“The tiniest iPhone rumors can cause a big uproar,” John D. Sutter reports for CNN. “The latest: The blog TechCrunch on Wednesday published a story claiming the next-generation iPhone will have a new connection port that’s about a third the size of the one on the current model.
Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/science_tech/new-iphone-rumors-dock-and-cord-whispers-prompt-negative-comments#ixzz1ySGG5L9a”
Sutter reports, “The reaction on blogs and on Twitter has been largely negative, with people saying the new port — used to charge the phone and connect it to other devices — would render obsolete existing chargers and accessories such as speaker sets.”
Sutter reports, “Are standards just too easy for Apple to use?” asked Calob Horton, a writer for the blog Pocketables, which focuses on mobile technology. ‘Does the company feel the need to create its own, proprietary hardware to feel special, more profitable or even more popular?’ He added: ‘I understand the lust Apple has towards thinness and being able to cram more tech into a small package, but it can be achieved without its own port designs that can make the devices incompatible with other companies’ products.'”
MacDailyNews Take: As they say in Jersey, prove it, Calob, or STFU. You have no specs. You have no idea. You have nothing.
“TechCrunch said its report is based on interviews with three independent manufacturers of Apple accessories that said the new iPhone will include a 19-pin dock instead of the current 30-pin model,” Sutter reports. “In 2003, Apple introduced the 30-pin dock connector on the third-generation iPod. Since then, the port has been a fixture at the bottom of Apple’s mobile devices, including the iPhone and iPad. The connection type is proprietary, meaning cords and accessories that use the 30-pin dock only work with Apple devices. Still, the dock has become ‘insanely ubiquitous,’ as Pocketables writes, to the point that it’s almost a standard of its own.”
MacDailyNews Take: It is in fact a standard. It is the de facto standard used by hundreds of millions of users.
Sutter reports, “Writing for the site ZDNet, Jason D. O’Grady said the new port ‘presumably’ adheres to the Micro USB standard, which is used on most other mobile phones. If that’s the case, he said, the switch could have all kinds of advantages, including saving consumers money (a 30-pin cord from Apple costs $19; Micro USB cords start at less than $1) and making it easier for Apple to comply with a European law that requires Micro USB ports on new mobile phones. (Apple gets around this by selling an adapter in Europe.)”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: How about the whiners of the world unite and make a tearful pact to stop fscking whining until they at least know WTF they’re whining about? The world would be such a better place.
Cue the dirtbag ambulance chasers to start thinking about ginning up class action lawsuits over a rumor in 3… 2…
I’ll be delighted to get a smaller dock connector port. Don’t buy large expensive machines that have built in connector ports that will become obsolete in two years.
So let me get this straight. People are complaining that apple should stick with the 30 pin standard and never switch. Last time I looked the 30 pin connector is not a standard. Apple made it the standard by dominating the iPod market. Low tech scum sucking manufacturers should rejoice now a whole new market for adapters Nd goofy plugs could open up.
lol… I really like this take:
MacDailyNews Take: How about the whiners of the world unite and make a tearful pact to stop fscking whining until they at least know WTF they’re whining about?
If that happened, then where would the Occupy movement be?
.. then you think the Occupiers would be happily emigrating to China where the gold-hoarding elitist “job creators” are hiring?
Sorry, but there are some legitimate grievances (albeit not very well expressed) by the protestors. The Gilded-Age levels of profit-skimming by executives at the expense of workers, combined with unsustainable levels of outsourcing at the expense of entry-level job creation AND record price increases for secondary education in the USA is a recipe for drastic national competitiveness decline.
As for Apple’s connector: they don’t use all 30 pins of the dock connector today for electrical needs. But that doesn’t mean they should ditch it to be the same as every other phone. The additional pins mean that more power, more mechanical stability, and more future expandability is possible. The ridiculous attempts to make physical connectors to be miniscule and fragile is asinine. The iPhone can’t get much smaller if you still want to have a human-sized touchscreen interface on the front of it.
Don’t fix what isn’t broken. If Apple wants to offer a cheaper connector (which it obviously doesn’t), then reduce the licensing fee for producing compatible cables & connectors or let IEEE manage the spec.
For those pining to keep changing from USB 1.0 to 1.1 to 2.0 to 3.0 to mini to micro and onwards toward nano configurations: Why? You like buying new cables all the time???
Mini-Thunderbolt port with mini-TB end? A standard-sized TB port is too big for thin devices like an iPod touch.
We’d finally be able to copy large files like 1080p recordings to/from new iOS devices–speed over USB2 is just atrocious (though I’d settle for USB3 for backward compatibility).
And you’d be able to charge an iPad from you computer, instead of a separate wall wart. If I read it correctly the iPad charge block which supplies 10W actually violates the maximum power allowed per USB port (5W). TB supplies 10W natively.
“And you’d be able to charge an iPad from you computer, instead of a separate wall wart.”
