Apple's Lightning to 30-Pin Adapter Begins Shipping

[Gasu E.]

Originally Posted by SatManager

Now to wait for the reports that they are scratched with a purple tint!

On a side note I think my lightning cable is defective. No flashes of light or thunder comes from my cable. lol

I got one of these, and the pins were 3 miles from where they were supposed to be.

[lazard]

Originally Posted by mikeybabes

The EU is an expert on waste, in fact they have a black belt in waste. They know more about wasting public money than any other public body. In fact they have not had their accounts signed off again (for the 16th consecutive year).

(Being self employed, it would be interesting to see how long I could get away with that myself.)

Obviously it is far more important to jump on a large electronics manufacturer (in fact the largest in the world in) and tell them they are doing it all wrong, than it is to sort out the complete and utter financial chaos they have overseen.

Americans and Europeans suffer from the same endemic problem.... Politicians.

If the EU has a black belt in waste, then the US has a red belt.

[Rebel Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by Want300

I am starting by only buying the 0.2 m adapter for my car because the 30-Pin proprietary nissan cable is very short.


Not wrong, some docks don't, some do.

As for my sound dock, it has a tall back plate... but since it is the Zeppelin Air by Bowers and Wilkins, I can use AirPlay until I get the adapter.

Plus, the white adapter would look awkward on the Zeppelin, so I hope a black or silver version is released. A B&W Rep told me they licensed the lightning connector from Apple and may design an adapter to match their sounddocks. I will hold out to see if that is true, even if it is slightly more expensive.

Image

Good post - Very informative so thank you. I have the non air play Zepplin dock so nice to know that there may be a black connector to match

[croooow]

I feel very lucky. I do not have any devices that would require an adapter if I moved to the iPhone 5. I would want to get a couple extra $19 USB/Lighting cords (same as what comes with the phone)

Any device I have that connects directly to the 30 pin port of my phone would not work with an adapter (Mophie case) so I just need extra cords for my car and work. I never did get a dock for my phone.


"I heard the connector's all digital! What does that even mean!?!?!"

* It means no more "FireWire/USB Charging change" type issues in the future...

[dljeffery]

Originally Posted by Remixen

The most amazing thing with this new cable, is the lack of thunderbolt support. It seems like apple is abandoning its own creation.

I would definitely agree with this. Despite the fact that using Thunderbolt to sync an iPhone would be like using a drag racer to commute to work, I really wish Apple would have gone with Thunderbolt and raised the price of the iPhone accordingly.

Oh, and then I would have gotten to spend $50 for my additional charge/sync cable instead of the $20 I spent for the Lightning one. Hopefully they fix this for the iPhone 5S next year!

[croooow]

Originally Posted by dljeffery

...Despite the fact that using Thunderbolt to sync an iPhone would be like using a drag racer to commute to work...

Well, most people now use their thunderbolt ports for external displays, if they even use them.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by croooow

Well, most people now use their thunderbolt ports for external displays, if they even use them.

No, most people use the thunderbolt port as a displayport. They have no choice.

[repoman27]

I'm still confused why everyone thinks these adapters are a cash grab by Apple.

When you buy an iPhone 5, you sign a contract with a carrier worth an average of $1446 to them before any fees, overages or add-ons. I'm not sure about the other carriers, but AT&T also charges a one-time, $36 "upgrade" fee. Let's say that Apple grosses an average of $649 per phone and each phone sale results in add-on sales of Apple branded adapters or cables averaging $58. So even if Apple is making an 85% margin on these adapters and cables, the profit derived from them represents just over 2% of the revenue booked per iPhone 5 purchase between the carrier and Apple.

Why are the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of "upgrade" fees collected by the carriers in the past few weeks not attracting the ire of the public? At least I get something tangible from Apple for the dollars I fork over to them.

It was my understanding that iPhones sold in the EU do indeed come with one MD820ZM/A Lightning to Micro USB adapter. Is this not actually true?

