Apple Says "No" To Releasing New Dock Connector Specs

Putting words in Apples mouth by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-05 19:04 · Score: 5, Informative

Apple hasn't said a damn thing. Just speculation.

Re:Putting words in Apples mouth by gutnor · 2012-09-05 19:52 · Score: 5, Insightful

The new connector itself is pure rumor. So they don't publish the specs on a rumored connector of a product they haven't even announced or given any clear indication it will exist at all ? Some days it really feel like all Apple Haters and Fanboys are like teenagers gossiping about their favorite star.
Re:Putting words in Apples mouth by debilo · 2012-09-05 20:04 · Score: 3, Informative

The new connector itself is pure rumor.

Assuming this video is authentic, a side by side comparison does hint at a new, much smaller connector.
Re:Putting words in Apples mouth by Pieroxy · 2012-09-05 20:20 · Score: 2, Insightful

Given the fact that nobody has a fucking clue of what's in the video, whether it's authentic or not, who shot it, I'd say it hints at somebody wanting you to believe something, not much more.
It doesn't say anything about a future Apple product or connector though.
My bet, if it is worth anything, is that if they change the connector, they will include in every iPhone box a converter allowing old accessories to work with the new iPhone. They'll drop the free converter next year on the iPhone 6 or whatever they decide to call it, giving effectively a year to accessories makers to adapt to the new connector.
If they don't do they they deprive every single buyer of the shitload of accessories actually on the market and in the homes of so many potential buyers. And this is a definitive advantages of iPhones over competing products.

--
Write boring code, not shiny code!
Re:Putting words in Apples mouth by Pieroxy · 2012-09-05 21:08 · Score: 5, Funny

Care to put your money where you mouth is? I'm willing to bet $1000 that's what the next iphone will look like (little dock and all).
My best judgement prevents me from betting $1000 with AC, sorry.

--
Write boring code, not shiny code!
Re:Putting words in Apples mouth by debilo · 2012-09-05 21:13 · Score: 2

People tell me it means "Einstein", but maybe I'm just gullible.
Re:Putting words in Apples mouth by hairyfeet · 2012-09-05 21:30 · Score: 3, Insightful

The problem is, and this coming from someone who is NOT a fan of Apple and the walled gardens, is that its well known there are a bazillion "iClones" made in China that frankly you'd be hard pressed to tell if you sat them side by side, or even booted up.
So until we see an actual Apple product from an Apple store in the Apple box with a new connector? We all really need to treat these rumors as just that, rumors.

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ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Re:Putting words in Apples mouth by Swampash · 2012-09-05 23:11 · Score: 2

Slashdot is so desperate to pad out the front page with SEO-whoring stories containing the word "Apple" I'm amazed it's not posting press releases from the fruit industry.
Re:Putting words in Apples mouth by Pieroxy · 2012-09-06 03:47 · Score: 2

I admit it perfectly. But Apple hasn't acknowledged anything so far, not even the fact that there's a new iPhone. As usual.
And people expect them to release a spec sheet of the new dock?
This is so nonsensical that I can't even imagine how it made it to the front page.

--
Write boring code, not shiny code!

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by preaction · 2012-09-05 19:05 · Score: 5, Insightful

You mean instead "leveraging their position to unfairly stifle competition," correct?

universal connector by mister.woody · 2012-09-05 19:07 · Score: 4, Insightful

It's a shame that they do not have a universal connector. Something that would work on any damn phone, like a simple usb. But oh well... it's apple!

Re:universal connector by gl4ss · 2012-09-05 19:44 · Score: 4, Informative

There is a standard and it is very much like usb. Its called micro usb which you might have heard of.
Virtually every smart phone these days sold has a micro usb port.
iPhones and iPads are not phones or tablets. They are purely fashion statements.
No one would buy them otherwise.
all other manufacturers agreed to standardize on microusb some 5 years ago(and it's finally starting to be used on pretty much all, non-apple, devices now).

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world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Re:universal connector by GrahamCox · 2012-09-05 19:46 · Score: 4, Interesting

They are purely fashion statements.

Well, maybe one data point doesn't disprove your argument, but the way you've framed it, it goes a long way to.

I am the least fashionable person imaginable. I'm a little bit of a lefty and despise brand worship and the creeping corporatism of our age. I abhor labels and typically buy no-name brand jeans from Target.

