Apple's alleged 9-pin dock connector may be same size as Micro USB

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  • Reply 41 of 119

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    If you look closely you can see there are indentations on the sides of the plug which I presume interlock with some sort of spring loaded mechanism that snaps in to securely fasten it to the device.





    no way springs, man! I ain't oiling my new iPhone 5!

  • Reply 42 of 119
    Technological advancement being crippled by European regulations.
  • Reply 43 of 119

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    If you look closely you can see there are indentations on the sides of the plug which I presume interlock with some sort of spring loaded mechanism that snaps in to securely fasten it to the device.



     Thanks, that sounds reasonable. I wish these people taking photos would at least take decent comparison shots and shots of each side of the connectors. What's the point of all these useless 'glamour' shots?

  • Reply 44 of 119
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Shidell View Post


     


    I guess you missed the part where Apple's forbidding others from manufacturing this new cable type, as well as accessories to adapt to it.


     



    You mean Apple has not yet (apparently) licensed it to anyone else.

  • Reply 45 of 119

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Inkling View Post



    Those exposed connectors could prove a major problem. If it falls on anything metallic, something could short, including the 5 volt USB power.

    Pity the parent whose one-year-old sticks that live connector is his mouth. A 1.5 volt battery creates an unpleasant metallic taste. I'm not sure what 5 volts does.


     


     


    Gee,


    I wonder how they have avoided these problems with the mag safe connector? I mean any one-year-old that stick the power adapter in his mouth...

  • Reply 46 of 119
    mrrmrr Posts: 69member


    What about Thunderbolt? I hope the new iPhone at least support USB 3.0.

  • Reply 47 of 119
    darkvader wrote: »
    Apple is, after all, part of the European consortium that designated the micro USB connector as the standard for all cell phones.

    If that was true then why was the change immediate when Apple clearly wasn't ready for it and was sued by the EU by not being to standard
  • Reply 48 of 119
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mrr View Post



    A Thunderbolt connector would be amazing.


     


    Not gonna happen for technical reasons already discussed by others more conversant with circuitry than I many times in these forums (and in articles).


     


    Quote:


    Originally Posted by DarkVader View Post



    You know what would be AMAZING? [....]  Apple could abandon proprietary connectors and just use USB!


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Shidell View Post


    Or they could just, you know, use Micro USB, like every other small portable device on Earth.




    Wouldn't save consumers money, or add convenience, or anything like that. Nah. Let's make a new proprietary connection and FORCE CONSUMERS TO BUY THE CABLES AND ADAPTERS FROM US. [....]



     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post



    [.......]  Please stop this nonsense. If you had any conceivable legitimate reason that MicroUSB was better than Dock Connector, much less Dock Connector 2, you'd have said it already instead of the continued generic nonsense that we see in all anti-Apple postings. 


     


    Was gonna chime in on this, but decided I'd be in over my head (not that that's always stopped me before), but I will share this anecdote (which will date me even more, but so be it):



    We recently staged our 50th HS Class Reunion and I was in charge of the geekery aspects - including interfacing our notebooks/laptops to the resort's video projectors and TV's.  We had all the media on three different vintages of Macs - and had to purchase THREE SEPARATE kinds of adapters for $60+ (the venue didn't have cables for even one of them) to hook up to their display equipment (VGA and HDMI). 


     


    That seems just... ...stupid....   ...but I'm hoping TB and this new iDevice docker will be stable staples of Apple World for a good while (e.g., that current TB stuff won't be superceded when the all optical path versions are released). 


     


    And while I've felt left behind by Firewire's being superceded by USB, even now I can buy Macs that I can plug my FW drives and cams into, so guess I can't bitch that much......

  • Reply 49 of 119

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Inkling View Post



    Those exposed connectors could prove a major problem. If it falls on anything metallic, something could short, including the 5 volt USB power.

    Like the exposed antenna in the iPhone 4, this supports my sense that the artists have a bit too much sway around Apple and the engineers too little. The result are products that are more pretty than practical.

    The same can be said of Apple products that favor thinness over a decent battery life. I've not upgraded to a MacBook Air, in part, because the battery life in the 11" model is way too short--barely better than what I get with the original battery in my six-year-old MacBook.

