After telling Apple about the headphone jack, Google quietly removes it from the Pixel 6A

Google unveiled the Pixel 6A at Google I / O on Wednesday, and while there are a number of impressive features for the midrange device, there is one missing that the company has celebrated over the years on its A-Series line: a 3.5mm headphone jack.

As many smartphone makers have gone beyond the headphone jack – a trend Apple launched massively with the iPhone 7 in 2016 – its presence on the A-Series line has become increasingly a distinctive feature. Google also ran a ridiculous two-minute ad celebrating the headphone jack in the Pixel 5A, which parodied Apple’s elaborate design videos. The video was titled, “The Circle Comes Full Circle.” Well, it looks like the circle is coming back to full circle, as Google is about to release the headphone jack from its next phone.

The thing is, this is not the first time this circle has come into full circle. In the very first Pixel ad – released in 2016, the same year the iPhone 7 – Google noticed this key feature: “The 3.5mm headphone jack is not satisfactorily new.” But the headphone jack was gone from the Pixel 2, which was released just a year later. Pixel’s first A-series, the Pixel 3A, will return, but not until 2019. Once again, Google has ridiculed Apple, and next year it will ridicule itself.

We asked Google why it was releasing a headphone jack for the Pixel 6A. But it is possible that the company wants to make you a more convincing case for selling wireless headphones – and you may not know it, Google also unveiled the new Pixel Buds Pro on Google I / O.