A Weird Headphone Jack Situation

The iPhone was one of the first phones to feature a standard-sized 3.5mm jack that could theoretically be used with any headphones. However, it also supported a microphone for hands-free calls, and it seems Apple wanted to make sure users didn’t run into compatibility problems.

To this end, it recessed the headphone jack on the first iPhone in such a way that only Apple’s own included earbuds could be plugged in. Most other headphones didn’t have a thin enough end, and as a result there quickly became a wealth of third-party adapters that existed for no other purpose than to extend the standard 3.5mm headphone connection to make it fit into the iPhone’s narrow jack.

Fortunately, Apple must have realized that this was pretty silly, as there was no reason that standard stereo earphones should have presented a problem with the headphone jack since the microphone was the third wire. By the following year, the iPhone 3G had gained a more normal flush headphone jack, which would be the norm until Apple decided to remove it entirely with the iPhone 7, returning us to the era of headphone adapters.