    All that thinness makes no sense, since users will be carrying their MBA about in a padded case that's at least two inches think. Another half-inch thickness could probably give users twice the battery life.

    Pity the parent whose one-year-old sticks that live connector is his mouth. A 1.5 volt battery creates an unpleasant metallic taste. I'm not sure what 5 volts does.




    USB is designed to handle shorting of the power without ill effect. It's in the standard.


     


    My worry is exposed contacts increase the probability of static electricity being discharged into the pins. It would suck for an unplugged cable to fry your USB port when you brush past it carrying a charge, which in dryer, cooler weather can be significant.

  • Reply 50 of 119
    jakebjakeb Posts: 562member


    My prediction: you'll be able to charge the iphone 5 with microUSB, but a data connection will require the official 9-pin .

  • Reply 51 of 119


    Originally Posted by Shidell View Post

    Well go ahead and provide us with the reasons, because mine are so valid it should be sickening to you.


     


    Solipsism did it quite well on the previous page, I believe. 





    Originally Posted by benanderson89 View Post

    How is Apple using a standard USB connector a bad idea? You could literally plug pretty much anything into the phone…


     


    That's exactly why it's a terrible reason.


     



    Originally Posted by Morris View Post

    However, at no point did the EU tell anyone which ports to use on devices.


     


    Apple is legally required to make a MicroUSB adapter for their devices sold in the EU. I'm not sure how that's not 'telling'. 





    Originally Posted by Shidell View Post

    I guess you missed the part where Apple's forbidding others from manufacturing this new cable type, as well as accessories to adapt to it.


     


    Yes, I must have missed the part where we don't know this, can't know this, and may or may not be true. Ah, no. I'm not the one that missed it.






    Originally Posted by jakeb View Post


    My prediction: you'll be able to charge the iphone 5 with microUSB, but a data connection will require the official 9-pin .




     


    Sure, with an adapter. I'm not seeing how you'd expect two types of plug to fit in the same socket.

  • Reply 53 of 119


     


    Huh. A newspaper from in the EU (yes, I know how much Britons dislike the EU and how they'd leave in a heartbeat if it federalizes), whining about the progress of technology. Am I supposed to be surprised? 


     


    Is there an identical article every time a new port or standard is released? Was there one for Mini DisplayPort? How about USB3-B? Or USB itself back in '97. Maybe there was one for DVI in 1999. Or HDMI. There was probably an article for HDMI, right? And how introducing a new port was a "power grab" because it wasn't compatible with older stuff. 


     


    I'm gonna take a guess here and say there wasn't a single article about any of those. Not a one. Feel free to prove me wrong, and I'm not commenting at all on the integrity of the news source, but this is a load of tripe, cooked up specifically because Apple gets hits. 

  • Reply 54 of 119
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    chris_ca wrote: »
    You mean Apple has not yet (apparently) licensed it to anyone else.

    A cable for a device that doesn't officially exist and he expects to see a webpage from Apple on how to license its use like the current Dock Connector.
  • Reply 55 of 119

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Huh. A newspaper from in the EU (yes, I know how much Britons dislike the EU and how they'd leave in a heartbeat if it federalizes), whining about the progress of technology. Am I supposed to be surprised? 


     


    Is there an identical article every time a new port or standard is released? Was there one for Mini DisplayPort? How about USB3-B? Or USB itself back in '97. Maybe there was one for DVI in 1999. Or HDMI. There was probably an article for HDMI, right? And how introducing a new port was a "power grab" because it wasn't compatible with older stuff. 


     


    I'm gonna take a guess here and say there wasn't a single article about any of those. Not a one. Feel free to prove me wrong, and I'm not commenting at all on the integrity of the news source, but this is a load of tripe, cooked up specifically because Apple gets hits. 



     


    Even if it is a load of tripe, you can't possibly be happy to pay more money for yet another (different) proprietary connection.

  • Reply 56 of 119
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member
    jakeb wrote: »
    My prediction: you'll be able to charge the iphone 5 with microUSB, but a data connection will require the official 9-pin .
    No chance. The new connector has pins on the outside. USB requires pins on the inside.
  • Reply 57 of 119

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Inkling View Post



    Those exposed connectors could prove a major problem. If it falls on anything metallic, something could short, including the 5 volt USB power.

