Joe Rossignol, writing for MacRumors:

Apple is planning to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack on the next-generation iPhone in favor of an all-in-one Lightning connector, according to often-reliable Japanese website Mac Otakara. Apple may also release Lightning-equipped EarPods to support the new audio output on future iOS devices.

The report, citing a “reliable source,” claims the new same-sized Lightning connector will support Lightning-equipped and Bluetooth headphones, and have a DAC, or digital-to-audio converter, for backwards compatibility with wired headphones using standard 3.5mm stereo jacks. A 3.5mm to Lightning adapter would be required.

This will cause some waves, as does any change from one connector type to another. Will this enable ear buds with better sound? Will the move from the standard 3.5mm plug to a lightning connector allow for headphones with more sophisticated control modules?

Clearly, there is a trend for manufacturers (Apple included) to reduce the number of ports on a device (e.g., the USB-C port on the latest MacBook), push all signals through a single port, if at all possible.