New Apple Lust Objects for 2010 and onward

unveiling on 12 September

well it's safe to assume now that it will indeed be called the "iPhone 5", not "the new iPhone" or "iPhone 6".

What do you all think about the new, smaller connector? I like that you can insert it in either direction and that it's smaller, but having to keep 9-to-30 pin adapters around to use the ubiquitous USB cables or any iPod/iPhone speaker or accessory made over the last 10 years is going to suck.

I'm also undecided on which of the three US carriers to go with - it's Verizon's best overall coverage and 4G/LTE availability vs. AT&T's normal GSM network and its advantages (interchangable SIM cards, ability to talk and use internet at the same time, etc.) vs. Sprint's unlimited data and (likely) no price premium for Facetime-over-3G.

iPhone also available on a couple US PAYG services now. Cricket and Virgin at least. No handset subsidy obviously.

It's also available in the US unlocked with no contract, but v. expensive. I'll probably go with one of the subsidized phones with a 2-year contract.

well it's safe to assume now that it will indeed be called the "iPhone 5", not "the new iPhone" or "iPhone 6".

my money's on 'the new iphone'

im goin w 'iphone'

New dock connector is a fucking scam. At least when they did this stuff in the past it was to make things better, but there's not a single thing that justifies losing access to power basically anywhere you go.

What do you think the 5 in the shadow refers to, AA?

people's expectations

there's not a single thing that justifies losing access to power basically anywhere you go.

whaaaa?

The iPod is so ubiquitous now that basically wherever you go there's someone with a dock connector cable and you can get a charge. They even have them in malls.

That's not to mention all the accessories and docks and car connectors and shit. Basically that connector is part of this huge ecosystem.

And they're chucking all that for why?

oh man i was all disappointed to be buying an iphone 4 (not even an s) due to emergency but now suddenly i don't really care

how cheap will 4s get now with verizon, att, etc?

I'm guessing the 16gb version of the 4S will continue as a low-end offering (US $99 with 2-year contract), the 4 will become either $49 or free with a new contract, and the 3GS will finally be retired. I doubt the 32 and 64gb 4S will continue. (all of this would be in line with Apple's past practise).

Yeah I really don't know what Apple is thinking with the new dock connector. I'm sure there are technical improvements that can be made to the old design - for one, it duplicates FireWire signals that nobody uses anymore - but the popularity of the 30-pin connector is part of why people bought Apple mobile devices - everyone has a charging cable, and every speaker and car connector and accessory mates with it. Is it worth dumping it just to save a tiny bit of space? Also, I kinda like the headphone jack on the top - supposedly one of the reasons for the smaller connector is so it can be moved to the bottom, relinguishing the need for a cable that goes across the inside of the phone.

stet: ah okay. I presume it's because the current connector is too big and nine years old and basically shithouse.

it's still a hard sell to me "forget all those docks you've got and scrap your car! This change lets us make the breakthrough internet device 1mm thinner and also you won't have to use a 9-year-old connector any longer"

Is it worth dumping it just to save a tiny bit of space?

I reckon so. 9 yrs is a long time, and the ghost of jobso has possibly built some other function into it xp

As space becomes more and more of an issue, it totally makes sense for Apple to bite the bullet and make an unpopular decision for the sake of THE FUTURE. I kind of see it like getting rid of floppy disc drive or optical drives when they did. And I'm assuming little adaptors will soon be available.

I'd probably be less butthurt if the rumoured design wasn't an lame badger-striped reheated and stretched version of the current one.

I like badgers!

stet, I do absolutely see your point, but the pain would be identical if apple went bust. stuff changes and I just really don't see why it's that big a deal (especially as we don't even know what any prospective adapter looks like) xp alba otm

it's only a big deal because there's no justification for it. It's not that big, it's not outdated (there are still unused pins that will let them do basically anything they want, including USB3 and higher power), and there are 500 million+ pretty good reasons to keep it.

The floppy, ADB, VGA, you could totally see why they were doing it. This? "It's old" is a strength here, not a weakness.

but too big

by 1 mm

i'm with stet on this one, the new power cord connector for the retina macbook pro just reeks of "oh hey while we're at it let's redo this for no good reason ..."

stuff changes and I just really don't see why it's that big a deal (especially as we don't even know what any prospective adapter looks like)

http://www.iphone-spares.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/apple_new_dock_connector-400x366.jpg

What I find a bit ironic is that i've wondered how Apple was going to compete with the larger screens found on recent Android phones without making the iPhone wider, which would make it unable to fit in many docks that were designed for previous iPhones and iPods. The early iPods essentially determined the maximum width an iPhone could be without breaking compatibility with thousands of accessories. But here they are, breaking compatibility with a decade's worth of accessories with the new 9-pin dock connector, despite not increasing the overall size of the phone. (a larger 4" screen is rumoured, but the additional size will be fully or mostly in width, with a HDTV-like widescreen aspect ratio).