    Like the exposed antenna in the iPhone 4, this supports my sense that the artists have a bit too much sway around Apple and the engineers too little. The result are products that are more pretty than practical.

    The same can be said of Apple products that favor thinness over a decent battery life. I've not upgraded to a MacBook Air, in part, because the battery life in the 11" model is way too short--barely better than what I get with the original battery in my six-year-old MacBook.

    All that thinness makes no sense, since users will be carrying their MBA about in a padded case that's at least two inches think. Another half-inch thickness could probably give users twice the battery life.

    Pity the parent whose one-year-old sticks that live connector is his mouth. A 1.5 volt battery creates an unpleasant metallic taste. I'm not sure what 5 volts does.


    Current safety standards allow presentation of up to 42V on exposed contacts. This is approximately the detection threshold for dry skin. Nine volt batteries with exposed contacts are in routine use around the world. Their greatest danger to children is as a choking hazard. All usb ports and adapters are voltage and power limited, as required by safety regulations. The potential for "major problems" is quite low.


     


    If the leaked images of the iPhone5 are accurate, it will still have an exposed antenna, and I expect it will continue to be recommended by carriers for use in fringe reception areas, as that artsy exposed antenna system has proved quite capable.


     


    I see no need to pity the parents of children who stick Apple dock connectors in their mouth, as Apple designs to (and perhaps beyond) current safety standards.


     


    Your sense of the balance between art and engineering at Apple seems woefully off to me. Perhaps that's because I'm an engineer.

  • Reply 58 of 119


    Originally Posted by Shidell View Post

    Even if it is a load of tripe, you can't possibly be happy to pay more money for yet another (different) proprietary connection.


     


    Is this a decathlon or something? I tear through each of your arguments in turn and you just ignore it and move onto the next sport? I'm FINE with doing that, sure, but it's sort of in poor form to be hopping around like this. 


     


    I'd like you to describe what makes you believe that Dock Connector 2 is costing anyone more than some other port. We need to establish if it even it happens first before we can question users as to their desire to pay more.


     


    Once we can prove that it costs more, then we have to look at the whole of the capabilities of Dock Connector 2 and then weigh its cost against all other ports that provide either all or a subset of the aforementioned capabilities. If no port can do everything Dock Connector 2 can do, it cannot be said that we are "paying more money for it", even if  it costs more than another—or any other—port to implement, because in that situation there are no other ports to which Dock Connector 2 can even be compared. 

  • Reply 59 of 119
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    I know the authors on Appleinsider spend lots of time in the cellar but a receptical is the female device, the male device it the plug. You plug into the receptical! I imagine this is news to many of the common AI writers but it is a fairly basic concept.

    I realize that AI needs to have some churn before the big release, but really this is something that just makes people laugh.
  • Reply 60 of 119

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Is this a decathlon or something? I tear through each of your arguments in turn and you just ignore it and move onto the next sport? I'm FINE with doing that, sure, but it's sort of in poor form to be hopping around like this. 


     


    I'd like you to describe what makes you believe that Dock Connector 2 is costing anyone more than some other port. We need to establish if it even it happens first before we can question users as to their desire to pay more.


     


    Once we can prove that it costs more, then we have to look at the whole of the capabilities of Dock Connector 2 and then weigh its cost against all other ports that provide either all or a subset of the aforementioned capabilities. If no port can do everything Dock Connector 2 can do, it cannot be said that we are "paying more money for it", even if  it costs more than another—or any other—port to implement, because in that situation there are no other ports to which Dock Connector 2 can even be compared. 



     


    Ignoring the proposal that Apple has not shared the spec, and may very well not share the spec as to capitalize on the cables and adapters, why exactly must Apple create a brand new proprietary spec that won't be shared by anyone but themself?



    There are billions of MicroUSB devices, cables, etc. Millions of Apple 30-pin devices. Now there will be a new form factor, and a big PITA for everyone with older devices.


     


    What about radios that have iPod/iPhone/iPad docks, charging stations, and all the other doodads? How do you put an "adapter" on something that has a specific form designed to hold a device where you cannot? Now it's just legacy?


     


    You seem to be happy about this, Skil. I can't imagine why. Why you would encourage waste, why you'd be happy for a new spec that could've been MicroUSB, why you'd want to pay more for cables and accessories, why you'd want to be new ones in the first place, etc.

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