Why use 30-pin connector instead of some sort of USB (like micro usb)?

[Primejimbo]

I never said apple would drop the 30 pin. In my opinion an adaptor would suck and it would defeat the purpose of standardising chargers. You wouldn't be able to charge your phone unless you remembered to carry it with you.

Apple WILL drop the 30 pin eventually. No way will it last forever! I think they should just add an extra micro USB port. I know all the apple fan boys would scream NOOOOO due to asthetics, but function should come before form.

On your worries about USB standards, that will be standardised.

I think they will have an adapter because anyone who owns an iPhone probably owns iPods also which uses the same plug. Just from reading the last year or so it seams Jobs doesn't like anything that will make his products not seamless and adding another hole will do this.
I also never said you said they would drop the 30-pin, I was just adding to the post. You're also right, times changes and they might have something different from the 30-pin, but not for a long time.

Maybe I am missing something since I dont know a ton on this topic... With USB anything can be transfered over it so losing the 30pin connector I think would only be losing a easy way to support your device in a dock... People mentioned HD video etc... It would work more like flash drive or something similar... ATM I can copy video/pictures/audio from my computer to my flash drive and go downstairs and plug it into my tv and it plays... Considering my iphone syncs most of my music and video it would be great to be able to take all of it over to a friends house and not have to worry about having a special connector to put it on the tv or play it in the car...

Read post #19.. 4 pins in USB (2 data and 2 for power)

 

[TrickyTree1984]

Well, besides the many accessories people will no longer be able to use there is also the point some one said above of not being able to do as much with the micro USB. So maybe they should come up with a better standard that allows for more functionality first.



I guess in the long run. In the short run the iphone and ipods are so popular that people when they get the new one are going to be throwing out a lot of old accessories they cannot use (and may not be able to sell off) and buying (which means producing more) new accessories for the new connector.



From a consumer point of view (not environmental or from the corporation's point of view), this is a good thing? I personally didn't like it when things like printers started moving to not coming with the cords you need. First of all, the cords I had were probably already taken by other thigns, second of all, even if not, it is nice to get a new set to replace the old (specially with cords, they can start fraying. I'm very happy to have been able to replcae my old ipod USB cord as it was obtaining a weak point with the new one that came iwth my new ipod).



I'll give you that this can be handy if you forget your own while on a trip and can borrow some one else's.



And hopefully what they'll do is put in a converter like some people mentioned. As I said, I'm selfish and I don't want to have to rebuy my accessories (or find the stuff I have is no longer useful).

Eventually te 30 pin will be dropped. Something better or smaller (or both) will replace it. This is probably a long way off. It is way to big! so, eventually, you will have to rebuy. Just like everyone has moved from SD to HD with TV.

I think phones shipping without a charger will be a good thing. You would already own 1 or many! The price of the overall phone package would be reduced. Apple chagre £15 for a cable and £23 for the charger, thats a big percentage of the £500 it costs to buy an iphone when i already own 2 chargers!

Apple are in a unique situation compared to the other phone makers, due to the extra functionality the 30 pin provides, and the number of accessories out there. A dual solution is they only way forward for them, an adaptor would not be a good thing

 

[TrickyTree1984]

I think they will have an adapter because anyone who owns an iPhone probably owns iPods also which uses the same plug. Just from reading the last year or so it seams Jobs doesn't like anything that will make his products not seamless and adding another hole will do this.
I also never said you said they would drop the 30-pin, I was just adding to the post. You're also right, times changes and they might have something different from the 30-pin, but not for a long time.

Agreed, the extra port wont happen, i think it should, but it wont.

 

[Primejimbo]

Eventually te 30 pin will be dropped. Something better or smaller (or both) will replace it. This is probably a long way off. It is way to big! so, eventually, you will have to rebuy. Just like everyone has moved from SD to HD with TV.

I think phones shipping without a charger will be a good thing. You would already own 1 or many! The price of the overall phone package would be reduced. Apple chagre £15 for a cable and £23 for the charger, thats a big percentage of the £500 it costs to buy an iphone when i already own 2 chargers!

