If they are gonna screw people over with the dock connector..

[boomhower]

I'm actually fine with a new dock connector. The old one is huge and has to be impeding what they can do design wise with the phone. If Apple doesn't make a connector I'm sure the aftermarket will in short order. There are a lot of expensive docks, stereos, and soundbars in the multi hundred dollar range people aren't just going to through out.

 

[CallOfDuty]

You could say that about almost any environmental issue. It's the mentality that lets environmental issues become issues in the first place.

As of March 2011, Apple had sold 100 million iPhones worldwide. They sold another 37 million iPhones in Q1 of this year. That's double what they sold in Q1 of last year.

If even 25% of current owners upgrade to the next phone with a new dock connector, that's 25 million obsolete cables/docks/etc. Some will be resold, but many will not. And that doesn't account for people who own more than one cable or accessory.

And a huge glut of these cables and accessories will be tossed in landfills within a month of release of the new phone. It will be a purge of electronics caused by one company, on a scale the earth has never seen.

Totally agree. Apple WOULD have to account to the environmentalists and agencies for this. They must kickstart a recycling or trade in program for the old cables. I had a friend who owned like 5 cables. Yes, 5. One for his car, 2 in his house, 1 at his workplace and another spare one he bought from the Apple store just in case. All 5 of them were bought at the official apple store and I don't know whether I should applaud and admire him for using the official cables or snigger at him for buying official cables whereby cheap cables on Ebay could easily do the same job.

----------

I'm actually fine with a new dock connector. The old one is huge and has to be impeding what they can do design wise with the phone. If Apple doesn't make a connector I'm sure the aftermarket will in short order. There are a lot of expensive docks, stereos, and soundbars in the multi hundred dollar range people aren't just going to through out.

The new cable for the new dock could possibly look like the thunderbolt cable design and I wouldn't mind a bit! Just that the new dock connector might be more unstable than the previosu one assuming it has changed...

 

[mcdj]

I think your apocalyptic forecast of doom is a little over the top personally

I mentioned neither apocalypse nor doom. Hyperbolizing an argument is the first sign of denial.

All I'm saying is, we as a planet have rarely, if ever, witnessed such a massive dumping of non biodegradeable cables and accessories in such a short amount of time. We regularly toss old tech stuff when it dies, but not millions of items related to one specific company's product over the span of one month.

Maybe it won't be a big deal, but I don't think anyone could argue that we don't have enough experience to know the exact impact.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

My God people, let it go. If you have to shell out a whopping 2 or 3 bucks for a new cable, then do it. Cables for the iPhone don't cost that much.

It will be fair amount of lag time before cheap ones get out. Apple wl sell you adapter for the standard 30 bucks and Apple cables are like 20 for like 3 ft

 

[tbayrgs]

I find that the angst caused by implementing a new dock connector amusing and rather ridiculous. What do you people expect, Apple, to use the existing connector forever? And all the moaning and complaining about the additional cost--you'll spend hundreds of dollars on a device every year or two and thousands on the actual monthly mobile bill over that time but God forbid you have to spend another $10-20 on cables or adapters? Give me a break.

Change happens, learn to deal with it already.

I do think the previously mentioned idea of an Apple sponsored recycling program for all of the old cables/adapters would be a great idea though I find it unlikely to actually occur.

 

[ixodes]

A stretched out iphone is just pointless. What are they gonna do with the screen space? An extra row of icons? Gimme a break..

Downvote me all you want to. I dont care. I have always been a fan of apple products but this is the dumbest design idea since the hindenburg.
.

I too am a huge fan of Apple, it's why I post my honest opinion when it seems like Apple is adrift.

Your opinion of this phone is the same as mine, it just seems rather pointless to stretch the display, while keeping it very narrow.

If I didn't care about Apple, I wouldn't post, and I sure wouldn't be bothered by this new model. After all I do believe there are many that also share our view, and Apple is forcing us to make a choice.

That's not a good thing for any company to do. Alienating your good customers will come back to hurt your business sooner or later.

