Lightning to 3.5 mm Audio Cable

The Lightning to 3.5mm Audio Cable is an adapter cable that was developed by Apple due to the absence of the from its iPhone line.

Background
The jack was first eliminated from the iPhone 7 in 2016 to make space for additional components such as the Taptic Engine and help achieve its water resistance rating. An adapter was provided with the iPhone 7 through X, allowing users to connect their headphone jack devices to the Lightning port. With the release of the iPhone X R and X S  in 2018, EarPods with a Lightning connector were included and the adapter was left out.

Criticism
The cable was criticized for subpar construction for its high price. Third parties have designed split dongles that can connect audio devices while providing a pass-through Lightning connector for simultaneous charging. Samsung promoted its own competing smartphones with headphone jacks as an advantage, but withdrew its criticism when the was released in 2019 without a headphone jack, followed by its own line of dongles and wireless earbuds.