Apple's Lightning to 30-Pin Adapter Torn Apart, Reveals Several Chips and Copious Glue

[snowcrash]

What confuses me is people who think the headphone jack doesn't belong on the bottom and their excuse is the aux port in your car?!?!

Let me get this straight. You think it's easier to mount the phone or toss it in a cup holder with a cable attached to the TOP and BOTTOM (assuming you also want to charge your phone) then two going in to a single place on the phone. Nothing annoyed me when in a rental car (since my car uses USB so I'm all good) having one sticking out of the top and one sticking out of the bottom. Now I just put both on the bottom and toss the phone top down in a cup holder. Not restricted by wires getting bent over the top or over the bottom and coming from both directions.

Maybe I'm confused but having the jack at the bottom (even for pocket placement) is a pretty good idea if you ask me.

Plus I actually like the lightning connector. I have a lot less fear of snapping things off on the connector then I did with the 30pin. Sucks to have to change stuff out like cables and accessories but I knew that when I bought it. Once the knockoffs are common place and accessories market picks up this will really be a silly argument.

 

[Glideslope]

"Nobody should balk at paying $29 for this after they see what is inside, though."

Why shouldn't they?

What has the Lightening port done for the consumer?

$19.00 at an at&t Brick and Mortar.

 

[TheHateMachine]

Micro USB sucks because it's fragile and not reversible.

I wanna know where people keep picking up these brittle microUSB cables, I should start selling microUSB cables since they break so often according to you guys. I will be the next Mark Cuban and make a fortune over the interwebs!

 

[avanpelt]

"Nobody should balk at paying $29 for this after they see what is inside, though."

Why shouldn't they?

What has the Lightening port done for the consumer?

Agreed. I suspect perception will change down the road, but right now it seems like changing the connector was largely a money-grab decision. Also, I'm torn right now about even buying one of these. This guy likely bought two of them just so he could rip one apart. Crazy.

 

[kas23]

Put it in your pocket upside down - you'll find that when you pull it out of your pocket, it's "right side up".

You're putting your iPhone into your pocket wrong.

 

[Maltz]

I've never had any issues with any of the micro USB cables or devices I have ever had, with the exception of one that had a run in with a dog. Something the almighty new Lightning Connector wouldn't be able to handle either.

They aren't that fragile.

Depends on how well they're made. Some of them ARE that fragile.

Anywho... the whole dynamically switching thing. Do you even know what that means to you, like what features you get out of it? Outside of the orientation independence (Which I still find cool Bee Tee Dubs!) please explain it to me.

Fewer pins for more features, and infinitely forward-compatible. Depending on what you plug in, the port can charge the iPhone, it can provide power for external devices, communication with external devices, input or output audio, video, and whatever else they decide to make the pins do in the future. Never again will they have unused pins sitting there doing nothing but taking up space like the defunct Firewire pins on the current connector, and never again will they have to design a new physical port to implement new, faster connections (USB 3.0, for one) and new features.

The old connector was roughly 10 years old. How many decades did you expect them to continue using it? Given Lightning's forward-thinking design, I guarantee it lasts even longer.

 

[unfrostedpoptar]

OMG. This thread is a prove of how far fanboys can be taken by sipping a little bit of the Kool-aid.
No. Micro-usb is not a disaster and would have been perfect if Apple was not thinking on another way to get our money by introducing another proprietary format..

Yes, it is. I've seen tons of them break/fail. And, the new connector will allow adding many new features that people have posted here over and over again.

I understand what a pain this change will cause, but Apple has been using the same connector for 9 years now. That's over a century in computer years!

This has happened before with the Mac switch from Moto 68k to PowerPC and then again to Intel. Lot's of chaos and yelling for a year or so and then most people move on. The difference is that when they changed processors, they were able to include emulation software that let old programs (mostly) work. This time it's a hardware change so it's much more visible.

 

[Manderby]

Argh! I can't get this damned lightning-connector in!

Oh, wait, I was holding it vertically.

 

[pure3d2]

there was but Apple keeps shooting them down, I managed to order one for $6 that the listing was canceled but will still be honored. hopefully it will work ok.

Some ebay sellers contacted their buyers saying that the ones they had didn't reassign the pins properly and ended up burning out a few phones that they were testing internally. It worked when they plugged it in and it happened to be the correct side, but there's no way to safely and reliably determine which side is the correct side.