Apple are in a unique situation compared to the other phone makers, due to the extra functionality the 30 pin provides, and the number of accessories out there. A dual solution is they only way forward for them, an adaptor would not be a good thing

I think phones shipped with out chargers is a bad thing. By the time I get a new cell phone, I need a new charger. Plugging a phone all the time the charger wears out and a new one is needed.

 

[xraydoc]

Maybe I am missing something since I dont know a ton on this topic... With USB anything can be transfered over it so losing the 30pin connector I think would only be losing a easy way to support your device in a dock... People mentioned HD video etc... It would work more like flash drive or something similar... ATM I can copy video/pictures/audio from my computer to my flash drive and go downstairs and plug it into my tv and it plays... Considering my iphone syncs most of my music and video it would be great to be able to take all of it over to a friends house and not have to worry about having a special connector to put it on the tv or play it in the car...

But a standard USB connector can't send analog composite, component and/or VGA video and line-out level audio. Plus, my car stereo can control my iPod/iPhone and display playlist, track and time info on the car's display. Can't do that via USB-only.

 

[TrickyTree1984]

I think phones shipped with out chargers is a bad thing. By the time I get a new cell phone, I need a new charger. Plugging a phone all the time the charger wears out and a new one is needed.

The cost of the phone would be less, if you need a new charger, buy one and it costs you only a little more. If you dont (which most people won't, i have never worn a charger out) then its cheaper for you, and better for the environment.

 

[TrickyTree1984]

But a standard USB connector can't send analog composite, component and/or VGA video and line-out level audio. Plus, my car stereo can control my iPod/iPhone and display playlist, track and time info on the car's display. Can't do that via USB-only.

which is why two ports are needed.

 

[Primejimbo]

But a standard USB connector can't send analog composite, component and/or VGA video and line-out level audio. Plus, my car stereo can control my iPod/iPhone and display playlist, track and time info on the car's display. Can't do that via USB-only.

And the point I was trying to make with one of my posts. People don't get that if you want your iPhone or iPod to work in your car and using the car radio to control it, USB will not do this.

 

[Drag'nGT]

First iPod just had firewire.

I really wish I could still hook up with firewire. I'd want an 800 port obviously but damn do I wish firewire was still an option.

 

[TrickyTree1984]

And the point I was trying to make with one of my posts. People don't get that if you want your iPhone or iPod to work in your car and using the car radio to control it, USB will not do this.

why not? plenty of usb deviced send and receive commands. Just the audio is the problem

 

[Primejimbo]

The cost of the phone would be less, if you need a new charger, buy one and it costs you only a little more. If you dont (which most people won't, i have never worn a charger out) then its cheaper for you, and better for the environment.

Phones will be less?? You can't be serious. I remember buying cell phones that came with BOTH a wall charger and a car charger. They dropped the car charger and the price of the phone stayed the same.
Now if they had a trade in program that when you bought a new phone and traded in your charger you get a new one will be nice. This way they can recycle the old non-working chargers.

 

[Primejimbo]

why not? plenty of usb deviced send and receive commands. Just the audio is the problem

But not all at once. You have sound coming out of the iPhone (2 ports used) and the iPhone is charging (2 more ports being used), what do you have left? You will have to give up something else like the charging part to use those 2 ports to control the iPhone with the radio part then.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

which is why two ports are needed.

That's just not true. All that work is being done by one port already. The 30-pin dock connector will stay, Apple will release an adapter.

 

[frosse]

There aint never gonna be two ports...

 

[Carniphage]

Eventually te 30 pin will be dropped. Something better or smaller (or both) will replace it. This is probably a long way off. It is way to big!

If the iPod needed just a data/power connector. One of the USB variants would be great.

But that isn't what the device needs. The dock isn't just a data connector - is is a mechanical assembly that permits a phone (or even the iPad) to be mechanically latched into a dock. There is no USB connector capable of this function.
It adds video out / it adds clean audio out / it adds remote control functionality. There is no commercially available standard that fits the bill.

USB is the wrong connector for dockable devices. It was not designed for this function.

