The iPhone 7, Dongles, and You

This is the main dongle. The simplest dongle. Now that Apple has killed the headphone jack, this handy doodad is what you need to use your old headphones and their 3.5mm plug with your new iPhone 7.

You man not need this dongle if you use headphones with a Lightning connector at the end of the cable (like the headphones that come with the iPhone 7), or if you use headphones that don't use a cable at all. Still, you will have this dongle. It is a complimentary dongle that comes with your iPhone 7. If you lose this dongle, Apple will sell you a replacement dongle for $9.

The previous dongle is both a good and free dongle, but it has a flaw: There is but one Lightning port on the bottom of the iPhone 7, which means you can charge your phone or listen to your headphones, but not both. 

Fortunately, there is another dongle. 

Belkin's dongle—a $40 dongle—has one male Lightning connector that will plug into the bottom of your iPhone 7 and two female Lightning ports to plug things into. Viola, you're ready to listen to podcasts and charge your battery simultaneously.

Of course if you want to charge while using your old headphones with the 3.5mm plug, you will require additional dongles. Specifically, you'll have to plug your old headphones into the free dongle we just discussed, plug that dongle into this dongle, and plug this dongle into your iPhone 7. 

Note: You can entirely avoid the problem this dongle aims to solve by switching to a pair of headphones that use Bluetooth to connect to your phone.

This dongle—which does not yet exist, except in dreams—has a 3.5mm jack and a Lightning port. This way you can use your old headphones and charge your phone simultaneously, all without plugging a second dongle into this dongle. If this little guy existed, it would do the work of dongles one and two, but in a single, space-saving dongle. 

Definitely keep your eyes peeled for this exciting potential dongle.

This device will let you listen to music through your old 3.5mm headphones at the same time you charge your iPhone 7 using a Lightning cable. Ideal! Unfortunately this device is not a true dongle but more of a stationary dongle, also known as a dock. Apple will sell you this non-dongle for $50. 

We hope to see it in dongle form someday.

If you have an oldish car but a new iPhone 7, this $19 dongle may be a useful dongle. This dongle will plug into your car's cigarette lighter for power, connect to your new iPhone by Bluetooth, and then broadcast the music on your phone to an FM radio station you can listen to by tuning your car's radio. Extra bonus feature: This dongle also has a USB port.

Now, you may not need this dongle. If your car is newer, it may have Apple's "Carplay" or other smart features that allow it to connect to your iPhone with no dongles at all. If your car is not just oldish but actually quite old, it may have a tape deck. Remember those tape adapters that have a wire coming out of them that ends in male 3.5mm plug? You could plug that into the free Apple dongle and then plug that dongle into your phone. Easy breezy.

If your car has a 3.5mm right on the dash, you could attach your new iPhone 7 and car with a male 3.5mm-to-male Lightning cord. Theoretically, anyway. Alas, such a cord does not yet exist. 

You could also listen to music on your iPhone 7's speakers, which would not require a dongle. But please, do not drive with headphones on as that is generally illegal and unsafe.

This dongle is from another era. Endeavor not to need this dongle.