Re: What's the actual *advantage* of not having an sd slot?

On 19 Jun 2025 06:55:10 GMT, Bernd Froehlich wrote :

If you want to disagree with that infallible logic, then tell me:
Q: What can a phone w/o the aux jack do that a phone with it can't do?
A: ?

It has more room for a bigger internal battery.

Hi Bernd, (this is a kinder gentler me, but still logical & sensible),

Your argument that removal of basic industry standard functionality allows
room for a bigger battery is a really good point, and I absolutely
understand the theoretical advantages from an engineering and manufacturing
perspective. We've discussed this many times on the Apple newsgroups.

It makes perfect sense that removing ports could potentially
1. Free up tiny amounts of internal space for other components,
   including a slightly larger battery.
2. Simplify the waterproofing process by reducing the number
   of external ingress points.
3. Lower manufacturing costs by eliminating components & assembly steps.

Hence, I completely agree with the logic of those arguments in isolation.

However, what I observe in the market doesn't consistently reflect those
theoretical benefits being passed on to the consumer in a meaningful way.

For instance:

Waterproofing:
   Many Android phones with aux jacks and SD card slots already
   achieve the same high IP ratings (like IP68) as iPhones which
   lack these features.

This suggests that while it might simplify waterproofing for the
manufacturer, it's clearly not an insurmountable barrier to achieving
robust water resistance with these ports present.

The engineering challenge is clearly overcome by many manufacturers.


Battery Size:
  Despite iPhones lacking the aux jack for years, their battery
  capacities have always been far smaller than comparable Android
  flagships that do include SD card slots and sometimes aux jacks.

If the primary driver for removing these features was to significantly
boost battery size, we're not consistently seeing that translate into a
major real-world advantage for the consumer.

Cost:

  While the individual components are indeed cheap, the cost
  savings rarely seem to be reflected in a lower retail price
  for the consumer.

In fact, I argue that removing expandable storage drives up the cost for
consumers, as they are then forced to pay Apple or other manufacturers a
premium for higher internal storage tiers, which have much higher profit
margins for the company than an SD card would.

So, while your quite valid engineering rationale is valid on paper, the
actual consumer benefit in terms of significantly larger batteries,
noticeably better waterproofing, or truly lower prices doesn't seem to
materialize across the board.

Based on that and other evidence, my assessment is that the primary
beneficiary of these removals is the manufacturer, either through design
simplification or increased profit margins on higher storage tiers and
proprietary accessories.