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I'm not an apple fanboy - but I do really like their magsafe & iPad mini connectors (whatever those are called officially). One thing I really like is the lack

I'm not an apple fanboy - but I do really like their magsafe & iPad mini connectors (whatever those are called officially). One thing I really like is the lack of "sticky-out-bit" in the middle of the connector, which all USB sockets seem to have, and which always feels kind of unstable or weak to me. Is there a reason why all USB sockets - including these new diagrams - have a feeble looking centre part rather than it being part of the outer ring?

mvid 12y ago
Came to ask the same thing. Those little pins always break for me.
ChuckMcM 12y ago
> Is there a reason why all USB sockets - including these > new diagrams - have a feeble looking centre part rather > than it being part of the outer ring? The outer part is the RF shield. That increases reliability by protecting the low voltage (but high frequency) USB data signals from coupling to outside interference (50/60 hz stray emf from power lines, switching power supply noise, etc). The magsafe connectors are just pulling power so don't really need that level of shielding.
- MBCook 12y ago
  But what about the Lightning connectors on iPads and iPhones? They don't have that outside shield but they carry high speed signals.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - ChuckMcM 12y ago
    The lightning connector is pretty cool isn't it? Apple figured out you could build the RF shield around the signal lines in a single planar unit. If you look at the original 30 pin connector they did, they used a very similar scheme to USB the shield around the outside of the connector, the signal lines on the inside in a separate piece. I actually think it was the lightning connector that got the USB group to go back and look at their connector designs. The interesting bit about the shield on the lightning is the fairly tricky way they create an island in the middle of the shield and thread the signal lines through it. Makes for a more expensive cable I expect.
    - 300bps 12y ago
      The lightning connector is pretty cool isn't it? No. It's not. I haven't plugged my phone in since I originally bought it and I don't understand thinking that a connector is cool. For charging, every major mobile phone company except Apple supports Qi wireless charging. Source: http://www.qinside.biz/en/support/qi-enabled-phones http://www.qinside.biz/en/support/qi-enabled-phones For connectivity, every major mobile phone company supports wireless connectivity via Bluetooth or WiFi. I had an iPhone for 6 years (3g, 4, 4s) and saw all the competition fly ahead of Apple in terms of real features and screen size. My next phone may be an iPhone 6, but really Apple has a ton of catching up to do.
      - jmgrosen 12y ago
        My phone has wireless charging; I used to use it, but I eventually switched back to wired charging. Why? Two reasons, which I think are the biggest ones that explain why wireless hasn't completely taken over wired: efficiency and reliability. Especially the latter.
      - freehunter 12y ago
        I used the wireless charging on my Nokia Lumia for two years, every night. Loved it. Problem is, it's dog slow compared to how fast my iPhone 5s charges. And when I tried to charge my Nexus 4 on the same charger as the Nokia (they use the same technology, why not?) it would go haywire and never actually charge. Apple may be behind their competitors in some way, but they have a way of not pushing out technology until they're sure it's going to work the way the mass market expects it to (which is how the general public lets them get away with calling everything "magic". To a non-technical audience, it might as well be). My Nokia is full of cool features that don't work. If the battery dies, it takes half an hour before you can turn the phone on again. My Nexus 4 has a big screen but the camera is shit and it can't hold a charge through the day. My iPhone doesn't have a single "wow" feature to me, but then again there are no features that make me think "this would be so cool if only it worked". The last non-iPhone I didn't truly hate was my Palm Pre+.
      - lttlrck 12y ago
        Yet every phone still has a power/data cable... cool or not.
- jcampbell1 12y ago
  It seems like an RF shield on the male end is unnecessary. Apple's current iPhone connector does without it. I have no idea how they could see the lightning connector, then go and design a next gen standard that is across the board inferior. The Apple connector is sturdier, and has much more latitude for insertion angle. Surely Apple doesn't have a patent on a housing-less male plug. My guess is the housing serves more as a mount point providing the friction and spring, rather than being necessary for shielding.
  - shawnz 12y ago
