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

If the pins are different, the iPhone better include an adaptor free of charge for at least this model phone. I'd hate like hell to spend $29 or $39 on some cable to make it work in my car or some home devices.

Also, this should be USB 3.0 so that data transfers happen quicker.
 
I'm slow today, so please humor me, but how the **** can they "confirm" anything, based of leaks? What more than us do they know? do they have an actual iPhone 5, from Apple in their hands?
 
Rodimus Prime said:
I am going to point out that he is right on about it. The new dock connector makes all your connection devices useless and obsolete in the fact that you can not just plug your iPhone into them any more.
Since that major cost of replacement of everything is now no longer a factor as no matter what you do they would have to be replaced it causes more people to jump ship as that is no longer an increased cost in eating.

What honestly annoys me about them changing the dock connector is they still refuse to put a micro USB port on the phone as well. If they are going to change it they might as well go with the standard everyone else uses on their phone or add it in as another port on the side to use.
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Nobody else's phone uses that micro USB connection to provide:
Analog video
Analog audio
A simple serial data connection
or any of the other features that the Dock provides.

There's a reason that there are so few accessories available for Android devices.
 
unplugme71 said:
If the pins are different, the iPhone better include an adaptor free of charge for at least this model phone. I'd hate like hell to spend $29 or $39 on some cable to make it work in my car or some home devices.

Also, this should be USB 3.0 so that data transfers happen quicker.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if it isn't USB 3.0.

It's funny they made the huge 30-pin connector and only ever used 4 pins since USB 2.0 only has 4 pins. USB 3.0 uses 5 pins and is much, much faster, so maybe that is why they decide to shrink the connector down. When they designed the original connector, maybe they figured it was better to add many more spots for pins, expecting faster connections will require many more pins, in the future. Guess they were wrong.
 
Gix1k said:
This renders my car and my dock useless..What a dumbazz move. Headphone on the bottom...WHY? Who wants their phone upside down all the time.

If all of this and if it still looks like the 4S just longer, I'm getting the S3. F this! :mad:
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It makes sense... when your phone is upside down in your pocket, you don't have to flip it over to read it when you pull it out.
 
Icaras said:
This is actually a welcome change for me. I hate having to always flip my iPhone vertically when putting it in my pocket.
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Jynto said:
I am almost certain that the new dock connector will be compatible with Thunderbolt.
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I don't think so. To put thunderbolt in a device like the iPhone (let alone the iPod nano etc) would be far too expensive and have few advantages. USB 3.0, yes, but not Thunderbolt.
 
charliecc said:
I don't think I'm over estimating the ignorance of people at all, and I think you're comments are bordering on offensive, please stick to the subject matter, petty derogatory comments will only undermine your argument.

When I speak to friends of mine (yes shock horror I do have some friends) with an iPhone and they see my phone, 8 times out of 10 they have no idea what it is, even when I tell them the name and the operating system it runs. When I show them the phone and what it can do, most of them say they'll consider switching when the time comes. So yes, I would say many people are ignorant of the capabilities of other phones.

Now here's the key point, the reason they are ignorant isn't necessarily their fault. The Google marketing machine is poor at best, so the information just isn't out there for the average person that has little time to devote to their next smart phone purchase. Keeping abreast of the latest and greatest phone is not top of everyone's list.

When Apple brought out the first iPhone is was truly revolutionary and changed the market forever. I remember the first time I used it, it blew me away. Now, imagine someone that got an iPhone during this time period or saw someone else who had. It's streaks ahead of anything else at the time. But like most people they're not really interested in the goings on in the smart phone market as time passes, their phone works well and that's all they care about. Why not just get the next iPhone when it comes out. So yes, I do think most iPhone buyers are ignorant to the competition, why else would anyone now buy an iPhone, but I certainly understand the reasons for their ignorance.
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I can only assume that when you talk to your friends you aren't as arrogant as you come across here because, believe me, if I had your attitude I wouldn't have any friends - and that would serve me right.

The argument for ignorance could equally be used against the millions buying Android handsets since the average consumer isn't as informed as people like us who frequent tech forums. In fact, the the usage stats tend to suggest that iPhone buyers are more likely to be towards the higher end user segment and far more likely to buy apps, use Wifi and surf the web on their iPhones than Android users are with their handsets. But the fact that most consumers know less about tech than you or I does not in the slightest make their choices any less valid whether those choices are iPhones, Android powered handsets, Blackberries or Windows Phones.

For all your wordiness you don't seem to be able to grasp that other people see more value in some things than you do and less in others. There are lots of perfectly good reasons to buy an iPhone rather than any other handset. Some may like the excellent customer service that you get from Apple and through iTunes. Some people might prefer the more straightforward UI. Some people will have plenty of apps and enjoy the ecosystem that the iPhone plugs into while others may like the way software upgrades are handled with the iPhone in preference to the mess that is Android updates. Some people may love the elegant design and the wider array of accessories that are iPhone compatible. Some might even like Siri! You don't have to agree with these preferences but that's the beauty, you don't have to!