that's not an adapter though, is it?

re 1 mm: the current one is considerably wider than this new one

it's been hilarious watching apple design ever-shrinking ipod nanos and shuffles around a big wide hilarious socket

it's not like they want to make an iOS device narrower than the OG iPhone tho. And putting the headphone jack on the bottom is just stupid anyway

xp - the Shuffle never had a 30-pin connector. Really, they should just drop the Shuffle altogether (really, is a small screen too much to ask for in 2012?), lower the price of the current iPod Nano to take its place, and make the nano more like the previous two generations. I really like the good-ol' click wheel on a dedicated music player - especially when it's in a case that tactilely accentuates the round controller so you can easily operate it by feel. I often skip through songs on my 5th-gen nano without even removing it from my pocket.

The current iPod nano looks like it would make a neat watch, at least until you realise it's not even slightly water-resistant, and the battery needs recharging frequently, and you can't use wireless headphones. I hope they at least add wi-fi and bluetooth to it.

headphone jack on the bottom of a phone would actually be more convenient for me xp

it's the fact that it's taking up so much of the crucial space for the voice receiver (is that what you call it?) that necessitates the redesign i imagine. hopefully they'll improve the receiver as a result. the accessories manufacturers must be tearing their hair out though considering how high-end so many of them are. imagine being a bose product designer who designed the ipod to sit at at exact level w/r/t/ to everything else that's happening in the design. now all that is going to be thrown off by a probably shitty white plastic adaptor.

new iPhone better have a surprise feature to get me motivated to ditch all my gadgets (tho prob the only one I would immediately replace is my TomTom kit)

so carry your charger/connector with you! with the new small design it'll even more convenient to do so. the expectation that there will just be chargers/connectors There For You, wherever you go, is faintly ridiculous tbqh and if you're the kind of person who gets het up about your new phone not mating with a hotel's legacy iPod dock well let's face it you're also the kind of person who's going to be carrying around a £5 2-ounce adaptor for it so bfd

lol at people who use docks

so carry your charger/connector with you! with the new small design it'll even more convenient to do so. the expectation that there will just be chargers/connectors There For You, wherever you go, is faintly ridiculous tbqh

Except it's true and works right now! There are something like 400 million devices w/dock connectors out there, and probably the same again in docks and accessories.

Basically: adapters and chargers are shite. It's good not having to carry them around. It's good going to places and finding stereos and other kit that just works with your stuff. What do you get in return for losing that? Fuck all.

Also Apple hasn't sold something for £5 since, er, nope, don't think it ever has.

Caek: it's cables too. Looking around this office, I can see ... 7 ... dock connector cables.

it's worth it to never put the connector in the phone the "wrong way" ever again imo

what's cables too? i'm just saying lol docks.

induction, man

http://i.imgur.com/C6s75.jpg

oo sorry. but docks are awesome. you can leave your headphones plugged in 'em.

they have them in horrible hotels and your parents buy them

http://i.imgur.com/sHWxO.jpg

i'll predict a bestselling iPhone 5 accessory will be a new-to-old dock connector adaptor that is exactly the width and depth of the new iPhone, and as short as possible, essentially designed to remain attached almost permanently and become part of the phone. That way you could carry your iPhone around without a charger and know you could use any dock or cable you come across. It would add probably 1 cm to the length of the phone, but oh well.

so carry your charger/connector with you! with the new small design it'll even more convenient to do so. the expectation that there will just be chargers/connectors There For You, wherever you go, is faintly ridiculous tbqh and if you're the kind of person who gets het up about your new phone not mating with a hotel's legacy iPod dock well let's face it you're also the kind of person who's going to be carrying around a £5 2-ounce adaptor for it so bfd

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, September 5, 2012 6:18 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm, technology changes, if you maniacs had your way iphones would have serial ports

Current dock connector sucks, is ungainly and too wide and has been for years. Only real plus to it is the fact it's really short, but that's more of a liability than an asset and probably why the official Apple cables have little clips -- no space on the connector for any sort of friction/retention piece that works well.

I'll be pissed off when I finally switch phones, but... death to the old connector, long live new connector.

I don't think I've ever used a dock connector! Just the basic power cord deal. So no skin off my nose here.

uhhh... that IS the dock connector ned

*shakes head in disgust*

Whatever that thing is, then.

I just.... no, Ned, no.

i dont like the old connector, never felt right

i welcome u new connector into the world no matter what mean old bullies say