The teardown [Teardown Consumer Electronics]

WHEN APPLE announced that it was taking the 3.5mm headphone jack off the iPhone 7, there was a predictable wave of angst. Was the company trying to force the market for wireless earphones and headphones? To some extent, it probably was. But the truth is that Bluetooth audio had been making significant inroads for some time before Apple jumped (and even then, only partly so, since you can get a 3.5mm-to-Lightning adaptor for the iPhone, and thus continue to use wired kit). According to Slice Intelligence, wireless models accounted for 75 per cent of ear/headphone sales in the US last Christmas.