Reuters Confirms a Smaller Dock Connector and Relocated Headphone Jack on Next iPhone

[AidenShaw]

and dongles == $$

Not at all. Apple has been using it's own 30-pin connection for the past 9 years. If anybody wanted to switch to Android for microUSB, they would've done it since sometime after 2007. The switch to a different proprietary connector proves nothing everybody wasn't already aware of: Apple uses it's own proprietary standards in their own devices.

and by changing its proprietary standards, Apple can generate new revenue streams selling dongles for conversion.

And the sheep line up to be fleeced....

 

[AngerDanger]

and by changing its proprietary standards, Apple can generate new revenue streams selling dongles for conversion.

And the sheep line up to be fleeced....

Image​

Are you trying to tell me that a company is going to make a profit by selling things that people don't technically need? This has to be a first!

At least the extra room left by the connector can house better internals, and the dongles will probably be available on eBay for around a dollar.

 

[Medic311]

This is actually a welcome change for me. I hate having to always flip my iPhone vertically when putting it in my pocket.

make that x2

having the headphone jack on the bottom means that when it's in my pocket while talking / listening to music, the iphone is oriented perfectly for use when i take it out with my hand

 

[tbrinkma]

The article you link to lists many phones with 5 pin mhl connections.
What makes you think 11 pin is used on all smart phones with mhl?

Hmm. You're right. I somehow completely missed the section with cell phones (I'm going to guess that I accidentally hit page down twice and didn't realize it), and misinterpreted the 'Connectors' section above it.

Of course, my original point was that the 'USB-compatible' 5-pin MHL connector doesn't do USB, despite using USB connectors. That is, if you connect a 5-pin MHL device to a computer through a USB port, you have a non-functioning connection because the MHL port doesn't speak USB.

 

[tbrinkma]

How about you bring non-dock connector iPods into it as well, pedant.

I would question anyone who sources images from a place called Guido Watch Image

Well, he said that all iOS devices used the dock connector. A pre-dock iPod isn't an iOS device.

He properly qualified his statement, so it was true.
The other poster overstated his case ("all Android"), so his statement was not true.
I'm not sure what you thought your point was.

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No, that wouldn't work either, the GBe adapter works over PCI. thunderbolt communicates over PCI only, removing the PCI would literally give you a different connector, and none of the advantages of Thunderbolt.

You're misunderstanding the post you replied to.

The Thunderbolt -> Gigabit Ethernet adapter is essentially a very small PCIe network card. Likewise for the Thunderbolt -> Firewire adapter. There's absolutely no reason they couldn't do a Thunderbolt -> some other connection type adapter using the same methodology, providing that PCIe -> whatever interface just like they do for GbE and FW.

 

[tbrinkma]

You don't get it, do you? 99% of Android phones are using an open standard - Micro USB. 0% of iPhone devices are using it.

Proprietary standard? What are you talking about? Of course that iPhone docks will use the same connector, because that's what the iPhone is compatible with for crying out loud. Is Apple's 30-pin connector used by a different company for devices that are not Apple accessories? No.
Speaking of standards, it seems you haven't heard about PDMI?

Some standard. It's apparently been used by *ONE* device, the Dell Streak (aka: Dell Mini 5), released in June 2010 and discontinued in August 2011. I suppose there's also the Ardent Vega, released in November 2010, but it apparently used a non-standard connector?

I guess we'll call that 1.5 confirmed devices to use the 2007 PDMI standard or (possibly) it's incompatible (backward or forward) 2010 revision. Compare that to the dozens of models of iPod, iPad, and iPhone which used the proprietary dock connector over the course of nearly 10 years.

 

[unlinked]

Hmm. You're right. I somehow completely missed the section with cell phones (I'm going to guess that I accidentally hit page down twice and didn't realize it), and misinterpreted the 'Connectors' section above it.

Of course, my original point was that the 'USB-compatible' 5-pin MHL connector doesn't do USB, despite using USB connectors. That is, if you connect a 5-pin MHL device to a computer through a USB port, you have a non-functioning connection because the MHL port doesn't speak USB.

Works fine for my phone. I think the difference between 5 pin mhl and 11 pin mhl is that 5 pin can do hdmi or usb but the 11 pin can do both at the same time.

 

[Bezetos]

Some standard. It's apparently been used by *ONE* device, the Dell Streak (aka: Dell Mini 5), released in June 2010 and discontinued in August 2011. I suppose there's also the Ardent Vega, released in November 2010, but it apparently used a non-standard connector?

I guess we'll call that 1.5 confirmed devices to use the 2007 PDMI standard or (possibly) it's incompatible (backward or forward) 2010 revision. Compare that to the dozens of models of iPod, iPad, and iPhone which used the proprietary dock connector over the course of nearly 10 years.

I'm not in anyway a supporter of PDMI, I was merely showing it as an example of an open standard for a dock connector, something that can be actually used by other companies if they want such connector (but nobody does because they can use Mircro-USB instead).

 

[tbrinkma]

I'm not in anyway a supporter of PDMI, I was merely showing it as an example of an open standard for a dock connector, something that can be actually used by other companies if they want such connector (but nobody does because they can use Mircro-USB instead).

If you think you can use micro-USB (or USB in general) to do what Apple's Dock connector does, you simply don't understand what it does.

Suffice it to say, there's a reason the iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch accessory market has so many more options than the Android device accessory market.

 

[Bezetos]

If you think you can use micro-USB (or USB in general) to do what Apple's Dock connector does, you simply don't understand what it does.

Oh really? You can have charging, data transfer, tethering, HDMI via MHL (1080p uncompressed video), 7.1 (8 channel) uncompressed audio via MHL, inter-device control, everything using a micro-USB socket.

Suffice it to say, there's a reason the iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch accessory market has so many more options than the Android device accessory market.

Oh really? On which planet?

 

[g8rjohns]

Smaller Connector = Worse Connections

I have too many micro usb products that have gone bad. My wife thinks that if the plug isn't going in, you should push harder. I'm sure she will break this one in a week or two.

Headphone on the bottom is nice. Don't like having connectors on each end when in the car. (Yes, my car has a 3.5mm jack for audio - not bluetooth or single connection)

 

[diamond.g]

I have too many micro usb products that have gone bad. My wife thinks that if the plug isn't going in, you should push harder. I'm sure she will break this one in a week or two.

Headphone on the bottom is nice. Don't like having connectors on each end when in the car. (Yes, my car has a 3.5mm jack for audio - not bluetooth or single connection)

It would be cool if they made it a MagSafe connector.

 

[g8rjohns]

It would be cool if they made it a MagSafe connector.

That would be cool, but probably unfeasible given the number of connections needed.

 

[tbrinkma]

Oh really? On which planet?

Earth. Seriously? Are you going to claim that the Android accessory market is as large as the iPod/iOS accessory market?

Go hit Wal-Mart (or pretty much any other store that isn't brand-specific) and compare the number and sheer breadth of available accessories. You'll find much more variety of accessories which utilize the dock connector. You'll find them from more manufacturers, and in more price ranges.

 

[Bezetos]

Earth. Seriously? Are you going to claim that the Android accessory market is as large as the iPod/iOS accessory market

It is comparable, especially outside USA.