Apple's Smaller iOS Device Dock Connector Said to Include 19 Pins

[hundleton1]

I reaaly think the next iPhone will be a big move forward. Dumping old connection and standards as they have with the Retina Pro. Sometime you have to be harsh and cut off from the past to move forward.

My predictions are

New smaller Thunderbolt connector with dock connector adapter available/included

New larger screen but in the same size or slighlty larger package making them push the home button and speaker out the way some how. After all these are wasted areas on the phone. Perhaps home area on the screen with a virtual button somehow.

 

[Sheza]

I can't see it looking like the models, if that unsymmetrical speaker grill looks bad to me, I'd imagine Apple would have nuked the idea by now!

We can't be having an unsymmetrical speaker grill.

 

[JohnDoe98]

Okay, i didn't know that. But we never saw a design did we? Then why does it seem so easy to have design leaks for the iphone?

As I said, they did give a design, a mockup that nailed all but the hdmi port and new air vents.

In amy case I am inclined to think these are all fake, it is still way too early. If these leaks were within one month prior to release I might believe them. But there is no way the phone is outside of Apple's labs at this point.

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What about anyone who has just bought or about to buy an expensive dock for their iPhone, the 100s of companies making docks and leads for the iPhone/iPod and iPad?

A cable adapter might work but if you have a dock then it's probably not going to work having you iPhone sitting up higher in the device then it was designed to. In some cases it probably won't fit.

They all work with current iphones correct?

 

[Skika]

I can't see it looking like the models, if that unsymmetrical speaker grill looks bad to me, I'd imagine Apple would have nuked the idea by now!

We can't be having an unsymmetrical speaker grill.

Just like the seams on the iPhone 4 were sooo UN-APPLE like

 

[kiwiboi87]

please lord no dam thunderbolt
not everyone has a thunderbolt mac, or even pc

and we don't have the money laying about to just get a new iPhone and mac

mini usb, or 19pin connecter, i can live with

 

[Piggie]

If the back is all Aluminum, and the front is Gorilla Glass 2; why do I need a case?

Because Aluminium is a cheap and nasty soft metal not really suitable for thin and touch cases.
Sorry, you may not want to hear that fact. I've worked with metals for many many years and Aluminium is not really very good for things like this. Sure it has it's uses, and is "cool and trendy" at the moment, and easy to machine.

It's a great thin to make a heat sink out of, next to copper, and it's features ARE that it's soft and deforms easily

If I wish to hold something and not damage it, I will use aluminium as it will bend and deform and not damage the item I'm working with as it's so soft.

But you'd never choose it from a engineering point of view to perform as the best material for anything you wanted to be thin and strong. There are better materials out there for this function.

 

[apolloa]

Oh God, Mac Rumors and next gen 'iPhone cases'..............

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[JohnDoe98]

Because Aluminium is a cheap and nasty soft metal not really suitable for thin and touch cases.
Sorry, you may not want to hear that fact. I've worked with metals for many many years and Aluminium is not really very good for things like this. Sure it has it's uses, and is "cool and trendy" at the moment, and easy to machine.

It's a great thin to make a heat sink out of, next to copper, and it's features ARE that it's soft and deforms easily

If I wish to hold something and not damage it, I will use aluminium as it will bend and deform and not damage the item I'm working with as it's so soft.

But you'd never choose it from a engineering point of view to perform as the best material for anything you wanted to be thin and strong. There are better materials out there for this function.

Titanium back plates?

 

[newyorksole]

So, you blindlessly believe an own-profit hardware part maker which displays its logo all over the place in their video that still hasn't been taken down yet?

Lol yes. They aren't the only ones with the leaked parts. 2 other websites posted the same images of the leaks. The video of the iPhone 4 Prototype is still available too.

Edit: I know Giz got in trouble for the video, but it didn't get pulled. That was a lost prototype too, not a factory leak. Still, we have seen the new iPhone.

 

[Astroexe]

I just had a thought, weren't apple demanded to supply a microUSB charger now due to a European rule or something? Maybe this change is so they can make a similar adapter [akin to the Magsafe 1->2 one recently released for the MBPRetina] to comply?
The only other reason I can see them wanting to shrink the size is for pure aesthetic and size reasons.. maybe this initial move with start a shockwave in other iOS devices like the iPod lineup having a full refresh - it would make sense, they only want to be supplying ONE charger after all.

 

[elementskins]

As a manufacturer, I can tell you that there isn't a chance in hell that I'd be producing cases based on the "leaked" designs that we have seen so far.

Until the day we see the device at an Apple Press conference/Keynote, nothing is certain.

 

[APlotdevice]

Because a 30 or 19 pin dock connector will be able to do so much more than a Micro USB.

The 30pin can also supply considerably more power than USB. Perhaps this new connector will supply more still, bringing the recharge time back down for the next generation iPad.

 

[Calle68]

1. Yes, it's a micro-USB, my fault

2. Yes, as an example I own an expensive TomTom car kit and the iRig Midi interface, I will change my iPhone4 with the new one, and I'm really scared by this rumor.

