Apple Keeping Tight Control Over Lightning Connector, Requiring Approval of Third-Party Factories

[napabar]

Originally Posted by Fusion79

Some of us would like an extra for the car and office but not at the prices Apple is charging for them.

Hmmmm.....Your signature states you own 2 Macs and 3 iOS devices....I'm sure you can afford an extra cable....

[Fusion79]

Originally Posted by lockerc18

Apple should have had Lightning accessories like car chargers ready at the launch of the iPhone5. It's bad enough that they made this connector change to begin with, the technical rationale for doing so notwithstanding. They were irresponsible in not having appropriate Lightning connector accessories to replace the old style accessories at launch.

5 demerits for Apple on this one.

Yup, One issue I have with samsung is it takes them months after releasing a phone before the accessories are out, if they come out at all. Apple has had a long time to get ready for this and they have failed. They should have had a stockpile of adapters ready for launch and the fact there is still a backorder is inexcusable.

[Marcus-k]

Originally Posted by napabar

And reversed-engineered there lockout chip, huh?

No, he extended his cable by soldering on a new lead. Why wouldn't he be able to do that? I would do the same myself if i really needed it.

[blackhand1001]

Originally Posted by napabar

But then Samsung would sue Apple over "copying" them.......

Unlike apple, other companies make open standards and embrace other companies adopting those standards. They also understand that patenting things like multitouch which is possible because of something your supplier makes is wrong. Apple does not make the capacitive screens nor did they invent them. Therefore they have no right to patent anything to do with their operation. They are hurting the touchscreen manufacturer by limiting their own product.

[Tastic Bycrom]

Originally Posted by troop231

Actually I did Have you not heard of the process of soldering?

Cool, but dumb question: was there a need for a skinny long cable or could you have just brought a USB extension cable?

[Fusion79]

Originally Posted by napabar

Hmmmm.....Your signature states you own 2 Macs and 3 iOS devices....I'm sure you can afford an extra cable....

It's not about what I can afford. It the principal. I refuse to pay top dollar for cables especially when I just want a couple extra for charging purposes.

[Kaibelf]

Originally Posted by blackhand1001

All this nonsense and they could have just used microusb with MHL support and had all the functions this new dock connector has.

Don't you love when someone ridiculously oversimplifies something with such verve? Me too.

[troop231]

Originally Posted by Tastic Bycrom

Cool, but dumb question: was there a need for a skinny long cable or could you have just brought a USB extension cable?

Why buy an extension if I have spools of USB cable already?

[typecase]

Originally Posted by bluesloth

Amen.

Seems like this would be a lot cheaper and easier to make.

Yes. Before I upgraded, I had a USB/Dock cable in the car, next to my bed, attached to the desktop Mac for syncing and finally one in my travel bag. Now, I have one cable which I now have to transport everywhere. I tried buying another at $20 but cannot get one anytime soon. Oh, yeah and it doesn't work with any of the docks and accessories I've collected over the years without the also rarer-than-gold adapter.

In short, since I use my iPhone everywhere, everyday, my life is worse with this connector.

[840quadra]

Originally Posted by Tastic Bycrom

Cool, but dumb question: was there a need for a skinny long cable or could you have just brought a USB extension cable?

I made mine with Cat 6 cable, so as long as the copper (or Aluminum if you go with something else) can carry the signal without too much resistance, you should be golden no matter what you choose.

My example doesn't look that pretty, but it is intended to be installed in a location where people can't see it .

[ArchAndroid]

Customer says:

Originally Posted by dlastmango

I just want a cheap recharge/power only cable!

Apple interprets this as:

Originally Posted by dlastmango

I just want a unique cable which changes the charging paradigm for the better and I'm willing to personally invest endless funds into seeing this proprietary item come to fruition! Please make this next connector a game changer and please artificially lock the product so that we have to pay your questionable markups as there is no other alternative.

[typecase]

Originally Posted by napabar

Hmmmm.....Your signature states you own 2 Macs and 3 iOS devices....I'm sure you can afford an extra cable....

