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A reliable source report from the Japanese blog Macotakara has made a recent revelation that Apple plans to change the 3.5mm port in their forthcoming iPhone 7 which will help them make the phone thinner by more than 1mm than its ancestor, iPhone 6s. Even though the shape and screen size will remain the same, the device will become the thinnest iPhone Apple has ever made, albeit with a limitation, the headphones would only be connected with Bluetooth or the lightning cable. As part of the transition, the complimentary EarPod headset will also be integrated with a digital-to-analog in its plug. As a result, the third party manufacturers would have to follow suit, creating a lightning to analog adaptor in case Apple doesn't provide one, as reported by 9to5 Mac.
In a WWDC "Designing Accessories for iOS and OS X" session, Apple implied that they will be moving from the regular jack to lightning enabled headphone accessories. This solution will provide the users will greater access to system controls. Additionally, the lightning standard can send power to the headphones without the need for carrying any power banks, says Slashgear.

The size of the lightning port will remain the same as the existing one so that it is compatible with the existing accessories. This also means that there will also be an adaptor from 3.5mm to lightning adapter so that they can allow backward compatibility with non-lightning headphones. If the design change, reduced size of the iPhone 7, comes true, Apple will have to do two things, encourage users to go for Bluetooth headphones to promote the wireless audio experience that comes with new iPhone and also release new EarPods with a lightning connector, reported AppleInsider.