Excuse me? I don’t know what sort of computer you’re using, but, as I write this on my phone, my iPad is downstairs happily sucking volts from my Mac Mini.
You’re excused. I was in a hurry writing that and wasn’t clear. With a TB port you’d be able to charge an iPad from your computer at a decent speed.
From Apple’s page on charging iPad:
“The fastest way to charge your iPad is with the included 10W USB Power Adapter. iPad will also charge, although more slowly, when attached to a computer with a high-power USB port (many recent Mac computers) or with an iPhone Power Adapter. When attached to a computer via a standard USB port (most PCs or older Mac computers) iPad will charge, but only when it’s in sleep mode.”
And discussion about barely-charging iPads:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3811881?start=30&tstart=0
Actually from that discussion it seems even the iPad charger’s 10W, which TB also supplies, isn’t enough to recharge an iPad (2012) while it’s in use, where the charge rate barely keeps up with the discharge rate.
Most of us won’t need to get a new charger, just a new USB -> iPhone cable. There should also be (in a short time) adapters that should allow you to keep using the cables in your glove compartment and other locations.
But if Apple is going to make a change, the new plug should improve the connection and reliability of the old plug, not just make it smaller.
A magnetic plug would be nice.
A MagSafe connection would be awesome!
I’d definitely welcome that.
I’d like to see USB3, like everyone else, but the 30-pin connector is pretty versatile, with car-connectivity, audio equipment, and many other accessories. I wonder if 4-pin USB2 is capable of handling all of that. Accessory manufacturers would have to add USB controllers to all their products. Maybe the 30-pin has a special controller you need, but I have no idea. USB is common, so it should be cheap.
Do any of you even know what’s in that connector? If you looked it up you’d probably realize that it is much much more that you use in just your private universe. I know a lot of people that use a whole lot of the pins to do things beyond just listen to music. Real world things.
You can buy 30 pin charging cables at the Dollar Store.
Stopped reading at “O’grady” and ‘presumably’ .
why does this numbskull get paid to write at all?
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. If the port can handle any data, don’t change it. What happens to the port in my new car radio? Auto companies will invest in Siri and Iphone integration if Apple never changes the port. If they change it no accessory maker will be able to trust them again.
Odd. I use Siri via Bluetooth to my after-market car radio. No connection required.
I guess I should explain a little better. My after-market stereo has a built-in mic on its front face. That mic is able to pick up my commands to Siri and send them via Bluetooth to my iPhone 4S. I’m not sure who to be impressed with: Siri being able to understand what I ask through this route or that the mic on the front of the stereo is of a quality sufficient to give Siri what she needs. Maybe I need to be impressed by both.
Talk about the need to change ports. The car companies have been using the same huge POWER PORT for over half a century. The time has come to get rid of the ‘cigarette lighter’ port and make something small and intelligent.
I agree. I have a perfectly good Bose SoundDock that was rendered useless by Apple’s connector b.s.
Really? Really?
“Calob Horton, a writer for the blog Pocketables, which focuses on mobile technology. ‘Does the company feel the need to create its own, proprietary hardware to feel special, more profitable or even more popular?’ ”
Apple created the frickin’ thing in the first place and now he wants Apple to keep using it because it’s a “standard”? Floppy disks were a standard in their day, too. As were CD-ROM drives, and now hard drives. That 30-pin connector was brilliantly versatile for its day. Signaling technology has moved far beyond what was available back then. Ditto for manufacturing capability. I will welcome a new, smaller, reiteration of form and function meeting new possibilities. And I will morn the loss of my custom-built car mount for my 30-pin devices, but I’ll get over it!
Interesting, his take on how much cables cost, a quick search of Amazon and ebay pulled up a variety of iPod connector cables (to usb) for a buck or two.
Are they, likely, crap cables?
You Bet.
Are they any worse than the $1 micro USB cables he spoke of?
Not likely.
The entire article is a crock o’ nonsense from beginning to end.
This is much more than replacing a charging/sync cable. I have an iPhone dock in my car which obviously would not work with a new, smaller dock connector in a new iPhone. Plus, how about all of the clock radios, speaker systems, boom boxes, etc. which have the 30 pin dock connector?
I’m not against change, but unless there is a really big advantage than just a smaller connector, then I’m not in favor. Plus, the 30 pin connector provides more support in a dock for an iPhone than a connector that was 1/3 smaller.
BTW, did MDN wake up on the wrong side of the bed today or what? MDN doesn’t usually go off on rumors/speculation in such a profane, angry manner.
I’m so sad. I have a perfectly good phonograph player made obsolete by CDs. Damn!
The current connector has obsolete interfaces and needs to be updated to Thunderbolt, or at least Display Port and USB 3.0.
Wouldn’t you prefer updating your iPad and iPhone at Thunderbolt speeds?
Its all them windows users now on macs, bringing all them good ol windows fear of change with them.
If Apple did change the cable then an adapter would be available.