Third-party accessory makers held up by Apple's new Lightning connector rules

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 62
    seankill wrote: »
    I love my iPhone 5 but the way apple is handling the accessories market pisses me off.
    Is there a legit car charge available?
    Att said they don't have them (nor did the store I go to have the ability t transfer data from old to new iPhone)
    I see none on the apple store. So you just have to buy a 30 dollar cable (rip off) and then plug it into the USB (if u have one) already on your car charger.

    Appears to me as though they are just being anal.
    You obviously don't have an iPhone 5, since you're completely ignorant of the fact that it ships with a cable. Then you just plug that cable into a $2.99 auto USB adapter. Fully functional for charging your phone.
  • Reply 42 of 62
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member


  • Reply 43 of 62
    smiffy31smiffy31 Posts: 202member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Vaelian View Post





    You don't need a chip for that, you can use the power pins to tell whether the connector is facing the same way on both ends by probing the flow of current with a diode. That really IS child's play, I used to play with analog electronics when I was 6, so I'm not even exaggerating...


     


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by orangesauce View Post


    You are thinking inside the box.  Why do you think all these pins have a specific, full-time function?  What makes you think that with the right chip, a Thunderbolt cable could not be made?







    Except there are uses where there are no power pins, think camera connection kit (which probably has some power out even), so your six year old diode trick is not possible. NOBODY outside of Apple knows what has been foreseen for this connector.

  • Reply 44 of 62
    smiffy31smiffy31 Posts: 202member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Seankill View Post



    I love my iPhone 5 but the way apple is handling the accessories market pisses me off.

    Is there a legit car charge available?

    Att said they don't have them (nor did the store I go to have the ability t transfer data from old to new iPhone)

    I see none on the apple store. So you just have to buy a 30 dollar cable (rip off) and then plug it into the USB (if u have one) already on your car charger.

    Appears to me as though they are just being anal.




    Transfering data is really easy using iTunes or iCloud you don't need att to help you.


     


    I thought the cable was $19 not 30 !

  • Reply 45 of 62

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by smiffy31 View Post


     


     






    Except there are uses where there are no power pins, think camera connection kit (which probably has some power out even), so your six year old diode trick is not possible. NOBODY outside of Apple knows what has been foreseen for this connector.



    Yes, if you want a fully functional cable you will most likely have to have the chip so it can properly route all the signals to the right pins, etc.


     


    However, if all you want is a simple charging cable then a diode would work fine.  Heck you wouldn't even have to have all 8 pins on the cable, just the 2 (or 4) needed to complete the charging circuit, and use a diode to assign the polarity correctly like he said.  This cable could be made very, very cheap, and probably sold for a dollar or two at a profit.  I think that would make many people happy.  I know I would buy a couple.  That's all I need in my truck or in my bedroom is a simple cable that can charge my phone.  I don't need it to be able to sync, or have analog/digital out for the music etc.  Then I could just keep the original apple cable in my office where my computer is so it is there whenever I need to hook it up to sync.  Rather than having to go into my bedroom, open up the charging station, unplug my lightning cable, carry it to the office, plug it into the computer, sync, then carry the cable back to the bedroom and hook it back up in the charging station.  Yeah it's not a huge amount a work, and I'm not losing any sleep over it, and obviously it's not enough for me to bother buying another lightning cable for $20, but it would definitely be worth it for $2-5 (which is around what I have paid for many of my fully functional 30 pin cables that I have in my bedroom, office, cars, at work, etc.).

  • Reply 46 of 62
    haarhaar Posts: 563member
    vaelian wrote: »
    You don't need a chip for that, you can use the power pins to tell whether the connector is facing the same way on both ends by probing the flow of current with a diode. That really IS child's play, I used to play with analog electronics when I was 6, so I'm not even exaggerating...

    last time I Checked "a diode" doesn't have a buffer and switch for digital lines...
  • Reply 47 of 62
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Really? Where did you 'know' all this from?!



     


    Apple has announced all this except the (rather obvious) fact that the price of the cable is due to the fact that it is a "smart" cable.  


     


    Idiots buy $100 "Monster" HDMI cables for their stupid TV's all day long without complaining (real value of cable is about $5), but a brand new smart cable with actual new technology in it for $30 is too much?  Give me a break.  


     


    Humans are stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. 

  • Reply 48 of 62
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Oflife View Post



    As more and more people say to me (unsolicited), the iPhone 5 marks the beginning of the end for Apple as a major player - unless they start to be more thoughtful. ...


