While there is some validity to the question of why Apple didn't just move to micro USB, I can tell you that I would rather have the lightning cable than micro USB.
There isn't, really.
While there is some validity to the question of why Apple didn't just move to micro USB, I can tell you that I would rather have the lightning cable than micro USB.
This strategy has the side-effect of making accessories more expensive because companies are required to pay a licensing fee to Apple to be part of the MFi program
Having the ability to restrict doesn't mean that was ever their intention. There is no evidence that they're doing that or ever would. That's just your pure speculation. IF they do it and there isn't a good reason why, THEN you could be outraged appropriately.
What we do know as a fact, is cheap cables break iPhones. The customer and Apple both pay for those, and in both cases a hell of a lot more than a $2 knockoff or even a $20 official cable.
What we also know is the Lightning cable is much smarter and more useful than previous cables, that surely took many millions of dollars of research and development to produce and perfect to the point of shipping in hundreds of millions of devices and being a capable standard for years to come.
Apple isn't a charity, it's a business. Why wouldn't they want to recoup at least some of that investment?
Here's the point:
...We're 5 months down the road from iPhone 5 hitting the shelves, and with it, lightning. There has been added costs passed onto the customer, and no benefits beyond a reversible connector...
The 30-pin cable was very large for the size and more important, the interior density of modern devices.
There would be very real tradeoffs in Apple's ability to continue making the best devices were they to have stuck with the outdated connector. Most of
the original functionality of that connector was obsolete; it was time for a new one.
Look at how large the 30-pin connector is compared to the Lightning:
Image
Mico-USB was never in the running because it provides nothing like the same level of functionality.
OMG, you mean Apple is trying to make a, a, PROFIT? Those bastards!
Simply not true. How about the ability to make their device smaller while keeping the same or better functionality and battery life? How about reverse compatibility (with the use of a 30-pin to lightning adapter)?
Yeah, it's freaking HUGE.
Like what? Making stuff up in abstracts doesn't count. I could tell you my warp drive might be compromised by too much hydrocarbons in the atmosphere but that doesn't make it true.
My warp drive runs on unleaded gasoline.
Yeah, it's more like it's SMALL and the lightning connector is simply smaller. But there's no device that needs a connector that small. They aren't going to make an iPhone the size of a penny for goodness sake. The phone just got LARGER. Most of the connector size runs along the bottom of the device, but I don't see any new connections there that they need to make room for that they suddenly needed to get rid of the 30-pin. But even IF they did have a good reason, Micro-USB is more than adequate, especially with USB 3.0 now rolling out en masse everywhere. Most people are now syncing over WiFi for goodness sake. They're not even using the connector except to charge the device.
Uh...You DO know that the lightning connector cable *IS* USB on the OTHER END right?????
Heck, it's not even USB 3.0. It's just 2.0. Same level of functionality my arse.
The only purpose of the chip (other than security to keep people from making cables without paying their Apple TAX) is to reduce the number of pins on the cable and make it bi-directional (i.e. smart cable; micro USB has a distinct shape so it doesn't need to work plugged in either way). The end functionality is identical to the 30-pin connector and ALL of it is transmitted over a simple USB cable. There is NO reason they couldn't have simply used a micro-USB connector since it already is USB on the other end (i.e. it is converted into USB so why not just use USB in the first place since there's already a ton of accessories out there for it. Oh...that's right. Apple wants to make money selling you cables and adapters and licensing them to dock makers, clock makers, etc.) In short, GREED is the answer (as usual).
Look at the internals of an iPhone. Every mm of space is at a premium. This isn't even arguable.
You have NO idea what you are talking about regarding Apple's choice in not using micro-USB, and what the limitations of that standard are. Educate yourself and come back when you are qualified to discuss the topic. It has been discussed extensively here and in the tech press, and I've even given a brief overview of it in this very thread.
