4 ms·

Apple may be hiring engineers to redesign 30-pin dock connector

18 points by iProject 14y ago

deelowe 14y ago
I hope this means they are developing a connector that doesn't require special cables and chargers for new Apple devices. I know it's been said a million times before, but they really should just move to two ports: micro usb & 3.5mm. Even if that means they need to extend the usb spec to support things like analog audio.
- rogerbinns 14y ago
  There is a standard for doing HDMI from a micro usb connector. It even includes bidirectional control - ie a device connected to a TV using this can be controlled using the TV remote control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-definition_Link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-definition_Link It has been implemented for quite a while in several devices (eg my phone has it). I don't know if they left room for expansion (eg a different signalling to get analog audio). It is also possible to talk to "apps" on the device such as how the MTP protocol works. That requires more effort than analog plumbing but can provide a far richer experience. The other big issue is power (beyond the original 5V 500mA). Apple have gone one (incompatible) way with that while the USB standard went a different way. Even that had to be extended somewhat further especially by tablet manufacturers since they need a lot of power to charge quickly. (The signalling is done with differing resistances.)
applesauce 14y ago
if by "currently" they mean "as of March 9, 2011" (the day the requisition was posted), then sure... I suspect that a "Connector Design Engineer" doesn't necessarily mean they only focus on engineering the dock connector; there are many, many connectors in the internals of most iDevices -- just open one up and see for yourself.
nextstep 14y ago
This article doesn't make a lot of sense. If the next-generation iPhone is to be released later this year, the design is close to being finished by now. Either this next iPhone won't have an updated dock-connector, or it's already been designed. This job posting may signify that the former is true, or more likely is unrelated to the iPhone.
philip1209 14y ago
Don't forget that they can't make the phones and ipods much thinner without redesigning the 3.5mm jack, too
- blairbits 14y ago
  unless they taper a la MBA.
  - philip1209 14y ago
    Thinking through Ive's work, I think he would want it to look nice while lying flat
- jaggederest 14y ago
  You can implement TRRS connectors essentially as thin as you like, if you don't put sides on it. It looks like a U-shaped slot instead of a full sleeve. That said, probably not effective for a consumer device, since you'd have issues with it staying in place.
  - ars 14y ago
    > That said, probably not effective for a consumer device, since you'd have issues with it staying in place. I wonder if you could put flexible sides on it that will bulge out when something is inserted, and hold it properly. Then when you remove the plug it goes back to being thin.
- ars 14y ago
  You can use a 2.5mm connector - it's sufficiently standard that it's not hard to find devices (or adapters) that use it.
  - jarek 14y ago
    Ugh. 2.5 mm was used on a bunch of phones before people saw the light. I praised the day I got my new phone with a 3.5 mm connector. I don't want to use shitty provided earphones or use different earphones on my phone and laptop or have an adapter hanging off or sticking out of my phone, and I hope the market as a whole doesn't go back there.
ComputerGuru 14y ago
I highly doubt a new hire would be the one to design the connector to power the next generation of all iProducts.
cube13 14y ago
Or one of their current connector engineers left the company or was reassigned to a different role, and they're hiring someone to fill the position that they left.
crusso 14y ago
Although this doesn't look like the right hire for something coming on the iPhone 5, considering the recentness and newness -- I'd like to see a new port on the iPhone. I don't want USB, either. USB connectors are great, but I'm okay with the next generation. How about Thunderbolt? It's small, it's fast, it's already on newer macs, and it can provide 10W of power. Some kind of adapter would be needed for USB until Thunderbolt is ubiquitous.
- huxley 14y ago
  There's a "PCI Express Thinner Interconnect for Mobile Devices" in the works: http://electronicsbus.com/pci-express-thinner-interconnect-for-mobile-devices/ http://electronicsbus.com/pci-express-thinner-interconnect-f...
- jarek 14y ago
  Thunderbolt is well en route to being about as ubiquitous as Firewire.
  - ken 14y ago
    This would be an interesting path to bootstrapping Thunderbolt. Instead of waiting for PC makers to follow their and Intel's lead (as they did with USB), put it on a device which millions of them will buy anyway.
    - jarek 14y ago
      Apple kind of tried that with the iPod and gave up and went to USB in the end. Can you imagine the customer confusion chaos along the lines of "can I plug the iPhone into my computer"? The current connector might have an usual form factor device-side but the other end of the cable can plug into and work with 95% of computers. Making it a Thunderbolt-only connection would be a huge departure from "it just works."
      - ken 14y ago
        They didn't have that option with the iPod. USB 1.1 is too slow for syncing a 5 GB disk. At the time, the USB 2.0 spec had just been finished (and not yet been ratified) -- it was even more futuristic than Thunderbolt is today. It was still a year and a half before any Mac had built-in USB 2.0, and no other computers could handle it, either: neither Windows XP nor Linux 2.4.19 had been released yet. Not that it would have done any good, because you needed iTunes 2.0 (a Mac-only app) to make any use of the first-gen iPod. I wouldn't say they "gave up" on Firewire. I'd say they used the only feasible mechanism they had available, until something better came along, and requirements changed. With recent iPhones, you don't need to ever plug it into a computer, so there's no real departure from "it just works". Wifi ("n") is almost as fast as USB2, and syncing can seem even faster if you do it asynchronously (no cable required). Their answer to "can I plug the iPhone into my computer?" may well be "you don't need to -- and it just finished syncing while you were asking".
zackmorris 14y ago
Please make it work upside down (or ideally any orientation like a headphone jack) so it's not a massive fail

