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Apple's Lightning to 30-Pin Adapter Torn Apart, Reveals Several Chips and Copious Glue
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- Most of the expensive electronics of the new connectors is aimed at preventing cheaper cables to be made !
- I've never had to replace ANY of my USB cables. Ever.
Why not then have a standard USB connector ?!
All my APPLE connector cables are damaged, while I have a not stressful use of them, they're just crap. Not the connector itself, the quality of the make of the cable by Apple.
- Apple used to make money by selling a lot of expensive cables
- Now they want to make more money by selling less of very expensive cables.
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We were all so dumb to buy products with the jack connector ontop.
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Yeah. Why even use USB2, that's stupid. Let them use USB1.
Or even better: a proprietary system worth another few hundreds of bucks that is not supported by most devices and that you that you have to connect in addition to all the rest.
That thing is ugly,how bad looks like white plastic and yellow glue,
did Ive close his eyes when he first used?
And how ecologic is to use glue in something one day will end in a sever/dustbin..?
I'll stick with the wire instead.
did Ive close his eyes when he first used?
And how ecologic is to use glue in something one day will end in a sever/dustbin..?
I'll stick with the wire instead.
If it's upright, I put it in right way up and facing me, so that when I pull it out I can operate the controls without inverting it (even if it's still partly in my pocket).
Headphones on the top are much better from my perspective - doesn't obstruct docks and means the phones give extra reach/slack when the phone is plugged in to my laptop (better for trains, planes etc.). I find headphone cables are often a bit short, so any extra reach is good.
It's given the consumer a new connector standard that can evolve meaning that it will probably last significantly longer than the 30 pin connector that it replaces. I would not be surprised if this connector is still being used in 20 years time. The 30pin had to change it was so out if date and could not be pushed any further so may as well change it now.
Complete nonsense.
PS The world is ending in 2 months and the lightening connector will be history!
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Great link... that brings the Android dock count to 3
(I know there are more than that... but you get the idea)
Who knows the motivation behind Apple's creation of the original Dock Connector. It could have been money. I guess the $4 per unit Apple got from accessory makers added up. But let's not forget that Apple is a for-profit company anyway... they also sell $600 phones.
All you need to realize is that the Dock Connector worked... and tons of accessories were created AND purchased over the years.
Every time someone took an iPod speaker dock home... did they really complain that it was proprietary?
Probably not... they just enjoyed the multitude of accessories "Made for iPod" that they couldn't get from a competing platform. There wasn't an elegant speaker dock for my old Blackberry... but I have one for my iPhone.
And that's been my point this whole time:
Apple... proprietary... but look what all the Dock Connector could do and all the products it created
MicroUSB... standard... but doesn't do much outside of charging and data
Maybe do a thorough analysis of their chip design and engineering involved in this connector. The Lighting Connector will replace many connectors down the road. It is a masterful work of engineering.
People no longer think 5 years down the road. They want someone else to make the changes. Well, with Apple it has never worked that way, nor will it.
If people can't find $29 to get a connector they seriously need to look at their budgets. It's equates to dinner for 2 at a moderately priced chain restaurant.
Engineering moves the world. Change in this case is good. Period.
My link referred to Android being able to send audio over USB making the devices compatible with the millions of USB speaker systems out there.
Anyhow, nicely put. Proprietary does not always = bad. Plus, there will be reasonably priced adapters from HK on eBay within a month or two, which will stop Apple eating all the pies.
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Maybe do a thorough analysis of their chip design and engineering involved in this connector. The Lighting Connector will replace many connectors down the road. It is a masterful work of engineering.
People no longer think 5 years down the road. They want someone else to make the changes. Well, with Apple it has never worked that way, nor will it.
If people can't find $29 to get a connector they seriously need to look at their budgets. It's equates to dinner for 2 at a moderately priced chain restaurant.
Engineering moves the world. Change in this case is good. Period.
$29 for a connector is ridiculous, even for rip-off stores like Maplins. I resent paying that price, or lossing a meal in any kinda restaurant, for a bit of plastic and silicone that likely costs $1 to make.
8" more for $10 is a bargain - where do I sign up
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This site needs to be changed to MacWhine.com. Ever article these days seems to be so negative.
People wouldn't be happy otherwise ...
Person A: I hate the new iPhone design, I go Android
Person B: Me too - suckers
<iPhone released>
Person A: Awesome phone, I queued for hours
Person B: Me too - I boght two
Person C: Me three - I bought three adapter and a packet of chips too
Gotta love the interwebz ...
From your link: "Using USB Audio, hardware makers will be able to build audio dock devices to interface with Android powered phones and tablets."
So it sounds like docks will have to be built to take advantage of this new feature in Jelly Bean. I'm not sure any ol' set of USB speakers will work.
USB speakers have a cable with a regular Type-A plug to go into a PC... not a MicroUSB plug to go into a phone. You'd need the adapter below to go from your phone to a set of USB speakers:
So... those "millions of USB speakers" will need an adapter. Sexy!
And even you you do make a physical electrical connection between the phone and speakers... who knows if it will even work? There's no way anyone could possibly test every Android phone with every set of speakers.
As for docks... we'll have to wait and see if accessory makers will even jump on this. They might be more than happy to stick with the Apple platform... it's been doing well for a while.
Lots of Android phones have the MicroUSB port in different places... docks might still need a cable to ensure maximum compatibilty will hundreds of different Android devices. That's not very elegant.
Plus... if you're not running Jelly Bean... you have to download an app to make it work with older phones. And who knows if your particular phone and any particular dock will even be compatible.
It's nothing like the "Made for iPod" program that Apple has.
But yeah... it's nice that MicroUSB Android devices might finally be able to get a piece of the accessory market that Apple has had for what... 8 years?
