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Apple Now Selling Lightning to Micro USB Adapter in the US
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BC2009
macrumors 68020
To answer your question: Yes, beautifully.
My favorite examples of the insanity are:
- Samsung Galaxy Tab has a proprietary connector (which looks amazingly like Apple's 30-pin just so you might try to jam the wrong plug in there and break it) and their adapters are comparable in price to Apple's.
- Microsoft Surface RT has a "video out" port which is NOT micro or mini HDMI, but a proprietary connector and they sell an adapter for HDMI which runs $39 (comparable to Apple's pricing)
- Samsung Galaxy S3 has a micro-USB port, but not a standard one. They added a bunch of extra pins to it for HDMI over USB support and it requires their proprietary-USB to HDMI adapter to function properly.
- When Motorola Xoom shipped it had "mini HDMI" (not today's micro HDMI) and micro USB (the beloved standard), and..... a proprietary charging port because USB could not provide enough power for it.
- A while back "mini USB" was the standard and it lasted all of 2.5 years before it was overtaken by "micro USB" so folks could be "thinner and lighter". However, due to several manufacturers (including Samsung) making custom micro-USB compatible plugs, it is likely we will see micro-USB fade out and get replaced by another "standard" and thus obsolete all the micro USB stuff anyway.
But Apple is the only one who makes non-standard proprietary ports and they are the only ones who switch the connectors on customers and make them purchase new adapters. The 30-pin connector out-lasted any port used on a mobile device that I can think of. I am betting Lightning will last just as long. What other "standard" port on a mobile device can claim a decade of not being replaced? Meanwhile other manufacturers have gone from USB to mini USB to micro USB and from HDMI to mini HDMI to micro HDMI and all the while mixing in their own proprietary ports when it served their purposes.
Lightning connectors are such a non-issue and folks try to pretend its a big deal. If it is a big deal it is because Apple is the only company that maintained the same port for a long time. Nobody else ever gave you a chance to get accustomed to your ports on your mobile devices. Apple developed Lightning so they can manage to keep the same port for another decade and build out yet another third-party accessory ecosystem.
In summary -- I loved your comment.
I'm guessing you don't actually know anything about Apple or Radio Shack, then. 🙄
Or jokes.
Marks up cable prices? really u think? 20 buck for a lightning cable is similar to many micro usb cables sold by name branded companies. Sure there are many generic micro usb makers, but to say all companies sell usb cables cheap is not true. Note everyone makes money off of selling cables even the cheap ones, no one sells it at cost or it would be about 50 cents to a dollar per cable. 🙄
the adapters show that lighting is adaptive. There are HDMI, VGA, USB, and even old 30 pin adapters out. In order for a single connector to support all this is to be adaptive. It's because the connector is 100% digital, it does not require pinouts like the old analog connector does. The adpters have a chip in them that converts the digital signal into the analog signals or digital formats for the respective connector. Lightning can support many conectors of current or even in the future. Isn't that the definition of future proof.
No one wants thinner devices is just an individual opinion not a fact. many phones before iphone 5 were touting it's thiness from motorola's razor to even the samsung galaxy S3. They all got thinner. making electronics smaller reduces heat and increases battery life. It's how iphone 5 can offer more hardware in less space than iphone 4. New windows 8, phones, tablets, and ultrabooks are mimicking this trend as well.
mini usb is not dockable. there are many shelf speakers, speaker docks and every other audio accessory which has an ipod dock. This made coonecting an ipod very easy. while it will cost you 30 dollars extra to connect a new apple device to an old 30 pin dock, it's better than zero USB docks. You can argue that you can connect any android device to a speaker sytem using a standard stereo mini plug (the ear phone jack plug). But you can do that for the iphone 5 or any other lightning equipped apple device.
i know it's hard. Apple is just too good. it's hard for those other s to compete. Thus the need to spread missinformation 🙄
zhenya
macrumors 604
it's incredible how much people can eulogize this new astonishing reversible cable.
suddenly everyone is an idiot and can't plug a cable anymore...
suddenly everyone is an idiot and can't plug a cable anymore...
Many of the posts in this thread seem to miss the point of lightning completely. The lightning connector is not a USB connector but when plugged into a USB adaptor can emulate a USB adaptor same as it emulates a 30 pin connector when the 30 pin adaptor is connected, or VGA or HDMI when either of those cables are connected. The electronics in the connectors provide identification of the interface that needs to be emulated and take care of signal mismatch which means that the interface cables contain the minimum electronics necessary and the heavy lifting is done by the lightning interface electronics on the 'i' device. If you fast forward this a few years the same lightning connector will be emulating some other connector that may not even been invented yet but it will still be the same lightning connector just a different cable. Micro USB has pretty much come to end of its life with many implementations already not following the spec properly to get round some of its limitations. Micro USB is fiddly most of the time and is very fragile in that connectors become loose and/or break frequently, it was a poor choice to standardise on because of this and is limited for future applications. Lightning cables will become much cheaper as the technology matures, more 3rd party adaptors become available and will be used for probably much longer than the connector that it replaces because it is future proofed by design.
