Everyone who knows a little about audio would tell you line-out is higher quality than a preamplified headphone source.
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Apple Introduces New iPhone Dock With Lightning Connector for $39
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Everyone who knows a little about audio would tell you line-out is higher quality than a preamplified headphone source.
Not really. Lightning is used in small mobile devices where a single connector for power and data is expected with limited hardware IO. USB-C is intended for larger devices where a lot more hardware IO is flowing through the device. While I'm sure the decision has been made, if the iPad Pro has a USB-C connector, IMO it is a major mistake.
It's £35 in the UK which is $55. Then add £15 for a lightning cable & £15 for the 5w power adapter and that brings it to a total of £60 ($94).
Bargain!
The sooner Apple moves everything to USB-C the better.
Bargain!
The sooner Apple moves everything to USB-C the better.
http://youtu.be/zofopIcuX3cSometimes I wonder if Apple has gotten to the point where they are so financially profitable that they can afford to occasionally put products out as nothing more than a psychological test... to see what they can get away with and gauge how loyal their customers are.
cue the viral video of the interview with the engineer of the new Macbook...
Laughing man really gets around
Actually it's not the back support I'm worried about ... It's the torque put on both connectors because the phone can now be pulled off the stand at any angle, with force being applied to pull the tightly fitting connectors apart while holding the base down. I'm assuming Apple tested this, but you'd think that of other issues that became real problems for them as well.
Keyboards have softer keys without hard glossy coating on them usually - not the same as iphone/ipods/macbooks etc.
I did say that "I've owned" - which I did not own any of those long ago items.
The old iPod universal dock costs about $59 with adapters and remote included, it has IR sensor built in so I can use Apple TV remote to control music playback on 30pin iPhone/iPod. Or even older iPads with additional adapter.
That's very convenient for power saving and hifi connectivity, also IR remote battery stands for 1 year or more compared to Airplay or any stream services.
The only lacking thing of the old dock is mini TOSLINK built in into the line out jack. That would be perfect for 2channel lossless playbacj.
How about consistency between Mac and iOS?
So I can use Macbook charger for all Macbook, iPhone and iPad with one single USB C instead of Lightning?
And also we can directly use USB C adapter for both Macbook and iPhone to charge, sync, faster transfer with USB 3.1 built in, and even direct AV output.
USB C has all benefits of Lightning (durable, compact, reversible) and then some. It is an open standard which more likely to be used by wide varieties of upcoming devices (Windows, Android etc). Which is great so I dont have to worry when visiting friends whether they own "iPhone cable" or not
Why does it matter if only the apple tv works with a remote? The previous apple iphone docks had a remote, thus you could easily use a logitech remote which you use for all your devices and use it as well to play music from your iphone while docked.
I own multiple devices from Apple, among them an iPod Touch, iPhone 6, iPad, other iPods...
They are used in a different way. Nobody sits at the apple store desks and uses the iphone while docked. Everybody just picks it up from the dock, uses the phone and puts it back.
Wrong. The 3 models of the Universal Dock had support for the Remote.
The iPhone dock that came with the iPhone 2G, the 3g and 3gs dock, the iPhone 4 and 4s dock, the iPhone 5s dock, the iPhone 5c dock and the ipod nano dock DIDN'T HAVE SUPPORT for the Apple Remote.
Just received the new dock today. TLDR, I am returning it.
The issue is that it is designed to be used with a case on the phone. With a naked phone, there is too much wobble side to side.
There is no issue with a lack of back support.
The issue is that it is designed to be used with a case on the phone. With a naked phone, there is too much wobble side to side.
There is no issue with a lack of back support.
The one thing I don't like about USB C is the same problem PCs have always had. The male connector is attached to the logic board. So, if your cable is yanked out, there's always the possibility the male connector will be broke off inside the MacBook. This is why it's foolish Apple only supplied one port, if something happens to it, you're screwed. The same is true for the iPhone. But it makes sense to only have one port, with lighting if that cable breaks off inside the iPhone, you just pull out the tab and keep right on going, just like Macs always logically have. The iPad probably always should have had two ports, one on the side, for redundancy since it has room for them.
I don't think Apple should have adopted USB C, and stuck with thunderbolt/lightning connectors, better yet mag lock connectors for all of their products, including the iPhone. There's no scenario I can imagine where this wouldn't be a better solution.