 

[MacDawg]

The devices using the old cables still need the old cables don't they?
No need to recycle all of these cables immediately when you can include them with your iPhone 3Gs/4/4s when you sell it, etc.

A new cable for a new device doesn't suddenly make everything else obsolete and cause them to head for the landfills
I for one am not going to gather up all of my old cables and toss them in the trash when the new iPhone is announced even if I buy one
I will need my cables for my current devices

 

[nuckinfutz]

This thread isn't about the dock connector.


The OP has a whopping total of 4 posts. Here's the other thread he's created in those 4 posts.

Wouldn't it make sense to make the phone wider as well?

So I the real target here isn't the Dock Connector. His first thread didn't gain traction so he attacks from a new angle and then goes right back to his chief complaint which is the lack of a wider phone.

OP ...please try to be a bit more transparent. If you create a thread and it doesn't go anywhere let it die a happy forum death. Trying to revive a dead topic through a faux complaint about another item is poor netiquette.

 

[wordoflife]

you sir, can no longer be down voted.

I was wondering for a good 3 minutes why this post didn't have any negative mäarks.

 

[Twixt]

This sounds awfully familliar. I think about 90% of people on here said this exact same thing about the past two generations and we all know how the sales went

Except I did not buy 4 and 4S, still using my old 3GS...
I need a new phone so either number 5 is exceptional or I leave

 

[pooleman]

I would love a new dock connector. The 30 pin connector is huge and is by far the most vulnerable part of the phone, next to screen anyway. Bring on the new connector. Within 1 month after release, if we get a new iPhone this year, which I doubt, the market will be flooded with cables to support the new connector. How soon after a new design of the iPhone 4 did we see new cases emerge? Not very long.

 

[northernbaldy]

HOW DARE THEY! I demand that they fit a slot for a VHS tape
I have loads that will be useless

 

[daviddth]

All I'm saying is, we as a planet have rarely, if ever, witnessed such a massive dumping of non biodegradeable cables and accessories in such a short amount of time. We regularly toss old tech stuff when it dies, but not millions of items related to one specific company's product over the span of one month.

So all these people are going to not only toss millions of cables and docks, but older iPhones too? I think not...

Most of the iPhones will be sold off, handed down, or put in drawers as spares, but wont be thrown out, so the "new" owners of the phones will be after cheap accessories, so there is likely to be a real market for the used cables, docks, and other accessories.

I see no real difference to the change from IDE to SATA HDD's - I bet there were more HDD's which were thrown out over a year or so after SATA was introduced, along with their cables, and most probably would not have had a ready used market compared with the iPhones.

 

[Sedrick]

In addition to thinking the (rumored) taller screen is a waste of effort, a new connector will also screw me out of 3 moderately expensive stereo/radio/speaker docks that will no longer be useful.

I seriously think there is going to be a huge market for used 4S phones about 5 minutes after the new phone is announced. If rumors are true, I'll be after one myself.

 

[TonyC28]

I refuse to spend one single drop of disappointment or excitement on rumors or supposedly leaked parts.

But if a new dock connector does come to be true is it really screwing anyone over? It's called an advancement.

 

[noteple]

In addition to thinking the (rumored) taller screen is a waste of effort, a new connector will also screw me out of 3 moderately expensive stereo/radio/speaker docks that will no longer be useful.

I seriously think there is going to be a huge market for used 4S phones about 5 minutes after the new phone is announced. If rumors are true, I'll be after one myself.

I guess the lines will be a lot shorter

 

[vistadude]

It's funny how people are glad to spend, two, three, four, five, even six hundred dollars for a new iphone as soon as it becomes available, which, get this, COMES with a new cable, yet they will scream when their $20 cable might not be used with the new models. We don't even know if their will be a new connector, and heck, it might even be plain USB, which is far more universal. Your old cable is not going to become obsolete, it's still going to work with five generations of iphones, and maybe twenty different types of ipods.

 

[kdarling]

You can never please everyone but it's possible Apple wanted to keep the single-handed usability factor high, which is something that many other OEMs seem to have missed with the mini-tab phones. Just my two cents of course.