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Well micro USB may not be hard for you but my parents and others of there generation have problems with it because its just too small for them to easily see and is very fragile. Conversely they have had no problem using the lightning connector so don't assume that everyone has your level of visual acuity or dexterity and simply dismiss anyone who has problems as idiots.
Can you get video over µUSB? No. = wrong answer. you CAN get video over micro USB.. you just need an adapter to convert the signal to HDMI, but it does allow for sending HDMI data..
this is just one random example: http://www.amazon.com/Menotek-Adapter-IMPROVED-Protocol-Sensation/dp/B005F9W6DU
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
zhenya
macrumors 604
And then there are those, that take everything APPLE throws at them lying down.
But USB does not support this natively so any USB DAC would be a significantly more complex device. The point of lightning is that all the control circuitry is in the lightning interface so the connectors can be made a simple as possible. Then if you need to update to control something completely new its a firmware update so the lightning controller understands the new connector.
lordofthereef
macrumors G5
Huh? We are arguing the same thing here, bud. You seem to have taken a part of what I said and turned it around.
I was merely pointing out that Apple is not the only one to do this. There are still dumb phones made by all of those companies that use the ridiculous proprietary chargers I am speaking of...
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Sorry to keep you waiting. Unfortunately I have things to do other than just respond to posts here. By the way, what's with the attitude?
Driverless communication. Ok, but as far as making things cheaper, when the cost is transferred to the consumer (as it most obviously is) there is a trade-off. Cheaper manufacture of third party products for the manufacturer, and all the while the consumer fronts the bill. So, again, how is this better for the consumer? (note that I am agreeing with your driverless statement. That is an advantage over USB. But it raises the questions of: to whom? and why? I would argue that the advantages, to the consumer, do not outweigh the disadvantages).
I would argue that the reason more third party products are developed for iPhone is simply because that single product is in the hands of so many people. A great deal of these products seem to be docking devices, and a great number of those seem to be for audio use. With every other mobile OS there is, we have dozens of devices. In the years that iPhone has been around, we have had a whopping total of six. If I am a product developer, and I am seeing iPhones flying off the shelves, it makes sense that I am going to make my battery/case/speaker/model airplane controller for iPhone because, frankly, it's going to reach a wider audience. Conversely, I could make some ugly cable-ridden mess that just plugs into a micro USB on an Android/Windows/(insert mobile OS here), but I would have to worry about compatibility. This is not so much a weakness of micro usb as it is a weakness of the OS and the 183287462378476234 form factors of the hardwares that these other OS's run on.
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zhenya
macrumors 604
You skipped over my original answer that quoted you, then made another extremely self-assured post that Apple was just screwing the customer. When you are that certain, you'd better understand the subject you are discussing. 😉
You still don't understand what this means or why it's important. Apple contains all the logic needed to interface with ANY device available today or dreamed up in the future within their iOS devices. It's built-in. Whereas USB requires drivers and intelligence built in to any accessories. That's expensive because it requires chips in the accessories and drivers to interface with the devices, and its inconsistent because there is no way to guarantee compatibility. If you want to release a new device with new features, the old accessories will not be compatible.
This is why there is a huge aftermarket for iOS products and virtually none for Android.
Other than the change from FireWire to USB and the recent change from 30 pin to lighting, EVERY iOS accessory made in the past 10 years has remained compatible because of the above design. It's not because iOS devices are more popular, it's because Apple put together an ingenious solution for accesorizing their devices in the aftermarket that was powerful and stable.
It's better for the consumer because we have a huge selection of accessories, most of which aren't even available for Android. (Just try to buy an alarm dock for an Android phone, even though almost all of them use the 'standard' micro USB).
Anuba
macrumors 68040
Why are people (you're not alone) assuming this adapter has anything to do with backup, file transfer etc? The whole thread is nothing but arguments over the pros and cons of Lightning and micro-USB.
This is for charging.
The EU standard was born out of the fact that millions and millions of perfectly good power adapters ended up in landfills every year because manufacturers couldn't agree on a universal connector. Apart from the environmental benefits, it's quite practical. I remember how it was at work ten years ago... "Anyone got a SonyEricsson charger? I forgot mine at home!" / "Nope, Nokia here, sorry." / "Can't help either, I have a Motorola." / "Hey I have a SonyEricsson charger!" "Awesome... hold on, this doesn't fit." / "Oh, you've got one with the big smartphone connector, sorry, this one is for SonyEricsson's smaller phones, at least some of them, it seems to change every year..." / "Never mind."
