Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has changed his opinion of Apple dropping the headphone jack on the iPhone 7, revealing he now 
thinks Apple was right to make the move to using the Lightning port for audio.
Wozniak told TechRadar, “Not that many people used it, I never used it. For those who do use it, you can buy a little adaptor dongle.”
This contradicts how Wozniak previously felt when the change was first rumored. He told The Australian Financial Review in August this year that dropping the headphone jack was “going to tick off a lot of people.”
When we spoke to Wozniak, he was using both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus but owns a number of other iPhone models – including expressing a lot of love for the much-maligned iPhone 5C.
He doesn’t only own Apple devices though. He told us: “I also have a lot of Android phones …I play with all the carriers I can. I like to compare everything, as that’s how I learn.”
On the Watch
Despite previously speaking negatively about the Apple Watch, and its focus on a fashion audience, Wozniak is now a bigger fan of Apple’s wearable.
“I’ve come to like my Apple Watch more…. I actually forgot to wear it today and I want to use it just for seeing the time, if nothing else.”
“I use it enough in my life for things…I enjoy using it and having it. And when I don’t use it, I don’t even know it’s there.”
Woz also revealed to TechRadar he had already ordered an Apple Watch 2, but hasn’t received it yet.
Nothing for free
Wozniak also revealed to us that he still to buy Apple tech – despite co-founding the company 40 years ago – as he doesn’t receive free samples.
During an onstage panel at the Festival of Marketing in London, Wozniak said, “Steve Jobs sent me iPhones on a couple of occasions without me asking.
“(But) I would not want to call Apple and ask because they probably would give me one. I like to wait in line when a new product comes out.
“If I really want it, I think that’s important. Sometimes I’m the first person in line!”
Wozniak also spoke about the early years of Apple where he sees his peak as the time he developed the Apple II computer.
He said, “I’m not so brilliant anymore, but I had a 10 year period where – when I look back – I can’t believe the magic that was pouring out of my brain.”
Wozniak, who is still an advisor for Apple, said he struggles to suggest ground-breaking ideas to the company as they’re usually already in development – as well as confirming he thought the Apple Car is a good idea.
He said, “I have ideas in my head that it would be good for Apple to do, and usually they’ve done it in the next year or two, but they’ve been planning it for three years instead. The thinking is independent.”
“I don’t know what’s going on in Apple – but obviously Apple is so huge that for something to be important it’s got to be something we spend a lot of money on.
“Automobiles come to mind, maybe housing and maybe energy creation – those sort of things.”
It’s an understatement to say that Wozniak’s impact on the tech world is huge – and it would be sensible to think that his permanent goal is to keep developing new technologies.
But when asked about his ambitions, the answer was surprising: Simply hitting a 7,00,000 high score on his Gameboy’s version of Tetris.
