@MichaelZx Yes, the newer S models dropped the 3.5mm headset jack. Evidently one of the effects of the global semiconductor shortage that's affecting multiple industries at the moment (including car manufacturing) is that the parts needed to manufacture those jacks and/or the audio chipset that runs them couldn't be obtained. That was preventing Dell from building docks and therefore causing a large order backlog to pile up. So Dell responded by making variants of their WD19 dock family models that don't include those jacks. Probably a reasonable move given that most docks are used in business settings where audio in many cases might be handled via USB-based headsets/soundbars or just by relying on the laptop's built-in speakers. If you really need a headset jack but don't want to wait for non-S docks to become available, there are USB audio interfaces like this one available.
jphughan
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March 16th, 2021 10:00
@MichaelZx Yes, the newer S models dropped the 3.5mm headset jack. Evidently one of the effects of the global semiconductor shortage that's affecting multiple industries at the moment (including car manufacturing) is that the parts needed to manufacture those jacks and/or the audio chipset that runs them couldn't be obtained. That was preventing Dell from building docks and therefore causing a large order backlog to pile up. So Dell responded by making variants of their WD19 dock family models that don't include those jacks. Probably a reasonable move given that most docks are used in business settings where audio in many cases might be handled via USB-based headsets/soundbars or just by relying on the laptop's built-in speakers. If you really need a headset jack but don't want to wait for non-S docks to become available, there are USB audio interfaces like this one available.
MichaelZx
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March 16th, 2021 23:00
Thank you so much for explaining this. Yes it all makes sense and a very smart move from Dell!