Oddly enough, I do have an iPhone. I find it well designed, very functional and useful as a phone and portable web browser, music player, gps, camera, and very occasional puzzle and games machine. That's why I have one, it's NOTHING to do with fashion.
Re:universal connector by data2 · 2012-09-05 19:50 · Score: 5, Informative

http://www.maclife.com/article/news/microusb_set_european_commission_standard_smartphones
Brought to you by those commie, over-regulating Europeans.
Re:universal connector by Xenx · 2012-09-05 20:29 · Score: 2

I know from personal use that Samsung has analog from the micro USB. Cardock with charging passthrough and 3.5mm audio for about $50. So, it can obviously be done and for a reasonable price.
Re:universal connector by VortexCortex · 2012-09-05 20:29 · Score: 4, Insightful

Typical hipster.
Re:universal connector by toruonu · 2012-09-05 20:34 · Score: 2

Ditto on all points... except I also like the iPhone 4 series because these devices are smaller than the Galaxy S3. Apparently that feature will be lost with the iPhone 5 which is unfortunate.
Mentioned the exact things somewhere else in this thread however from the mockups it seems the 5 will not be wider, but taller. This way the one handed usage and comfort remains the same while getting a tick bigger screen. But I do hope as well that it won't be a monster 4.x" screen just because people want bigger (just recently heard that someone's planning a 5" screen, HTC?, why the hell would you want a phone that's almost as big as a tablet?)
Re:universal connector by camperdave · 2012-09-05 21:01 · Score: 2

Yes, but you can't do analog audio over micro USB.
Analog audio? That's what the headphone jack is for.

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When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Re:universal connector by profplump · 2012-09-05 21:15 · Score: 4, Informative

No, that's for speaker-level audio after the amp. The port on the bottom puts out line-level audio (with no internal volume control), along with video, status lines to detect/inform the power state, data lines so you can read and control the device, and a whole slew of other things that have come and gone throughout the decade-long life of the 30-pin connector. It is possible to do most of these things with other standard ports (though not all of them, particularly on a thin case), but the replacement is not as simple as power + headphones.
Re:universal connector by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-05 21:29 · Score: 3, Informative

Micro-USB with MHL does serial, audio and video, way better than analog pins, and does much much more.
Having analog signals run through dubious-quality cheap connectors is so last century.
Re:universal connector by oldlurker · 2012-09-05 21:32 · Score: 2

Let me know when your USB port has serial, audio, and video connectors.
You can argue that it's better to have a whole slew of other connectors -- and in many (but not all) cases I'd agree -- but you can't argue that USB is replacement for the dock port (new or old).
Ok, I can let you know right away. Many phones have that today, including phones as old as Samsung Galaxy S2. MHL is a standard for exactly this, supported by multiple manufacturers (except Apple). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-Definition_Link
Re:universal connector by digitig · 2012-09-05 21:47 · Score: 4, Informative

There is a standard and it is very much like usb.
Only for charging, not for data. And a manufacturer can be compliant by supplying an adaptor, which only has to charge the device, not carry data. Hardly relevant to docking the device.

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Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
Re:universal connector by Chibi+Merrow · 2012-09-05 21:50 · Score: 2

why the hell would you want a phone that's almost as big as a tablet?
Because the 5.5" Galaxy Note has sold like hotcakes all over the world, so now everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon. Also the 5.8" Note II just got announced.
Someone keeps buying these phones...

--
Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
Re:universal connector by Dreadrik · 2012-09-05 22:08 · Score: 2

You are of course correct. They use the "device attached" pin of the USB port with a specific resistor to switch the USB data lines into two analog audio outs.
While this is a cool hack, it still suffers from a few limitations that the apple dock connector doesn't have. It can't do analog in at the same time (think microphone input for a car handsfree), or video, or simultaneous USB data transfer, to name a few things.
Also, this is not part of the USB standard, which means the cable only works with certain phone models, and can actually make other devices misbehave. Try connecting a Galaxy Nexus to that cable. :-)
Re:universal connector by nospam007 · 2012-09-05 22:19 · Score: 5, Informative

"all other manufacturers agreed to standardize on microusb some 5 years ago(and it's finally starting to be used on pretty much all, non-apple, devices now)."
Apple signed the agreement as well.
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/magazine/articles/single-market/article_10942_en.htm
Re:universal connector by GungaDan · 2012-09-05 23:38 · Score: 5, Funny

Hipsters can shop at Target if they do so ironically, or were doing it before it became mainstream.