Perhaps what you're saying is that because maybe 1 in 1 million people use a video cable with their iPhone, the rest of us have to pay Apple $29 for an adapter and companies have to pay to license the darn thing. Sorry, it doesn't add up. Besides, they could easily have modified the connector to work with micro-USB for standard functions but use a more expensive cable only for those that would actually need it (i.e. less than 0.1%). They already combined Mini-DP and Light Peak into Thunderbolt. You're telling me they couldn't have managed a Micro-USB Plus instead of completely re-inventing the wheel just to cover mostly unused signals? Bologna. You go away and come back when you are qualified to discuss the topic.
Folks, the PRIMARY advantage that Apple's cables, whether new or old, provide is driverless communication and control with host devices. This means that a $50 clock radio can not only charge, but be integrated with the iOS device for audio and control. Micro-USB requires both drivers on the host device AND a chip to handle them. This is expensive and not reliable. This alone is why Apple has a proprietary connection and why there is a huge aftermarket for iOS devices and almost none for Android.
The damn thing comes with a charging cable! What do you want, three? Or five? Or ten?
There's a difference in putting a movie up on screen and then telling your passengers they have to pay $2 to watch it, and charging for a convenience accessory when someone wants an extra cable. Really bad analogy.
Bullcrap. The iPhone has done just fine without lightning. If Apple weren't trying to upgrade the phone three times a year, they wouldn't have this problem. In fact, they are starting to create a "so what" atmosphere by updating so often. They are fast becoming the new HP of the tech world. No one is "wowed" anymore. Without Jobs the company is heading straight back where they came from the last time he "left" the company. The stock is plummeting despite their current profits because everyone can see the blase offerings they now have. Gee, it's the iPhone V21. Oh boy. It's added a flatulence detector and doubles as a taser in an emergency!
Perhaps what you're saying is that because maybe 1 in 1 million people use a video cable with their iPhone, the rest of us have to pay Apple $29 for an adapter and companies have to pay to license the darn thing. Sorry, it doesn't add up. Actually, wait, I take that back. There is NO support in the lightning connector for analog video. In other words, they dumped a 30-pin feature on the new connector.
Besides, they could easily have modified the connector to work with micro-USB for standard functions but use a more expensive cable only for those that would actually need it (i.e. less than 0.1%). They already combined Mini-DP and Light Peak into Thunderbolt. You're telling me they couldn't have managed a Micro-USB "Plus" instead of completely re-inventing the wheel just to cover mostly unused signals? Bologna. You go away and come back when you are qualified to discuss the topic.
You mean Intel's invention Apple's money.
Seriously, if you can't listen to hardware or mechanical engineers or even have basic understanding why Micro-USB "Plus" is a suboptimal solution, then you shouldn't be discussing this topic at all.
I mean, heck. Have you soldered a microUSB connector before? No?
Then we're not even on the same textbook, much less the same page.
Can we stop with the conjecture/editorial opinion being reported as fact? To my knowledge, Apple has never publicly discussed why it's gone down this strict path with Lightning accessories. People who are more skeptical and less doe-eyed than author Jordan Golson apparently is would think that, even if end user experience was important to Apple, the increased licensing revenue from maintaining such tight control is not a "side-effect" but a primary motive for Apple (after all, if Apple was only concerned with making sure devices work well together, it doesn't have to charge a licensing fee at all, it can just test and reject poor products). I happen to believe that revenue is a big reason for Apple's approach to Lightning licensing - as is quality control - but I also know that's conjecture on my part - I don't try to pretend I've read Tim Cook's mind.
More broadly, Jordan Golson has a habit of writing his own opinions as fact in many of his writeups. It's irritating, it makes Macrumors more a fanboy Apple cheerleading site than an operation run by folks who have a respect for Apple but also willing to call a spade a spade when it needs to. If Golson insists on adding his personal opinion to a story, he should use the word "may" - "Apple may want to ensure that users have the best experience possible by only allowing approved third-party accessories to be used with new iOS devices." It would still be debatable but at least it would be clearer that it's the author's opinion and not a well-known fact that everyone accepts is true. See how easy it is?
Apple has never said that's the reason, this is the author's own spin/opinion/editorial that he passes off as if it's a fact. The responsibility for this nonsense lies with Macrumors, not Apple.
I really laughed at this, seriously what other reason could apple have? pretty much all other phones use standard usb and they work just fine.