Many people will never require a Lightning to 30-pin dock connector adapter, and it would have been incredibly wasteful to include one with every Lightning device. When Apple omitted the optical drive from the MacBook Air, everyone freaked out that they were forcing everyone who bought one to also buy a $79 Apple USB SuperDrive. After some initial adjustment, most people never missed it though. For the most part, there are very few accessories for which these adapters make sense.

I think folks will be even more annoyed when 3rd party lightning accessories become available that have no support for 30-pin dock connector devices, and there is no adapter to convert in the other direction.

Originally Posted by BruceEBonus

...
The 4G frequency won't be a-changin' for the foreseeable.
The ultra-violet images are here to stay ( despite future attempts to solve by software)...

You've got a strong grasp of the sensationalist media headlines, but not much else.

Apple offers two handset models that cover no less than 8 LTE bands between them, and you think there's a problem because they may lack eventual support for 2 carriers in the UK whose LTE networks have not even been rolled out yet?

And of course stray light striking a camera sensor is a problem that is here to stay until we manage to change the laws of physics. Shame on Apple for not using their billions to have those laws amended.

[11CalispecGT]

Is it just me, or does it seem odd to anyone else that people who buy a $699 or more cell phone should be complaining about $29 or $39 for an adapter? I mean, really, it's like buying a $36K car then complaining it costs $200 for window tinting, although the car works fine without the tinting. And before you say the phone is only $199, that's with a 2K+ contract, so makes the $29 complaining even seem more odd...

[trims]

Originally Posted by repoman27

I'm still confused why everyone thinks these adapters are a cash grab by Apple.

Let me help you.

They cost less than a dollar to make.

Less confused now?

[Teem45]

Originally Posted by kas23

Anyone in the States have theirs shipped yet?

Mine shipped today to the US, only the short one, not the one with the extender cable. I ordered on 9/12, right after they put them up on the store. This is probably the least excited I've been about an Apple box coming ever!

[tito2020]

When this wines down im sure there wil stock piles of it.

[giantfan1224]

Originally Posted by trims

Let me help you.

They cost less than a dollar to make.

Less confused now?

How do you know that? Maybe you're right, I don't know but it seems a bit more technologically challenging than that. I mean if they're just the simple hunk of plastic you make them out to be, why couldn't they make them fast enough and ready in time for the smart phone they're made to support?

[JarScott]

Originally Posted by kas23

And Apple has purposely retarded the development and production of 3rd party Lightening-enabled iPhone accessories too. So people have no choice but to buy these adaptors if they want to use iPhone accessories. If Apple had enabled 3rd party accessory makers to get their Lightening accessories to market, Apple would have lost money.

Maybe it's about time.

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Originally Posted by tito2020

When this wines down im sure there wil stock piles of it.

Do you mean "winds down" or "whines down" because both would be welcome.

[repoman27]

Originally Posted by trims

Let me help you.

They cost less than a dollar to make.

Less confused now?

Which part of them?

How much did Apple spend designing and engineering the Lightning interface?

Are the chips contained inside these adapters off the shelf parts, or custom silicon that also needed to be developed, tested, validated, taped out and fabbed?

Edit: For reference, a quick price check on the Cirrus Logic CS4353, a DAC similar to the one which might be found in these adapters, comes up with $1.74 apiece in quantity.

How much do the materials and labor required to manufacture them cost?

What are yield rates like on the initial production runs?

Do they contain technologies subject to licensing fees or royalties?

What about the cost of obtaining approval from numerous regulatory agencies worldwide?

How much does packaging and shipping cost?

What are Apple's potential liabilities for warranty claims, recalls or class action lawsuits pertaining to this product which must be hedged against?

No, I'm pretty confused as to why you think these "cost" Apple less than a dollar apiece at this juncture. $3 for the cables and $5-7 for the adapters is a much more reasonable estimate, but still probably erring on the low side.