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Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
Re:universal connector by Charliemopps · 2012-09-05 23:49 · Score: 5, Interesting

Give me a break. The iPhone connector is designed specifically to not be compatible with anything else on the market so apple can charge other companies that want to use it for the privilege. You can't even find the positive and negative pins on the phone, hook up alligator clips and charge it. The connector has a resistor and cap across several pins so the phone can detect if it's a real iPhone connector and it will literally reject the cable if it doesn't detect these components in the signal. There is no purpose in those components being there other than to enforce their patents.

Every point you make can be done with USB. You can transfer streaming audio and video via usb, you can certainly use it to control the volume of an iPod. In fact, the iPods connector is larger, analog and transfers far less data than a modern USB connector could. It is, without question, an inferior connector. If the connector were so superior, why isn't anyone designing their phones to work off the same connection? No one seems bothered about breaching any of apples other patents...
Re:universal connector by CapuchinSeven · 2012-09-06 01:00 · Score: 3, Informative

The EU are fine with this. http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD099ZM/A/apple-iphone-micro-usb-adapter?mco=MjU5MjAwODM The directive is there to stop people throwing away chargers, this fixes that problem and the EU is fine with it. Apple is complying, and a quick google search brings up 100s of citations.
Re:universal connector by Karlt1 · 2012-09-06 01:47 · Score: 2

So how do I control an electronic device over USB via purely analog signals -- i.e. without requiring the connecting component to have a USB host controller and software? I don't think the manufacturer of $20 boombox with a dock connector is going to want to spend the money on the necessary hardware/software.
The last time I asked this question, people posted a lot of solutions involving proprietary docks and connectors that only work with one brand of phone.
Re:universal connector by aaarrrgggh · 2012-09-06 05:14 · Score: 2

There was nothing like the iPod connector on the market when it was released. The fact that it has lived such a long life is why it is odd. There are a lot of legacy products designed around iPods initially that can't support MHL.
You cannot simultaneously send line-level analog audio, control, and power over a USB link, and MHL doesn't support that on four pins.

Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-05 19:07 · Score: 5, Interesting

It may be that they are walking straight into EU regulations with that kind of policy. Vertical monopolies in the supply chain is one of those few things the EU gets extremely aggro about, to the benefit of the market and consumers.

Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by Mr.+Wok · 2012-09-05 19:11 · Score: 5, Funny

Aggro?! Do you mean EU is somekind of monster of which somebody is always tanking and getting the aggro while the others shoot?
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by Kergan · 2012-09-05 19:28 · Score: 3, Interesting

It may be that they are walking straight into EU regulations with that kind of policy..
Not may. Will. Germany in particular (where most patent litigation is taken in the EU) has a long history of allowing cheap clones of periphericals and consumables. Be it nails, screws, coffee recharges, cables, or otherwise. Ianal, but I'd wager Apple doesn't stand a chance in court if they seek to sue cloned cables out of the market -- especially at that price point.
The most surprising part to me, though, is (assuming the rumors are valid on the new port) that they didn't go for a micro-USB port. The EU directive aimed at getting rid of electronic waste due to redundant and incompatible chargers will shortly make (already makes?) it or an adapter mandatory, so why bother coming up with yet another type of dock connector?
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by toruonu · 2012-09-05 19:33 · Score: 2

It's fun to see all these discussions and allegations for a phone that's not even launched yet and therefore you have no clue what connector it actually uses. True, it's likely it'll be a proprietary one again, but still, shouldn't we wait until Sept 12th at least before starting the accusations...
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by jonwil · 2012-09-05 19:38 · Score: 4, Insightful

One big reason Apple doesn't use USB is that the dock connector does more than just USB.
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by Kergan · 2012-09-05 19:39 · Score: 2

Yeah. And even more fun are case makers who are mass-producing cases based on rumors and mockups, and the shameless iPhone5-like Android clone that got unveiled recently. I'll be laughing out loud if Apple unveils a tear-drop design on the 12th, or if the clone joint sues apple over "their" design.
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by famebait · 2012-09-05 20:03 · Score: 3, Insightful

"One big reason Apple doesn't use USB is that the dock connector does more than just USB."
Does it, now? With airplay and whatnot, the need to transmit analog audio and video is rapidly disappearing, which is probably why the new plug has nine pins in stead of the previous billion. It's been months since I used my cable for anything besides charging, and I really can't see what I'd want from it that USB + wifi + bluetooth can't already offer.
Let's face it: it's a money-making ploy and nothing more.
It is of course entirely within their rights to use proprietary designs that way, but harassing people trying to adapt to it is not (or shouldn't be), and it is entirely within my rights to dispise and chastise them for it in any case.

