil three phones in September. The Apple iPhone Xs will be a sequel to the tenth anniversary model and will feature a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED display. The Apple iPhone Xs Plus will carry a massive 6.5-inch edge-to-edge OLED panel, and the Apple iPhone 9 will sport a 6.1-inch edge-to-edge LCD screen. It will feature Face ID and a TrueDepth Camera like the other two units, but will be equipped with a single camera on back and will not come with 3D Touch. That's because Apple will reportedly place a thin film sensor layer over the display which will prevent 3D Touch from working. Supposedly, this will make the iPhone 9 lighter and more durable even though it adds a little to the thickness of the device.

source: MacRumors