Editors' pick: Originally published Sept. 15.
When Apple (AAPL) introduced its new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, it did so with what many techies, consumers and investors had expected: no headphone jack.
And although it decided to ship the device with a lightning port to serve as a charging port to the headphone adapter, its bigger initiative was to do away with wires. Apple wants users to get away from the old and in with the new, similar to what it did with disk drives and the mouse.
But what about losing a headphone?
Currently, most users wear headphones that are either very large, or connected together via a cord. Without the cord, consumers are worried about losing them. Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that Apple's AirPod headphones are $159. That's a big price to pay for convenience.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, however, looked to ease worries over the device when he appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America." He stated:
Given that consumers tend to be big buyers of Apple products, and especially headed into the holidays, it wouldn't be surprising to see a strong showing for the device. Impressively, cell phone carriers are seeing immense demand for the new iPhone models as well.
Shares of Apple closed at $111.77 Wednesday, up 3.5%.
