Techcrunch – Earlier today, a Reuters report added more fuel to a particularly nitpicky fire — according to its typically unnamed sources, Apple’s new iPhone indeed sports a smaller, 19 pin dock connector instead of the 30 pin relic the company’s iDevices have clung to for years.
The news itself isn’t particularly shocking — our own John Biggs locked down the 19-pin number last month — but now a new report from iMore points to an even less surprising development. The Cupertino company is allegedly working on a dock connector adapter to keep those iDevice accessories from becoming completely obsolete, or so the story from iMore’s supply chain sources go.
Yeah, There’s literally no way that Apple would risk pissing off longtime iDevice owners by making their scores of old accessories useless in one fell swoop. Sadly, that’s all iMore was able to confirm. At this point, there’s still no word on whether or not such an adapter will find its way inside the new iPhone’s box, nor how much it will cost customers to purchase it separately.
I recently applied the “upgrade” on my iPod Touch to ver. 5.1.1. Immediately I noticed apps disappearing, podcasts not transferring, and other oddities. Then I plugged the iPod into my $300.00 Sony docking station that has been working beautifully for over a year (see pic). Even though the dock will charge my iPod, it will no longer play through the speakers, and of course the remote control has become virtually useless. I suppose I will have to Jailbreak my iPod, but ya know, I would rather that the device Just Worked.
Beware of update 5.1.1 see this:
https://www.discussions.apple.com/thread/3955689?start=30&tstart=0
Why is this the big story? For Android and Windows phones there are story after story about features, different screen types/sizes, processes, etc. For the iPhone, its the plug. It is starting to feel like the mid-90’s with Apple, a lot of flash.
Change is hard. Let’s not change. Change is bad! Let’s keep everything the same forever!
Jeez.
If someone refuses to buy a phone based solely because they have to spend extra dollars on a few dongles/converters, this just shows their lack of common sense of how computers change, advance and move on.
If you can afford an iPhone, you can afford a few extra bucks for a few dongles besides the one Apple will likely put inside the box.
Boo-hoo. Don’t upgrade your stuff then, stay on the older version of products. If you want the latest/greatest/new hotness, QYB and pay up. That’s how tech works.
I get the design change, I don’t give a crap about that.
But it’s NOT OK for an iOS update to render legacy products useless. By your logic, I should just throw both away and buy new.
Why is it not okay for new operating systems to eventually drop support for obsolete hardware?
First it’s bad for business, there is large industry in 3rd party devices for Apple products, and this supports Apple as a whole.
Secondly, this update is a buggy failure (see above) and Apple in it’s usual fashion is not addressing it.
As well, I would hope you wouldn’t consider an 1 year old product as obsolete.
“A buggy failure?” For you, and others probably, yes. As a broad generalization that EVERYONE has the same issues as you? Hardly.
Oviously you’ve scoured the web for others in your exact situation, followed their troubleshooting tips, and still things don’t work?
If so then yeah. Feel that pain. Being a part of any tech community things are bound to fail at some point.
There’s always downgrading the OS. I’ve done this numerous times for people so that their gadgets work. Some I know have even done it themselves. It’s not the end of the world for them.
McCullough –
Other users state this problem on Apple’s forum threads. They suggest re-starting and if that doesn’t work try resyncing from the backup made before the iOS upgrade.
Question: Which generation of iPod Touch is that? The second and first generations don’t support iOS 5.x.
Maybe, there will be a class-action lawsuit of iPod Touch third generation owners like there was with the iPhone 3 owners who say that iOS 4 crippled their iPhones.
My hunch is that the supposed 19-pin connector is based on Thunderbolt. If I read the specs correctly, then the new connector doesn’t have any analog outputs, only digital outputs.
Have you tried a firmware upgrade for the Sony product?
To ForRealz and Cranky Geeks Fan:
3rd Generation iPod.
Yeah, been there done that.
I appreciate your suggestions. Obviously I have scoured the forums, seen the many complaints and attempted several fixes. My next step was to roll back the OS update which is not as easy on an iPod as it might sound.
Sony does not offer a firmware update that I could find, since there is no way to comm to it, except possibly through the iPhone connector.
And yeah, when Apps disappear for no apparent reason…I consider that buggy.
So most people on the forums have tried reinstalling from backup, which didn’t work either.
Like I said, buggy.
