Apple’s Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone adapter may be going away

Apple’s Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone adapter may be going away

I haven’t been able to find mine for years. | Image: Apple

The Apple Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter may have bitten the dust, as it’s sold out at Apple’s online store in the US and much of the world, MacRumors reports. The accessory is reportedly still available from Apple in some countries, including France, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

If it’s truly gone, then this feels like the end of an era. Apple introduced the Lightning headphone adapter in 2016 alongside the iPhone 7, when it first courageously ditched the headphone jack. The company even included it with new iPhones for a couple of generations before it stopped doing that for 2018’s iPhone XS, leaving customers to buy one themselves, pick up Lightning EarPods, or get on the AirPods train (which many of us had started begrudgingly admitting were actually good).

The writing has been on the wall for what’s left of the Apple Store’s Lightning selection since last year’s introduction of USB-C to the iPhone 15 line. Now, the Apple Store has dwindled to a handful of Lightning adapters, cables (including that special audio cable for AirPods Max), and Lightning EarPods.

And I’m sorry to report that, at least in the US Apple Store, Apple’s Lightning-to-VGA adapter appears to be gone, too.