Ball Drop: Where is the 30-pin to Lightning adapter??

[reputationZed]

I'd rather that they planned so that they would be ready for the launch of the iPhone 5 and new iPod touch.

Most likely they did plan to release the adapter at the same time as the iPhone5 but ran into an unforeseen delay. What possible benefit would there be to Apple to intentionally delay the adapter. Apple is telling us the adapters will be available in October (read end of) would you have preferred they delayed the iPhone 5 a month just so you could get an adapter at the same time.

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Sometimes I can't figure logic of this huge companies, millions of people without work and we are without adapters Chinese can't make it in time, do it here in US or Mexico. Why should we wait so long and after that they will be asking some large $ for them anyway. I can't connect HDMI adapter, I can't reuse my charges in car etc!!!

Why assume its a labor problem? Far more likely to be a technical issue or problems procuring sub components.

 

[SunnyStudioNeo]

The lightning stuffs have some tech barrier to make, so not all the third party manufacturers can produce it. I'd say give it some time...

 

[Wintrmte]

Yup. Thats how crazy demand works....

I don't think it's demand, it's poor planning and manufacturing on Apple's part.

They (Apple) knew well in advance that they were going to change the connector on the phone and thus should have started manufacturing the adapters months, if not a year in advance of the release of the phone.

Apple absolutely dropped the ball.

 

[kas23]

The lightning stuffs have some tech barrier to make, so not all the third party manufacturers can produce it. I'd say give it some time...

You mean Apple designed, produced, and shipped devices with Lightening connectors without having "some tech barrier" not already worked out? I would say that would be highly irresponsible.

Anyways, I am worried about the fate of these adaptors. I think they're going to be vapor ware for some while and we likely see Lightening-ready devices before we see the adaptors. Think about it. iPhone 5 parts were leaking out months before the phone's release. By September, one could even buy an already assembled mock iPhone 5. Have we seen even a hint of these adaptor's existence? No, nothing. Not even a blurry picture. Heck, we haven't even seen any faked/photoshop pics.

 

[avanpelt]

WHAT!?

There are literally (and I mean literally) none. Not a single one. Nobody in the universe has one yet.

It's not short supply - it's NO supply.

I go to the Apple Store and there are 50+ lightning to USB cables, but there simply aren't any of the more expensive and desirable 30-pin to Lightning adaptors.

I'm really surprised that Tim Cook allowed the ball to be dropped with the 30-pin to Lightning Adapters. After all, he is "Mr. Supply Chain". One would think that as soon as they decided to go with the Lightning port, they would've started getting the plans together on the adapter and the adapters would've gone into production roughly the same time as the phones did.

The only thing I can come up with is that the decision to delay the availability of the adapters was a "money grab" decision. Maybe they figure that if they postpone the availability of the adapter until a month after the iPhone 5 launch, some people will buy two or three Lightning cables because they need them right away. $19 x2 is more money in Apple's pocket than one of the $29 adapters and $19 x3 is more money in Apple's pocket than the $39 adapter. I suspect the cables themselves are cheaper to make than the adapters so Apple probably ends up getting more money off each cable sold anyway.

 

[DarwinOSX]

And clearly that didn't happen. So dealing with THIS reality, how do you think they should proceed? Make it work, or just ship it out and face potential backlash?

You have no idea if making it work is the reason they aren't out yet.
More likely they just didn't make it a priority. It's not like they didn't know about this change a long time ago within Apple.

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The only thing I can come up with is that the decision to delay the availability of the adapters was a "money grab" decision. Maybe they figure that if they postpone the availability of the adapter until a month after the iPhone 5 launch, some people will buy two or three Lightning cables because they need them right away. $19 x2 is more money in Apple's pocket than one of the $29 adapters and $19 x3 is more money in Apple's pocket than the $39 adapter. I suspect the cables themselves are cheaper to make than the adapters so Apple probably ends up getting more money off each cable sold anyway.

