Does Apple have direction or is it just winging its releases?

APPLE has been synonymous with innovation, but one of its decisions has left people questioning if the tech giant has lost its way.

Apple removed the headphone jack from the new iPhone 7, saying it was time for change.

OPINION

FOR the longest time Apple has been synonymous with innovation, but one of its latest decisions has left people questioning if the tech giant has lost its way.

To put this into perspective we have to go back to September’s launch of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

In front of the packed out crowd at the Bill Graham Civic Centre in San Francisco, Apple vice president Phil Schiller confirmed the company’s flagship devices would no longer include a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Rather than spending too much time defending the controversial decision, Mr Schiller offered a simple explanation.

“It really comes down to one word: courage. The courage to move on and do something better for all of us,” he said.

To account for the change, Apple offered the ability to connect headphones via the Lightning port, with a new set of headphones shipping in every box.

It also flaunted wireless earbuds known as AirPods, which connect to the iPhone via bluetooth.

While there was backlash, Apple stood strong suggesting the 3.5mm headphone jack was an outdated and irrelevant feature.

A pair of wireless AirPods are seen during the launch of the iPhone 7 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California on September 07, 2016. Picture: Josh Edelson

Apple wireless AirPods were supposed to be the new era in headphones. Picture: Josh Edelson

This stance was all hunky-dory. At least, it was until Apple showed off its new line-up of Macbook Pro laptops last week.

The launch showcased a thinner, faster MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar — a customisable touch screen at the top of the keyboard.

Apple also replaced the HDMI input and MagSafe connector from the device with USB-C ports.

There was no denying these were impressive, but there was something that left people scratching their heads.

Despite overhauling the connections on the MacBook with USB-C connections, Apple left one legacy port — the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Wait. What?

For all the fuss they made about the 3.5mm headphone jack being an inept piece of technology at the iPhone 7 launch, its seems strange Apple would kept it on the MacBook.

Apple's new MacBook Pro will feature a 3.5 mm headphone jack because they're not as courageous as they thought they were.

— Danny Tanner (@dannypetrilli) October 27, 2016

Do the new macbook pros ship with a 3.5 to lightning adapter so I can use my new Lightning headphones?

— Not Fake Adam Kalsey (@akalsey) October 30, 2016

To make matters worse, the tech giant’s latest laptops don’t have anywhere you can plug the lighting headphones shipped with the new iPhone.

For a company that has built a reputation on having devices which seamlessly interact, Apple has completely missed the mark here.

It might only a minor inconvenience for the user, but it’s a bad look.

If you are going to make a deal about headphone jacks being a thing of the past, logic would say its probably wise to carry that across your entire product range.

News.com.au has contacted Apple for comment.

What are your thoughts? Continue the conversation on Twitter @mattydunn11.