    Are you so sure that it is "across the board inferior"? I don't really know about the technical details, but the lightning connector is designed for pretty specific uses. Can it carry 10Gbps and 100W like this connector can? Perhaps the housing contributes to that ability.
    - seanp2k2 12y ago
      Maybe not, but it can withstand multiple connections daily for 2+ years without failing, unlike the MicroUSB connectors I've had on my phones. Also, the connector is very sturdy, so it doesn't break off, even on cheaper cables. Additionally, I never plug it in upside-down, because there is no such thing. This is a good move for USB, and I personally can't wait until these become the new standard :)
      - andmarios 12y ago
        I have my phone for 3 years, I charge it at least once daily and many times I use the cable to bring it to me, thus the phone ends up hanging from the micro USB connector. It still works perfectly, so I guess YMMV.
- mbell 12y ago
  You have this backwards, the shield is there to prevent RF noise radiating _from_ the USB signal pairs, not to prevent outside noise coupling onto the signal pairs.
izacus 12y ago
Hmm, while Lightning connector is rather nice, I don't like MagSafe 2 at all... it keeps falling out from the connection, especially if I use the laptop on a bed or similar surface. The original MagSafe and the connector on my previous Dell M1330 were significantly more reliable while still providing enough protection.
- X-Istence 12y ago
  MagSafe 2 works without issues for me, and is plenty strong. There should be no way that it is "falling" out!
  - twoodfin 12y ago
    The issue I've had with MagSafe2 is that it's very sensitive to vertical force: If there is any tension at all on the cable and I rotate my rMBP more than 15 degrees or so around the axis between my head and the screen (say, while using it on the couch), the connector disengages. Not so if it's rotated around the vertical axis. It's not clear to me that there's any safety or durability justification for this difference, only that they wanted a connector that was much thinner along one dimension than the other.
- Bud 12y ago
  As an IT guy, I see hundreds of these connectors on a regular basis, so I've noticed something...if it's falling out too easily, odds are that the port has picked up a small piece of debris somehow, and the magnet isn't getting good contact. Take a close look at the plug and the port and brush them out a bit, and see if that helps.
- coldtea 12y ago
  >it keeps falling out from the connection, especially if I use the laptop on a bed or similar surface. That's the whole idea. It better fall out, than put strain on the port or cable, like it would normally do. Plus, if you yank the cable while it's on a table, the laptop wont fall down with it.
- devindotcom 12y ago
ihuman 12y ago
>iPad mini connector (whatever those are called officially) It is called the "Lightning" connector. http://i.imgur.com/GSYJTI1.jpg http://i.imgur.com/GSYJTI1.jpg
heywire 12y ago
The Lightning connector just seems so fragile to me. I haven't broken mine yet, but I have certainly seen a lot of broken ones on displays in stores. I can't say I've ever broken a USB connector. That said, there is something to be said for a reversible connector that doesn't require 3 rotations to plug in :)
- Bud 12y ago
  Fragile? It's a solid piece of metal. You really have to try, hard, to break it. It's about as durable as it's possible for something of that size and complexity to be. By contrast, for instance, the design for the connectors for most USB "SuperSpeed" drives right now is incredibly awful. Fragile (both the port and connector designs), only plugs in one way, and it's quite hard to see what way that is without giving it a close look.
- astrodust 12y ago
  If you work in tech support you'll see USB ports mangled beyond recognition, people force-plugging them in backwards or worse, and a horrifying number of cables that have ends that have been pinched or bent. The Lightning connector by comparison is a solid piece and would have to be smashed in half to fail.
  - andmarios 12y ago
    I don't believe you can force-plug a USB connector backwards unless you use a hammer and a clamp.
    - georgemcbay 12y ago
      Depends upon the design of the receptacle, but I've seen badly designed ones where the USB cord (on the USB A side to a PC/laptop/whatever) almost fits in the wrong way, and can easily imagine someone attempting to force it in from there.
    - astrodust 12y ago
      You have no idea: http://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportgore http://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportgore
hmottestad 12y ago
Comparing usb 3 to the lightning connector is very unfair, since the lightning connector doesn't go any faster than usb 2.0. A much fairer comparison is to the thunderbolt connector. Which is non-reversible and also has a connector in the centre of the female.

mvid 12y ago

Came to ask the same thing. Those little pins always break for me.

