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  • Apple's finicky headphone jacks frustrate MacBook owners

    Devin Coldewey

    Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts he’d like you to read: The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User’s Manifesto | Our Great Sin His personal website is coldewey.cc. → Learn More

    Thursday, February 12th, 2009

    Depending on what sort of headphones you’ve got going into your MacBook, you may have encountered some trouble keeping the things plugged in. It seems that unibody MacBooks are a bit picky on just how far in the headphone jack has to be.

    Users claim solid performance with the latest iPhone-compatible headphones with the built-in mic, but older headphones (including Apple ones) tend to disconnect with the slightest jar. Sounds to me like the headphone jack gripper (below) at the very end isn’t in the correct position. It’s possible, I guess, that if it isn’t secured well that it might be knocked out of place or loosened by rough usage.

    jack-plug-socket-switch

    Well, that picture really is quite big.

    Anyhow, that wouldn’t really explain why some headphones work and some don’t. Either way, it seems some people have success with an adapter like this iFrogz one, at least if you don’t need the microphone functionality.

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