[rdlink]

Originally Posted by tdream

Damn them for saving us money. DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL!!

Great socialist philosophy. They're not saving anyone money. They're redistributing wealth per their idea of what the division should be. And yes, I really hope they are all damned to Hell.

[croooow]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

No, most people use the thunderbolt port as a displayport. They have no choice.

My point exactly, very few people with thunderbolt ports actually use them as thunderbolt ports.

[Gooberton]

Originally Posted by TC25

So, you made an uninformed purchase decision and are debating dumping the i5 based on the cost of an adapter?


Perhaps because they made an informed decision.

Do your parents even like you

[kas23]

Originally Posted by repoman27

I'm still confused why everyone thinks these adapters are a cash grab by Apple.

When you buy an iPhone 5, you sign a contract with a carrier worth an average of $1446 to them before any fees, overages or add-ons. I'm not sure about the other carriers, but AT&T also charges a one-time, $36 "upgrade" fee. Let's say that Apple grosses an average of $649 per phone and each phone sale results in add-on sales of Apple branded adapters or cables averaging $58. So even if Apple is making an 85% margin on these adapters and cables, the profit derived from them represents just over 2% of the revenue booked per iPhone 5 purchase between the carrier and Apple.

Why are the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of "upgrade" fees collected by the carriers in the past few weeks not attracting the ire of the public? At least I get something tangible from Apple for the dollars I fork over to them.

It was my understanding that iPhones sold in the EU do indeed come with one MD820ZM/A Lightning to Micro USB adapter. Is this not actually true?

Many people will never require a Lightning to 30-pin dock connector adapter, and it would have been incredibly wasteful to include one with every Lightning device. When Apple omitted the optical drive from the MacBook Air, everyone freaked out that they were forcing everyone who bought one to also buy a $79 Apple USB SuperDrive. After some initial adjustment, most people never missed it though. For the most part, there are very few accessories for which these adapters make sense.

I think folks will be even more annoyed when 3rd party lightning accessories become available that have no support for 30-pin dock connector devices, and there is no adapter to convert in the other direction.



You've got a strong grasp of the sensationalist media headlines, but not much else.

Apple offers two handset models that cover no less than 8 LTE bands between them, and you think there's a problem because they may lack eventual support for 2 carriers in the UK whose LTE networks have not even been rolled out yet?

And of course stray light striking a camera sensor is a problem that is here to stay until we manage to change the laws of physics. Shame on Apple for not using their billions to have those laws amended.

Wait, since our carriers are ripping us off, Apple has a right to also? Or, since our carriers are charging expensive fees, we shouldn't be upset when Apple does the same? I'm not sure I follow your "logic" here. The fees our carriers charge and Apple's profits are independent events. They have little to do with each other. At the very most, you can complain of our carriers' greed too, for which I would agree.

[Jleroy]

Ordered 6 lightning to usb adapter cables and two lightning to 30 pin connectors on the 12th. Received the cables about a week ago, and just now noticed adapters say "preparing for shipment".

----------

Originally Posted by Teem45

Mine shipped today to the US, only the short one, not the one with the extender cable. I ordered on 9/12, right after they put them up on the store. This is probably the least excited I've been about an Apple box coming ever!

[sword-slinger]

An avid user, consultant, analyst and fan since the Apple II (w/o autostart ROM but with the integer basic card), the pricing on this leaves me feeling so soiled that Apple management has, at last, lost me as a life-long customer. I'll always be a fan of the product, but the lack of consideration for the installed base is so egregious that I range between seething anger and bitter disappointment. From where I'm sitting I can see no fewer than 17 Mac products that I've purchased over the last 7 years and are still use... $30 bucks for a .35 cent adapter is a travesty.

[haruhiko]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

No, most people use the thunderbolt port as a displayport. They have no choice.

I do use it with a Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter... because there isn't any Ethernet Port on the rMBP.