--
sudo ergo sum
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-05 20:07 · Score: 5, Insightful

But nothing that you can't do with USB. Android phones have the ability to do audio and video through micro USB after all.
The only difference is they provide an analog pins for each audio channel, for svideo etc. Micro USB means you just send it as data and convert it in the adapter.
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-05 23:09 · Score: 2, Insightful

You're confusing the colloquial with the legal.
A vertical monopoly is one in which the retailer is also the wholesaler is also the producer is also... etc. Definitions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but just to give you an idea with two examples:
Norway had a liqour-monopoly some years ago. The EU forced them to split the institution into retail and an import, thereby making it legal for any other import company to sell alcohol to the liqour -retail- stores. This opened the market and it was, in all honesty, a long overdue process because the monopoly was there for moral and historical reasons.
HP tried to sue everything under the sun for copying the software on their ink cartridges. The EU found it fishy that one supplier should be able to sell its printers AND force any others to not be able to sell ink. They told HP in so many words to either drop the lawsuits or pick whether they would sell printers OR ink. This (oversimplification) opened the market and benefited consumers.
This also illustrates the differences between civil and common law systems, I think, though this is a bit specious. Americans would read those two examples and come up with 500 ways to "game" each verdict and poke holes in it. Europeans would accept what the intent was and act accordingly. This is really one of the major differences between corporate culture in our two continents even if there is a gigantic overlap.
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by Jesus_666 · 2012-09-05 23:54 · Score: 2

Apple: Okay, I've got an offensive patent war chest, standard DD build with some bling thrown in. Who's the tank? Who's on healing duty?
Samsung: I've... got a DD build, too.
HTC: Same here.
Sony: I always play DD.
Nokia: Microsoft taught me Cannibalize so I put all my skill points into that.
HTC: How's that working out?
Nokia: Pretty good, although I can only use it on myself.
Apple: We're all DDs? We can't all be DDs!
Nokia: Except me!
Apple: Okay, we're all DDs except for Nokia who's special. Yeah, that's much better. I can practically feel the boss battle whiz by. In the wrong direction.
Sony: Now don't be mean. I mean, Nokia still makes decent rubber boots.
Apple: You know what? Screw this. I'm going to go tank the European Union and you do whatever it is you think you do best.
Samsung: As much as I enjoy watching you bleed, don't you think that-
Apple: LEEROY JENKINS!

And then the entire mobile phone industry was wiped.

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USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by m.ducharme · 2012-09-06 01:08 · Score: 2

And then the entire mobile phone industry was wiped.
Except Apple.

--
Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
Re:Will they attempt this in the EU as well? by BronsCon · 2012-09-06 06:57 · Score: 2

As I had crammed down my throat (when I wasn't even making the claim), allow me to point out that MHL is not analog. That said, it costs about as much to implement MHL as it costs to implement and license Apple's dock connector, so all these cries of "the dock connector's analog pins allow for cheap accessories" are bunk, either way.

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APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.

Won't matter...... by Immostlyharmless · 2012-09-05 19:08 · Score: 2

4 days after release the Chinese will be selling the things on ebay for 4 bucks a pop anyhow, as long as you can wait 2 weeks for it to ship from Honk Kong.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by Mr.+Wok · 2012-09-05 19:09 · Score: 5, Insightful

They haven't said or done anything, this is all just speculation. Slow news day on Slashdot.

a price to pay by azalin · 2012-09-05 19:09 · Score: 5, Insightful

Apple has never been a fan of cheap. Their products carry the undercurrent message "I can afford this", much like sports cars, suvs, rolexes and the like. They don't want everybody to provide cheap accessories to their products, because it diminishes the brand value.

Reverse engineer by hawguy · 2012-09-05 19:18 · Score: 2

How can they prevent someone from reverse engineering the pinout based on published specs, examining whatever 9 pin adapter comes with the new phone, and trial and error? I don't it would be legal to take apart an Apple adapter and copy it, but if they can figure out how to make an adapter by other means using a cleanroom methodology without ever looking at the official adapter, and come up with their own connector design that fits the phone connector, can Apple stop them?