Single-handed usability is pretty good on the larger Android and Windows phones, because they have a bottom Back button that's always available to the thumb.

A taller/wider screen would have far more negative affect on iOS, due to the usual placement of Back navigation at the upper left... which is often furthest away from the thumb.

 

[Wrathwitch]

They might as well screw the developers while theyre at it and increase the screen size both ways. Not just vertically. I actually couldnt care less about the dock connector. But if they are willing to make everyones accessories obsolete then why would they care so much about the developers having to recode their apps? Fragmentation? Does anybody really give a damn? I think most people want a bigger screen by now. So what if all the apps dont fit at first. Given enough times things will be fixed. Things change. The developers can adapt like the rest of us.

A stretched out iphone is just pointless. What are they gonna do with the screen space? An extra row of icons? Gimme a break.. They could already make the screen longer without actually increasing the size of the phone. Granted they need a bigger battery for the extra stuff like LTE and I understand that but still.. Iphone long edition just looks stupid to me.

Downvote me all you want to. I dont care. I have always been a fan of apple products but this is the dumbest design idea since the hindenburg.
.

Screw you over? hmmm just use lube and go to your happy place, the pain will be over before you know it!!

 

[ChrisTX]

Agreed, we just have to wait a little longer.

Pun intended?

 

[james92se]

The devices using the old cables still need the old cables don't they?
No need to recycle all of these cables immediately when you can include them with your iPhone 3Gs/4/4s when you sell it, etc.

A new cable for a new device doesn't suddenly make everything else obsolete and cause them to head for the landfills
I for one am not going to gather up all of my old cables and toss them in the trash when the new iPhone is announced even if I buy one
I will need my cables for my current devices

Exactly.

When I sell my 4S to get the 5, it's not like I'm going to THROW AWAY all my 4S cables and peripherals. What am I going to do with them? I'm going to include them in my 4S sale. And it's not like the buyer going to say "oh, these cables won't work on the 5, but even though I have the 4S, I'm just going to THROW ALL THESE CABLES AWAY anyway."

I mentioned neither apocalypse nor doom. Hyperbolizing an argument is the first sign of denial.

All I'm saying is, we as a planet have rarely, if ever, witnessed such a massive dumping of non biodegradeable cables and accessories in such a short amount of time. We regularly toss old tech stuff when it dies, but not millions of items related to one specific company's product over the span of one month.

Maybe it won't be a big deal, but I don't think anyone could argue that we don't have enough experience to know the exact impact.

I'm sure you mean well, but I'm sorry, the utter exaggeration of the incomprehensibly massive, other-worldy-scale of the sudden techno-waste you seem to expect solely from a potential dock-connector change from an iPhone is totally asinine.

 

[pooleman]

I seriously think there is going to be a huge market for used 4S phones about 5 minutes after the new phone is announced. If rumors are true, I'll be after one myself.

If that's true send me a PM. I'll unload my 4S.

 

[Dolorian]

I think the 4S kind of put them in a weird spot though. It is already a beast and hardware cannot really get that much better, so visually it has to be different.

Yes. I mean, it already has a retina display, so that's out of the question and things like a better front and rear camera, better battery life, faster processors, etc are very much mandatory in every new upgrade so that can't really be what what they'll be touting when they present the iPhone 5, telling us how "amazing" it is.

I think it boils down to two things that Apple will need to have in this new update in order to really make an impression:

- A New design/form factor
- A bigger screen

I am getting more and more the feeling from people that without those two things the new iPhone 5 just won't cut it.

 

[bushman4]

Yes. I mean, it already has a retina display, so that's out of the question and things like a better front and rear camera, better battery life, faster processors, etc are very much mandatory in every new upgrade so that can't really be what what they'll be touting when they present the iPhone 5, telling us how "amazing" it is.

I think it boils down to two things that Apple will need to have in this new update in order to really make an impression:

- A New design/form factor
- A bigger screen

I am getting more and more the feeling from people that without those two things the new iPhone 5 just won't cut it.

Other possible updates that might do the trick:
Wireless headphones
Wireless charging

Apple fans are expecting a lot and nothing less will cut it.