Apple to Adopt Micro-USB Connectors for iPhone Charging in Europe

[applecultvictim]

OMG!

I hope apple doesn't mess up the 10+ docks, sub docks, tivoli yiyis, alarm docks, stereo docks etc. I have pretty much everywhere from office to house to house in the country...that would suck...

Is there such a chance???!?!?!?

 

[fmaxwell]

I'll take the design over bending backwards to the "consensus" and the other OEMs.

Fortunately, wiser people than you are running things.

What happens when the mini-USB is no longer a viable solution 3 years from now. Should we then do this all over again.

It's a charging connector. How will it become "no longer a viable solution 3 years from now"? It's a voltage and current across two electrical connections (positive and ground). Are you anticipating hydrogen-powered cell phones?

I'm all for reducing waste, but standardization can more often than not stifle innovation.

It prevents consumers from being forced to buy accessories from the company that manufactured the device. Want to buy a 3rd party iPod video dock? I have a spare because my new iPod Classic won't output video through the dock that worked with my 60GB iPod with Video. Interested in buying some cell phone car and home chargers? I have some for older cell phones from Sony, Motorola, and Nokia -- they don't work with my LG.

The next major step in industrial design in these regards is pinless inductive power delivery. Imaging your iPhone or iPod with absolutely no ports, no pins to break, no cracks to accidentally get liquids into. You plug your device into its cradle and it gets charged through induction.

Wow! That would be as advanced as the electric toothbrush I had 20 years ago that used inductive charging. But it's very unlikely to happen with an iPhone because it's really not compatible with a steel-cased, ultra-thin product. It requires a big honking coil if one is to get any kind of acceptable charge rate.

 

[DougB541]

OMG!

I hope apple doesn't mess up the 10+ docks, sub docks, tivoli yiyis, alarm docks, stereo docks etc. I have pretty much everywhere from office to house to house in the country...that would suck...

Is there such a chance???!?!?!?

We heard you the first time.

 

[RichardF]

Someone isn't speaking from history.

Apple is one of the only companies in mass market consumer electronics that still forces users to an Apple-only hardware solution. How many PC manufacturers forced you to use their hard drives, or video cards, or monitor cables etc.

If you were using Macs 10 years ago you would know what it was like being forced to by Apple only products when the equivalent PC version was dirt cheap. It still happens now. If you want to live in the past I've got a 120GB Mac IDE drive to sell you for $300.

If you don't mind spending up to three times as much because Apple added a connection that nobody else uses or adjusted the hardware then go ahead. I've got more sense than that.

There's nothing that an Apple interface adds to anything apart from cost and limited options. Work well? They work. That's it. And that doesn't make it any better than the jack that everyone else is happy to use.

Arcane,

I am puzzled by your post. Am I the only one with no problems with Apple's products?

It isn't about paying more. I have a lot toys and I never have the need to cross things: use something from Apple on/ with another OEM's product and vice-versa.

Perhaps it is because I use each as they were intended to be used. Or perhaps because I have no legacy left-overs since I upgrade very often: I rarely keep any of my devices for more than two years.

Even if I didn't, what you point out doesn't only apply to Apple. All the other OEMs' history is also littered with failed and/ or phased-out ideas, concepts, designs, ports, plugs etc. Why single-out Apple?

Someone mentioned the MacBook Air (which I have also). What do I care what connector is used inside??? Who needs to pry their toys opened past the age of 8?

What's the problem with the mini-DVI? Use the provided mini-DVI to DVI adaptor and plug-in your LCD screen or projector. It works, no problem.

The proportion of the users/ customers who like to do this is so small that it really is tempting to remind them if they have a penchant for tinkering with their stuff, they should not be upset the OEM isn't making it easier for them to do so.

Someone else pointed-out that Apple joined this effort by choice so they probably already have a solution for this. I see no problems.

I just dislike the ones who think nothing of putting a mini-USB port on the "side" of the iPhone. If I wanted a Motorola or a Nokia or a SE, I'd buy that.

 

[mavfan11]

I like the move to micro-usb and when I first heard about this I wondered if apple would follow suit but they were quiet over the matter so just thought they weren't going to.

Apple is quiet over nearly everything. Apple's silence doesn't mean a thing!

 

[cg0def]

Actually, i think they are going to make a converter to the 30pin dock connector. Because of the many more features the dock connector has over the usb connector.

With that i think they will support trough the converter the following options:
charging and Headset(Stereo + Voice)

That would actually be the only smart move here. Especially since there are a lot of 3rd party devices using the dock connector ( speakers and such ).

 

[escap0]

Yeah right... There is no way Apple will do this. The whole point of it is so that it is NOT standardized. Apple wants to control all the peripherals for its phone. Without getting the dock-connector license you cannot make an Apple peripheral. Its called the 'Made For iPod Program' and it is located here.


And you think Apple will give that up? So that any Joe Schmo can make their crappy doodaad an iPhone accessory without the Apple go-ahead? So that any number of competitors can join that market without Apple approval?

