Apple Is Phasing Out Its Lightning To Headphone Adapter But Here's Where To Get One

If you're still rocking an older iPhone with a Lightning port, know that Apple might soon cease production of its Lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter. It's currently listed as "sold out" on its e-commerce site, which could either mean that there's a shortage in the supply chain or, more likely, that the product is being discontinued. As such, owners of Lightning-equipped iPhone models looking for viable adapters will need to refer to third-party solutions.

Introduced in 2016 when iPhones rocked the Lightning port, Apple's little audio adapter allowed iPhone users to listen to tunes with any wired headphone or earphone, Back in the day, it was included free with the purchase of an iPhone 7, 8, and X, but from the XS/XR onward, the accessory was available to buy for $9 (likely making it the cheapest Apple product you could buy).


With the iPhone 15 (and later phones) transitioning from the once ubiquitous connector to a more standardized USB-C, the company has naturally moved on to offering USB-C to 3.5mm adapters instead. However, if you plan on snagging the Lightning adapter, you'll have to move quick. The Apple-branded version is currently sold out on Apple's online store, although France, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden still have them in inventory. Amazon and Best Buy do carry it as well, but again, supplies may not last either.

As of this writing, the Apple listing on Amazon is an exorbitant $17, so we'd suggest against that unless that's your only option. Best Buy is listing the accessory for a discounted $7.50. Nonetheless, we've curated some MFI-certified options (via Amazon) for you as well:

• Belkin 3.5mm connector with convenient 3.0 foot cable
• Untvie twin-pack adapter
• Haoano twin-pack braided adapter
• Seulliya triple pack, great as stocking stuffers

For those who recall Superdrive, a similar deprecation process happened when Apple decided to drop the USB-powered CD drive from its retail stores. The drive was initially sold out first in the U.S. followed by the rest of the world.