You know, it's not the lack of a back support that is the issue here. It's the cost of what you get for the money, and you make a couple of good points about including IR support, and other justifications for the price. Then again lack of IR encourages the purchase of an Watch to control the phone. ;-)
But the biggest question I have, is why have an audio output at all? Is it merely to accommodate a headphone passthrough so that someone can use their headset while the phone is docked? Does anyone do that?
Frankly that seems like an extremely backward technology move by Apple. Any device with a lightning connector can use AirPlay Peer to Peer, so there's absolutely no reason to support running another wire to play music over a stereo system which is not likely to be anywhere near the dock. AirPlay audio only encourages the purchase of an TV, AirPort, or an AirPlay compatible receiver. Then there's the private phone conversations -- bluetooth offers a headset option which would be far more preferable than being tethered to a desk within a foot of the dock. And what if your dock isn't near a convenient place to sit? So Apple is charging a $20 premium for a "universal" iPhone dock for an audio passthrough, which few are going to want to use, given the other reliable ways to wirelessly connect to the iPhone, and will only encourage most people to buy a third party dock for less. And since most docks offer audio output for less than Apple anyway, the price will likely encourage buying a third party dock anyway.
All things considered, it's a perplexing move given Apple's typical forward thinking limitations of legacy conectivity on new products.
I just got mine and it's heavy, tiny but heavy like the Universal dock.
Has anyone noticed that instead of line-out it has a headphone drawing? The manual also has a reference to plugging in you headset while charging so there you go.
Has anyone noticed that instead of line-out it has a headphone drawing? The manual also has a reference to plugging in you headset while charging so there you go.
I have a little question: the Lightning Dock is compatible with an iPhone 5 and the original Apple case?
How is this a fail? It provides so much more than the apple version. It has usb hdmi. What does apples have. Lightning charging connector
I got one of these lightning docks specifically to use the line-out from my iPhone 6. When I plugged the cable from the dock into my receiver using RCA cables, though, I find that I still can/need to do primary volume adjustment on my phone first, and that changing the volume on the phone does change the volume that's being amplified through my receiver. My recollection is that, with my old docks, they just automatically gave me the line level out and all volume adjustments came only through the receiver. Am I missing something, or is there something else I need to do to have the output be line-out? Thanks for any thoughts.
Yes. That's what I noticed as soon as it came in:
"Has anyone noticed that instead of line-out it has a headphone drawing? The manual also has a reference to plugging in you headset while charging so there you go".
It seems it has been substitued and nobody said anything. The reviews even made references to line level output as always
"Has anyone noticed that instead of line-out it has a headphone drawing? The manual also has a reference to plugging in you headset while charging so there you go".
It seems it has been substitued and nobody said anything. The reviews even made references to line level output as always
Yes. That's what I noticed as soon as it came in:
"Has anyone noticed that instead of line-out it has a headphone drawing? The manual also has a reference to plugging in you headset while charging so there you go".
It seems it has been substitued and nobody said anything. The reviews even made references to line level output as always
Apple's own site clearly states it to have line level out. The only reference I've really seen to using that aspect is from an arstechnica review that claims that, if you max out the volume on the iPhone, the signal coming out of the dock will be a line level out. Is this for real? This is either an incredibly elegant solution, or unbelievably klugey, and I honestly can't discern which it is.
From the article:
"An interesting change from the previous docks is that the line out port is now a headphone out port. When you put the iPhone in the dock and there's nothing connected to the headphone out port of the dock, the iPhone uses its speaker, which comes through loud and clear. Remember, the iPhone's headphone out port is at the bottom, so you can't use it while the phone is docked. The microphone also works normally.
But when you connect a cable to the 3.5 mm port, the iPhone detects this and will route its audio through that cable. You can still use the port to connect speakers that expect a line level signal by simply turning the volume up all the way. Although the iPhone says it's using "headphones", the same as when attaching headphones to the iPhone's own headphone port, it does in fact remember the audio level used with the dock and with the iPhone's headphone port separately, so it won't blast audio at the top volume when you use the iPhone's own headphone connector later."
It seems as an elegant solution. There is no mention in the manual of setting the slider to max if I want line level output. There is mention of using it with headphones though. The other docks' manual used to talk about line-out only.
So I guess there is no hurt in checking the quality when I get home.
So I guess there is no hurt in checking the quality when I get home.