Cirrus Logic releases development kit for Lightning headphones

Dan Pye
By Dan Pye - News Editor
Cirrus Logic releases development kit for Lightning headphones

With Apple rumored to be doing away with the headphone jack on its new iPhone, Cirrus Logic is offering a development kit to aid headphone makers looking to simplify the switch to Lightning connectors. The company’s MFi Headset Development Kit includes reference designs for creating Lightning port connected headphones and a development board to be used in programming, debugging and testing audio performance.

Cirrus Logic releases development kit for Lightning headphones

The design is compatible with earbuds or over-the-ear headphones and pre-programmed to support both digital audio playback and voice capture. With very few Lightning-connected headphone options currently available, the area is poised for rapid expansion.
Cirrus Logic claims the kit demonstrates big advantages of Lightning-connected headsets over conventional analog models, including improved sound quality and the ability to interact with iOS apps to provide personalized EQ settings for a more custom audio experience.

Benefits aside, if Apple does away with the headphone jack, necessity alone is going to send headphone makers scrambling for a Lightning-based solution, and Cirrus Logic is now offering it. The development kit is available through Apple’s MFi program.

By Dan Pye News Editor
Dan Pye was a news editor at iLounge. He's been involved with technology his whole life, and started writing about it in 2009. He's written about everything from iPhone and iPad cases to Apple TV accessories.