Micro USB cannot provide all the functionality of the Apple connectors... neither lightning nor 30 pin. This has been discussed ad nauseum.
OK, I'll spell it out for you. When ifixit does their tear down, they know exactly what they are seeing. They see a chip, they know exactly what they are seeing. If they see unknown components, they look how they are oriented to other known components to figure out what the unknown components are. If they see writing on a chip, they know what it means. They usually can find out the chip maker from the writing and then figure out what the chip does.
If you don't know what your looking at or what you should even be looking for, you don't publish your findings. You don't make bumbling comments like "They [the chips] all appear to be custom and trying to figure out what does what is fruitless."
That said, I will say that this was the first adaptor tear down, so the fund of existing knowledge was just not there. ifixit's iPhone tear downs, for example, are so knowledgable partially due to their past experience tearing down past iPhone models. Still, when they see a new component, it doesn't take much for them to figure out what it is.
This has to be one of the worst tear downs I have ever seen. The guy has absolutely no idea what he is doing by the look of things. I would think that anyone who would try and sell a USB cable for $899 would have a better understanding of electronics or at least would be capable of describing his findings in a more intelligent way than this.
Looked a this guys site and yes $899 for a 'digital' usb cable which will be functionally no better than a $10 cable because with digital it either works 100% or it doesn't work at all. Reminds me of the time when I went to a local electrical store and sales guy tried to convince me that a £100 HDMI cable would give better picture quality than a £10 cable, I suppose some people will fall for anything.
Looked a this guys site and yes $899 for a 'digital' usb cable which will be functionally no better than a $10 cable because with digital it either works 100% or it doesn't work at all. Reminds me of the time when I went to a local electrical store and sales guy tried to convince me that a £100 HDMI cable would give better picture quality than a £10 cable, I suppose some people will fall for anything.
As an investor, I say Apple has succeeded swimmingly.
Tell you what. If and when you engineer something that makes billions in profits on a yearly basis, then maybe Apple will start looking to you for engineering advice. Until then, well...
Maybe do a thorough analysis of their chip design and engineering involved in this connector. The Lighting Connector will replace many connectors down the road. It is a masterful work of engineering.
People no longer think 5 years down the road. They want someone else to make the changes. Well, with Apple it has never worked that way, nor will it.
If people can't find $29 to get a connector they seriously need to look at their budgets. It's equates to dinner for 2 at a moderately priced chain restaurant.
Engineering moves the world. Change in this case is good. Period.
Some people (for example, you) will believe anything someone tells you. Then you will evangelize the party line on some blog and feel good about yourself.
I find this so amusing.
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IDK, I think they look fine, however I totally agree with the complaints on pricing, and comments on type of materials.
Judging by the antique website, I don't know that sales are that not at the moment though.
...youre crazy. im left-handed, and use it in my left hand one-handed -- no problems. i much prefer it on the bottom because when i pocket the phone in my pants, headphones on, it requires less movement -- one swift move. then when i remove it, the same..no having to flip the phone around.
its on the bottom. deal. or start your own garage company and release your own products.
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hows that nanny state working out for you? because i see way more Apple cable interfaces in hotel rooms than any other (meaning, anything at all). it's a better standard, even if not ratified by your parents--er, government.
Micro USB does work, and Blackberry have shown that a micro usb dock works just fine too. However just like the 30 pin connector it only just works for today's applications and is far from ideal. Apple's new connector is engineered to last for possibly 10 to 15 years. In this I think it is a big engineering success. The cost may be slightly high today but in a years time when the tech has matured and manufacturing costs have dropped it will not be. After using the new connector I can say that it is a delight to use compared to the overly small, fiddly and brittle micro USB and even full size USB connectors, being able to use it either way round is a huge plus. Looking at the potential built into this new design I would say rather than it being an engineering failure, it is, from an engineering standpoint a big success.
It was a blog post, offered for free, on the Internet. You seem to be under the impression that it's from a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
the very article youre responding to is my source of data -- it's not a dumb connector, and its certainly not a buck. im sure ifixit will do a second one if youd like another. you, otoh, have yet to provide any data to back up your assertion that its a $1 device.
ah yes, thats it. "halp! ive been brainwashed!" sorry dude but im an enterprise microsoft .NET developer....but even i can see and evaluate the value that this new connector offers. its smaller, more durable, reversible, and it offers all the functionality of 30 pins in a mere 8. that holds value to me. maybe it doesnt to you for whatever reason, but that doesnt mean it's brainwashing that my milage varies from yours.
i think youre mistaken -- i think this feature will immediately be utilized by third-parties...of the 30 pins currently available certain devices will need to pick and choose in order to get their functionality in just 8. for instance, i have a Pioneer AppRadio -- besides charging and audio in, this product line offers the iPod controls/UI, an external display, and the ability to register tap events on the external display. these are different pins than my clock radio base station.
why would anyone abandon USB for TB? the two serve different needs. TB offers me the highest thru put for external drives...it would be a crying shame to attach an external SSD to USB.
just admit it -- you dont like it because you dont like it. you think theres a grand conspiracy going on all around you. evil corporations. evil product designers and evil engineers. all out to get you...nasty stuff!
As someone else pointed out, it depends on if you are talking about a shirt or jacket pocket vs pants pockets. I generally put it in a shirt pocket, in which case putting it in upside down is even more cumbersome. Having it oriented right side up gives you access to the mute, power, and volume buttons, and allows you to slip it out slightly to see notifications, etc. Even when putting it in my back pants pocket (never put it in the front), I put it in right side up.
It's all a matter of opinion, but to say the jack "belongs" on the bottom is silly (using your word). For me, it is an inconvenience, and just one more reason not to upgrade. (Not having LTE in my home or work area is #1)