The listings I'm referring to were preorders for mid to late October ship dates.

 

[jrbdmb]

Sorry, but you do not have to be "the consumer". You have other choices.
Grow up, stop the bitching and pay up, or move on.

Freakin Drama, Drama, Drama.

Just because I bought an iPhone 5 and like it overall doesn't mean I have to be happy with every aspect of it. I think it is a great phone, but at this point the Lightning connector adds complexity and cost with too few benefits. Perhaps in the future Apple will come up with something micro-USB can't do and can justify the cost, but we aren't there yet.

Grow up and let others voices their opinions.

 

[MartiNZ]

Interestingly I had to use plyers to get my lightning cable out of the back of my work PC the other day ... the USB male & female had a bit too tight a connection....

Anyway ... always interesting to see how complex these things are - and to see amusing pics .

 

[jrbdmb]

Yes, it is. I've seen tons of them break/fail. And, the new connector will allow adding many new features that people have posted here over and over again.

I understand what a pain this change will cause, but Apple has been using the same connector for 9 years now. That's over a century in computer years!

This has happened before with the Mac switch from Moto 68k to PowerPC and then again to Intel. Lot's of chaos and yelling for a year or so and then most people move on. The difference is that when they changed processors, they were able to include emulation software that let old programs (mostly) work. This time it's a hardware change so it's much more visible.

What new features exactly? Only one I've seen yet that micro-USB can't do is the ability to plug in either way; nice, but not worth an extra $19 / cable. Everything else is vaporware at this point.

 

[kas23]

This guy who did the tear down doesn't sound very knowledgable when it comes to tear downs. I mean, if you're going to pull something apart, you should have an inkling of what you're supposed to be looking for or the resources to find out what's before you. I guess I'll wait for the ifixit tear down.

 

[Constable Odo]

There are far too many cheapsters who'll balk at paying money for anything. $29 in the whole scheme of computer parts amounts to almost nothing. That connector/adapter will probably last forever. There are just some people that shouldn't buy Apple products because they really can't afford to if they're going to gripe at every little cost.

 

[pure3d2]

Agreed. I suspect perception will change down the road, but right now it seems like changing the connector was largely a money-grab decision. Also, I'm torn right now about even buying one of these. This guy likely bought two of them just so he could rip one apart. Crazy.

OK you are definitely much smarter than the Apple engineers. So do tell us how else to make an already thin phone thinner while keeping the same 30-pin connector?

 

[kas23]

What new features exactly? Only one I've seen yet that micro-USB can't do is the ability to plug in either way; nice, but not worth an extra $19 / cable. Everything else is vaporware at this point.

You wait, in 1 year there will be a Thunderbolt plug on the other end of the Lightening plug. Im calling it now. This was not likely possible with the 30-pin connector. Then, Apple will be in position to sell us another expensive cable.

 

[TheHateMachine]

Depends on how well they're made. Some of them ARE that fragile.



Fewer pins for more features, and infinitely forward-compatible. Depending on what you plug in, the port can charge the iPhone, it can provide power for external devices, communication with external devices, input or output audio, video, and whatever else they decide to make the pins do in the future. Never again will they have unused pins sitting there doing nothing but taking up space like the defunct Firewire pins on the current connector, and never again will they have to design a new physical port to implement new, faster connections (USB 3.0, for one) and new features.

The old connector was roughly 10 years old. How many decades did you expect them to continue using it? Given Lightning's forward-thinking design, I guarantee it lasts even longer.

So really no new features that the existing offering has outside of plugging it in upside down and "Infinitely forward-compatible" (which is silly to even state as you cannot have any possible idea of what will come around in the future and how it might interact on a software and hardware level)

 

[japanime]

Uh-oh...

RULE 1: Clean the workbench of any loose, er, hairs before photographing the teardown.

 

[louiek]

Do you also put your hands in your pocket right side up?? While holding the phone in your hand, slip it into your pocket as you would just your hand. The phone now sits upside down for easy removal with the screen right side up in your hand. You can mute calls using the volume keys as well.

I think this comes down to shirt pocket or pants/jacket pocket. Shirt and you want the jack at the top, pants and it makes sense at the bottom. I'm happy with the design, I'm a pants man.

