Apple releases new products every year. We love to review and analyze the details. But Apple didn’t just add new features to its latest products this time—it also took away some stuff that has been there for a while. Here are four features that Apple took from the iPhone. iPad 10th GenerationAnd Apple TV 4KThis feature may also disappear from other products.
Lightning
We all know that Apple’s proprietary Lightning port isn’t long for this world, and Apple isn’t wasting any time getting rid of it. Both the 10-generation iPad, and the iPad 3G were stripped of the Lightning port. Siri remoteThe Lightning feature was removed from iPhones, AirPods and some Mac accessories, which were replaced by USB-C.
But there’s one quirk with this rounf of releases. The new iPad has a USB-C port for charging, so you’ll need an adapter to charge the Apple Pencil, which still has Lightning. It’s still not clear how to get USB-C.
Headphone jack
Apple has been a target of the headphone jack ever since the beginning. iPhone 7, and 9th-gen iPad was the last iOS/iPadOS device to feature a headphone jack—and it still is. Apple removed the jack from the 10-gen iPad’s redesign and once it stops selling the 9th-gen iPad, none of Apple’s tablets will have one.
This will make the Mac the only Apple product with a 3.5mm headphones jack. Apple had many opportunities in recent times to remove the headphones jack from the MacBook and iMac, but has so far refused. It’s arguably more important on the Mac than the iPhone and iPad for audio input devices, but still, we wonder how many more redesigns it’ll survive.
Built-in ethernet
It’s no secret that Apple wants to rid the world of wires, and one of the biggest is ethernet. Since the iBook’sApple launched the AirPort Wireless Wi-Fi Card in 1999. Since then, Apple has been trying get rid of ugly networking cables and the Apple TV 4K continues this trend. It’s not gone completely, but you need to buy the $149 model to get an ethernet port—the cheaper $129 model doesn’t have one.
Apple did the same with its 24-inch iMac. Because it was so thin, Apple removed the ethernet port from the body of the machineAnd instead moved it to the power adapter—but it’s not included in the cheapest model. It’s been years since Apple included ethernet on its laptops too, so only a handful of desktop Macs—Mac Studio, Mac Pro, and Mac min—support built-in wired internet nowi. The ethernet port on Apple’s desktop Macs probably isn’t in immediate danger, but it’s definitely endangered.
‘Solid’ Retina displays
Apple introduced the Liquid Retina display with the iPhone X and it’s since expanded to nearly every product it sells with a screen, most recently the 10th-gen iPad and M2 MacBook Air. Now, just a handful of products remain that don’t have a Liquid Retina display: the iPhone SE, ninth-gen iPad, 13-inch MacBook Pro, 24-inch iMac, Studio Display, and Pro Display XDR, and several are rumored to make the switch soon. Buy one if you like square corners.
