Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Yes it will. Look inside the USB port. The contact splits the standard design in half, it is no larger than the current plug. Contacts are put on both sides of a very thin PCB so it is reversible.

This isn't an original design -- look:

http://www.tripplite.com/universal-...ersible-a-to-5pin-micro-b-male-6-ft~UR050006/

Clever. I see tripplite puts the USB logo on it, but I was just looking at the spec to see if it actually satisfies it, USB specifies just about everything down to the last detail and full compliance is mandatory to use the USB symbol on it.

All the drawings of the Series "A" plug in it show the blanking plug one side but I can't find a description which says it *must* be there. The plug has to satisfy various tests, including insertion and removal force and holding tests and connection tests but if it passes those it's probably in-spec. There isn't, for instance, a test that it can only go in one way up.

How funny if USB has actually had a reversible connector since day one.
 
So these new cables aren't going to work on any of our macs right? I just bought a new MBP retina 15" yesterday.

This would be for future unreleased macs? In my system profile it says USB 3.0 nothing about 3.1.

Are these new USB backwards compatible or do I have 3.1?

3.1 is the next standard in USB and isn't actually in use yet.
It will mean new plugs and new ports.
The cables in this article are simply reversible versions of the same old USB standard that we're all using all ready.
No new hardware needed.
 
Beneath that layer of rubber is a braided cable, you'd need to contact both that braided cable and the cable running along the inside of it to be shocked by it.

I know, but maybe apple should implement a Darwinism cable? If you are retarded enough to use a burst cable you die?
 
The only lightning connector i use is on iPhone 5s and iPad 4th gen...

No need for more.. I wouldn't be using it with anything else.

USB 3.0 is as fast as i could ever need...,. I can wait...
 
The quality of a particular cable has nothing to do with the convenience or other positive aspects of the connector. Even the people who hate apple lightning cables admit that cables from other sources (e.g. amazon) are fine.

The cost of buying better cables from elsewhere is directly limited to the negative aspects of the connector with Apple's DRM.
 
I have several Apple devices over many years, currently running are two iPods, an iPhone 4S, an iPad 3 and a MacBook Pro (Retina). All except the Macbook are of the older sort and use the 30 pin connector. I have found for me and my style of usage that I went and bought a batch of 5 cheap eBay cables costing $5 including shipping and just throw them away when they fail. I think over the past 10 years I've done this twice.

I tend not to worry about failing cables too much as there is always a spare handy. Life is too short to waste on unnecessary problems.
 
The cost of buying better cables from elsewhere is directly limited to the negative aspects of the connector with Apple's DRM.

You have absolutely no clue what DRM is, and on top of that, Monoprice cables are much cheaper.
 
What about a early 2011 macbook pro will they work with 2.0?

All new generation USBs will be backward compatible (with or without mechanical adapters) but electronics performance (e.g. Transmission speed) will be limited by the performance of the older generation's!!!
 
All for a new lightning cable as the current ones are poorly made and rip apart after a few months.

All my Apple cables are fine still. :eek:
Still have one from my original iPod (Click Wheel) 20Gb,
that I use for my iPad 1st gen. :p

I never open the new cable with my new apple devices,
cause the previous one still works perfectly. :D

Never had any issue with wrecking my cables.
 
All of Apple's cables do that, because they design them without proper strain relief (they think it looks ugly, and it does, but it also doesn't turn brown and shred itself).

Lightning cables do this, Thunderbolt cables, MagSafe cables, 30-pin cables too. I have A MagSafe cable which is about a year old, replaced once already and is held together with tape (despite the high power being transferred). Meanwhile, I have an old-style 30-pin connector with the holding fins and an honest-to-goodness strain relief; I got it with my 5G iPod and it's still immaculate after nearly a decade of use (with other products).

I can't believe there hasn't been a class-action suit about this yet. Almost every Apple customer will experience it.

There was a redditor who worked at Apple saying that Engineering had repeatedly asked for strain reliefs on the cables but we're overruled by the Design department.

It does not make any difference how many proofs you show, how many class action suits you loose, Apple fans do not agree that something is a problem unless they have actually faced it themselves. If it did not happen to them it did not happen at all. I still have guys who argue that iPhone 4s has no problems at all even though Apple lost a class action suit..Funny guys..
 
It does not make any difference how many proofs you show, how many class action suits you loose, Apple fans do not agree that something is a problem unless they have actually faced it themselves. If it did not happen to them it did not happen at all. I still have guys who argue that iPhone 4s has no problems at all even though Apple lost a class action suit..Funny guys..

Out of interest, what was the lawsuit that Apple lost about?
 
The biggest problem faced by all apple fans is the inability of the Internet to spell "lose."

Also, apple did not lose any class action lawsuit about the 4s.


It does not make any difference how many proofs you show, how many class action suits you loose, Apple fans do not agree that something is a problem unless they have actually faced it themselves. If it did not happen to them it did not happen at all. I still have guys who argue that iPhone 4s has no problems at all even though Apple lost a class action suit..Funny guys..
 
I will NEVER understand how people's cords end up becoming torn and frayed. I had the same 30-pin cable at my desk for YEARS and it was still in new condition when I replaced it with my lightning cable last year, which also shows no signs of damage.

Maybe don't treat your stuff like s*** and it will stay in good condition?
 
I will NEVER understand how people's cords end up becoming torn and frayed. I had the same 30-pin cable at my desk for YEARS and it was still in new condition when I replaced it with my lightning cable last year, which also shows no signs of damage.

Maybe don't treat your stuff like s*** and it will stay in good condition?
Seems you're not an Gadget Warrior...
 
Someone took a photo of something? Right, that's confirmed it then - conclusive proof.

----------

Reversible USB connector.....yes please!

No more struggling in the dark at 2 AM after streaming a whole season of Orange is the new Black.

:D

If orange was the new black, darkness (which is generally blackness) would be orange, and since you'd need to have a light source to KNOW it was orange, you wouldn't be struggling...

:p

----------

Are you my wife? Because she beats the crap out of all her cables and shrugs her shoulders at me like she doesn't know how they got that way. I've got cables 10 years old that look like they're were recently unwrapped.

In summary, I take care of my stuff. Sheesh.

Women tend not to understand the laws of physics, as is evidenced by the usual attempts to fit 200 dresses and 50 pairs of shoes inside a wardrobe the size of a phone box, so I'd not expect them to understand abrasion, tensile strengths and torsional limits, without a *little* explanation. :D

</sarcasm>

Women's lib folks: I was having a giggle.

Everyone else: See above.
 
As others have pointed out, reversible USB plugs have been around for a while. Apple is going to convince everyone they invented it like they always do.

www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Universal-Reversible-UR050-003-RA/dp/B00ESZIIRU/
 
As others have pointed out, reversible USB plugs have been around for a while. Apple is going to convince everyone they invented it like they always do.

www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Universal-Reversible-UR050-003-RA/dp/B00ESZIIRU/

Your link proves that such a product already exists and nothing else, and I don't see any mention of Apple stating they invented it, nor do I see any mention on the Amazon page of anything to do with who/when/what etc.

----------

Okay, genius. Where'd you get your Ph.D. in physics?

There's always one, isn't there. Please refer to </sarcasm>, then make a cup of tea and enjoy the calm.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.