Here's why Google dropped headphone jack from new phones
The primary reason [for dropping the jack] is establishing a mechanical design path for the future, says Google
October 06, 2017
For all those of us who were confused about Google's decision to drop headphone jacks from the new version of its Pixel smartphone, the company has given a clarification for it.
In a statement to Tech Crunch, Google product chief Mario Queiroz said "The primary reason [for dropping the jack] is establishing a mechanical design path for the future.”
“We want the display to go closer and closer to the edge. Our team said, ‘if we’re going to make the shift, let’s make it sooner, rather than later.’ Last year may have been too early. Now there are more phones on the market.”
The headphone jack is a single purpose port and it takes a lot of space on a smartphone, according to the company.
The move was “absolutely” a driving factor in the company’s decisions to launch its own AirPod competitor, the Pixel Buds, according to Queiroz.
On October 5, Google on unveiled the second generation of its Pixel smartphone along with new voice-enabled home speakers, redoubling its commitment to the hardware business as it competes with a surge of devices from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc.
Google’s new products, including a Pixelbook laptop, wireless earbuds and a small GoPro-like camera, showcase Google-developed operating systems and services, notably the voice assistant. That means usage of those devices should stoke the company’s core ad sales business as buyers of the hardware using Google services like search and maps.
Speaking at the launch in San Francisco, Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh said the new products “perfectly demonstrate our strategy of re-imagining hardware from the inside out.”
