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From how they described the new connector it doesn't seem to be as simple as having pins dedicated to video, data, and audio.

If you look at the keynote (38:21), it says the port is an "adaptive interface". Maybe the pin outs are dynamic. And by the way, the port has 9 pins, including ground.
 
I agree the only reason I am buying adapters is for my audio connections. If they don't work what is the point?

Look at the Macworld article link in the macrumor article. It answers your question pretty clearly.
 
From how they described the new connector it doesn't seem to be as simple as having pins dedicated to video, data, and audio.
Jump to conclusions much? If they are going to offer an adapter later then the interface has to have those signals available but just not in a way that can be used by an adapter+HDMI dongle combination.

From my understanding, the new connector is all digital so it no longer supports analog video like the component/S-video output nor does it support left/right audio out.

From what I understand, the HDMI dongle actually used the same signals as the VGA adapter but had a Analogue to Digital converter to change the RGB signal into HDMI. The 30 pin connector, therefor did not have a true digital video signal although it might have had a digital audio signal.
 
Apple used to be a great company making great products. Now they just seem to be greedy greedy greedy. They are clearly willing to sacrifice user-friendliness for money. I won't be buying anything from them anymore. The system updates reduce functionality rather than expanding it, and design decisions like this one make it clear that they just want people to pay pay pay.

I have a 5 year old iPod classic which works great, and a refurbished 2011 MBP running Snow Leopard, and I think that's where I'll stop for now. No new stuff, no system updates. Apple, you're blowing it big time.
 
Has anyone seriously ever hooked up their iPhone to a television??

Ya, all the time. I run Keynote presentations from it multiple times per week, and I play movies from it - especially when staying in hotels with my family. Just because you not doesn't mean there aren't lots of people who have lots of reasons to...
 
Why not have all adapters and cables ready for launch?

Because Tim Cook would rather have 50 million iPhones ready in the supply chain between now and the end of the year (at $650-$850 apiece) than a bunch of $29 adapters. It's a matter of priorities.
 
This launch seems way too unplanned and rushed.

To be honest, I DO NOT think Steve would have allowed this kind of disorganization:

- New interface LACKING functionality which will be "coming soon".
- Lack of Apple case/bumper, at launch at least.
- Lack of adapter available at launch.

I don't think releasing a case is Apple-ish
the iPhone 4 was a special case since the antenna had problems.
 
Apple just successfully killed every dock that's used in an audio/video system.
 
Because Tim Cook would rather have 50 million iPhones ready in the supply chain between now and the end of the year (at $650-$850 apiece) than a bunch of $29 adapters. It's a matter of priorities.
Probably right. Tim probably also wants people to buy devices with AirPlay in the interim, a standard that Apple charges hefty licensing fees for.

I really feel like the days of customer-friendliness are over at Apple.

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I don't think releasing a case is Apple-ish
the iPhone 4 was a special case since the antenna had problems.

The smart case, and the iPod leather case would beg to differ. These are high margin items and Apple wants a cut.
 
Because Tim Cook would rather have 50 million iPhones ready in the supply chain between now and the end of the year (at $650-$850 apiece) than a bunch of $29 adapters. It's a matter of priorities.

The cables can be made by one of infinite electronics manufacturers in Asia. They don't exactly take the same resources as an iPhone.
 
Apple used to be a great company making great products. Now they just seem to be greedy greedy greedy. They are clearly willing to sacrifice user-friendliness for money. I won't be buying anything from them anymore. The system updates reduce functionality rather than expanding it, and design decisions like this one make it clear that they just want people to pay pay pay.

I have a 5 year old iPod classic which works great, and a refurbished 2011 MBP running Snow Leopard, and I think that's where I'll stop for now. No new stuff, no system updates. Apple, you're blowing it big time.

Buying adapters is frustrating, for those who need them. Paying $10-$20 too much (assuming the adapter IS just an adapter and has no circuitry or chips and just passes one wire to another) is even worse.

But three... er four points:

1. The money Apple makes from these adapters will be trivial to their bottom line. That is not their motivation for making such a sweeping change to the connector.

2. They’ve used the same connector for 10 years. I’m sure some companies have beat that record, but not many and I can’t name them. Eventually, progress must happen—and it should be a clean break with the past, not a half-step that requires another new connector in 3 years.

3. The old connector was terrible. Non-reversible yet hard to tell which side was which (almost as poor as USB). Thin and fragile, yet wide and bulky! And it didn’t plug in deeply enough, failing to make a solid connection at the device: lots of unpleasant, possibly damaging, play/wiggle. In fact, the old HDMI adapter’s main problem is that an HDMI cable is so stiff/heavy that it easily tugs the old connector loose! I don’t think I’d want to put an adapter on that if I could... I just want the new solid, HDMI adapter.

4. Third parties make alternative dock connectors. Some are junk, but they do provide choice. Expect the same with Lightning, in time. It’s new—transitions are hardest at the start, but the pain will ease.
 
News like this is so impressive. I find it hard to imagine just how Apple manages to be such a cutting edge company.

After all, it takes a real engineering brain trust to create these types of breakthroughs.

Apple's extreme foresight, innovation, and vision is the stuff other companies only wish they could create.


/sarcasm
 
Guys, we did need a new connector. I HATE the 30 pin connector because its so fragile and its freakin hard on my iPad to connect. A few choice bits of info from the MacWorld article:

(bold mine)
Lightning connector does not support analog audio-out, but the 30-pin adapters do. That’s because hidden away inside each 30-pin adapter is a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that converts the Lightning connector’s digital audio signal to an analog version. (The inclusion of a DAC explains at least part of the price of the adapters.)
 
Probably right. Tim probably also wants people to buy devices with AirPlay in the interim, a standard that Apple charges hefty licensing fees for.

I really feel like the days of customer-friendliness are over at Apple.

To be fair, Steve Jobs was more about profits than he let on. If you read his bio, Woz wanted to give away a lot of things that Jobs decided were better to sell.

Cook's a good CEO. No one person can ever replace Steve Jobs, and no one person should try. Jobs was a once in a generation business leader. He's up there with Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and Cornelius Vanderbilt. All had bad qualities, but all, on the whole, were very good.

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The cables can be made by one of infinite electronics manufacturers in Asia. They don't exactly take the same resources as an iPhone.

But still, it requires some advance planning. An iPhone isn't just a single device, It's a collection of a lot of parts, some of which are no more complex than an adapter cable.
 
Any guess as to what each of those pins do?

You can do power and data with just 4 pins... what do the other 4 pins do?

While you aren't wrong, getting any speed out of your connection requires more than just one simple channel for in and one for out. theres a lot more to it i promise. maybe the cable is active, maybe its bidirectional, maybe it has hidden features....there will be sooner or later
 
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