No matter how much you love the headphone jack of your mobile device, prepare yourself to say goodbye to it. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) recently announced its long-expected audio specification for USB Type-C to kill the headphone jack.
The Standard
Officially called the USB Audio Device Class 3.0 specification, this release sets a new standard for the device manufacturers that need to feed sound through USB Type-C ports on everything from PCs to phones. The company expects this USB Type-C to be the “primary solution for all digital audio applications, including headsets, mobile devices, docking stations, gaming set-ups and VR solutions.”
What can this new specification do?
The new audio specification is coming with advanced features such as hotword detection, as well can help reduce power consumption on devices. Besides, USB-IF says instead of using the headphone jack, piping audio over the USB Type-C connection can shave up to 0.03 of an inch (1 mm) off of the device design. You may find it very little space, but it’s rather a big deal in manufacturing a mobile device where every bit of space counts. Also, ditching the headphone jack will make it easier to design water-resistant devices.
It’s not sure whether every company will embrace this specification with the same enthusiasm as Apple or not. However, this will be helpful for those manufacturers who were thinking of ditching the headphone jack but could not make a move without official support.
