3 ms·

Because licensing them means they miss out on their $39.95 per cable.

barredo 14y ago
> Apple will also be selling its own USB cables for charging and syncing the new iPhone for $19 each.
saurik 14y ago
An alternative explanation (as they could raise their licensing fees instead, and the costs of managing licensing fees is much lower than constructing and distributing cables; when you look at their profit report these cables are just not a major part of their business) is that they found that third party cables often had minor aberrations that damaged the contacts on the device, leading to increased warranty repair and replacement costs under programs like AppleCare (which is much more likely to be a major cost, given how almost all of their money at this point comes from selling mobile hardware: if even 1% of users end up getting a new iPhone for free because of some shoddy cable, the result would be tremendous and should easily swamp any money they might make selling cables).
- ckrailo 14y ago
  I'm not sure I buy this argument. USB cables are everywhere (and ports are everywhere)... like the macbook. Then again, it'd be more costly to remove USB ports from a macbook since nobody would buy such a laptop in the current market. But if that were the real reason for this, wouldn't it be better to switch to a small USB form factor like most phone manufacturers? Also 1% seems really high. If it were destroying phones, my random guess is .1% or .01%. Could you explain more your thought process here? Maybe I'd get the argument more. (Also, keep up the good work. Lots of respect.)
  - saurik 14y ago
    My "thought process" is mostly as stated, with the possibly exception of something I found obvious: that the complex Apple-specific connector is often built by third parties in ways that are kind of sketchy and you can feel it scraping along and not quite fitting into the port correctly with some of the cables you might purchase (the car adapter I used to use had this property, as does the multi-way charger I was using for a while). Using a small USB form factor, btw, is totally unacceptable from their perspective, because they use the dock connector for more than syncing: they have a ton of extra pins and extra stuff they wire over the dock: it isn't just a USB->USB adapter for purposes of syncing and charging it, it is an accessory port with included UART. HTC probably had the most workable compromise: a mini-USB with a broken-out corner and some extra contacts.
- fpgeek 14y ago
  Or Apple could just be cautious about the new connector. This is their first new dock connector since 2005. They may want to see it (or third-party accessories for it) in the field before approving third-party adapters. There may be electrical details that are tricky to get right. And so on. Normally I'm quite willing to believe the worst of Apple, but here there are too many reasonable explanations for limiting third-party adapters and cables for the moment. If the limitations end up not being temporary, that would be another story, but until then...
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
joejohnson 14y ago
That's why the new iPhone cables will be $10 each or three for $29: http://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/05/apple-will-be-only-supplier-of-new-dock-connector-adapter/ http://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/05/apple-will-be-only-suppl...
- jonah 14y ago
  Dock adapters are $10. "...Apple-branded new USB cables selling for $19 each."
- drivebyacct2 14y ago
  What the hell is the point of selling three for $29? "Oooh, one dollar of savings!"?
  - cmelbye 14y ago
    Keep in mind that this article has one unnamed source. Don't ready your pitchfork just yet. EDIT: Actually, they don't even have that. It's a report on a report that had an unnamed source. Not exactly a shining example of journalism.

> Apple will also be selling its own USB cables for charging and syncing the new iPhone for $19 each.

An alternative explanation (as they could raise their licensing fees instead, and the costs of managing licensing fees is much lower than constructing and distributing cables; when you look at their profit report these cables are just not a major part of their business) is that they found that third party cables often had minor aberrations that damaged the contacts on the device, leading to increased warranty repair and replacement costs under programs like AppleCare (which is much more likely to be a major cost, given how almost all of their money at this point comes from selling mobile hardware: if even 1% of users end up getting a new iPhone for free because of some shoddy cable, the result would be tremendous and should easily swamp any money they might make selling cables).

ckrailo 14y ago
I'm not sure I buy this argument. USB cables are everywhere (and ports are everywhere)... like the macbook. Then again, it'd be more costly to remove USB ports from a macbook since nobody would buy such a laptop in the current market. But if that were the real reason for this, wouldn't it be better to switch to a small USB form factor like most phone manufacturers? Also 1% seems really high. If it were destroying phones, my random guess is .1% or .01%. Could you explain more your thought process here? Maybe I'd get the argument more. (Also, keep up the good work. Lots of respect.)
- saurik 14y ago
  My "thought process" is mostly as stated, with the possibly exception of something I found obvious: that the complex Apple-specific connector is often built by third parties in ways that are kind of sketchy and you can feel it scraping along and not quite fitting into the port correctly with some of the cables you might purchase (the car adapter I used to use had this property, as does the multi-way charger I was using for a while). Using a small USB form factor, btw, is totally unacceptable from their perspective, because they use the dock connector for more than syncing: they have a ton of extra pins and extra stuff they wire over the dock: it isn't just a USB->USB adapter for purposes of syncing and charging it, it is an accessory port with included UART. HTC probably had the most workable compromise: a mini-USB with a broken-out corner and some extra contacts.
fpgeek 14y ago
Or Apple could just be cautious about the new connector. This is their first new dock connector since 2005. They may want to see it (or third-party accessories for it) in the field before approving third-party adapters. There may be electrical details that are tricky to get right. And so on. Normally I'm quite willing to believe the worst of Apple, but here there are too many reasonable explanations for limiting third-party adapters and cables for the moment. If the limitations end up not being temporary, that would be another story, but until then...

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

joejohnson 14y ago

That's why the new iPhone cables will be $10 each or three for $29: http://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/05/apple-will-be-only-supplier-of-new-dock-connector-adapter/ http://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/05/apple-will-be-only-suppl...

jonah 14y ago
Dock adapters are $10. "...Apple-branded new USB cables selling for $19 each."
drivebyacct2 14y ago
What the hell is the point of selling three for $29? "Oooh, one dollar of savings!"?
- cmelbye 14y ago
  Keep in mind that this article has one unnamed source. Don't ready your pitchfork just yet. EDIT: Actually, they don't even have that. It's a report on a report that had an unnamed source. Not exactly a shining example of journalism.