First Pictures of Apple's New Mini Connector

tad001 writes "The Daily Mail has pictures of Apple's new mini connector. The photograph, shared by French tech website nowhereelse.fr, shows two components, one of which is said to be similar to another apparently leaked picture of a part of the new iPhone. As well as the new dock connector, the part also seems to take in the headphone jack and the home button connector for the hotly awaited devices."

Comments

More proprietary apple shit

[Anonymous Coward]

Use standard USB like everyone else.

Just use micro USB already!

[PrescriptionWarning]

Its really just bad that they insist on not moving to micro USB like basically all other phones manufacturers have. Requiring people to buy new sets of chargers, cables, accessories, docks for a new product just shouldn't be necessary with what is already available.

Re:Just use micro USB already!

[joelsanda]

Requiring people to buy new sets of chargers, cables, accessories, docks for a new product just shouldn't be necessary with what is already available.

The don't require anyone to buy anything else. The box comes with a USB charging cable and why do you need a dock? It can sync wirelessly now.It would be nice if they included the travelling charger in the box, but anyone who reads the description will know that's not included.

If people rush out and spend half again as much on accessories that's their choice. A +10 Shirt of Protection from Marketing is the only thing that will save them.

Re:Just use micro USB already!

[squiggleslash]

MHL provides HDMI compatible output over the connector used for microUSB (and can co-exist with USB), and USB itself includes protocols for audio in/out. MHL+USB over micro-B is becoming standard in the Android world. There's no reason to eschew microUSB for these functions.

Re:Just use micro USB already!

[Attila Dimedici]

I suppose if the only portable devices you have are IOS devices than that is fine, but wouldn't it be nice if I would not have to have a separate cable for all of my IOS devices and another one for everything else?

Re:Just use micro USB already!

[Anubis IV]

There are a number of valid reasons for not using USB. I'll address some of them and make a few guesses towards Apple's perspective, but I'm not interested in arguing whether or not this is the right decision.

By using their own port, they can ensure that every device/cable that will ever be plugged into it (by a sane person) will work as expected. In contrast, if they were to use a general purpose port, such as micro USB, while it would be able to connect to more devices and cables, you'd also introduce confusion as a result, as well as introducing compromise by using a general purpose solution for something that may be better served by a specific solution. Regarding the latter idea, someone far smarter than I discussed it at length just yesterday, going into detail for why this is such a good design for the application in which it will be used. He talks about why it's better in terms of simplicity, integrity, and a number of other factors than the current dock connector, but many of those would apply to USB as well.

For a few other examples that weren't mentioned in that article of why having a proprietary port may be a good idea, unlike the current dock connector, which has dedicated pins for video and audio and standard ways of supplying them, implementations of video and audio over USB are not so standardized across the industry. Some devices may support certain files or certain codecs, while others support nothing at all. Some devices that can play video may not be able to accept any video at all from mobile devices hooked up to it. There are no guarantees. When a user plugs their device into an accessory that's supposed to support video and/or audio, will it, in fact, support it for their model? The answer is "maybe". That sort of confusion and poor handling of user expectations undermines confidence in the brand among the general public, which is something that Apple would clearly want to avoid.

And if you go by the standards, USB doesn't carry anywhere close to enough power for modern devices to charge quickly for most people, so they'd already have to stray away from the standard as it is (which is exactly what they (and many other manufacturers, for that matter) have done for years with USB ports on their computers).

As I said, those are some of the benefits to having a proprietary design. Does it mean that it's worth not using USB? For Apple, quite possibly so, especially since they can still support it via an adapter, as they already do in Europe, thus eliminating complaints that people have to buy new chargers and the like. And I imagine that Apple does not see interoperability with other accessories designed for devices besides theirs as being important (or perhaps even of value), which may be justifiable, given the number of hardware accessories available specifically for devices with their current dock connector and the consistency with which they operate.

Re:Let the lawsuits begin..

[Desler]

No they won't. They provide an adapter which complies with the rules.

