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Apple Patents Cutting 3.5mm Jack in Half
An anonymous reader writes with an article on a recent patent application by Apple. From the article: "Apple likes thin devices and considers the depth of the iPod, iPhone and iPad as critical component of the aesthetic appearance of a product and has been very aggressive in finding ways to trim fat from its portable devices: The 3.5 mm audio-connector stands in the way of future design improvements: Apple suggests to simply cut it in half."
Is apple trying to patent an actual invention?
Won't a thinner connector make it much easier to snap off ?
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Did you read the article? No? Didn't think so. The design features a method to make the port compatible with current 3.5mm plugs - either by magnetic connection, or via a "cosmetic cap" to hold the plug in place. I assume one that stretches to accommodate the full size 3.5mm plug.
Great.
After only recently being able to plug in most phones with the same USB cable and FINALLY having 3.5 jacks a standard on said phones, Apple now wants to go fuck with the standards.
Jerks.
Make the box lid a flap rather than a slide?
Two-headed matches?
Sell re-heading kits?
Another advantage which they omitted from the article -- this invention will help you insert the plug the right way round.
With the current circular 3.5mm jacks, it's actually impossible to know whether you've rotated the plug correctly. Sure, you can try to figure out if you've got it right by listening to the resultant sound quality, but that's inexact and most people don't even have the equipment. Now with Apple's invention, everyone will be able to insert it with the right rotation -- first time, and every time.
Why should those perfect forms have holes in them?
So tempted.
It was kind of hard to do given that they used the term "jack" to mean "plug" and the term "port" to mean "jack" or "receptacle"....
BTW, has anyone ever actually seen an audio plug (other than the old telephone switchboard plugs from the early-to-mid-1900s) that contained any significant amount of ferrous metal? I'd be curious to know how someone could think that standard audio plugs can be held in place by a magnet. I'm assuming, based on the fact that the person who wrote this story got basic terminology wrong, that the author also misunderstood that aspect of the patent....
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The other nine will instead suggest to get off your fetish of ultrathin devices and just make the device thick enough for a normal plug. It's not as if that would be very thick anyway.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
The patented design allows semi-TRS plugs to mate with standard jacks, but does not permit the connection of standard headphones to the Apple design--what people will actually want to do, given the poor quality of the usual bundled earbuds.
From my reading, a full male would work with this (the female end is basically like a trench or ditch on the outside of the device), just half of the connector would be sticking out and held in place al a magsafe, but a semi male probably wouldn't work with a full female, as nothing would hold it in contact.
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This is an application, not a patent.
No, the idea is for a surface mount 3.5mm port that a half-width plug will sit in flush, but a normal 3.5mm plug will sit in but be proud of the surface, both held in place by a magnet. The patent also specifies an optional cover to make it look more aesthetically pleasing (or as a structural element of the port, depending on magnet strength).
This invention halves the size of the jack, is compatible with all existing devices, and is less likely to break the device (pull on the headphone just pulls it away from the magnet instead of yanking the whole device). And nobody in 96 years thought of this solution.
This is exactly what patents are for. Rewarding the people that spend their dollars on research to improve things. It's a small but innovative idea, and gives Apple a small advantage over competitors. Stop eating the sour grapes and start inventing.
The round design is more for the ability to implement a non-keyed plug and port that does not care about orientation. I would think Apple would be in favour of that more than most companies.
(Please excuse the traditional Apple joke, I couldn't help myself.)
You're both wrong. Round sockets (in general) became standardised by the germans during WW2 because they were faster to make. Simply drill a hole into the case of whatever electronic device you were making. Square ports were fucking difficult to cut into enclosures (still are - I tend to use round ports in my projects whenever I can simply because they are easier to make).
:-)
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IOW, I may be talking shit
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.