ChuckMcM 12y ago

> Is there a reason why all USB sockets - including these > new diagrams - have a feeble looking centre part rather > than it being part of the outer ring? The outer part is the RF shield. That increases reliability by protecting the low voltage (but high frequency) USB data signals from coupling to outside interference (50/60 hz stray emf from power lines, switching power supply noise, etc). The magsafe connectors are just pulling power so don't really need that level of shielding.

MBCook 12y ago
But what about the Lightning connectors on iPads and iPhones? They don't have that outside shield but they carry high speed signals.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- ChuckMcM 12y ago
  The lightning connector is pretty cool isn't it? Apple figured out you could build the RF shield around the signal lines in a single planar unit. If you look at the original 30 pin connector they did, they used a very similar scheme to USB the shield around the outside of the connector, the signal lines on the inside in a separate piece. I actually think it was the lightning connector that got the USB group to go back and look at their connector designs. The interesting bit about the shield on the lightning is the fairly tricky way they create an island in the middle of the shield and thread the signal lines through it. Makes for a more expensive cable I expect.
  - 300bps 12y ago
    The lightning connector is pretty cool isn't it? No. It's not. I haven't plugged my phone in since I originally bought it and I don't understand thinking that a connector is cool. For charging, every major mobile phone company except Apple supports Qi wireless charging. Source: http://www.qinside.biz/en/support/qi-enabled-phones http://www.qinside.biz/en/support/qi-enabled-phones For connectivity, every major mobile phone company supports wireless connectivity via Bluetooth or WiFi. I had an iPhone for 6 years (3g, 4, 4s) and saw all the competition fly ahead of Apple in terms of real features and screen size. My next phone may be an iPhone 6, but really Apple has a ton of catching up to do.
    - jmgrosen 12y ago
      My phone has wireless charging; I used to use it, but I eventually switched back to wired charging. Why? Two reasons, which I think are the biggest ones that explain why wireless hasn't completely taken over wired: efficiency and reliability. Especially the latter.
    - freehunter 12y ago
      I used the wireless charging on my Nokia Lumia for two years, every night. Loved it. Problem is, it's dog slow compared to how fast my iPhone 5s charges. And when I tried to charge my Nexus 4 on the same charger as the Nokia (they use the same technology, why not?) it would go haywire and never actually charge. Apple may be behind their competitors in some way, but they have a way of not pushing out technology until they're sure it's going to work the way the mass market expects it to (which is how the general public lets them get away with calling everything "magic". To a non-technical audience, it might as well be). My Nokia is full of cool features that don't work. If the battery dies, it takes half an hour before you can turn the phone on again. My Nexus 4 has a big screen but the camera is shit and it can't hold a charge through the day. My iPhone doesn't have a single "wow" feature to me, but then again there are no features that make me think "this would be so cool if only it worked". The last non-iPhone I didn't truly hate was my Palm Pre+.
    - lttlrck 12y ago
      Yet every phone still has a power/data cable... cool or not.
jcampbell1 12y ago
It seems like an RF shield on the male end is unnecessary. Apple's current iPhone connector does without it. I have no idea how they could see the lightning connector, then go and design a next gen standard that is across the board inferior. The Apple connector is sturdier, and has much more latitude for insertion angle. Surely Apple doesn't have a patent on a housing-less male plug. My guess is the housing serves more as a mount point providing the friction and spring, rather than being necessary for shielding.
- shawnz 12y ago
  Are you so sure that it is "across the board inferior"? I don't really know about the technical details, but the lightning connector is designed for pretty specific uses. Can it carry 10Gbps and 100W like this connector can? Perhaps the housing contributes to that ability.
  - seanp2k2 12y ago
    Maybe not, but it can withstand multiple connections daily for 2+ years without failing, unlike the MicroUSB connectors I've had on my phones. Also, the connector is very sturdy, so it doesn't break off, even on cheaper cables. Additionally, I never plug it in upside-down, because there is no such thing. This is a good move for USB, and I personally can't wait until these become the new standard :)
    - andmarios 12y ago
      I have my phone for 3 years, I charge it at least once daily and many times I use the cable to bring it to me, thus the phone ends up hanging from the micro USB connector. It still works perfectly, so I guess YMMV.
mbell 12y ago
You have this backwards, the shield is there to prevent RF noise radiating _from_ the USB signal pairs, not to prevent outside noise coupling onto the signal pairs.