Finding at least one colleague with a micro-USB cable or adapter lying around, on the other hand, is a no-brainer. (Cue the "I forgot my micro-USB to Lightning adapter at home!" scenario. 😉 Right, well, the EU can't help that Apple chose the compliance-by-circumvention path...)
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faroZ06
macrumors 68040
Commonplace MicroUSB chargers? MiniUSB is fairly common, but I've only seen a MicroUSB cable once or twice in my life here in the US.
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This is actually true except that maybe 1/15 fake cables you buy will just be defective and not work at all. They're dirt cheap anyway, so whatever.
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This is actually true except that maybe 1/15 fake cables you buy will just be defective and not work at all. They're dirt cheap anyway, so whatever.
lordofthereef
macrumors G5
A quick search found a couple alarm clock docks for Android. Here is one of them. They seem to be price extremely competitively with iOS options, too.
And no, I didn't skip your point. I will say that this is going to be my last reply if you continue to be condescending. It is neither necessary, nor does it help to get your point across.
I will say that I disagree with the reasons you mentioned for there being more accessories for iOS than Android. In fact, I mentioned the reasons why I feel there are far more accessories. Look at the last three generations of iPhone. The dimensions (of the devises), for docking purposes, are roughly the same. Now take an Android or Windows Phone device. They come in drastically varying sizes and form factors. One would either need to design some sort of dock that "molds" to the device, which has been done before, with limited success (IMO) or design some sort of insert that is device specific. But at that point, whenever a newer device comes out (something that happens weekly...) the developers are left continuing development on inserts for a device that is already on market. THAT would increase costs tenfold over developing drivers for the OS and for your product, and then using similar drivers/tech in future products.
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Woah! That's (legitimately) shocking. Just about the only thing I can think of that still uses mini USB (today) is the PS3 remote!
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Because Apple's site states it can be used for charging and data transfers alike.
Anuba
macrumors 68040
It became a standard in December 2010. 90% of the manufacturers signed up. The commission estimated that it would take 3-4 years for phones with microUSB to become predominant. It hasn't been 2 years just yet.
MiniUSB probably wouldn't have been a very future proof standard, given the thinness race. The micro connector is considerably thinner.
zhenya
macrumors 604
Look more closely at that dock and you'll notice that like most every one I've ever seen, it only charges through USB. It provides a mini audio cable for audio.
Yes, the form factor helps to some degree, but every device even from Apple generally requires a change to the accessory if a good fit is desired.
I apologize for the attitude. There is a bit of frustration in me from hearing the same arguments repeated over and over on this subject without having the requisite understanding of why the choice is being made. Its honestly one of the best things that Apple has ever done for their device ecosystem; it provides tremendous value to their users, and I'm actually concerned they are on the verge of screwing up the transition to a new connector by delaying the availability of adapters and aftermarket accessories too long.
The reasons you bring up don't hurt, but if iOS accessories also required two cables to accomplish basic tasks, and there was no guarantee that next years device would be compatible with that $200 radio you just bought (because it might require a driver update), there would be only a few accessories made available. Coincidentally just like the Android accessory market.
Edit: search Amazon for 'Android clock radio.'
At first blush it appears there are lots of options. With a closer look, they all require either an audio cable (meaning they are a glorified speaker - no advanced device control, etc) or the ones that appear to be fancier have to be connected via Bluetooth. For iOS, even the $35 radios have basic hardware buttons for playback control, the fancier ones add more control or even remotes; not possible with USB.
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Anuba
macrumors 68040
Sure, "can be", but I was talking about its main purpose, in response to the question "Seriously, what is the purpose of this?". Apple designed it in order to comply with the EU standard for phone chargers, that's why the adapter exists in the first place, and chargers is what the standard is all about... for data transfers the manufacturers can put 50-pin SCSI on the phones for all the commission cares, as long as the charging is done via microUSB, but obviously Apple also made sure that the adapter can handle data transfers, and that's... good, I guess.
lordofthereef
macrumors G5
Snipped for brevity.
I know how heated a discussion can get, especially when you are passionate about something. But see how much better your point comes across (at least IMO)? I appreciate your toning things down. 🙂
Anyway, while there is an analog audio cable included, it's note needed. Here is a video (it's a little long, because it's an unboxing as well, but fast forward about half way and you will see what you need to see). The large issue, as I pointed out before, is how "wobbly" the phones are in the dock. Truth be told, it looks more like a dock than it actually is IMO. But anyway, when THAT is what you had to try and get around with a bazillion devices, would you care to spend the time doing it? I know I sure wouldn't.
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Well, you did ask why we were discussing this. The adapter is being sold in the US, where there is no such law. So... that is why people are discussing it. People are discussing what the point of selling it in the US is in the first place (sans law requiring them to do so). Was only trying to politely answer your question is all. 🙂