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The 30-pin connector is one of the longest-surviving connectors on the mobile market, but its clearly past its prime. Apple didn't change the connector just to
by ecubed 14y ago
The 30-pin connector is one of the longest-surviving connectors on the mobile market, but its clearly past its prime. Apple didn't change the connector just to get $30 extra out of its customers. It was an item on the phones that seriously needed changing if the size and design of the item were to be improved.
He also mentions that in the future Apple will change its dock connector again, throwing accessory makers "under the bus." I highly doubt this will happen. I highly doubt there will even be a "next" connector at all. Given the rate at which technology has progressed, In 11 years (the lifespan of the 30-pin connector) inductive charging will be omnipresent, and AirPlay-esque protocols will be the defacto way to send music between an iDevice and a dock. AirPlay is a software standard and thus can be supported indefinitely, so I imagine any phone that comes out in the future will be backwards compatible with current AirPlay docks.
- alexchamberlain 14y agoThey should have gone with USB though. I'm looking forward to the day wireless just works, but I'm not sure we're any where near close yet. I still have a problem with my WiFi dropping because next door is using theirs, and that's after I picked the least congested channel.
- ephelon 14y agoThe old dock connector, and the new "lightning" connector do a lot more that is supported by a USB connector. The dock can carry audio, video, act as a USB slave, and connect other slave devices. Arguably, Apple could have included both ports, but that increases cost and complexity and flies in the face of the Apple aesthetic.
- prpatel 14y agoThey could have AT LEAST gone with USB3. I mean really, it's 2012 and you release 'the most advanced phone ever' and it's running technology that's 10 years old. It's not as if better, "standard" options don't exist.