 

[samcraig]

No. That's the answer, if you can't handle it, I'm sorry. It has been explained multiple times in these forums.

So you're saying the only people that have "verified" this is true are forum posters who are not engineers and work for Apple. Got it.

 

[nagromme]

Until APple demonstrates that Lightning provides any benefit to the consumer, the criticism is justified. Upgrading from an iPhone 4 to 5 would cost me something like $100-150 in connectors and cables (car charger, adapter, extra cable for the office, etc.) on top of the phone cost.

Would this cost have been different if Apple waited 20 years to upgrade the connector instead of 10? What’s your proposed solution for avoiding the cost of a new connector? Keep the old one forever, or use a cheaper, less-capable new connector now to save a few bucks?

And if you don’t care about future uses of the new capabilities, and only today’s uses impact your buying decisons, then how could any new connector ever come out? It would always have to start somewhere, and would always have fewer accessories than the old one. We’d still be using RS-232

Also, your cost on top of the phone is because you have a LOT of the old connector’s accessories. (And because you don’t want to share one adapter for all of them—which could be done.) Of course it will cost more if you replace them all then if you replace one or none. Again, though, wait 20 years? It’s already been 10.

Thinner? Who cares? The iPhone 4 was a nearly perfect size. If they'd left the 5 at the same thickness, they could have included more battery life.

Symmetrical? Again, who cares? Was this really an issue for anybody?

I care—about both thinness and the constant hassle of the old asymmetric connector going in the wrong way.

So really no new features that the existing offering has outside of plugging it in upside down and "Infinitely forward-compatible" (which is silly to even state as you cannot have any possible idea of what will come around in the future and how it might interact on a software and hardware level)

Correct, that is all... except for durability (less flex where it joins the device) and allowing thinner iPhones and iPods (which people do care about).

And all that is plenty of reason not to use the same old connector forever. It’s just a charge/sync connector most of the time: it doesn’t need to do some new revolutionary task on day one. It just needs to improve on the old for day-to-day use, and be designed with flexibility to have a long life into the future.

People who don’t care about future capabilities presumably would prefer a cheap, limited connector that has to be replaced AGAIN in 3 years or it won’t connect in ways Lightning will be able to Yet they seem to be the same ones who think Apple should never change the old connector... a real catch-22.

 

[Yojimbo007]

"Nobody should balk at paying $29 for this after they see what is inside, though."

Why shouldn't they?

What has the Lightening port done for the consumer?

Only made the iphone the thinnest phone in the industry? Same with ipod..
A minor detail...lol

 

[baryon]

About the actual cable, not the adapter: Can someone tell me why the cable has chips in each end? Why doesn't the iPod and the computer do what those chips do? Surely the iPod has enough processing power to do the pin switching and whatever else the cable does, why put mini-computers in the actual cable then?

 

[wesk702]

#3 - Really? Why should it be on the bottom? When I have my phone in my pocket, I want to be able to plug in my headphones from the top - not at the bottom where the cable would have tension and eventually break or ruin the connector. It also interferes with most car cradles and general mp3 accessories that use a phone plug instead of the dock connector.

The headphone jack placement is one of the many reasons why I am not upgrading my phone this cycle.

Why don't you just put your phone upside down in your pocket. It's actually more natural this way when answering a call or putting it away just after a call.
Putting a phone right side up in your pocket is cumbersome. I'm pretty sure this was a good reason to put the jack on the bottom. I understand your accessory complaint, but the pocket orientation issue is silly.

 

[AppliedMicro]

Peter notes that based on the electronics inside and the durability of the adapter, the company may have good reason for its pricing.

"The chips look unfamiliar, but with the same metal finish and some have lasered text. They all appear to be custom and trying to figure out what does what is fruitless. I really took this apart for the DIY community to ascertain if the DAC [digital-to-analog converter] in this thing is actually good, but it's quite unclear."

"Nobody should balk at paying $29 for this after they see what is inside, though."

So the bottom line is:

We don't know what circuitry is inside ("the chips look unfamiliar")
We don't know if the DAC is any good ("it's quite unclear")
But because of this insightful investigation we shouldn't balk at the price, right?

It surely shouldn't be about the metal & glue. I mean... other companies make whole MP3 players (and good-sounding at that) or cell phones, which sell for the same price as this adapter. I guarantee you that many of these things contain more metal and glue than Apple's adapter.