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.
舊金山——如果按蘋果(Apple)的意願，本週應該像五歲孩子的聖誕節一樣。
First, unbelievable anticipation. Then, great surprise. At the end, immense satisfaction.
先是急切地期盼，然後是巨大的驚喜，最後是強烈的滿足感。
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.
週三，最新款iPhone將在這裏一個能容納7000人的禮堂裏發佈。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聖誕節。
Thanks.
謝謝。
That’s it?
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的關注，到了知道本月會發布新品的程度，就已經知道它會是什麼樣子了：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.
然而，目前爲止最具爭議的特性是，有一個東西將消失：耳機插孔。
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.
這一標準技術元素可追溯至1878年，來自人工電話交換系統。它似乎正在步入軟盤和摺疊地圖的後塵。
The future will be wireless.
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.
可能沒有耳機插孔這件事，我們是憑藉一個全球信息鏈得知的，它和蘋果產品的供應和製造鍊形影不離。
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.
而這個信息鏈的目的，則是搜尋和蘋果有關的傳言：早在傳言成爲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.
對蘋果來說，這座傳言工廠既是一種機會，也是一種負擔，它的存在表明自己魅力猶存，但也是在警告人人都在關注它。
No other company is tracked quite so relentlessly.
沒有哪家公司被像這麼持續不斷地追蹤過。
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.
在聯合創始人史蒂夫•喬布斯(Steve Jobs)的領導下，蘋果有能力做到保密，且對此不遺餘力——無論方式合法與否。
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.
還有一個事，我們設法做到了保密，喬布斯1999年介紹藍莓色和橘紅色等顏色的iMac時歡快地說。
It’s hard to believe, but we did it.
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.
在四年前的一次會議上，喬布斯的接任者蒂姆•庫克(Tim Cook)強調了這個目標。
We’re going to double down on secrecy on products, he said.
我們將加強對產品的保密，他說。
Things have not quite worked out that way.
但事情並未朝這個方向發展。
When Steve Jobs was around, there was still that hope they could surprise you, said Gene Munster, an Apple analyst.
史蒂夫•喬布斯在世的時候，還能指望他們帶來驚喜，關注蘋果動態的分析師基尼•蒙斯特(Gene Munster)說。
Today, that hope is largely gone.
現在，這個希望基本不復存在。
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.
對於蘋果將在本週發佈的驚喜之作，揭祕工作在去年十一月就開始了，當時離iPhone 6s發佈、並在第一個週末熱賣過去不到三個月。
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.
日本網站Mac Otakara以傳聞爲標題，撰文稱蘋果將在下一代iPhone中取消耳機插孔。該網站被認爲是一個總體上可靠的iPhone生產廠商信息來源。
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.
文章稱，對尚未準備好進入無線生活的人來說，可通過蘋果常用於充電的接口，將有線耳機插入iPhone。
Traditional headphones would presumably work through a converter.
傳統耳機大概要藉助轉換器。
This was big.
此事影響重大。
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 .
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，總編埃裏克•斯利夫卡(Eric Slivka)說。
I immediately knew it would be an extremely controversial topic all the way until launch.
我馬上意識到，在新品發佈之前，這一直會是一個極具爭議的話題。
By early January, emotions were at a fever pitch.
到了今年1月初，消費者的情緒達到高潮。
An online petition from , 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.
上的一封網上請願書譴責蘋果製造了更多電子垃圾——大概是指因爲無法再在iPhone上使用被丟棄的耳機。請願書徵集到了逾30萬個簽名。
Some commentators explained that even if people used adapters with their old headphones, they were gaining things, too.
一些評論人士解釋稱，即便人們可藉助適配器使用舊耳機，他們也要購買新的東西。
Other commentators noted that people complained that Apple never innovated anymore, and yet here it was innovating, and people were complaining anyway.
其他評論人士則指出，人們抱怨蘋果不再創新，現在有了創新，人們還是在抱怨。
Then came the rumor that the headphone jack was not going away after all.
然後又出現了耳機插口根本不會消失的傳言。
The Chinese website published a photo of what it said were the innards of the new iPhone with the jack right there.
中文網站快科技發佈了一張自稱是新款iPhone內部結構的照片，上面耳機插孔赫然在目。
Has the rumor mill been lying to us? wondered Cult of Mac.
謠言工廠一直在騙我們嗎？Cult of Mac問道。
Surely not!
當然不是！
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.
兩週前，隨着盛大發布活動的臨近，評論數量增加，就連蘋果的另一位聯合創始人史蒂夫•沃茲尼亞克(Steve Wozniak)也加入了討論。
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.
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。
But he added a conciliatory note: We’ll see.
但他接着又妥協地說了一句：我們拭目以待。
Apple is good at moving toward the future, and I like to follow that.
蘋果善於引領未來，我願意跟隨它的腳步。
Perhaps it is better to be forewarned about what the future holds rather than be forced to confront it abruptly.
或許和突然被迫面對相比，預先警告未來可能會出現的情況要更好一些。
We soften the blow, said Neil Hughes, managing editor of AppleInsider.
我們提供了緩衝，AppleInsider的總編尼爾•修斯(Neil Hughes)說。
Can you imagine that if no one saw it coming and Apple just dropped this on Wednesday? People would lose their minds.
你能想象如果沒人料到這一點，而蘋果直到週三才公佈這個消息的情形嗎？人們會瘋的。
Apple, which declined to comment for this article, most likely has a different view.
拒絕就本文置評的蘋果，很有可能並不這麼認爲。
In late 2004, it went after several websites, including AppleInsider, saying that when they posted details about unreleased products, they were publishing stolen property.
2004年底，蘋果起訴多家網站，稱它們公佈的未發佈產品的細節，實際上是偷來的財產。
At first Apple found success in court but the ruling was sharply reversed on appeal.
起初蘋果勝訴，但上訴法院的裁決發生了逆轉。
It was ordered to pay $700,000 to cover the sites’ legal fees and generally looked like a bully.
法院責令蘋果支付70萬美元，用於支付相關網站的訴訟費用。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.
多年來，在蘋果位於加利福尼亞州庫比提諾的園區商店裏，有一種T恤，上面寫着，我參觀了蘋果園區。
But that’s all I am allowed to say.
但我只能說這麼多。
A recent Apple presentation poked fun at its extensive security measures.
蘋果在最近一次發佈會上調侃了自己的嚴密安保措施。
But even if the company can now have a laugh or two at its own expense, its philosophy has not changed.
但即便這家公司可以拿自己開涮了，它的理念並沒變。
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.
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，因爲不知道樓下會有什麼嗎？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。
Well, it’s going to be Christmas Eve for a while.
就是這樣，這個平安夜會很漫長的。
