Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis and his associates speculate that iPhones Apple will release this year may not come bundled with the Lightning to 3.5 mm headphone jack adapter.
“We currently model no dongle this year,” the analysts predicted in a research note obtained by MacRumors today. If the prediction pans out, supplier Cirrus Logic, which builds DAC/ADC chips for the adapter, could lose orders from Apple.
Barclays said a year ago the dongle wouldn’t be bundled with 2018 phones. “We believe it stays this year but goes away at some point, potentially in the 2018 model,” they said in April 2017.
As you know, Apple also sells the headphone jack adapter for $9 as a standalone accessory.
Even if 2018 iPhones won’t come bundled with the dongle, Apple will likely continue offering the dongle as a standalone purchase to those upgrading from older phones like iPhone 6s.