Re:Reverse engineer by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-05 19:34 · Score: 3, Funny

They can slap you with a 1bn lawsuit saying you copied their patent covering "copper cables with white plastic wrapping carrying data from a device built in 2012 or later with rounded corners and a company logo". Any claims that other cables carrying data is prior art will be rejected by the jury since those cables didn't in fact carry data from a 2012 or later device with a company logo on it, and they definitely were not white.
Apple is the evil empire to a higher degree than Standard Oil, IBM or Microsoft ever were.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by Taco+Cowboy · 2012-09-05 19:19 · Score: 4, Interesting

Innovative and good technology company

A. Innovative company might not have good technology

B. Companies that have good technology might no longer be innovative

Apple, Inc. used to be in "Category A" when Mr. Jobs were alive

Now, it's in "Category B" and soon, it might end up be neither

--
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !

Its their own damn fault by MassacrE · 2012-09-05 19:35 · Score: 4, Insightful

Accessory manufacturers (particularly case manufacturers) burnt all their bridges with Apple long ago. Since around when the iphone 3gs came out, nobody has gotten any advance notice of new hardware because of all the leaks.

Even now, many of the apple rumors come from case manufacturers who are attempting to bribe employees at the manufacturer for information.

Right now Apple has only even hinted that there may be an iphone 5, and if they are going to deprecate a decade of accessories with a new connector they want to do it on their own terms. There is no way Applw have confirmed or denied the dock connector except perhaps in controlled leaks to the media. Nobody making alarm clock docks is gonna know a damn thing until the rest of us do on the 12th.

On a non existent product??? by Grayhand · 2012-09-05 20:15 · Score: 3, Insightful

Excuse me while I say WTF???? People are fighting mad over an iPhone 5 that no one has admitted exists so far??? I might as well say the iPhone 6 will support Firewire 1600. Prove me wrong! Time people get a life!

Re:On a non existent product??? by Sponge+Bath · 2012-09-06 00:28 · Score: 2, Funny

I might as well say the iPhone 6 will support Firewire 1600.
Apple has not released detailed technical specifications for the iPhone 6 battery, so it's safe to assume it will be powered by the blood of innocent children. How can Apple get away with powering phones with the blood of innocent children? Those damned hipsters who only buy Apple as a fashion statement have blood on their hands!

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-05 20:49 · Score: 4, Insightful

So when do you think apple will give it to 3rd parties? It's coming out next week, so they are seriously running out of time to get production up and running. Or do you just blindly defend apple any chance you get, truth staring you in the face or not?

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by skovnymfe · 2012-09-05 21:10 · Score: 3, Insightful

I'm pretty sure it's only called that when Microsoft does it.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by 1u3hr · 2012-09-05 22:13 · Score: 4, Insightful

Slashdot is the New Fox.

Take a purely speculative story and give it a headline stating something likely to excite your readership as a simple fact. result page hits.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by sco08y · 2012-09-05 23:23 · Score: 4, Funny

It's never a slow news day when you can just make shit up.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by craigminah · 2012-09-05 23:48 · Score: 3, Insightful

Since when is "not releasing specs of an unreleased product" considered leveraging their position to unfairly stifle competition? Please explain how this will stifle competition...or is Samsung also coincidentally also redoing their dock connector with an expected release date shortly after Apple's release date? If anything, Apple not releasing dock connector specs might slow down the release of products that support the iPhone/iPod (e.g. speakers, etc.) but that's Apple's business. Let's say they released the specs of their still unreleased product then they decided to change the specs to account for something they omitted...now what?

Re:Blah by RyuuzakiTetsuya · 2012-09-05 23:59 · Score: 2, Insightful

No. I'm tired of geeks Just not getting it, or getting it wrong every single time.

I remember the iPhone bashing in 2007, and how could anyone possibly buy an iPhone, it only has two buttons and a touch screen! But in 2012, that design is "obvious."

How can anyone take nerds seriously anymore?

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Non impediti ratione cogitationus.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by dontclapthrowmoney · 2012-09-06 00:00 · Score: 2

It's never a slow news day when you can just make shit up.

Especially if it's about the raspberry pi, bitcoins, iStuff, or a few other old faithfuls.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by dj245 · 2012-09-06 00:22 · Score: 4, Informative

This kind of behavior worked a lot more in the 40 years ago (when the manufacturing cycle took a lot longer) than it does today. I'm not saying it is excusable, but the market for people who need to buy Apple accessories is so large that many companies buy the Apple Thing on day 1, reverse engineer it on day 2, and are receiving Accessories for the Apple Thing within a couple weeks from China. I work with a company that owns a Faro Laser Scanarm (3d scanner) and they frequently have multiple customers send them phones overnight on day 1. Each one of them is trying to get into the market for docks, cases, screen protectors, etc.

