新iPhone還會有耳機插孔嗎？

SAN FRANCISCO — If Apple had its way, this week would play out like Christmas for 5-year-olds. First, unbelievable anticipation. Then, great surprise. At the end, immense satisfaction.

舊金山——如果按蘋果(Apple)的意愿，本周應(yīng)該像五歲孩子的圣誕節(jié)一樣。先是急切地期盼，然后是巨大的驚喜，最后是強烈的滿足感。

When the latest iPhone is unveiled here Wednesday in a 7,000-seat auditorium, it probably will instead be more like Christmas for a sneaky 10-year-old who long ago peeked at his present. Thanks. That’s it?

周三，最新款iPhone將在這里一個能容納7000人的禮堂里發(fā)布。然而屆時可能會更像一個偷偷摸摸早就看過自己禮物的十歲孩子的圣誕節(jié)。謝謝。就只有這個?

Anyone who cares enough about the iPhone to know that a new model is being released this month already knows what it is supposed to be like: a little thinner, a little faster and equipped with superior cameras on the Plus model.

任何人，只要是對iPhone的關(guān)注，到了知道本月會發(fā)布新品的程度，就已經(jīng)知道它會是什么樣子了：機身更薄、速度更快、Plus款配置了更好的攝像頭。

By far the most controversial feature, however, is the one that will be missing: a headphone jack. A standard element of technology that can be traced to 1878 and the invention of the manual telephone exchange, the jack is apparently going the way of the floppy disk and the folding map. The future will be wireless.

然而，目前為止最具爭議的特性是，有一個東西將消失：耳機插孔。這一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)技術(shù)元素可追溯至1878年，來自人工電話交換系統(tǒng)。它似乎正在步入軟盤和折疊地圖的后塵。未來將是一個無線世界。

We know about this potential absence thanks to a global information chain, one that shadows the supply and manufacturing chain that produces Apple’s products. The shadow chain is intended to ferret out Apple rumors: promoting them, discussing them and then discussing them some more, long before they become facts.

可能沒有耳機插孔這件事，我們是憑借一個全球信息鏈得知的，它和蘋果產(chǎn)品的供應(yīng)和制造鏈形影不離。而這個信息鏈的目的，則是搜尋和蘋果有關(guān)的傳言：早在傳言成為事實之前就開始傳播傳言，討論傳言，再討論更多傳言。

This rumor mill is both a gift to Apple and a burden, a sign that it has not lost its magic and a warning that everyone is on watch for the moment it does. No other company is tracked quite so relentlessly.

對蘋果來說，這座傳言工廠既是一種機會，也是一種負擔(dān)，它的存在表明自己魅力猶存，但也是在警告人人都在關(guān)注它。沒有哪家公司被像這么持續(xù)不斷地追蹤過。

Under its co-founder Steve Jobs, Apple relished its ability to keep news under wraps and went to great lengths — legally and otherwise — to make sure it remained that way. “There is one more thing, and we’ve managed to keep it secret,” Jobs exulted in 1999 as he introduced iMacs in colors like blueberry and tangerine. “It’s hard to believe, but we did it.”

在聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人史蒂夫·喬布斯(Steve Jobs)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，蘋果有能力做到保密，且對此不遺余力——無論方式合法與否。“還有一個事，我們設(shè)法做到了保密，”喬布斯1999年介紹藍莓色和橘紅色等顏色的iMac時歡快地說。“難以置信，但我們做到了。”

It was an ambition that his successor, Tim Cook, underlined at a conference four years ago. “We’re going to double down on secrecy on products,” he said.

在四年前的一次會議上，喬布斯的接任者蒂姆·庫克(Tim Cook)強調(diào)了這個目標(biāo)。“我們將加強對產(chǎn)品的保密，”他說。

Things have not quite worked out that way. 但事情并未朝這個方向發(fā)展。

“When Steve Jobs was around, there was still that hope they could surprise you,” said Gene Munster, an Apple analyst. “Today, that hope is largely gone.”

“史蒂夫·喬布斯在世的時候，還能指望他們帶來驚喜，”關(guān)注蘋果動態(tài)的分析師基尼·蒙斯特(Gene Munster)說。“現(xiàn)在，這個希望基本不復(fù)存在。”

The long road to unraveling this week’s surprises began in November, less than three months after the iPhone 6s had debuted to gangbuster first-weekend sales. The Japanese website Mac Otakara, considered a generally reliable source of information that has ties to the factories manufacturing the phone, wrote about Apple removing the jack in the next iPhone under the heading “rumor.”

對于蘋果將在本周發(fā)布的驚喜之作，揭秘工作在去年十一月就開始了，當(dāng)時離iPhone 6s發(fā)布、并在第一個周末熱賣過去不到三個月。日本網(wǎng)站Mac Otakara以“傳聞”為標(biāo)題，撰文稱蘋果將在下一代iPhone中取消耳機插孔。該網(wǎng)站被認為是一個總體上可靠的iPhone生產(chǎn)廠商信息來源。

For anyone not ready to go wireless, the story said, wired earphones would plug into the iPhone via Apple’s Lightning connector, which is typically used for charging power. Traditional headphones would presumably work through a converter.

文章稱，對尚未準(zhǔn)備好進入無線生活的人來說，可通過蘋果常用于充電的接口，將有線耳機插入iPhone。傳統(tǒng)耳機大概要借助轉(zhuǎn)換器。

This was big. “Headphones are one of the most basic functions, so this is something that’s going to affect users of all kinds,” said Eric Slivka, editor-in-chief of MacRumors.com. “I immediately knew it would be an extremely controversial topic all the way until launch.”