Re:Let the lawsuits begin..

[squiggleslash]

I completely disagree that a USB controller and supporting chipset isn't an option, a quick pop into Wal-Mart will show you any number of ridiculously cheap USB devices. Hey, forget Wal-mart, here's an $8 USB keyboard: http://www.amazon.com/107-Key-Windows-Keyboard-Black-USB/dp/B0038M3YM8 (do you think the most expensive part of the $8 cost is the USB chipset?)

So, ruling USB back in, the obvious solution is the micro-USB connector.

* Line in is a standard USB protocol, likewise line out (hence those USB headsets you can get.)
* Volume likewise can be implemented by supporting HID - Volume up and down have been standard keystrokes for a while on virtually every multimedia keyboard.
* Power is a standard part of the micro-USB connector, we can charge using it.
* Video out is supported by MHL, which is fast becoming a standard in the Android world.
* And finally, controlling playback is also supported by HID, again Play/Pause/Rewind/Fastforward are part of every modern keyboard, using standardized keystrokes.

Place your bets of the price of adapters!

[bhunachchicken]

I'm going with the following -

1. No adapter in the box (after all, Apple didn't tell you to buy that accessory)*
2. Adapters will cost $30 each ($10 to make, plus Apple's mark-up, plus tax)**

* - after 9 months of moaning from people who say Apple have screwed them over, Apple will provide all iPhone 5 purchasers with a $5 off voucher, when ordering the adapter direct from their own website.
** - a commenter on the Daily Mail website is claiming that the adapters will only cost $5 each. No chance, sorry. How will Apple make any money off those???

Re:Let the lawsuits begin..

[jellomizer]

If they offered a Mag Lock type of technology, I think I would be a bit more interested. If they are just getting a smaller connector you might as well use what everyone else has.

Re:Let the lawsuits begin..

[icebike]

So please tell me what non proprietary connector allows any old dumb device to control functionality like line in, line out, volume, power, video out, and controlling playback? This can all be done by sending analog signals over certain pins. For very cheap devices a USB controller and the supporting chipset and software is not an option.

Haven't seen any android devices lately have you....
I suggest you broaden your horizons.

Re:Let the lawsuits begin..

[kidgenius]

I've been using tons of micro-usb connections for years. I've been plugging and unplugging every day, multiple times, across multiple devices. I'd wager I have something on the order of 10000 unplug/plugs across my devices. I have never broken or bent a single micro-usb connector. I know my anecdote is not very good, but if there really was an "annoying tendency to break", I'm sure I would've had it happen and/or heard about it previously. Besides, the inside piece is metal....not plastic as i'm looking at my devices.

Re:Connector Change?

[Overzeetop]

"iOS does not compete at all with Jellybean"

Exactly - they're two entirely different paradigms for user interface. Jelly Bean is made so that you can make it work and feel any way you want. iOS is made so that no matter which iDevice you use or who's iDevice it is, it works the same. You can flail about all you want about how useful the customization is, but it completely misses the point that most of the user base for phones not only doesn't give a rats ass about customization beyond choosing a lock screen photo, but actually benefits from never having to mess with it.

Trust me - I had the uber-custom WM6 phone for a couple of years and it was just plain awesome how I could keep everything I needed right at my fingertips. Custom ROMs, lock screen information, 3D access to customized app pages with detailed configuration data, custom button mappings - you name it. I have an iPhone now, and each time I pick up and Android device to see how it is (or, heaven forbid, have to fix my mother's droid), I'm reminded of all the wasted hours of customization. Are there things I would like to change? YES. Is it worth the added complexity in my life? Not right now...maybe in ten years when I'm not as busy with, well, life.

Re:Let the lawsuits begin..

[AmiMoJo]

No need for annecdotes. The spec says that the micro USB connector must be rated for at least 10,000 insertion/removal cycles.

You can buy the connectors for pennies. There is more chance of the soldering or glue holding the copper layer of the PCB failing than the connector breaking. Similarly the cable will probably fray before the connector gets damaged.