Apple might want the headphone jack to be a thing of the past, but not everyone is on board.
Hardware developer Diego Prince has created a case for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus that essentially brings back the jack. The “Fuze” case is currently being crowdfunded on Indiegogo and, at the time of this writing, has raised about $18,000 from over 300 backers. Prince’s goal is to raise $60,000 by next month.
“We do have an incredibly tight deadline,” Prince told Business Insider, but feels confident the cases will be shipped out on time. According to the crowdfunding campaign, Prince is aiming to complete the order by December. It costs $49 to reserve a case, which also comes with a built-in battery that is supposed to double your phone’s battery life.
Many customers were frustrated when Apple announced that its latest iPhone would not have a headphone jack, to the point that some even tried to drill new ones into their phones. (Please don’t do that.) Instead of EarPods, people are expected to buy AirPods—wireless bluetooth-enabled headphones that look like they’ll be too easy to lose, though Tim Cook has reassured us that his have never fallen out of his ears.
No matter how reliable the new AirPods may be, as Prince says in a video for the crowdfunding campaign, “What people put into their own ear holes is a very personal choice, and it’s a choice we should all get the chance to make—not one that should be made for us.”
The $159 AirPods are scheduled to launch in October. Those who have already purchased an iPhone 7 also received an adapter dongle to plug in their wired headphones. The Fuze case essentially does the same thing as the adapter, but it’s built directly into the case so that you don’t have to use an extra piece of hardware each time you want to listen to music.
