“9to5Mac today reported, and The Verge has independently verified, that Apple is planning to adopt a new Ultra Accessory Connector (UAC) for its Made for iPhone accessories program — though it’s actually just a new application for an old plug, and its goal isn’t to compete with Lightning or USB-C, but to make them work better together,” Vlad Savov writes for The Verge.
“The new-old connector is the same 8-pin plug you might have seen (and probably ignored) with your Nikon camera,” Savov writes. “People familiar with Apple’s plans tell us that the company has no intention to replace Lightning or install this as a new jack on iPhones or iPads. Instead, UAC will be used as an intermediary in headphone cables.”
Savov writes, “Given the fragmented, dongle-rich situation we now find ourselves in (more and more Android flagship phones are expected to start shipping without a 3.5mm jack), it’s a solution to a real problem.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, this too is going to be okay.
SEE ALSO:
Apple plans new smaller Ultra Accessory Connector (UAC) for Made-for-iPhone accessories – February 6, 2017
The new USB-C connector will be the connector to end all other connectors. Apple should bite the bullet and make USB-C the connector for all new iPhones starting this year.
Yes! Apple can and should shed its reputation as a dongle manufacturer ASAP. Industry standard connectors is the right choice for everyone.
Not going to happen anytime soon. See my post below.
Completely agree. One connector to rule them ALL – move EVERYTHING to USBC – Please!
It won’t happen. Apple is big enough that they don’t need to compromise by using standards that my not provide the exact functionality they need. There is a massive cottage industry selling accessories that work with Lightning (no need for dongles). See my post below.
This makes a lot of sense. Clearly some sort of standardised connector is a good idea so that manufacturers can build just one type of headphone, but those headphone can then have different leads plugged in to suit different devices. Crucially, users can buy expensive headphones for one device and then easily adapt them to suit something that they buy later.
It’s a connector that’s been around for a while and it seems pretty well suited for the purpose.
I got my lightning, I got my thunderbolt. I need a sunshine connector.
That was so funny!
Migration to USB-C will not happen. Here’s why.
When Apple launched original iPod (15 years ago!), the only available protocol at the time with decent speed was FireWire. USB-1.1 was still too slow for moving GBs of data quickly enough. Unfortunately, FireWire didn’t have the ability to transmit analogue audio, among other things. Apple designed 30-pin connector so that it could transmit FireWire, USB (anticipating adoption of faster USB-2), as well as analogue stereo audio, in addition to the main purpose of 5V charging current.
When iPhone 5 was in the works, it became obvious that FireWire was no longer necessary (nobody bothered using it to connect an iPhone to their Macs; even less so with PCs). They needed a re-design that would be as future-proof as possible. At the time, USB-C did not exist, and the only other option was Micro-USB B, which was a non-starter, as it didn’t allow reversible connection, didn’t allow power flow in both directions (both for charging the phone, AND for phone supplying power to the connected accessories) and it was physically inadequate for all the common uses previously found with 30-pin dock-enabled accessories (external dock speakers, receivers, etc). After ten years of 30-pin dock, Apple launched Lightning as the successor to the dock, and Apple fans were furious over Apple making all their accessories obsolete.
For better or for worse, Apple has no intention of going through this again (replacing lightning with yet another new port). It has been only five years since Lightning was launched, and the noise over that change has barely died down. Accessory makers have now all embraced Lightning and we now no longer have dock-equipped Apple hardware out there (other than, perhaps, a few old iPads or iPods).
When the time comes for the next-generation, future connector to succeed Lightning, it most definitely will NOT be USB-C. By that time (at least five years from now), USB-C will be quite old, and likely inadequate to provide what Apple wants the new port to do.
So, for better or worse, Lightning is there to stay.