     


    You do realise that "what people are saying to you," has no bearing on anything at all right?  They are just voicing what the current media meme is or in other words, what's "popular" to think about Apple lately.  


     


    It's not like they've all thought about it, researched it, wrote a few essays on the topic and came to this conclusion.  They are just saying what they heard or what they think is the thing to say now. 


     


    Facts and reality will determine Apple's future.  Not this. 

  • Reply 49 of 62
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,213member


    http://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/09/apples-lightning-authentication-reportedly-cracked-unauthorized-third-party-cables-coming/


     


    Apple's chip authentication is now reported cracked. Let the Chinese knock-off's begin. . .


     


    EDIT: Something I found a little confusing was that the vendor was also buying official authentication chips from Apple's supplier. I would have thought Apple would have insisted on an exclusive supplier contract, forbidding the sale to other buyers without Apple's approval.

  • Reply 50 of 62
    From the looks of this video showing a development board from Cypress Semiconductor streaming Digital Audio to and from an iPhone 5, it seems that there's progress being made:
  • Reply 51 of 62
    No, the Apple Tax is the same as the Monster Tax, or any of the other high fees charged for what are essentially $1 cords. $20 for a cable that costs less than a dollar to make is excessive from any manufacturer, and Apple obviously doesn't want to end up being run around the way, for example, HDMI cable manufacturers have been. Accessories are a huge profit area, and having a custom chip in an otherwise cheap cable blocks competition in a way that open-spec cables cannot. This is the unfortunate side of loving Apple devices; the closed-ecosystem means that some 3rd-party options are off the table (at least for a while) so Apple can make more money.
  • Reply 52 of 62


    Originally Posted by grtgrfx View Post

    No, the Apple Tax is the same as the Monster Tax…


     


    NOPE! Apple doesn't lie about features and build.


     




    …or any of the other high fees charged for what are essentially $1 cords.



     


    I guess every single car made by every single company has a "Hugo Tax" huh? Good luck with that way of leading your life.


     



    Accessories are a huge profit area…


     


    Not for Apple!






    …having a custom chip in an otherwise cheap cable blocks competition in a way that open-spec cables cannot.



     


    Mmm, no. If that's the case, then it's the case, but it's not the intent. I'd much rather have lazy idiots kept away from making things that feed electricity to my quality devices.






    …so Apple can make more money.



     


    You mean the next to nothing they make in accessories? That "money"? The money that Apple doesn't care about in the first place?

  • Reply 53 of 62
    Not very convincing Tallest Skil... you basically just say "no they don't" "no its not" "no no no" to every aspect...
    grtgrfx's points are not refuted. Its a shame what they make us pay for their accessories, how can you not see this?

  • Reply 54 of 62


    Originally Posted by hwjunkie View Post

    …grtgrfx's points are not refuted.


     


    Apple's prices and products are in no respect like Monster's prices and products. I explained that quite clearly. Apple builds quality products and makes a single digit multiple profit on each. There is nothing wrong with that. Monster builds probably quality products, lies about their construction and their properties, and makes several thousand percent profit on each. There is something wrong with that.






     Its a shame what they make us pay for their accessories, how can you not see this?



     


    Because that's an outright lie and you know it. Compare the build quality of Apple accessories to third-party ones.

  • Reply 55 of 62
    "Because that's an outright lie and you know it."

    No it is not, so no I don't know it. But I really hope what you say is true... I don't like where this company is heading.
  • Reply 56 of 62


    Originally Posted by hwjunkie View Post

    …so no I don't know it.


     


    Well, you know it now. You're welcome.






    I don't like where this company is heading.



     


    Which is exactly the same company they have been for the past fifteen years. GOT IT.

  • Reply 57 of 62
    You are very aggressive. I don't understand why. This is a forum, is it not?
    I dont even want to get into your last response, just in general... what is the point of being aggressive on an internet discussion forum?
    You are a moderator, are you not?
  • Reply 58 of 62


    Originally Posted by hwjunkie View Post

    You are very aggressive. I don't understand why.


     


    Because you're trying to spread lies. 

  • Reply 59 of 62


    I am not trying anything. Its a forum and we are discussing things.


    You are super agressive, and now you're calling me a liar, because you do not agree with my opinion? Wow. 

  • Reply 60 of 62


    Originally Posted by hwjunkie View Post

    …because you do not agree with my opinion? Wow. 


     


    It's not an opinion; it's just wrong. You're just not correct.

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