All iPads Why no magnetic Magsafe-style connector?

[Night Spring]

Yes, I've read about the lightning port. The big "plus" about it is it can be put in either direction unlike the 30-pin connector. And it has a cool-sounding name. It's a little smaller too which i suppose leaves a little more room for speakers/mics on the bottom of an iphone but that's never been an issue.

A "little" smaller? No, it's a lot smaller, and I doubt the iPhone 5/5S/5C and iPad mini and Air could be as thin as they are if they had to use the old 30-pin connector.

And no, I don't know of any other amazing technological advantage of the lightning port, other than it being smaller, but well, it is what it is. And no, I'm not an engineer and don't know any technical reasons why it might be infeasible to add magnets to the lightning connection, but then, neither do you. There could very well be a good technical reason why that isn't feasible, or it could be a purely design-based or usage-based decision. Since Apple isn't in the habit of making its decision-making process public, we'll likely never find out. All we can do is speculate.

And once again, your main issue is that it is hard to get iDevices in and out of docks and other such peripherals. But why are you so fixated on magnets as the solution?

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

I can't help but feel as if you're just looking for an argument. Several people have given you obvious reasons as to why a magnetic connection is a bad idea for Lightning. Yet, you ignore them or dismiss them because the facts don't match your opinions.

 

[viewfly]

I never seen my MacBook fly off a table by pulling on the MagSafe connector. The MB is too heavy.

Seems the OP not accepting some very good reasons.

 

[alphaod]

Because most people don't want their charging cables disconnected accidentally when they bump the device.

Do you realize how impossible it would be to secure the device in something moving like say a car? Sure we can add a clamp to secure it, but wouldn't defeat the point of having magnets in the first place?

 

[paulbennett95]

So tell me what all these amazing advances are with the lightning cable. I've been using one for well over a year now (now i'm using two) and i see zero improvement over the old 30-pin. But i have an open mind - please educate me.

The 30-pin connector had a pin for each function that an accessory or cable would use.

The Lightning connector only has 8-pins which can be dynamically assigned to do certain functions or transfer certain data, and has a built-in processor for other things. I'm no engineer so I don't know any specific benefits, but the Wikipedia article should suffice (note: read the sources on the page before saying "anyone can edit Wikipedia!")

You could probably stop ranting at this point and admit the Lightning connector is better

 

[goobot]

A "little" smaller? No, it's a lot smaller, and I doubt the iPhone 5/5S/5C and iPad mini and Air could be as thin as they are if they had to use the old 30-pin connector.

The fourth gen iPod touch is thinner than them and it uses 30 pin.

 

[paulbennett95]

The fourth gen iPod touch is thinner than them and it uses 30 pin.

The iPod Touch 4G also has a 930 mAh battery as apposed to the 1560 mAh battery on the 5S, that makes a big difference, as well as the extra cellular components/antennas and other differences.

Note the 4S is thicker than the 5, and the 5G being thinner than the 4G. Also note the differing connectors. Correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation, but...

 

[goobot]

The iPod Touch 4G also has a 930 mAh battery as apposed to the 1560 mAh battery on the 5S, that makes a big difference, as well as the extra cellular components/antennas and other differences.

Note the 4S is thicker than the 5, and the 5G being thinner than the 4G. Also note the differing connectors. Correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation, but...

They have been getting thinner every year tho. While it does save space left and right it doesn't really make it much thinner at all up and down.

 

[Night Spring]

The fourth gen iPod touch is thinner than them and it uses 30 pin.

Oh yes, the 4th gen iPod touch. The 30-pin connector bately fit in it, and it was half sticking out in the back.

It was the perfect illustration of why the 30-pin connector had to go.

 

[viewfly]

Why no magnetic Magsafe-style connector?

There would be a number of engineering issues and functions to content with.

1. iPhone is too light for break away feature to really work.
2. Size of magnets takes always precious space from phones interior and connector size.
3. Materials. Aluminum is not magnetic. So magnets required in both ends or added metal to each. Possible antenna problem resulting.
4. Magnets interference with internal iphone compass calibration and accuracy during use.
5. During a phone restore or software upgrade you must not remove cable at critical stages. Bricking phone can result. That is different than synching.
6. The length of the connector (30pin too) does provide needed support for vertical docking. A short Mac magnetic connector would not and still function as you desire. iPhone would not stand up.

That a lot to overcome for a break away function that really not going to function as well. Only ease of attaching and removal would result. And as someone said, it may come off too easily while using the phone during active gaming.

Besides the tight connector actually saved my phone from hitting the cement floor once!

Reason 7.

The Lighting connector is a solid piece thereby being less fragile and reducing failure after many make/break cycles. There are no moving parts in the exposed male end. The reversibility alone decreases damage and failure rates for the connector.

The 30 pin is thinner metal and has exposed spring loaded release side pins that can be damaged or become stuck. Especially after attempts to insert upside down.

So robust and increased lifetime are in favor for the Lighting version. For example the mini USB was dropped as an industry standard in favor of the micro due to high failure rates.- mainly do to failures after many upside down insertions.

 

[Donka]

Although different from the OPs main point, I do agree that not currently supporting USB 3.0 is a real disappointment. That is not to say lightning doesn't support it, just that it is not currently supported with IOS devices.

The pros and cons that I can see just now for Lightning are:

Pros.
Smaller connector
Reversible
Encryption & Authentication (A pro for Apple)


Cons.
Lack of pins means video is passed via AirPlay through the connection (lag for games connected via HDMI)
Some video artefacts due to the above.
No speed improvement so far.

 

[paulbennett95]

...
Cons.
Lack of pins means video is passed via AirPlay through the connection (lag for games connected via HDMI)
Some video artefacts due to the above.

Where did you hear that? I've read nothing of that limitation, all I know is that the 8-pins are dynamically assigned for certain functions, so I'm assuming that when needed, the connector could pass video. I'd like to have a source or something because I'm curious to see if this is true.

 

[DisplacedMic]

I'm going to sum this thread up:

Not an entirely unreasonable question.
A great response.
A slight more unreasonable question.
An even better response
Refusal to see reason.

Sound about right?

 

[darngooddesign]

I just hear people bashing Apple's magnetic connector (remember, it's an apple product made by apple and designed by apple) to justify the lightning port...

You're just trying to be argumentative.

No one is bashing magsafe and that's because its great. People are just saying they don't think it would be good for this usage.

I prefer to have something solidly connected when syncing data. If I pick up my phone to use while it is syncing, I do not want to worry about the sync interrupting because the cable accidentally disconnected.

 

[meistervu]

Only one reason make sense to me so far

Size advantage of the current Lightenting connector is the only reason that make sense to me. Accidental break away connection during sync is not really a major issue it seems. Most people sync wirelessly, and the software has to be designed so that accidental break away doesn't result in irrecoverable errors.

 

[Donka]

Where did you hear that? I've read nothing of that limitation, all I know is that the 8-pins are dynamically assigned for certain functions, so I'm assuming that when needed, the connector could pass video. I'd like to have a source or something because I'm curious to see if this is true.

A quick g search...

https://www.panic.com/blog/the-lightning-digital-av-adapter-surprise/


Just search 'lightning connector hdmi airplay'. There are loads of hits. It does pass video but not a true raw video feed but compressed the same way as AirPlay is. Try gaming using the hdmi out. There is the same lag you get with AirPlay.