Purported parts for Apple's 'iPad 3' suggest 30-pin dock connector will remain

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
New components claimed to be from Apple's third-generation iPad show continued use of the 30-pin dock connector, potentially dispelling rumors that it would be replaced with a smaller form factor.



Japan's Macotakara ordered a handful of components claimed to be from prototype builds of Apple's anticipated third-generation iPad. The so-called "replacement parts" purport to be a microphone flex cable ribbon, power on/off flex cable, and dock connector charging port.



The dock connector is the most significant of the trio of components, because the 30-pin port still fits with Apple's existing iPod cable used on current iPhone, iPad and iPod models. The hands-on look at the part found that the cable sticks slightly shallower into the port, and the connector is shorter than before.



An earlier rumor about the next iPad's dock connector surfaced in October from the same website, suggesting Apple's third-generation iPad would feature a new, smaller dock connector. It was then claimed that the port would include the same 30-pin input and electricity specification internally, but it would be redesigned and smaller on the outside.



The current 30-pin dock connector was first introduced in Apple's iPod lineup back in April of 2003. It has been largely unchanged ever since, and Apple has even managed to squeeze the port onto its diminutive touchscreen iPod nano.







As for the other alleged third-generation iPad components, the power on/off flex cable includes a power button, rotation lock button, and volume button, suggesting all of those hardware features will be retained in the next iPad. The microphone flex cable is also said to be redesigned from the iPad 2.







The parts were obtained from reseller TVC-Mall.com, which gained attention earlier this month when it was found to be selling the microphone flex cable ribbon replacement. Because the part shows a different arrangement in internal circuitry than with the iPad 2, it led to speculation that the internal components of a so-called "iPad 3" may feature a significant redesign.







The first purported iPad 3 part surfaced in July, and it too hinted at material design changes with the next-generation tablet, at least internally, due to different part numbers on a hardware component.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 62
    Sad, but understandable.



    Would like to see a variant of the MagSafe here.
  • Reply 2 of 62
    NO. REALLY. They're going to keep using that port? How shocking.



    I don't think this precludes the inclusion of Thunderbolt pins for it, however.
  • Reply 3 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleZilla View Post


    Sad, but understandable.



    Would like to see a variant of the MagSafe here.



    I'm not a fan of MagSafe on iDevices. You simply don't have them being yanked the same way, have them plugged in as much, and are not nearly as heavy as Mac notebooks.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    NO. REALLY. They're going to keep using that port? How shocking.



    With 8.5 years of use, the size of the port getting comparatively large and the the interface not sitting flush on the iPad 2 I wouldn't be surprised if they did change up the design.
  • Reply 4 of 62
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    The 30 pin dock is annoying. They need to release a magsafe-data-connector.
  • Reply 5 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    New components claimed to be from Apple's third-generation iPad show continued use of the 30-pin dock connector, potentially dispelling rumors that it would be replaced with a smaller form factor.






    There will be few significant changes to the next-gen iPad, a/k/a the iPad 2S.



    When the screen gets updated to high rez, I would then expect, maybe, a new dock connector. But that will not happen this time around.



    The new connector might be of two possible configurations: It might incorporate high-bandwidth video I/O, or it might eliminate some of the existing external (wired) connectivity in order to encourage use of products like the new and completely wireless Apple TV. I would expect the latter.
  • Reply 6 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleZilla View Post


    Sad, but understandable.



    Would like to see a variant of the MagSafe here.



    Yes. That is (was) on my 2012 Apple technology wishlist. The other being curved edges on the glass panel(s) of the iPhone 5. Oh well.
  • Reply 7 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    NO. REALLY. They're going to keep using that port? How shocking.



    I don't think this precludes the inclusion of Thunderbolt pins for it, however.