Of course Apple will not come out and say heyyy we are doing this to make extra cash duhhhh! Sometimes you have to open your eyes and see it for what it is, give it a try sometime!
WTF does a mechanical engineer have to do with an electronic engineering project? I AM an electronic engineer, BTW. YOU obviously don't know WTF you're talking about by that statement ALONE.
You really shouldn't talk about things you know NOTHING about. I was soldering 9-pin serial ports to make custom Atari joystick cables before you were born, most likely.
Long rant... Lot's of shouting...
Your entire argument hinges on your opinion that every connector change is just to suck in more money from customers and screw you over.
Lightning is a customer win in the long run.
If your "microUSB plus" idea is as good as it sounds, why hasn't anybody done it?
Great, so now you're telling us that Apple should make a expensive non-standard connector, that's larger, more fragile, and harder to route board with. Oh, and harder to assemble. And then gouge you for the cost of more custom connectors on cables. Wonderful idea.
And.... now you're also locking us into USB2.0 forever because moving from USB2 to USB3 will require all accessories to adopt yet another new non-industry standard connector that you'll release in 2 years. Right?
And your accessory developers? Telling us we should use USB as the protocol? Did you realize that you just upped the cost requirement by not allowing us to use dirt cheap MCUs? Now we're required to get more expensive MCUs which all have a USB host or device port and a crystal in order to talk to the phone. Can't even get the cheapest Atmel because you'll spend most of the RAM/Flash on the USB stack. If you thought $5 or whatever for the authentication chips from Apple was too much money, you're picking instead to have all the accessory developers hire out more engineers to debug USB negotiation problems and out of memory errors on MCUs. Blown budgets galore.
About wireless charging? Got a Nexus 4 handy? Got one of LG's inductive pads? I DO. (well at least my woman does) In her words, "what does this flickering battery indicator mean and how do I fix it?" Hell if I know or care. I'm just glad it was a gift from her brother.
Besides, how does wireless charging fix the accessory issue? Oh right, you're
I'm all for making improvements and finding good ideas. But if you can't find any viable solutions, then stop complaining and help the rest us come up with good ideas to suggest.
Take a minute and read through this.However, I do know a company with $137 BILLION in cold hard petty cash can afford to offer REASONABLY PRICED adapters. $29 is NOT reasonable PERIOD and I'm a robot from the future if you think they're not making money on their adapters...
(especially given how much cheaper they are from everyone else on the planet, particularly when they're not licensed).
Where I work, keeping things running is 10x more important than the costs of doing something the right way rather than trying to save a few dollars.
If people were just concerned with avoiding disruption, there'd still be millions of folks using Windows XP. Oh, wait... There are. There are also hundreds of millions of people using devices with the 30-pin dock connector. If you don't want the disruption of switching to Lightning, buy a 4 or 4S, not the device with the new proprietary connector that has only been on the market for a couple months. Early adoption and disruption kind of go hand in hand most of the time.I'm not into the business end or cost effective design. I do know when something causes a big disruption, though and lighting causes real problems across the board for compatibility and costs for the user. It seems to me that problem is bigger than the size of the connector, especially given how well they've managed to make devices smaller than the iPhone5 using the old connector.
Either way, I think they could have made due for a few more years until they implemented their patent on inductive charging/syncing that could potentially replace all cables (save on the charger, which when placed at hotels, airports, etc.) would mean no cables needed for the user. Lighting strikes me as a mere stop-gap and a very disruptive one at that.
At the VERY least they could have offered the adapters at cost or even eaten part of it (e.g. include ONE with the new devices for now!) to keep their users happy rather than potentially driving them away to the Android market.
I don't care for micro-usb given the market saturation of 30-pin devices, but given its penetration with Android and even more so in Europe with virtually all devices, it is less disruptive. The power charging problem is only with the iPad and that device is large enough to have more than one connector on it. In fact, it could keep the 30-pin port no problem. But Apple wants to disrupt EVERYTHING by forcing everything to move to the new connector even though it actually does LESS than the 30-pin one (loss of analog audio/video signals).