But you only see the world through your eyes and from your perspective. If an option is better to YOU then it MUST be better for EVERYONE and there's no way that someone as well informed and rational as you could possibly come to a different but equally valid position based on his own personal needs.

This is arrogance and ignorance. If you find it offensive to have someone point out your bad attitude then that's your own problem. I think, perhaps, rather than blaming me for holding up a mirror you might try to change the reflection.
 
VenusianSky said:
I'd be surprised if it isn't USB 3.0.

It's funny they made the huge 30-pin connector and only ever used 4 pins since USB 2.0 only has 4 pins. USB 3.0 uses 5 pins and is much, much faster, so maybe that is why they decide to shrink the connector down. When they designed the original connector, maybe they figured it was better to add many more spots for pins, expecting faster connections will require many more pins, in the future. Guess they were wrong.
Click to expand...

Wait. You actually think that only 4 pins of the Dock connector were used? :eek:

4 pins of the dock connector were used *for USB*. There are also pins to provide a simple serial interface, analog audio (line-out), analog video (component and composite, IIRC), and several other functions. Up until shortly before the iPhone, some of the Dock pins were reserved for firewire data/power as well.

The Dock is most certainly *not* just USB or something that can be replaced with *just* USB. If the analysis we've seen here of the 19 pins in the rumored new dock connector is true, then we'll see entirely passive Old-Dock to New-Dock adaptors released very shortly after the release of the new connector.
 
Reason077 said:
Uhh, you know the dock connector carries other signals besides USB, right? Like Audio, HDMI, etc.
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Uhh, you know those things don't require 30-pins either right? My point is that they never needed 30 pins and maybe that is why they are shrinking it down, if they in fact are.

tbrinkma said:
Wait. You actually think that only 4 pins of the Dock connector were used? :eek:

4 pins of the dock connector were used *for USB*. There are also pins to provide a simple serial interface, analog audio (line-out), analog video (component and composite, IIRC), and several other functions. Up until shortly before the iPhone, some of the Dock pins were reserved for firewire data/power as well.

The Dock is most certainly *not* just USB or something that can be replaced with *just* USB. If the analysis we've seen here of the 19 pins in the rumored new dock connector is true, then we'll see entirely passive Old-Dock to New-Dock adaptors released very shortly after the release of the new connector.
Click to expand...

A wire is a wire. There aren't special wires for USB, HDMI, audio, power etc. It all is just about the connector on the end and you cannot plug two separate cables into one dock connector at the same time.

Sorry, I forgot about HDMI cables which do require more pins, but they do not require 30.
 
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The headphone jack on the bottom is not that big of a deal, to me. It actually makes sense from an ergonomic standpoint. When you have your phone out, and you're listening to music, heaving the jack on the bottom puts it closer to you. Meaning you, now, won't have the cord draping over the phone, or along the side. It also make sense when it comes to putting it in your pocket for the same reasons.

As for the change in the pin connector, I guess that we should have seen it coming. The size of the MagSafe connector on MacBooks has changed to a smaller size. I am actually a little incredulous that the reduction of the port is solely because of the headphone jack. I suspect that all of the companies that produce accessories will have a quick fix that will, mostly, lay flat and completely cover the previous male pin connector. It will be a bit unsightly, though, for other equipment with just a cable and a male connector.

Change is inevitable.
 
Once again, nobody is mentioning the suspect durability of the new connector. Current connector is already fragile and it feels that when my phone/ipod are on the speaker dock that a simple nudge might break the connector. This new connector has the potential to be even more fragile. :/
 
Winni said:
I don't know what Android phones you are talking about, because the last time I looked the all used shared industry standards. For example, unlike Apple, Android even has a full and standards-compliant implementation of the BlueTooth standard. And all Android gadgets use standard USB cables to power and connect the device. Oh, and they don't need external software like iTunes to let the user access his data on the device.
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Which USB 'standard' would that be? A, B, mini, micro. Is that the whole list? I think there's another. Oh yes, 2 and 3. Will the current choice remain standard for 9 years? I doubt it. USB already has more variations than Apple has. Over time, smaller connectors are needed. So the great USB standard has already done what some here complain Apple might do. More than once.

For power, none of it matters (on either platform), you only need to change the cable. For accessories, docks etc it's an inconvenience but changing for factors cause this anyway. And Apple only vary their form over time, Android had a billion all at once. Will your Galaxy S4 (running pork chop ice lolly) fit your S3 dock. Maybe. But isn't the wonder of Android that you can change brands at will, losing any chance of dock compatibility?
 
maxluc said:
If this is legit, might be a massive design fail, placing the microphones even further away from either a right- or left-handed user’s mouth when talking on the phone and possibly even placing an obstacle there (cable) further diminishing speech quality.
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This might be a moot point. If you have a cable plugged isn't the on-board mic disabled forcing you to use the mic built into the headphones?
 
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