[repoman27]

Originally Posted by kas23

Wait, since our carriers are ripping us off, Apple has a right to also? Or, since our carriers are charging expensive fees, we shouldn't be upset when Apple does the same? I'm not sure I follow your "logic" here. The fees our carriers charge and Apple's profits are independent events. They have little to do with each other. At the very most, you can complain of our carriers' greed too, for which I would agree.

There is zero evidence that would lead any rational person to believe that the full retail prices that Apple has set for their Lightning accessories are in any way excessive. At this point, there have been hundreds of blog posts and articles published about these adapters and cables, spawning thousands of reader comments denouncing Apple's abusively high margins and deliberate strategy to introduce a new interface merely to extort more money out of their loyal customers. I have not seen any posts about AT&T raising their upgrade fee from $20 to $36 for the iPhone 5. The media is punishing an innovative company for updating a proprietary interface that they have nursed along for 9 years now, and ignoring the fact that the carriers have booked over 14 billion dollars in three weeks for doing what exactly?

I did not need to buy an extra cable from Apple, but I did because it serves an actual purpose. I was required to pay the $36 upgrade fee, for which AT&T provided me with a nano-SIM registered to their network so that they can continue to bill me. People are complaining that Apple's adapters were not available upon the iPhone's release. Why are there so many fewer complaints about carriers not having LTE rolled out in time for the iPhone 5 launch? It is no coincidence that AT&T announced its plans for 54 new LTE markets in the first week of September. Apple is clearly pushing them to hold up their end of the bargain and support this new device that just made them a couple billion dollars in a few short weeks.

Apple is like a kid who gets straight A's but is being punished harshly for every little mistake that they make, while the carriers are getting a pass because they are such underachievers that nobody really expects anything of them. Why does Apple's ability to maintain healthy profit margins make them the target of such derision, while AT&T gets a free pass to raise their prices for the crap service that they provide?

Originally Posted by sword-slinger

An avid user, consultant, analyst and fan since the Apple II (w/o autostart ROM but with the integer basic card), the pricing on this leaves me feeling so soiled that Apple management has, at last, lost me as a life-long customer. I'll always be a fan of the product, but the lack of consideration for the installed base is so egregious that I range between seething anger and bitter disappointment. From where I'm sitting I can see no fewer than 17 Mac products that I've purchased over the last 7 years and are still use... $30 bucks for a .35 cent adapter is a travesty.

Clearly you're not a financial consultant, or you would realize that these adapters cost Apple more than 35¢ to produce, and that they have in no way even begun to recoup the investment they made in developing the Lightning interface. But without a single shred of evidence that supports the notion that Apple is overcharging for these adapters, you are prepared to boycott them to the death. That's sane. And good luck finding the OEM that does charge what you deem to be fair prices for all of the handset accessories they produce.

[haruhiko]

Originally Posted by repoman27

Which part of them?

How much did Apple spend designing and engineering the Lightning interface?

Are the chips contained inside these adapters off the shelf parts, or custom silicon that also needed to be developed, tested, validated, taped out and fabbed?

Edit: For reference, a quick price check on the Cirrus Logic CS4353, a DAC similar to the one which might be found in these adapters, comes up with $1.74 apiece in quantity.

How much do the materials and labor required to manufacture them cost?

What are yield rates like on the initial production runs?

Do they contain technologies subject to licensing fees or royalties?

What about the cost of obtaining approval from numerous regulatory agencies worldwide?

How much does packaging and shipping cost?

What are Apple's potential liabilities for warranty claims, recalls or class action lawsuits pertaining to this product which must be hedged against?

No, I'm pretty confused as to why you think these "cost" Apple less than a dollar apiece at this juncture. $3 for the cables and $5-7 for the adapters is a much more reasonable estimate, but still probably erring on the low side.

$3 for the cables? Seriously?
I have a thousand of them to sell to you @ $3
huge profit