The flagship smartphone Xiaomi Mi 6, presented last week, is deprived of a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack. Today the company explained why it took such a very unpopular step.

The question of the use of a typical audio connector in mobile devices was the most acute after it was abandoned by Apple in the iPhone 7. Depriving mobile devices of a 3.5 mm connector allows manufacturers to save space inside devices, which in turn makes it possible to make them much thinner.

In the official microblogging in Weibo, representatives of Xiaomi published an image that explains the rejection of the classic audio connector. In particular, they pointed out that "in conditions where every millimeter inside the case is important, it is more optimal for the manufacturer to abandon the analog headphone port, making room for other components, including for the battery. In addition, the digital interface provides a higher quality. "The future behind this interface," - noted in Xiaomi.

Xiaomi stressed that in the new flagship of Mi 6, she refused not from the audio interface, but only from the old connector. Users can use USB-C for charging, synchronizing with a computer and connecting headphones.

Note that not all manufacturers agree with this formulation of the question. In January, Sony said that it does not plan to follow in the footsteps of Apple and abandon the usual audio connector for connecting headphones to their smartphones. The same policy is followed by Microsoft, which turned out to be more conservative than the "apple" giant. According to rumors, the upcoming flagship smartphone Surface Phone will receive a 3.5-mm headphone jack.

Samsung also endowed the flagship Galaxy S8 standard analog audio port.

Note that at the moment, Apple itself is not sure about the future of a 3.5-mm audio jack. In Cupertino, there was a big discussion around the classic connection in smartphones: in the models of the iPhone 7 there was no such, and it was to be expected that the same fate would befall the Apple laptops. However, in the latest generation of MacBook Pro, the manufacturer decided to leave the connector, which at the autumn presentation called obsolete.