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Yesterday we heard that Apple’s working up a smaller dock connector for the incoming iPhone 5, but rumour has it we might see something akin to a mini MagSafe, just like the MagSafe2 Apple shoved onto the new MacBook Pro and Air.
I don’t know about you, but I love the MagSafe. Magnets are awesome, and certainly make it a lot easier to hook cables up — I reckon every commonly used cable should have magnets to align and lock them in. Something that snaps into place on the bottom of your iPhone would be great; it’d save me fumbling about in the dark, struggling to get the damn dock cable the right way up and into my phone to charge it over night, that’s for sure.
Not quite so awesome is the other snippet of information contained within Robert Scoble’s rumour — Apple’s going to control what you can connect to your iPhone with chips to ensure only licenced cables will work. Right now Apple has a “Made for iPhone” licensing program, but you can still use products that don’t bend a knee to Apple. If Apple bungs some sort of verification system into the new connector, all those hundreds of iPhone accessories are going to get pricier and much more restricted.
So while Apple could give with magnets, it could also take away with enforcement of its money-grubbing licensing scheme. Then again it could all be utter baloney, and Scoble could be way off the mark, but we have heard that rumour before. [Scoble via ZDnet]
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Oh gosh I hope not! Having a magnet attached the bottom of the phone doesn’t sound like a particularly bright idea at all! Over it’s lifetime it’d easily acquire lots of random bits of ferrous material
thats true, didnt think of that but i do like the idea, would have thought a design solution could be found to get round that
Only if the magnets were in the phone rather than the cable.
True but my assumption was based on the way the current magsafe connector works. The Device is magnetic not the cable.
Has your MacBook acquired lots of random bits of ferrous material? Because mine, after 4 years, hasn’t.
yeah but your macbook doesnt go in your pocket and for some reason all sorts of random fluff and detritus can be found at the bottom of a pocket…….god forgive i put it in my bellybutton!!!
Actually once yes I managed to pick up some random bits of metallic stones which I’ve still no idea where from. And as TankBoyBen has said pockets have this ability to acquire all sorts of random crap
Maybe they’re working towards a completely sealed phone that’s weather proof. There was an Apple patent that described using a magnetic charging connector for that purpose.
Now that’d be a good idea. Considering Apple won’t gift us a microSD slot or a removable battery, why not go totally sealed?
I agree a totally sealed iPhone will lead to the best experience ever. Don’t even take the shrinkwrap off the box and go and get an Android instead
I agree, but you spelt Windows Phone wrong
OK
I agree a totally sealed Windows Phone will lead to the best experience ever. Don’t even take the shrinkwrap off the box and go and get an Android instead.:-D
If Apple are going to enforce an “approved cables only” plan, I’d love to hear them justify it.
This is Apple we’re talking about — it’ll be because it’s in your “best” interest; customer experience is the most important thing don’t forget
So, the usual Bullshit and lies then.
They can’t justify it obviously – I’m sooo fed up with the frankly stupid patent laws that allow a company to patent a dumb connector – the principal is common use, so it shouldn’t be patentable – why the hell the shape of the connector be allowed a patent is beyond me! This of course makes me glad I went the Android route!
A lot of effort goes into connector design, particularly a multi-purpose dock connector. For example, the Apple dock connector has a minimal insertion force yet can take some serious strain. These things are important when attempting the kind of gravity-assisted connection that’s made when you casually plonk your iPhone onto a speaker dock. Then, when you want to disconnect it, a light tug will do the trick and there’s no chance you’ll destroy the port once you’ve manhandled it 100 times.
Insertion force in turn affects the shape of the pins, which must guarantee a solid connection while also being durable and able to take some abuse.
And all this before you even decide what you’re going to use each of your pins for, and how your accessories are going to communicate with your device. Apple developed their own protocol for this purpose.
I noticed that Apple recently posted a appointment for a design engineer whose only job was to come with port designs.
I don’t know what Apple will come up with, but as it’s a specialised port, I expect it will be ideal for the task it’s required to perform.
That said, forcing a ‘certified cables only’ policy would be a bit draconian.
Wait, does this cause fragmentation of the Apple accessory market?
Didn’t MS just apply to patent a Magsafe style connector with Data?
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/14/microsoft-magnetic-patent-application/
There’s already an Apple certification chip required for many accessories. Apple has a proprietary chip that exposes an interface between the accessory and the device via the Apple Accessory Protocol. The chip is only available to members of the MFI (Made for iDevice) program. It’s been this way for years.