Apple does what it thinks is best. That is part of the deal, they control the ecosystem. If you don’t like it, don’t buy Apple. If you buy Apple, accept they are in the driver seat and will do whatever fits their needs.
The cable and connector industry is proactively behind all “new and improved” cables and non-compatible connectors. And by creating compatible adapters, they still get you to part with your money.
Add to this the price that Monster and Radio Shack will (try) to charge for their 24 caret gold-plated stuff and you have a thriving industry. Thank goodness for monoprice.com.
How many UTCCs (unidentified tangled cables and connectors) have you collected over the years?
LOL.
Consumers vote with their wallets. Don’t buy the crap.
Sure there is nothing wrong for new operating systems to drop support for obsolete hardware, except it screws the customer.
You don’t need to be married to Apple, get a divorce.
Who says you need to have every newfangled device that pops up on the radar screen.
Free your mind.
It was my first and last experiment into the distortion field.
Lesson learned.
That’s right it’s crazy to think about changing technology after six years of the same modus operandi. These changes are done without careful consideration based on far more information than any of us have access too.
Besides most accessories will utilize bluetooth and wi-fi connectivity at some point rather than tethering via a cable.
I really don’t understand the big deal. Apple has a long history of abandoning legacy products. You would think the Apple juice drinkers would be used to it. Besides, why support legacy products when you can sell them a $10-$30 adapter.
And we have a winner!
They needed room. So why not use USB3?
Heretic!
*GASP* Apple use the connector that every other company uses now? mini-usb?!?
how dare you even say that!
Apple has proven that it will brick your device as it sees fit. I have a 1st gen touch that can’t run any apps from iTunes because apple has required all apps to be iOS 4 or newer compliant. So how is it that I invest in their initial product and end up with a paper weight and they find that ok.
Sure I’ve gotten some nice service from it over the years, but if the car market decided to change gas so that it didn’t work in any vehicle made before 2000 you’d have something to say about it.
To me it’s flat out stealing. They took value from me at my expense and never told me when I bought it that they’d do that.
The implication has always been that as long as the device powered on and worked I could use it.
The FCC realized this when they switched from analog to digital and provided converters for free. Greedy corporations continue to fleece consumers and steal thier hard earned dollars.
Why would I want to invest in more products with the same potential.
Been a Apple Mac user for some time and have had a iPad and several iPods. I think Apple makes these changes and drops support to nudge you into buying newer hardware. Nothing is worse then a company who artificially creates a need market by breaking their own great products they claimed were perfect only a couple years earlier. Apple’s quick drop of support for service like iCloud in Snow Leopard and changing adaptors in the new Macbook Pro and the next iPhone only adds to the proof they will do whatever to produce frequent purchases. Gee, the only positive to this is a wealthy Apple. I myself am getting tired of Apple’s self preservation.
So what, you don’t think there will be an ADAPTER?
Send me one, I’d like to use the product now please. I paid for it already, it should work.
Why do people keep buying Apple products. Just look at another change Apple made with the power connector on the new Retina Macbook Pro. Its basically the same except its different enough to require a adaptor sold by Apple (go figure) to use any other Apple power supply. Gee, Apple cannot even support its own hardware!
But the real problem with the new connector coming on the iPhone is how it will break everything in third party accessories made today! Now I really think that will not impress customers who spend a lot of third party Apple accessories to know that the next iPhone won’t work. I guess maybe that’s why Apple 3rd quarter profits missed Wall Street est. Maybe finally people are getting wise to Apple.
5.1.1 on my 3rd gen iPod touch works great my $99 iHome clock radio…
Maybe “It’s a Sony” thing
Except in the forums, users are reporting many other docks besides Sony with the same problem.
Fail…try again.
Maybe the iPod Touch is low on memory.
Try removing apps that you know work until you can troubleshoot the “buggy” ones.
Also, try an update to the latest versions of the apps.
Try to “reset to the factory defaults” as much as possible on the Sony docking station.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,
Apple is for iDiots!
It’s not like anyone’s first clue would have been the collective arm twisting and forcing of iPhone users to use the nations worst carrier, AT&T! (Not any more, but look what it took to get Apple to realize and fix that mistake!) It’s not like every damned app sale requires a percentage to go to Apple exactly like mafia insurance protection or like the prices went down or anything. NO! This docking incompatibility will not prevent even more iDiots from flocking to Apple like sheep to a fleecing – or like pigs to slaughter!