3. Yes, but at that time, that was the solution which permits today to charge different cellphone with the same adapter here in my company ("I forgot my adapter, is there anyone ..."), apart from the environmental issues (which are important!).

The solution of Apple is ok (I use it for several devices too), but, if you do not have the white cable with you, it's a mess.

(Its micro USB actually - although a lot of older phones used mini USB)

1. Because the dock connector carries audio and video signals as well as data and power, so micro USB won't cut it.

2. Because there were already huge numbers of accessories with the iPod connector, third party cables, chargers etc. OK that argument is weakened if they are really going to change the connector, but sofar that is just a rumour and anyway it doesn't alter (1)

3. Because (typically) the EC's heart is in the right place, but the reality is a stupid solution, which legitimizes adaptors with captive micro USB cables that will go down the drain when manufacturers start making phones or other devices that are too small to house a micro-USB or (more likely) too small to house the fugly double connector needed to provide a microUSB socket alongside the extra pins needed for USB 3.

Apple already has a better universal AC adapter solution for iDevices, that meets the objectives of the EC scheme: put a full sized USB socket in the charger.

I already use my iPad adapter to charge my Kindle, my old miniUSB phone, my bluetooth keyboard, my wireless mouse... and even if the new iPhone did have a different connector I wouldn't need any more chargers - just the appropriate USB cable that I need to carry anyway to plug the phone into a laptop, my car, usb sockets at hotels... Third party adapters with USB sockets are widely available.

The problem that the EC set out to solve was that every mobile phone model (let alone make) came with its own unique AC brick that was expensive to replace and went on the landfill alongside the phone. Apple had already solved that problem.

 

[OllyW]

If it is coming with 19 pins then I frankly wish this will be the 1st Mag-safe Thunderbolt port.

It needs to have USB unless you want to restrict sales to those who've bought a new Mac during the last 16 months.

 

[MartiNZ]

And what's with the headphone jack being on the bottom? Why make such a silly change?

Only the best change since the iPhone has existed ... not so silly.

Really excited about this extra evidence; I've never gone in for any iDevice accessories so ... sign me up!!

 

[iEvolution]

I don't think there is going to be a accessory problem, I'm sure Apple has a extension in the works (or made already) that allows you to plug in legacy components with the new one.

 

[APlotdevice]

It needs to have USB unless you want to restrict sales to those who've bought a new Mac during the last 16 months.

That's not strictly true. Users would still have the options of WiFI syncing or iCloud.

 

[urbanlung]

please don't make it any bigger!

 

[OllyW]

That's not strictly true. Users would still have the options of WiFI syncing or iCloud.

Then why put an expensive Thunderbolt port in that only a minority of customers could use?

 

[Reason077]

Likely this will be a thunderbolt port.

No, it won't be thunderbolt based. Only a very small percentage of the world's PCs support thunderbolt, so Apple would be severely limiting their market if it wasn't USB based.

Also, the high cost of Thunderbolt controller chips would be prohibitive for many accessories, as well as cheaper Apple devices like the iPod nano.

This is purely about making the dock connector physically smaller so that future devices can themselves be made smaller and thinner.

 

[APlotdevice]

Then why put an expensive Thunderbolt port in that only a minority of customers could use?

The market for Thunderbolt will grow with time (with the cost coming down in the process). Having a major device like the iPhone support TB could even push other computer manufacturers to adopt it sooner rather than later.

BTW, I'm not saying Apple will put a TB on the iPhone. Just that it's not outside the realm of possibility.

 

[Skika]

No, it won't be thunderbolt based. Only a very small percentage of the world's PCs support thunderbolt, so Apple would be severely limiting their market if it wasn't USB based.

Also, the high cost of Thunderbolt controller chips would be prohibitive for many accessories, as well as cheaper Apple devices like the iPod nano.

Exactly this. And i would also add that there is no real profit in using Thunderbolt because flash in the iOS devices can barely saturate USB 2.0.

 

[OllyW]

The market for Thunderbolt will grow with time. Having a major device like the iPhone support TB could even push manufacturers to adopt it sooner rather than later.

Or it could put people off buying the iPhone.

It'll be USB 3, that's the mainstream solution.

 

[Sedrick]

Im sure it will be as desireable as ever, but I promised myself that if the iPhone got any bigger my addiction wouldnt lead me to a man bag.

So I guess if true Ill be moving on, to smaller and lighter again, and all I know right now - is that it wont be a Samsung.

So, exactly where are you moving on to? There's no other decent phone out there that's as small as the iPhone. Besides, the increase in size is almost negligible. Don't be silly, you aren't going anywhere.

 

[APlotdevice]

Or it could put people off buying the iPhone.

It'll be USB 3, that's the mainstream solution.

The mainstream solution would be to stick a standard microUSB and microHDMI port on this thing. Obviously Apple isn't going to do that. And considering they have other methods for people to connect and sync their data now, I really don't think you can discount the possibility outright.