Thats not why. Apple doesn't care about things like that.

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This little accessory should have been manufactured in massive bulk as soon as they decided on this connector, probably over a year ago! The adapter should be in every apple store in the world, in bulk. It is pretty inexcusable that they would release a phone with a new proprietary connector and not give any legacy support at all.

Better yet, they should just be giving it away with every purchase for first year purchasers! It probably costs them 25¢ to produce and they sell it for $30!

I was with you until the part where you think they should give them away and that it only costs 25 cents to make. $30 is too much but they have multiple chips in there that have significant cost.

 

[avanpelt]

Thats not why. Apple doesn't care about things like that.

Apple doesn't care about making more money? Yeah, right. I love their products, but they are in business to make as much money as possible for the shareholders. I don't fault them for that because I'm in business to make money, as well.

I just think that absent an explanation of a manufacturing delay or something of that nature, it was probably a calculated decision to delay the release of the adapters.

 

[Mliii]

I find myself increasingly frustrated with the "Just Give Them Some Time" answers whenever someone points out where Apple has dropped the ball on something.
This isn't 'Joan And Thelma's Knitting Emporium' we're talking about here... It's Apple- THE most highly capitalized company in the World!

And when they make changes to a product line- whether it's the Lightening Adapter or the Map App, they don't just wake up one morning and decide to implement those changes that afternoon. They are long in the making.

Their job -if they want to retain their status as a leading innovator- should be to see to it that parts are available, products work and that the whole system is tightly integrated.
What I'm concerned about is that the culture around Apple has become one of hubris - "Hey we're APPLE! We do everything RIGHT and everything we do IS right" even when it's not!
So, NO, I'm not willing to 'just give them some time' to get things right! Do your damn job and make things right when you release them!

 

[skidbubble]

I think you are just having bad timing. In the other thread, there are reports that folks are buying them up 20-30 at a time presumably to turn around and flip them for $100 apiece on ebay. That's how it is sometimes with these items that are low in supply, high in demand. I saw the same thing happen with the bumpers when the iPhone 4 first came out (before apple gave them free).

 

[bushman4]

Seems that the company manufacturing these accessories is not up to the task.
Sure that Tim cook will address this issue soon.

 

[GravityEyes]

I think you are just having bad timing. In the other thread, there are reports that folks are buying them up 20-30 at a time presumably to turn around and flip them for $100 apiece on ebay. That's how it is sometimes with these items that are low in supply, high in demand. I saw the same thing happen with the bumpers when the iPhone 4 first came out (before apple gave them free).

Bad timing? NO ONE HAS THEM. No one. They do not exist.

 

[MotleyGrrl]

I agree that's it ridiculous and should have been something that was available on launch day.
When I bought my phone at the apple store I asked 3 different 'geniuses' about when these would be available and IF they would work with my 30 pin connector cable I have in my car. 2 said it probably wouldn't work and the other said it would. They all said the connector would be in stores Oct 1st but I should order it online just in case. I said this would pose a problem if it didn't work and it was after my 30 days by the time these adapters were released... I mean really - this shouldn't even be an issue.

 

[rwilliams]

Apple completely dropped the ball by not having these available at the time of the release. It's ridiculous.

I agree with this. If you're going to completely change the port on the new phone, and you know there's going to be a ton of now incompatible accessories out there, you've gotta have the adapter ready when the iPhone launches. The coordination of this particular endeavor was poorly done. Both the phone and the adapter should have been ready to launch simultaneously.

Equally shortsighted is the lack of an Apple-made dock for the 5. It's not like Apple has never made other accessories for their products that weren't in extremely high demand.

 

[skidbubble]

From here on out, this issue should be referred to as adaptergate.

 

[reputationZed]

From here on out, this issue should be referred to as adaptergate.

How original

 

[thadoggfather]

I want my 0.2m adapter ASAP!

They should at least give us a more precise ETA