此事影響重大。“耳機是最基本的功能之一，因而這是一件會影響到各類用戶的事情，”MacRumors.com總編埃里克·斯利夫卡(Eric Slivka)說。“我馬上意識到，在新品發(fā)布之前，這一直會是一個極具爭議的話題。”

By early January, emotions were at a fever pitch. An online petition from SumofUs.org, which more than 300,000 people have signed, denounced Apple for creating more electronic waste — presumably, headphones that will no longer work with the iPhone and be thrown out.

到了今年1月初，消費者的情緒達到高潮。SumofUs.org上的一封網(wǎng)上請愿書譴責(zé)蘋果制造了更多電子垃圾——大概是指因為無法再在iPhone上使用被丟棄的耳機。請愿書征集到了逾30萬個簽名。

Some commentators explained that even if people used adapters with their old headphones, they were gaining things, too. Other commentators noted that people complained that Apple never innovated anymore, and yet here it was innovating, and people were complaining anyway.

一些評論人士解釋稱，即便人們可借助適配器使用舊耳機，他們也要購買新的東西。其他評論人士則指出，人們抱怨蘋果不再創(chuàng)新，現(xiàn)在有了創(chuàng)新，人們還是在抱怨。

Then came the rumor that the headphone jack was not going away after all. The Chinese website Mydrivers.com published a photo of what it said were the innards of the new iPhone with the jack right there. “Has the rumor mill been lying to us?” wondered Cult of Mac. “Surely not!”

然后又出現(xiàn)了耳機插口根本不會消失的傳言。中文網(wǎng)站“快科技”發(fā)布了一張自稱是新款iPhone內(nèi)部結(jié)構(gòu)的照片，上面耳機插孔赫然在目。“謠言工廠一直在騙我們嗎?”Cult of Mac問道。“當(dāng)然不是!”

Two weeks ago, with the volume of commentary picking up as the big reveal approached, even Apple’s other co-founder, Steve Wozniak, weighed in. “If it’s missing the 3.5-millimeter earphone jack, that’s going to tick off a lot of people,” he told the Australian Financial Review. But he added a conciliatory note: “We’ll see. Apple is good at moving toward the future, and I like to follow that.”

兩周前，隨著盛大發(fā)布活動的臨近，評論數(shù)量增加，就連蘋果的另一位聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人史蒂夫·沃茲尼亞克(Steve Wozniak)也加入了討論。“如果去掉3.5毫米耳機插孔，會惹怒很多人，”他對《澳大利亞金融評論報》(Australian Financial Review)表示。但他接著又妥協(xié)地說了一句：“我們拭目以待。蘋果善于引領(lǐng)未來，我愿意跟隨它的腳步。”

Perhaps it is better to be forewarned about what the future holds rather than be forced to confront it abruptly. “We soften the blow,” said Neil Hughes, managing editor of AppleInsider. “Can you imagine that if no one saw it coming and Apple just dropped this on Wednesday? People would lose their minds.”

或許和突然被迫面對相比，預(yù)先警告未來可能會出現(xiàn)的情況要更好一些。“我們提供了緩沖，”AppleInsider的總編尼爾·修斯(Neil Hughes)說。“你能想象如果沒人料到這一點，而蘋果直到周三才公布這個消息的情形嗎?人們會瘋的。”

Apple, which declined to comment for this article, most likely has a different view. In late 2004, it went after several websites, including AppleInsider, saying that when they posted details about unreleased products, they were publishing stolen property. At first Apple found success in court but the ruling was sharply reversed on appeal. It was ordered to pay $700,000 to cover the sites’ legal fees and generally looked like a bully.

拒絕就本文置評的蘋果，很有可能并不這么認為。2004年底，蘋果起訴多家網(wǎng)站，稱它們公布的未發(fā)布產(chǎn)品的細節(jié)，實際上是偷來的財產(chǎn)。起初蘋果勝訴，但上訴法院的裁決發(fā)生了逆轉(zhuǎn)。法院責(zé)令蘋果支付70萬美元，用于支付相關(guān)網(wǎng)站的訴訟費用。蘋果總的來看像是一個惡霸。

For several years, Apple sold a T-shirt in its Cupertino, California, campus store that read, “I visited the Apple campus. But that’s all I am allowed to say.” A recent Apple presentation poked fun at its extensive security measures. But even if the company can now have a laugh or two at its own expense, its philosophy has not changed.

多年來，在蘋果位于加利福尼亞州庫比提諾的園區(qū)商店里，有一種T恤，上面寫著，“我參觀了蘋果園區(qū)。但我只能說這么多。”蘋果在最近一次發(fā)布會上調(diào)侃了自己的嚴密安保措施。但即便這家公司可以拿自己開涮了，它的理念并沒變。

“Do you remember when you were a kid, and Christmas Eve, it was so exciting, you weren’t sure what was going to be downstairs?” Cook said when asked about the rumored Apple car at the annual shareholders’ meeting last February. “Well, it’s going to be Christmas Eve for a while.”

“你們還記得自己還是個小孩子的時候，會在平安夜特別興奮，因為不知道樓下會有什么嗎?”在2月的年度股東會議上，庫克在被問及傳聞中的蘋果汽車時說。“就是這樣，這個平安夜會很漫長的。”