I'm not saying that Apple's tactics are OK, but they are generally futile in this case. You can't stop a flood of Chinese accessories from dozens of manufacturers.

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Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by MachineShedFred · 2012-09-06 00:52 · Score: 4, Interesting

Even though Apple hasn't released shit about unreleased products to the mass market except in rare exceptions for over a decade, everyone still thinks that it's news that Apple doesn't just up and scream aloud about features of unreleased products.

Guess what? When they released the 2nd gen iPod that has the dock connector we've been using for 8 years now, they didn't pre-release specs for that either. Yet I'm sure we had the same cynical speculation of "OMG it's not bone-stock FireWire! They're going to squeeze everyone out with proprietary bullshit and sue everyone that tries to use it!"

Never mind that today's dock connector only carries a few of the signals present in the original - gone is the FireWire and the 12v power, long replaced with USB2 and it's 5V DC. HDMI video has been added. Etc.

This is likely Apple deciding that it's time to have a change in the connector that coincides with a change of signal, rather than leaving the connector alone for so long to keep compatibility with 3rd party accessories at the cost of engineering simplicity, and reduction of product size.

--
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by samkass · 2012-09-06 01:05 · Score: 2

So when do you think apple will give it to 3rd parties? It's coming out next week, so they are seriously running out of time to get production up and running. Or do you just blindly defend apple any chance you get, truth staring you in the face or not?

My guess is that the 9-pin connector is just a better USB 3.0 port (one where the orientation of the cable doesn't matter) and that anyone will be able to make one. It may not have Apple's Seal of Approval, but I'm guessing cables and accessories will be out within weeks.

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E pluribus unum

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by thePowerOfGrayskull · 2012-09-06 01:27 · Score: 2

So when do you think apple will give it to 3rd parties? It's coming out next week, so they are seriously running out of time to get production up and running. Or do you just blindly defend apple any chance you get, truth staring you in the face or not?

How do you know they haven't? NDAs have teeth.

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by ArhcAngel · 2012-09-06 01:59 · Score: 5, Informative

That would be very...un-Apple-like. They currently make money on every device legitimately sold by 3rd party OEMs (iHome, JBL) by requiring an NDA and licensing agreement through their MFi program. I found and interesting read here about the reasoning behind the Square CC reader using the audio port. They cite several valid reasons but one that sticks out in a big way is basically it costs Square US $1 to manufacture the device but it would have cost them $4-$8 per device in licensing if they had gone with the 30 pin dock connector.

--
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by UnknowingFool · 2012-09-06 01:59 · Score: 4, Insightful

So far it has been speculation that there is a new connector. Now there is speculation on why Apple won't release specs for a connector they haven't announced yet. Maybe the day they announce the connector, they will release specs. Or the connector manufacturers have been sworn to secrecy about it considering the leaked cases of past models.

--
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.

Re:Proprietary... by UnknownSoldier · 2012-09-06 03:18 · Score: 2

> In every case Apple had a good reason.

I would agree with that sentiment too to *some* degree. It partially seems like Apple has NIH syndrome but they *also* have good reasons to invent new standards because they are interested in solving technical (practical?) problems.

* Firewire is definitely a dream compared to USB!
* It is debatable where Macs helped jumpstart the USB market, but they definitely played a part.
* Now that Thunderbolt is standardized, we'll start seeing more GPUs natively support it.

Regardless if you love / hate Apple, they seem to be taking the middle road. The left is use only standard connectors (and put up with the hassle of devices not having certain convenience factors), or the right of using only proprietary connectors (which the public has voted against.)

Re:Apple is the new Microsoft by MachineShedFred · 2012-09-06 05:21 · Score: 2

You can assign malice to their actions if you want, and that may well be a fair assessment. Nobody truly knows what is going through the senior bosses' heads if they aren't in the room. However, having been in the Apple ecosystem for over about two decades now in various professional capacities, I can say that they got to their current attitude towards product announcements by having those "partners" blab to the press about product features and specs before Apple is ready to announce them.

You get burnt by that enough times, and you start to just not tell anyone that doesn't need to know beforehand, and those that do get a 5-ton anvil of an NDA dropped on them.

Something like a dock connector can probably get you a long way towards seeing what features the device supports; much farther than physical dimensions given to prospective case manufacturers and such. I don't find it that surprising that they would NDA the shit out of the manufacturing partners that are making the stuff that absolutely has to be available on day 1, and then publish specs to everyone else on day 1 after the product announcement.

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