    I'd be surprised if they do thunderbolt in the same connector or even a separate considering the cost in the guts and the cable. I'd guess USB 3.0 support if that's destined on their MB refreshes. With wireless sync and cloud sync being the flavor of late, I'm connecting almost never.
  • Reply 8 of 62
    Whatever. Just give it a 2048x1536 display, keep it at $500 and I'll buy it.
  • Reply 9 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Youarewrong View Post


    Whatever. Just give it a 2048x1536 display, keep it at $500 and I'll buy it.



    same with me.
  • Reply 10 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Youarewrong View Post


    Whatever. Just give it a 2048x1536 display, keep it at $500 and I'll buy it.



    2048x1536 is highly unlikely. 1600x1200 is more likely but I won't be surprised if it only had 1400x1050. You need to think for a moment what GPU can push that many pixels and still power efficient to get +10hr battery life. Even an increase to 1280x960 is substantial, people hold the iPad at a further distance than the iPhone.
  • Reply 11 of 62
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aizmov View Post


    2048x1536 is highly unlikely. 1600x1200 is more likely but I won't be surprised if it only had 1400x1050. You need to think for a moment what GPU can push that many pixels and still power efficient to get +10hr battery life.



    Needs to be double.
  • Reply 12 of 62
    mcarlingmcarling Posts: 1,106member
    I don't expect Apple to redesign the connector until they are ready switch it from USB to Thunderbolt. They need to have Macs with Thunderbolt ports compose a much higher proportion of the Mac installed based before that, so it won't happen before 2013. After the change, syncing new iOS devices via USB with a legacy computer would require an extra dongle.
  • Reply 13 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleZilla View Post


    Sad, but understandable.



    Would like to see a variant of the MagSafe here.





    Well, the MagSafe connector could be "backwards compatible" but since all my iPod connectors are crap or trashed, I'm not really stuck on that.
  • Reply 14 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mcarling View Post


    I don't expect Apple to redesign the connector until they are ready switch it from USB to Thunderbolt. They need to have Macs with Thunderbolt ports compose a much higher proportion of the Mac installed based before that, so it won't happen before 2013. After the change, syncing new iOS devices via USB with a legacy computer would require an extra dongle.



    True.



    Apple in the past has hurt people with iPod connector changes -- but at least they could create a 300% increase in Thunderbolt compatible devices and connectors if they moved to a Thunderbolt port.



    Besides, all the peripheral manufacturers would LOVE it if Apple forced us to re-buy everything again.



    However, I'm sure Apple would severely piss a lot of users off.
  • Reply 15 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Needs to be double.



    Actually, that's fairly astute.



    So far, Apple has KEPT their form factor for developers -- like a religion. So the iTouch, iPhone, iPad app can play on all platforms (with a few exceptions), and to format for the HD version, you only need to re-render bitmap scenes again if it isn't vector/3d already.



    The NEXT resolution upgrade is going to be 2X of what the iPad is now -- I'm pretty sure that would be the most probably path.



    The DELAY is all about getting a Retina display large enough and in quantity. Apple already has more than enough power in their graphics card to push the pixels for such a display on the iPad 2.
  • Reply 16 of 62
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    The 30 pin dock is annoying. They need to release a magsafe-data-connector.



    I really don't want to see them break compatability with a whole industry of third party devices that use the dock connector. As a musician I have a big investment in peripherals.
  • Reply 17 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Needs to be double.



    As in?
  • Reply 18 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aizmov View Post


    As in?



    2048x1536?



    *finger snap* Keep up here; we have a long way to go.
  • Reply 19 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aizmov View Post


    2048x1536 is highly unlikely. 1600x1200 is more likely but I won't be surprised if it only had 1400x1050. You need to think for a moment what GPU can push that many pixels and still power efficient to get +10hr battery life. Even an increase to 1280x960 is substantial, people hold the iPad at a further distance than the iPhone.



    This is a ridiculous statement. It will be double the current pixel dimensions or the same. Nothing else makes any sense at all despite what you say.
  • Reply 20 of 62
    What seems impossible today is proved possible pretty soon enough.



    Anyone guessed a Retina display till it came up? The iPhone itself? A one-button-on-front, fully touchscreen smartphone wasnt made before.



    p.s.

    Elvis said when he was bashed by a lot of critics, "Oh they are doing their job".
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