For the love of god please, Apple, don't patent this.
I want all my cables to do this now.
Apple's patent application for this connector can be found
here. However, as many posters have
pointed out, these reversible Type-A plugs have been around for quite some time and patent applications for them extend back as far as 2004. Apple's patent is simply more specific to their particular implementation and manufacturing processes.
How embarrassing that Apple did this before USB will with Type C...
P.S: Am I the only one who wonders how that cable will physically fit into ordinary USB slots on laptops, etc. ?
Seems like money wasted if the new USB type-c reversible cable takes off.
Not sure why the makers can't all get together to decide on a single reversible standard.
Now we will have the (probably Apple only if no one else licences it) reversible lightning connector and reversible USB Type-c. I wonder which is better.
The center tongue is thin and can deflect slightly, the shield is the same as any USB Type-A plug. There are 18 Apple employees listed as contributors to the Type-C specification. They helped make it, and they will certainly use it. That will in no way cause the billions of Type-A receptacles in use to suddenly change form. Type-A will be around and supported for at least another 10 years.
Considering Apple put a fair amount of effort into helping shape the Type-C spec, I wonder at what point they might abandon Lightning on iOS devices. I'm not sure standardizing trumps the benefits that come with being able to control the MFi ecosystem through a proprietary connector.
Will it even fit in my usb port?
Yes. That's the point. It's a USB Type-A male plug.
Apple didn't design it, the USB 3.0 Promotor Group did.
Apple designed this particular connector. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group never specified a reversible Type-A male plug.
It was said that this is probably USB 3.1. It isn't, it's normal USB, it has nothing to do with USB 3.0 or 3.1. The middle part was thinned out and the connectors were brought onto both sides of the white plastic plate so it's reversible. It will be compatible with all USB sockets. USB 3.1 looks very different and is smaller and flatter, and rounded.
So close, up until that last last line. The USB 3.1 specification, which was finalized last year, called for the same plugs and receptacles as USB 3.0, which are also backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and by extension previous specs. The Type-C connector specification was just completed, and supports USB 2.0 as well as SuperSpeed / Enhanced SuperSpeed operation. Like Power Delivery or Battery Charging, it's a separate spec from USB 2.0/3.0/3.1 and can apply to ports with a range of capabilities.
I just hope the new iPhone is USB 3.0 compatible.
One of the worst things about backing up or transferring data (especially when restoring many GBs of data) is the excruciatingly slow transfer speeds. Don't know why Apple have been so slow to implement such basic things, especially when a lot of the newer, higher-end phones now support USB 3.0.
I don't think USB 3.0 would make any difference on iPhones made until now, AFAIK the nand flash in it is slower than USB 2.0 speeds.
Or, Apple needs to get faster nand flash in the new iPhone(s)
If that's the case, Apple should have made the internals of the phone able to support faster data transfer speeds at least in line with that supported by USB 3.0. The I/O's there, but Apple hasn't been utilising it as fast as their competitors have.
The NAND in iPhones has been capable of faster than USB 2.0 speeds for years. In order for an iOS device to support SuperSpeed transfer rates, Apple would need to license a USB 3.x xHCI IP block from somebody and integrate it into their custom SoC designs, whereas it's fairly trivial for OEMs using Qualcomm SoC's that already have USB 3.0 controllers to implement that feature. I'm guessing that it ultimately comes down to a cost/benefit analysis and Apple feels the increase in TDP and die area aren't yet worth it for this particular feature.
It is not possible. The "connector in the middle" has diddly squat to do with whether this is USB 3.0 (or better) capable. USB 3.0 requires
more pins tthen USB 2.0 does. If don't have the additional wiring then not getting USB 3.0 Super Speed because it is physically not there.
The connectors in the picture have the
same number of pins on one side. There is only four on the right and left in the picture.
The new Type C standard has 11 per side. That makes for a total of 7 pins missing per side.
http://anandtech.com/show/8377/usb-typec-connector-specifications-finalized
Type C is also thinner. Again these two plugs in the photos look approximately the same size.
There is no evidence period that this is USB 3.0. No "other" just plain, flat out none.
Post #15 pointed to USB 2.0 "reversible" cables. Apple might be going to a non standard plug for "consistent usage on both sides of the cable" reasons. Past insertion step there really doesn't appear to be any change.
If the products only work with lightning specific connections why not just put lightning on both sides? Not only would the plug orientation be reversible but the whole cable is reversible. If the digital audio headphones work with USB 2.0 ( not proprietary tied to a single vendor) then can see the point of USB 2.0 on the ther side (along with the more general usage to power plugs , standard computer USB 2.0 ports, etc. ).
This is not a Type-C connector. Neither USB 3.0 "SuperSpeed" or USB 3.1 "SuperSpeedPlus" require a Type-C connector. Those specs were originally designed to use several plug and receptacle styles including Type-A with 9 contacts, which is the most common for host port connections on PCs.
On a Type-A plug, the 5 additional contacts used for SuperSpeed / SuperSpeedPlus signaling are located on the tongue
behind the four contacts used for legacy USB 2.0 signals and VBUS. Annoyingly, all of the photos made public thus far of this new Apple connector fail to show the area where the SS contacts would be. However, judging by Apple's recently filed patent application, I'd be willing to wager this is a USB 2.0 only connector.
No, it isn't. In a display of utter incompetence, the USB forum has decided that for reversible connections, a completely new connector must be used that looks a bit like a symmetric version of micro-usb and is just as incompetently designed as such.
This is simply a reversible version of the current USB 2.0 A connector, which is possible because the tongue in a USB-A receptacle is specced to be just
above the mid-point of the connector. (Look at the drawings and you'll see). At the same time, the contacts on USB connector tongues are slightly raised, leaving room between the two tongues. So if you make a tongue in the connector part that's thin enough to leave enough room for the receptacle-tongue, you have a reversible connector. You can then utilise the room between the two parts that would normally be there to slightly thicken (and thus strengthen) the tongue on the connector while using completely flat pads instead.
For instance, see this drawing of a USB receptacle:
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1784554.pdf
USB 3.1, Power Delivery 2.0 and the Type-C spec are actually really well done in my opinion, and I was a vocal critic of both USB 2.0 and 3.0. Read the
actual specs. They fixed a multitude of sins with these revisions and finally created something that satisfies existing requirements as well as being considerably more flexible and forward-looking.
The Type-C connector will eventually replace Type-A for PC's, Type-B for devices, and Micro-A/B for portable devices, which will be awesome. This is also very likely to be the new Thunderbolt connector when
Alpine Ridge and Skylake drop.