Try to find one.

[avonord]

Originally Posted by troop231

Actually I did Have you not heard of the process of soldering?

LOL.... I fail to see the benefit vs getting a USB male-to-female extension cable.

[fruitpunch.ben]

I am nearly always in favour of what Apple does, because it nearly always makes good customer or business sense.
Like changing the connector makes good sense. It was too big and clunky, and the double-sided thing is great.
Micro-USB, despite what ignorant android fans claim, would NOT have worked. The new dock connector is so much more sophisticated, can do much more and will support future technologies.
HOWEVER, locking the new connector down so much is strange to me. To require companies to use specific factories to build accessories? What is the benefit to the customer or benefit to the business (aside from making people pay $29 for a first party adaptor)? I just don't get it

[aliensporebomb]

Why is this even an issue? Nobody can buy an iPhone5 due to extremely limited availability locally (I've been quoted anytime from October 30 to November 5 so that means I get to go on vacation with my old iPhone 4 and it's not so exciting camera by comparison). So. It might be an issue come November though.

[steve-p]

If only Samsung would hurry up and copy the design. Then there would be lots of cheapo adapters available.

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by blackhand1001

All this nonsense and they could have just used microusb with MHL support and had all the functions this new dock connector has.

I think Apple wanted a better connector. micro USB is not suitable at all for a dock because it is to hard to line up and I think you'd break it. THis new connector appears to be rounded and you can't put it in backwards because both ways work.

The problem is that the old 30-pin connector had ANALOG stereo signals on it. So a 30-pin to lightning cable would need at least a DAC in the cable shell. Quite a bit of electronics to hide inside.

[needfx]

It's only a matter of time before it appears on the down-low market

[anthonymoody]

The only thing I care about frankly is getting the damned things. My cable arrived, so I can charge in the car, but I need an adapter for a dock I love.

[840quadra]

Originally Posted by avonord

LOL.... I fail to see the benefit vs getting a USB male-to-female extension cable.

Some people buy things, others create things. To each their own .

[Dwalls90]

Originally Posted by troop231

Why buy an extension if I have spools of USB cable already?

You are a huge geek.

And it is awesome.

[tito2020]

Originally Posted by troop231

Actually I did Have you not heard of the process of soldering?

I would has used white tape

[ALMF]

I am holding off on the new phone untill more lightning compatible items are available. I may be waiting a long time lol

[chrisk1]

OMG why is this such a big deal?! The micro USB connector sucks. It's keyed in one direction and can be hard to plug in if the room is dim/dark.

I ordered another 2 cables from Apple and got them in 2 days.

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Originally Posted by fruitpunch.ben

HOWEVER, locking the new connector down so much is strange to me. To require companies to use specific factories to build accessories? What is the benefit to the customer or benefit to the business (aside from making people pay $29 for a first party adaptor)? I just don't get it

You did get it (bolded above). Mix in the licensing requirements and you fully get it.

And still, the "free PR" cheerleaders spin it as innovative, necessary, etc. The prior proprietary adapter wasn't "clunky" until Apple decided to change it. It wasn't "too big" or "too old" either. In fact, it would have fit the same-sized iPhone 5, iPod and iPad (maxi & mini) just as well as it fit the prior generations. It was just as fast and conceptually offered the added pins for even more future flexibility of functionality.

There is always a business advantage though in developing a new hardware standard and thoroughly locking it down: very high margin profits and lucrative licensing deals as the whole world of loyal buyers must eventually deal with the change (by spending money to change, and a slice of that money flowing to Apple).

I wish Apple would focus their profit maximization efforts on bigger picture stuff: Macs, iDevices, <next big thing that is not either of those>, rather than nickel & dimeing us like this. Of course, there will be XX bashers who tell me how wrong I am... that this change was absolutely necessary... even at their own personal expense of having to make the change with us. Because what matters to us Apple consumers is maximizing Apple's profits in every possible way. Apparently that matters more to some of us than getting good value for our own money.