Headphone Jack
The tour continues with the top left corner of the iPhone. Here's where you plug in the white earbuds that came with it.
This little hole is more than an ordinary 3.5-millimeter audio jack, however. It contains a secret fourth pin that conducts sound into the phone from the microphone on the earbuds' cord. Now you, too, can be one of those executives who walk down the street barking orders to nobody in particular. The iPhone can stay in your pocket as you walk or drive. You hear the other person through your earbuds, and the mike on the cord picks up your voice.
Tip
On the iPhone 3G and 3GS, you can replace the white Apple earbuds with any standard headphones—welcome news to audiophiles. But on the original iPhone, the molding around the iPhone's audio jack prevents most miniplugs from going all the way in. You may be able to get your headphones to fit by trimming the plastic collar with a razor blade—or you can spend $10 for a headphone adapter (from Belkin.com, among others) to get around this problem.
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