Are you you completely high on Crack?

Apple will have the entire sky rain 30pin/usbmini adaptors for FREE before they do something like this.

 

[Sehnsucht]

Yeah right... There is no way Apple will do this. The whole point of it is so that it is NOT standardized. Apple wants to control all the peripherals for its phone. Without getting the dock-connector license you cannot make an Apple peripheral. Its called the 'Made For iPod Program' and it is located here.

And you think Apple will give that up? So that any Joe Schmo can make their crappy doodaad an iPhone accessory without the Apple go-ahead? So that any number of competitors can join that market without Apple approval?

Are you you completely high on Crack?

Apple will have the entire sky rain 30pin/usbmini adaptors for FREE before they do something like this.

This post made me chuckle, and I do agree completely.

Apple would rather die than release several different models of iPhone, and they also wouldn't want a micro-USB port on the iPhone either. Yes, the 30-pin dock is proprietary, but there might be a reason for that!

Teh Government better not start meddling with my electronic gadgets.

 

[alhedges]

Yeah right... There is no way Apple will do this. The whole point of it is so that it is NOT standardized. Apple wants to control all the peripherals for its phone. Without getting the dock-connector license you cannot make an Apple peripheral. Its called the 'Made For iPod Program' and it is located here.

This is not true. Any developer can make an iPod peripheral without participating in the "Made For iPod" program. They just don't get to use the "Made for iPod" logo.

And it would be different if "Made for iPod" were actually a guarantee of quality, or, more to the point, a guarantee that Apple won't break compatibility with existing products next year.

 

[FrerkLovesApple]

The idea of the mini-USB connector as a standard is good, but not for iPhone. First of all it just doesn't match the design everybody knows (May be my view; Apple switched to 30-pin connectors with the iPod), second, it will cause problems with accessories.

 

[t0mat0]

Yeah right... There is no way Apple will do this. The whole point of it is so that it is NOT standardized. Apple wants to control all the peripherals for its phone. Without getting the dock-connector license you cannot make an Apple peripheral. Its called the 'Made For iPod Program' and it is located here.


And you think Apple will give that up? So that any Joe Schmo can make their crappy doodaad an iPhone accessory without the Apple go-ahead? So that any number of competitors can join that market without Apple approval?

Are you you completely high on Crack?

Apple will have the entire sky rain 30pin/usbmini adaptors for FREE before they do something like this.

I think it's worth linking in the fact that Apple talked about opening up the dock connector, and also using BT to connect to the iPhone (and to that end, potentially new iPods, which could then use wifi if they got wifi this September). Why would Apple be looking at making a huge increase in number of accessories, then say they'd go miniUSB?
I'd say the two are connected - we haven't actually seen, bar the TomTom dock, anything as far as I know, accessory wise really. I'd imagine Apple will be keeping in mind what USB 3 could do for the iPhone.

Could they put the dock connector and the mini USB side by side?

To keep old accessories working, they couldn't shift the 30 pin connector to one side, and there doesn't seem to be enough room either side unless they changed the speaker position a fair bit.

 

[SAN66]

Wow! That would be as advanced as the electric toothbrush I had 20 years ago that used inductive charging. But it's very unlikely to happen with an iPhone because it's really not compatible with a steel-cased, ultra-thin product. It requires a big honking coil if one is to get any kind of acceptable charge rate.

Yes because we haven't had any advancement in power induction in the past 20 years. I'm not talking about wireless power, I'm talking about close contact induction and hey look there's already a third party company offering this for the iphone.

But no, we should just stick with standardizing a connection type that by all rights should be obsolete within the next 4-5 years.

I'd rather the money being poured into this be spent on charger recycling programs along with cellphone recycling programs.

 

[SFStateStudent]

I just don't trust the mini-USB thing. I had a RAZOR and a KRZR and the damn things kept getting unplugged rather easily. I'll never own one.....

 

[ChrisA]

They will not do away with the 30 pin dock adaptor. This is European MPs in suits who have no idea of the consequences of their actions forcing something on everyone. The aim is to keep everything 'simpler' for the average user so they don't get confused about which of 20 different chargers to use.

NO. The goal is not "simpler".

The reason for this is to keep many minillion s of old chargers out of landfills. The idea is to sell new phones with no chargers at all. This can only work if people can re-use their old charger from the old phone and only replace the charger when needed, not every time the phone is replaced.

It sounds like a small thing. But there are factories in china building hundreds of millions of chargers and every one of these will go in the trash in a few years.

 

[aristotle]

I would take this "news" with a grain of salt. If anything, Apple might provide a small adaptor similar to what my Sony HDR-TG1 camera offers which is a small dongle for connecting the dock connector of the camera to USB.

I don't see Apple shooting themselves in the foot by making their iPhones incompatible with the large ecosystem built around the iPod.

Just go into any store with electronics and you will see speaker systems, alarm clock and even TVs designed to work with the iPod. The dock connector not only supplies data like USB but also offers video and audio out as well as control signals for using a remote on a dock to control your iPod/iPhone.