izacus 12y ago

Hmm, while Lightning connector is rather nice, I don't like MagSafe 2 at all... it keeps falling out from the connection, especially if I use the laptop on a bed or similar surface. The original MagSafe and the connector on my previous Dell M1330 were significantly more reliable while still providing enough protection.

X-Istence 12y ago
MagSafe 2 works without issues for me, and is plenty strong. There should be no way that it is "falling" out!
- twoodfin 12y ago
  The issue I've had with MagSafe2 is that it's very sensitive to vertical force: If there is any tension at all on the cable and I rotate my rMBP more than 15 degrees or so around the axis between my head and the screen (say, while using it on the couch), the connector disengages. Not so if it's rotated around the vertical axis. It's not clear to me that there's any safety or durability justification for this difference, only that they wanted a connector that was much thinner along one dimension than the other.
Bud 12y ago
As an IT guy, I see hundreds of these connectors on a regular basis, so I've noticed something...if it's falling out too easily, odds are that the port has picked up a small piece of debris somehow, and the magnet isn't getting good contact. Take a close look at the plug and the port and brush them out a bit, and see if that helps.
coldtea 12y ago
>it keeps falling out from the connection, especially if I use the laptop on a bed or similar surface. That's the whole idea. It better fall out, than put strain on the port or cable, like it would normally do. Plus, if you yank the cable while it's on a table, the laptop wont fall down with it.
devindotcom 12y ago

ihuman 12y ago

>iPad mini connector (whatever those are called officially) It is called the "Lightning" connector. http://i.imgur.com/GSYJTI1.jpg http://i.imgur.com/GSYJTI1.jpg

heywire 12y ago

The Lightning connector just seems so fragile to me. I haven't broken mine yet, but I have certainly seen a lot of broken ones on displays in stores. I can't say I've ever broken a USB connector. That said, there is something to be said for a reversible connector that doesn't require 3 rotations to plug in :)

Bud 12y ago
Fragile? It's a solid piece of metal. You really have to try, hard, to break it. It's about as durable as it's possible for something of that size and complexity to be. By contrast, for instance, the design for the connectors for most USB "SuperSpeed" drives right now is incredibly awful. Fragile (both the port and connector designs), only plugs in one way, and it's quite hard to see what way that is without giving it a close look.
astrodust 12y ago
If you work in tech support you'll see USB ports mangled beyond recognition, people force-plugging them in backwards or worse, and a horrifying number of cables that have ends that have been pinched or bent. The Lightning connector by comparison is a solid piece and would have to be smashed in half to fail.
- andmarios 12y ago
  I don't believe you can force-plug a USB connector backwards unless you use a hammer and a clamp.
  - georgemcbay 12y ago
    Depends upon the design of the receptacle, but I've seen badly designed ones where the USB cord (on the USB A side to a PC/laptop/whatever) almost fits in the wrong way, and can easily imagine someone attempting to force it in from there.
  - astrodust 12y ago
    You have no idea: http://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportgore http://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportgore

hmottestad 12y ago

Comparing usb 3 to the lightning connector is very unfair, since the lightning connector doesn't go any faster than usb 2.0. A much fairer comparison is to the thunderbolt connector. Which is non-reversible and also has a connector in the centre of the female.