It sort of reminds me of the famous saying that fools and their money are soon parted.
These Apple fools could probably be convinced to wear a big “A” on their clothes too. But that might be a little too obvious even to them. But it still didn’t stop Apple from using a symbol – the very same symbol that banned mankind from the garden of eden! (If you believe in fairy stories, that is.)
Apple is not for idiots.
Apple went with AT&T because AT&T was the only telco willing to make the enterprise server changes Apple needed. That flexibility was the result of AT&T sucking so badly and part of the reason Apple went with AT&T.
Apple is a consumer products retail company. You’re assuming that Apple makes computers, it doesn’t.
Apple uses computers and uses computers in their products, but that’s because you can’t be an Apple and produce unconnected products.
By the way, this was spoken by the voice dictation in Mountain Lion™ (I’m still new to it so some garniture as well as the bold and italic are added in after.)
But I suspect that this is a fuckin’ GREAT interface.
Sadly I would agree but dammit my co-workers are smart people. They just love Apple and defend them for no other reasons than they like it alot. My co workers are engineers (hardware, designers, software, VPs, etc). I mean they go as far as to defend that which they know is NOT even the latest or greatest, the best choice to use in a design, and so on. That’s fanaticism right there folks, or if you prefer denialism (which I’m trying to promote for daily use hehehe).
To give you an example of this I had a discussion about the antenna issue with our VP of Engineering. We talked over the technical details of it but it basically came down to him supporting his beloved phone with “…people just need to hold it like I am..” Seriously what kind of BS talk is that, to own a phone that has to be held in a specific manner; and worse that our VP of engineering lies to himself because he’s in denial. So pathetic and sad to see someone in this state especially when you know the person to be very intelligent, as in this case.
welcome to the world of tomorrow…..
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I wouldn’t be surprised if the new Apple connector is partially pin-compatible with the micro USB connector, which is the new standard for all phones in Europe.
I still remember back when Apple used proprietary odd pin sized plugs for external devices like printers. The Apple IIC had a 19 pin DB plug, instead of the common DB25 plug, for an external floppy drive. Reducing some of the ground wires used. But making your own connector cable was then almost impossible. Unless you hacked a DB25 plug down to size. A friend of mine somehow found a supplier of the special tin shielded DB19 plugs. And sold me one. So I was able to make my own, lower cost, device cable. Then the Macs came out with that micro-din plug for the serial printer port, and nobody could find a supplier for it. So that ensured the sales was exclusive to Apple. And so I never owned one of those 1st gen Macs. Got an Amiga instead. Which use all standard DB9 & 25 and DIN5 plugs. And also had the standard internal SCSI interface. So naturally, that had to go, in the PC industry. And was quick;y phased out of Macs and PCs, for EIDE. Fortunately, I found an adapter board for using the newer and cheaper EIDE drives on my Amiga’s SCSI buss, for a while longer.
But I think they keep changing the plug interfaces, mostly to force everyone to “upgrade” all their devices. Or buy pricey adapters. Rather than to just shrine the connector sizes, for efficiency sake.
Apple Computer wasn’t the only maker to pull this. I had a Radio Shack TRS-80 (model 1), which had an edge connector of 40 pins, instead of the standard 44. Which meant, you had to pay for their expensive proprietary extension cable. Or buy a 44 pin edge card connector, and Dremel off the extra four pins. And then epoxy the end closed. I never did bothered doing this.
In the final analysis. The Ram expansion unit just wasn’t worth the extra $200, for a near blank circuit board (no Ram, one UART chip), housed in a plastic case. I tried to order the PCBoard separately, as a replacement part, minus the floppy drive UART chip. But the RS dealer treated me like a potential commie terrorist. “You opened the case?!!” You were suppose to be about to order this part. I had a valid part number for it! But they weren’t about to let me bypass their lucrative overpriced peripheral sales scheme. By letting me to roll my own unit, mounted in a homebrew case.
Even the 16K Ram chip supply was very tightly controlled by RS, at the time. Totally ridiculous, and overpriced! Eventually, the product line fizzled. And all R.S. managed to do was lose me ever buying their other “high end” products, for life.
Macs stayed with the SCSI bus until the late 1990s, at least. The 1st-gen iMac was the first Mac without an external SCSI port since the 1980s. Maybe, some of the Macintosh compatibles of the mid-1990s used IDE drives.