A dual solution is they only way forward for them, an adaptor would not be a good thing

Strongly Disagree.

Adding a second redundant USB connector would benefit no one. The current 30 pin connector can already connect to a USB charger with a single cable. Adding a second USB port would make the device worse for the majority of users.

C.

 

[solarein]

What non-proprietary connector would be preferable then?

C?

PDMI. More or less a ripoff of the dock connector. But it is an approved standard, so if more devices adopt them, we can have peripherals inter-operable with a number of devices rather than being locked into a particular vendor, giving users choice and freedom.

 

[Carniphage]

PDMI. More or less a ripoff of the dock connector. But it is an approved standard, so if more devices adopt them, we can have peripherals inter-operable with a number of devices rather than being locked into a particular vendor, giving users choice and freedom.

Erm. So how many devices use PDMI?

I'd suggest there may be devices using the Apple-style 30 pin connector.

In what way would consumers benefit from a transition from one 30 pin dock connector to a clone of a dock connector?

C.

 

[solarein]

Erm. So how many devices use PDMI?

I'd suggest there may be devices using the Apple-style 30 pin connector.

In what way would consumers benefit from a transition from one 30 pin dock connector to a clone of a dock connector?

C.

I think there may be 1 or 2 devices using it right now, it's a very new standard and hardly anyone has adopted it yet.

I'd be very surprised if Apple switched to it anytime soon, right now the iPhone/iPod dock ecosystem is so much bigger.

I hope to see other manufacturers of phones and media players adopt it, so we can have a peripheral ecosystem that is compatible with many devices. If this takes off, then maybe some years down the line Apple goes with it too.

The benefits of using a single standard interconnect is the same as using USB, HDMI, etc.: you are not stuck with a single vendor, you can use devices and peripherals from many vendors. For example, a few cars offer iPod dock connectors. For people who own iPhones/iPods, this is very nice. But for people who don't, that's a feature on their car that's going to waste. But if there was a single standard dock connector, then many more car makers can offer the dock connector on their car, knowing that no matter what brand of media players/smartphones their customers choose, it would be compatible with their car.

 

[rans0m00]

But a standard USB connector can't send analog composite, component and/or VGA video and line-out level audio. Plus, my car stereo can control my iPod/iPhone and display playlist, track and time info on the car's display. Can't do that via USB-only.

Maybe its not the way to go right now but if its announced with enough time atleast for the car stereos I think they could have support for both... For my car stereo its a usb port on the stereo then using the reg 30pin cable to connect to my iphone... So I support for usb to usb shouldnt be much trouble. The vga and all would be out though... At least till its common to have usb ports on the tv/player... I guess in time I would say it would be a good thing... For a chunk of people ATM it would not be so great.

 

[mlts22]

I do not think the 30 pin connector is going anywhere. Devices will not have two ports, unless a modified USB adapter is used through the headphone jack (similar to what the second and third generation iPod Shuffle use).

The 30 pin connector does more than just provide data and power. Like others have stated, it provides structural stability to grip a device vertically. It also has a decent plug/unplug rate, about 5000 cycles (source) This is a lot more than the 600 cycles that USB connectors are able to deal with (source).

One advantage that Apple did was start on a standardized docking connector, rather than keep an IEEE1394 socket as in the 1G iPhone. This allows the device to stand unassisted on a docking station. Other phones tend to have the USB connector on the side. This means that it is difficult to engineer a dock, and if a dock is engineered (where the device can slide into a plug for the USB port), it will be specific to one model of phone, and not work on other devices.

The Apple dock connector is on a lot of devices. I've seen it in cars, on TVs, clock radios aplenty, built into the case of some PCs, and even made part of houses (where guests at a front hall can put their iDevices on the stands to charge.) This to me was one of the reasons I bought an iPhone, as it can find a dock almost anywhere for charging.

I'm hoping Apple sticks with the connector and just keeps evolving it so it stays backwards compatible. This way, an iPhone from 3-5 years from now will still be able to be dropped into a docking station made today and still be able to charge, play music, and do other tasks. I'd like to see the 30 pin dock become the standard for cellphones, but patent issues may come into play.