MicroUSB is inferior. This would be a step backwards if Apple abandoned the dock connector.

Speaking as a European citizen, I think the government should mind their own business and let the industry figure things out of themselves.

 

[omegaphil6]

I know i dont want no effin Micro-USB.... Dock Connectors are perfect. Keep that micro-USB Crap overseas. As a family we have over 10 ipods and 6 iphones and no matter where you are in the house or who's car you are in you always have access to a 30pin dock connector. Its wonderful!

 

[macadam212]

As others have said, they are not about to ditch their very popular and very functional connector, to fall into line with other companies, so I expect they will include an adaptor with all new iPhones. It will probably look a bit like this ...

 

[Gm7Cadd9]

I've read most of the posts here and this appears to be a heated topic!

I have to say, the 30-pin dock adapter has many advantages over mini-usb, and I can see Apple providing a free adapter to quell the over-reaching governments long before abandoning their connector.

The iPhone is a wonderful piece of engineering, no wasted space. It wouldn't be easy to add a second port, not by a long shot. I believe the 30-pin connector is aesthetically better, has room to grow and is widely adopted already.

This brings me to my main point that I feel is overlooked so far. There is an impassioned group on here who say that the greater good is to adopt micro-usb, not because it's better, but because it would cut down on the need for extraneous cables and adapters/waste.... but what about the millions of products out there with the 30-pin dock connector????

Governments should not intervene with the design no matter how much they claim to be looking out for the consumer's best interests. If the consumer is ill informed that's on them, if the consumer wants a micro-usb phone they have the choice to buy one... no one is forcing anyone to buy iPods and iPhones.

 

[andrew0122]

As others have said, they are not about to ditch their very popular and very functional connector, to fall into line with other companies, so I expect they will include an adaptor with all new iPhones. It will probably look a bit like this ...

I think the entire point is to make it easier to charge you device, not add an extra accessary that you'd have to carry around. Not a bad idea though.

 

[windywoo]

But no, we should just stick with standardizing a connection type that by all rights should be obsolete within the next 4-5 years.

I'd rather the money being poured into this be spent on charger recycling programs along with cellphone recycling programs.

4-5 years is still much longer than the average cell phone lifecycle. Or at least longer than most companies stick to the same model of charger.

I would be for the money being put into recycling programs if, at the same time, the companies who made the rechargers were forced to put money into those schemes as well. It should be the responsibility of the manufacturers to deal with the waste they produce.

 

[McDughf]

Who in their right mind on this site would vote this news as negative?


Holy crap....Apple is actually following a future industry standard here and people find that negative?

Its a tiny port...get over it.

Yeah, And look How Crappy That Looks - Totally Un -Apple Like

 

[andrew0122]

I've read most of the posts here and this appears to be a heated topic!

I have to say, the 30-pin dock adapter has many advantages over mini-usb, and I can see Apple providing a free adapter to quell the over-reaching governments long before abandoning their connector.

The iPhone is a wonderful piece of engineering, no wasted space. It wouldn't be easy to add a second port, not by a long shot. I believe the 30-pin connector is aesthetically better, has room to grow and is widely adopted already.

This brings me to my main point that I feel is overlooked so far. There is an impassioned group on here who say that the greater good is to adopt micro-usb, not because it's better, but because it would cut down on the need for extraneous cables and adapters/waste.... but what about the millions of products out there with the 30-pin dock connector????

Governments should not intervene with the design no matter how much they claim to be looking out for the consumer's best interests. If the consumer is ill informed that's on them, if the consumer wants a micro-usb phone they have the choice to buy one... no one is forcing anyone to buy iPods and iPhones.

I agree I think that Apple has put themselves into a position that more than qualifies them for having their own propriety adapter. Just look at the number of iPhone and iPod touch sales alone. Over 40 MILLION and still growing and those aren't the only Apple products that use the 30 Pin. The iPod Classic and Nano, both use the 30 Pin Connecters as well.

 

[moracity]

Apple could still use the 30 pin dock connector and have a micro-usb somewhere on the side.


I like the move to micro-usb and when I first heard about this I wondered if apple would follow suit but they were quiet over the matter so just thought they weren't going to.

Bingo! This is only in regards to charging. There is already a USB controller, so should be fairly trivial to add the port.

 

[Craiger77]

It is micro, not mini USB

Many posters here are confusing micro USB (the standard adopted by the EU) with mini USB so I though I would post these from Wikipedia:

Micro USB is on the far left.

 

[whatever]

People this has nothing to do with the dock connector!

Please people, this entire discussion is stupid.

Like I said before, it's about the cable.

One end with still be the standard dock connector and the other end will be for Micro USB.

The power adapter will have a Micro USB port instead of the normal USB or Firewire. It will look like this:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB352LL/B?fnode=MTY1NDA0MQ&mco=MjQzNTIxNw

Apple will not bundle this with the iPhone, it will be offered separately.