The Li-Fi rumors seem to fit in with Apple’s overall design philosophy, less is more. Getting rid of dust collecting ports and having a wireless transfer capability which is a 100 times faster than Wi-Fi can only be good news.
As the latest iPhone 7 rumors come rolling in it seems more and more likely that Apple will indeed ditch the dated headphone jack in favor of wireless audio solutions and a Lightning adapter for wired headphones and speakers. A renowned jailbreaker @kyoufujibaya claims to have inside information that there will be no headphone jack within the latest iOS 9.3 beta 1.1 software release, and further points to the inclusion of Li-Fi technology.
The same guy has also made another discovery after sifting through the upcoming iPhone’s codebase. While this is still a wild rumor, Mr Jailbreak references Li-Fi technology being used with iOS, which suggests Apple could be testing the new technology for future iPhones and iPads. Here is a quick explanation of Li-fi thanks to Wikipedia:
Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) is a bidirectional, high speed and fully networked wireless communication technology similar to Wi-Fi. The term was coined by Harald Haas and is a form of visible light communication and a subset of optical wireless communications (OWC) and could be a complement to RF communication (Wi-Fi or Cellular network), or even a replacement in contexts of data broadcasting. It is so far measured to be about 100 times faster than some Wi-Fi implementations, reaching speeds of 224 gigabits per second.
It is wireless and uses visible light communication or infra-red and near ultraviolet (instead of radio frequency waves) spectrum, part of optical wireless communications technology, which carries much more information, and has been proposed as a solution to the RF-bandwidth limitations.
The Li-Fi rumors seem to fit in with Apple’s overall design philosophy, less is more. Getting rid of dust collecting ports and having a wireless transfer capability which is a 100 times faster than Wi-Fi can only be good news. Apple’s rumored replacement for the aging head-phone jack won’t just be a modified lightning adapter. Reports suggest that Apple, in partnership with the Beats subsidiary, is developing a new set of truly wireless earbuds that can be charged via their protective carrying case, which in turn gets recharged, that will debut before or around the same time as the new iPhone hardware.
If all this is true I really don’t mind if Apple gets rid of the headphone jack – bring on the future!
Source: 9to5Mac
Follow Jaco on Twitter: @Jaco_vdWalt