18 points by iProject 14y ago

I hope this means they are developing a connector that doesn't require special cables and chargers for new Apple devices. I know it's been said a million times before, but they really should just move to two ports: micro usb & 3.5mm. Even if that means they need to extend the usb spec to support things like analog audio.

rogerbinns 14y ago
There is a standard for doing HDMI from a micro usb connector. It even includes bidirectional control - ie a device connected to a TV using this can be controlled using the TV remote control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-definition_Link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-definition_Link It has been implemented for quite a while in several devices (eg my phone has it). I don't know if they left room for expansion (eg a different signalling to get analog audio). It is also possible to talk to "apps" on the device such as how the MTP protocol works. That requires more effort than analog plumbing but can provide a far richer experience. The other big issue is power (beyond the original 5V 500mA). Apple have gone one (incompatible) way with that while the USB standard went a different way. Even that had to be extended somewhat further especially by tablet manufacturers since they need a lot of power to charge quickly. (The signalling is done with differing resistances.)

applesauce 14y ago

if by "currently" they mean "as of March 9, 2011" (the day the requisition was posted), then sure... I suspect that a "Connector Design Engineer" doesn't necessarily mean they only focus on engineering the dock connector; there are many, many connectors in the internals of most iDevices -- just open one up and see for yourself.

nextstep 14y ago

This article doesn't make a lot of sense. If the next-generation iPhone is to be released later this year, the design is close to being finished by now. Either this next iPhone won't have an updated dock-connector, or it's already been designed. This job posting may signify that the former is true, or more likely is unrelated to the iPhone.

philip1209 14y ago

Don't forget that they can't make the phones and ipods much thinner without redesigning the 3.5mm jack, too

blairbits 14y ago
unless they taper a la MBA.
- philip1209 14y ago
  Thinking through Ive's work, I think he would want it to look nice while lying flat
jaggederest 14y ago
You can implement TRRS connectors essentially as thin as you like, if you don't put sides on it. It looks like a U-shaped slot instead of a full sleeve. That said, probably not effective for a consumer device, since you'd have issues with it staying in place.
- ars 14y ago
  > That said, probably not effective for a consumer device, since you'd have issues with it staying in place. I wonder if you could put flexible sides on it that will bulge out when something is inserted, and hold it properly. Then when you remove the plug it goes back to being thin.
ars 14y ago
You can use a 2.5mm connector - it's sufficiently standard that it's not hard to find devices (or adapters) that use it.
- jarek 14y ago
  Ugh. 2.5 mm was used on a bunch of phones before people saw the light. I praised the day I got my new phone with a 3.5 mm connector. I don't want to use shitty provided earphones or use different earphones on my phone and laptop or have an adapter hanging off or sticking out of my phone, and I hope the market as a whole doesn't go back there.

ComputerGuru 14y ago

I highly doubt a new hire would be the one to design the connector to power the next generation of all iProducts.

cube13 14y ago

Or one of their current connector engineers left the company or was reassigned to a different role, and they're hiring someone to fill the position that they left.

crusso 14y ago

Although this doesn't look like the right hire for something coming on the iPhone 5, considering the recentness and newness -- I'd like to see a new port on the iPhone. I don't want USB, either. USB connectors are great, but I'm okay with the next generation. How about Thunderbolt? It's small, it's fast, it's already on newer macs, and it can provide 10W of power. Some kind of adapter would be needed for USB until Thunderbolt is ubiquitous.

huxley 14y ago
There's a "PCI Express Thinner Interconnect for Mobile Devices" in the works: http://electronicsbus.com/pci-express-thinner-interconnect-for-mobile-devices/ http://electronicsbus.com/pci-express-thinner-interconnect-f...
jarek 14y ago
Thunderbolt is well en route to being about as ubiquitous as Firewire.
- ken 14y ago
  This would be an interesting path to bootstrapping Thunderbolt. Instead of waiting for PC makers to follow their and Intel's lead (as they did with USB), put it on a device which millions of them will buy anyway.
  - jarek 14y ago
    Apple kind of tried that with the iPod and gave up and went to USB in the end. Can you imagine the customer confusion chaos along the lines of "can I plug the iPhone into my computer"? The current connector might have an usual form factor device-side but the other end of the cable can plug into and work with 95% of computers. Making it a Thunderbolt-only connection would be a huge departure from "it just works."
    - ken 14y ago
      They didn't have that option with the iPod. USB 1.1 is too slow for syncing a 5 GB disk. At the time, the USB 2.0 spec had just been finished (and not yet been ratified) -- it was even more futuristic than Thunderbolt is today. It was still a year and a half before any Mac had built-in USB 2.0, and no other computers could handle it, either: neither Windows XP nor Linux 2.4.19 had been released yet. Not that it would have done any good, because you needed iTunes 2.0 (a Mac-only app) to make any use of the first-gen iPod. I wouldn't say they "gave up" on Firewire. I'd say they used the only feasible mechanism they had available, until something better came along, and requirements changed. With recent iPhones, you don't need to ever plug it into a computer, so there's no real departure from "it just works". Wifi ("n") is almost as fast as USB2, and syncing can seem even faster if you do it asynchronously (no cable required). Their answer to "can I plug the iPhone into my computer?" may well be "you don't need to -- and it just finished syncing while you were asking".

zackmorris 14y ago

Please make it work upside down (or ideally any orientation like a headphone jack) so it's not a massive fail