3 Weirdest Apple Conspiracy Theories Debunked
Apple is the largest and most valuable tech company in the world. Take a company with that high of a profile and combine it with all of the internet-users who have too much spare time, and it’s a surefire recipe for conspiracy theories. And as most people know, a lot of conspiracy theories don't make much sense or are just plain weird. Here are 3 of the weirdest Apple-related conspiracies, debunked. Press the Right Arrow to Continue.
3 Killing the Headphone Jack to Maintain Control
At the time, Apple’s decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from its iPhone 7 lineup was a controversial choice. As is usual on the internet, conspiracy theorists were quick to develop several possible explanations. For one, many people pointed toward the headphone jack’s removal as a way for Apple to get people to buy more of their wireless and Lightning-equipped headphones.
Others thought up a theory concerning Digital Rights Management — a method for labels, publishers and streaming services to restrict how MP3s are distributed. Since the 3.5mm connector was too “dumb” to read encoded-DRM protections, these conspiracy theorists claim, the switch to Lightning is another way for Apple to maintain greater control over how we listen to music, Complex reported.
Of course, the likeliest explanation is that Apple was simply trying to make more space within its devices for other components. Apple has a long history of simplifying and paring down its device. The removal of the headphone jack was just the next logical step.
2 Dropping Suppliers Just to Gobble Them Up
Earlier this year, Apple announced that it would no longer be using graphics tech or intellectual property developed and created by Imagination Technologies in its devices. Instead, the Cupertino tech giant told Imagination that it would be using its own proprietary graphics chips and homegrown systems moving forward.
As expected, the news crippled Imagination’s stock valuation. That turn of events led some people to claim that Apple was planning on dropping the supplier all along, just to swoop in and acquire the company on the cheap. On the surface, this theory might seem a clever yet devious move — but it doesn’t really make much sense under critical analysis.
As Ashraf Eassa of the Motley Fool points out, the price difference just wouldn’t be that significant to a company as large and as profitable as Apple. A likelier scenario is that the company just believes that it could make its own graphics tech better and more efficiently. And indeed, in recent years, Apple has made a larger effort to rely on proprietary technology.
1 “Papering” Apple Stores
Apple Stores are a unique place. Clean, minimal, and chock full of expensive and high-end devices. But one particularly amusing conspiracy theory from way back in 2010 claims that the Apple Store is a facade filled with paid actors as buyers to make the store seem more lively and commercially successful. Yeah, seriously.
The originator of this theory claims that it was “surreal” because no one was buying anything, there were non-uniformed Apple Store employees, and certain people in the store appeared to be acting weird, like they were in an "Apple commercial." In their view, Apple is “papering” their retail locations — referring to the theatrical slang term of giving away free tickets to make a theater appear fuller. At one point in an email to the now-defunct Gawker, the conspiracy theorist referred to the Apple Store as a “Disney set.”
Gawker took the time to debunk the theory in traditional, sarcastic Gawker fashion, but in short, everything was easily explainable. As an example, non-uniformed Apple Store employees were probably just on their lunch break and weren’t actually secret Apple agents. A former Apple Store employee even took the time to formally debunk the theory. “I can say for sure is that no one is ‘papering the store,” the employee told the blog.