You argue that 30-pin devices will keep selling because there's a lot out there, but they're now obsolete so how is that a good use of money for a hotel, for example? They're in a bad place because there aren't enough of the new devices to warrant buying a new dock/radio/whatever and yet there is NO adapter for older devices to work in a newer lightning only dock.
The power charging problem is only with the iPad and that device is large enough to have more than one connector on it. In fact, it could keep the 30-pin port no problem. But Apple wants to disrupt EVERYTHING by forcing everything to move to the new connector even though it actually does LESS than the 30-pin one (loss of analog audio/video signals).
In fact, if they weren't so obsessed with total THINNESS they could have USB 3.0 ports and plugging in accessories TO the iPad would become so much simpler. I don't think they WANT the user to be able to use the device in that manner, though. They'd rather sell specialty products at very high costs or the iPad would have offered USB ports from day one. Even where there have been USB ports (e.g. Gen1 AppleTV), Apple refused to let people use them for even basic things like adding external hard drives. They don't CARE what the consumer WANTS and Steve Jobs pretty much said this many times.
You argue that 30-pin devices will keep selling because there's a lot out there, but they're now obsolete so how is that a good use of money for a hotel, for example? They're in a bad place because there aren't enough of the new devices to warrant buying a new dock/radio/whatever and yet there is NO adapter for older devices to work in a newer lightning only dock. I mean you want to argue costs, but apparently this only applies to the manufacturing side and what's best for Apple? They've got more money than god at this point. They can afford to make more consumer friendly decisions.
It IS possible to design a shape that uses standard cables for one set of rules and an extra notch with more pins for something newer (i.e. the newer cable will only fit the newer shape, but the older connector still fits the newer connector but doesn't extend into the molded extra space (e.g. if you had a "-" shaped connector, you could make a "+" shaped connector where the new pins are on the "|" portion with a height difference so the old connector can't possibly fit turned sideways. Micro-USB is pretty odd shaped as it is, but the bottom edge could possibly be extended. The new connector would simply need to be backwards compatible in the old mode only.
The point here isn't that some people wouldn't need the new cable. The point is that the old cables will still have most of their uses in a pinch. If you're at a friend's house, you can still sync/charge your device even if it takes longer. No, it's not ideal. Neither is Lightning, however since NO ONE had it until it was released. I think a simple free adapter with the new devices would have gone a LONG way to appeasing users, though. That would at least allow them to use them in existing accessories without an onerous $29 fee.
Gee, what happened to the technical argument? Induction is a pretty reliable thing in physics. Just because their charger is crap, they're all crap or that it's a bad move for the future?
When you move to inductive, what happened to all the audio docks?I've got two GREAT solutions. Keep the 30-pin and move to inductive in the future. Oh wait. Too late (as is everything in this discussion since Apple already made their decision).
When you move to inductive, what happened to all the audio docks?
Or rather, anything that needs to transfer data?
Again, 'standard usb' does NOT provide the same level of functionality with accessories as Apple's proprietary cables. Not even close.
ok what functionality is it you want to do with a phone? is the 1% of the people with special need good enough reason to make such a "stupid" decision.
I also use my Galaxy S3 and its very convenient to not carry a special cable just for charging or connecting to my car.
Have you heard of Airdrop in OSX? Toss in a modern WiFi chip and you can negotiate directly to another device wirelessly. There's also Bluetooth for audio. If a cheap pair of headphones can do it, a Bose Radio can do it. Besides, Airplay is one of the better features Apple has offered in recent years. Who wants to tie their device (which is also their remote for music, etc.) directly to the device if they can use it from across the room? Plugging in an iPhone or iPod Touch directly by 30-pin to a radio at a hotel is nice for wireless charging and sleeping by music, but when I'm up, I prefer to keep it in my pocket.
If Apple would have included a free adapter for the first two years, I think much of the hard feelings could have been avoided. No one wants to buy a $29 adapter just so they can use the same accessories from the past ten years. The cable is only $19 by comparison. The adapter should be in the sub $20 range. Write it off to marketing/publicity. The last thing Apple should be doing is trying to encourage people to move to Android. I know several people at work that HAD an iPhone and have since moved to Android now that their contract is up.