A few months ago, iMore reported that the iPhone 5 would have a smaller dock connector, which was in turn backed up by leaked parts. Now, TechCrunch claims three sources in the manufacturing chain are anticipating a 19-pin port on the next iOS smartphone.
Of course, even if Apple includes an adaptor like they did with the recent MacBook Retina MagSafe, that could means headaches for accessory makers. But the old 30-pin dock has been around for awhile, and whenever Apple makes a jump to the next generation, it usually involves a clean break from the past.
Aside from the metric tonne of new features in iOS 6, there's really nothing official about the next-gen iPhone that we're expecting to see in the fall. With everything still under wraps and in pre-production, there's a lot that can change in the next couple of months. That said, I would be hesitant to call anything at this point "confirmed" -- the best we have a safe bet.
With a bit more room inside, what could Apple be including on the next iPhone? LTE? NFC? More battery to power the bigger screen? What would you guys like to see the extra room being used for?
Source: TechCrunch
Reader comments
Yet more iPhone 5 micro dock connector rumors
what Peter implied I'm blown away that some one able to get paid $8171 in 4 weeks on the computer. did you look at this website makecash16com
magsafe for iphone/ipad would be sweet...
hoping NFC is in the works for iphone 5
Will the iPhone 5 finally get a notification LED? Seriously what's the reason why it hasn't already or even talked about. I'm I the only one who hates having to turn the screen on to check for missed calls/messages etc ?
Accessory makers can change. It's about time we do away with this awful dock connector. My iPhone connector doesn't work half the time from dirt and dust being stuck in it.
Hi Is there a reason why the micro usb port cant be extended? Similar to the new usb3 ports but including hdmi, audio & docking capabilities? It seem crazy to not leverage the standards out there though I do understand manufacturers wanting more than the minium.
Good thing the Bose radio my mom just bought runs off Bluetooth, I was about to tell her to return it.
There was an Apple patent some tme ago, that described a thunderbolt connector and an iPhone.
Maybe you will be able to sync your device with 10GBit/s in near future.
And maybe you can use some leftover GBs as an external storage.
Hah, I doubt the iPhone's storage is fast enough to see the benefit of that anyway.
agreed, the iPhone NAND flash speed is about 20 MegaBytes per second, whereas USB 2.0 is up to 60 MegaBytes.
One question i have, however, is if Thunderbolt has better Sustained transfer speeds? Try this: take a FireWire 400 attached hard drive, and an identical hard drive attached via USB 2.0. Copy a large file to one drive and time it to completion. Repeat the process on the other drive. FireWire will always compete first, specifically due to FireWire having a faster sustained transfer rate than USB 2.0.
This is mainly due to the fact that USB uses the CPU to handle the transfer, whereas FireWire used dedicated hardware to handle transfers. ThunderBolt vs USB 3, i believe, would be much the same.
Should just go with micro-USB.
I'd rather have usb3 and line out and video out than be stuck with an old school USB2 connector.
Re: "What would you guys like to see the extra room being used for?"
Bigger battery. Oh, and I'm really hoping for MagSafe in the new dock connector. Would make me buy a cradle for this year's iPhone. I skipped the cradle for my ancient iPhone 4.
If they're going to change docking connectors and not change to the micro-USB standard (like everyone else) i'd like to see them switch to a magnetic docking connector.
No chance for a micro USB port like every smartphone in the world? Always the same orribile Apple port? For the new iPhone I hope on a bigger screen but also on a new design, not only a longest iPhone 4 as the actual rumours claims. And I agree about the battery, unuseful a bigger screen if you have a poor battery life.
And what about the software? iOS is old now :-( where are widgets? And animated icons like the WP7 Live Tiles?
Boo, I like audio and hdmi out, and I like to be able to dock in a stand. A standard USB port gives me none of those features. A dock port does. And with adapters for USB both included in the box and available online for pennies, I say let's not take a huge step back just because you like the ubiquity of USB and dont care about who loses.
Feel free to switch over to 1 of the "newer/fresher" OSs'....let us know how that works out for ya
Now that Microsoft has stolen the MagSafe for their Surface fiasco, hopefully Apple will push it out to iPhone 5 and beyond.
I am not sure how I feel about the headphone jack being moved to the bottom.
Anyone who cares about audio quality uses a LOD anyway so having it on the bottom isn't much different.
Having the headphone jack at the bottom is perfectly fine. This way you can put your iPhone into your pocket upside-down, with the headphone cord facing up, and then when you take the phone out of your pocket, you can hold it right-side-up without the headphone cord looped out of the top of the phone, but more casually downward.
Right now with the headphone cord sticking out of the top, it feels a little awkward and I tend to fumble with the cord before i start using the phone.
+1
I want the extra space to be used for an overhauled battery that can last a day and a half easily. Also more RAM... like 1GB.
Why do you want your battery to run out in the middle of the day?
Middle of the "next" day. Not the same day.
I appreciate the confession that this is a guess "ie Safe Bet vs confirmed info". I loath news sources that claim they know something without a confirmation. Lets face it, Apple will offer confirmation on their next offering to everyone at the same time, and not before.
Thank you
The big question is what functionality will be lost.
Most important to me would be a slightly bigger screen and more battery. I don't care about sissy thin smartphones, I want more power even if it is at the cost of a slightly thicker phone. Although, I don't want a 'brick' either.
Really hoping they adopt Magsafe adapters for the phones as well.
+1 but I think it's unlikely to save space in what is a relatively very small device
Larger battery otherwise with a larger screen and lte it will get crap battery life.
Agree, every single Verizon LTE phone has horrible battery life, the phones are cool, but the LTE just destroys battery life.
I really hope the iPhone5 doesnt end up the same way.
If anyone can pull it off, its apple.
How does this work with the 2010 EU law that all cellphones post 2011 have a micro-USB charger, a law which supposedly Apple backed? This connector doesn't appear to be USB-based, but brainedspeculation> perhaps it is shaped similarly enough to accept micro-USB for charging only, and that is why Apple was so unaccountably fierce in promoting its own micro-USB standard a few months backbrainedspeculation>.
The EU regulation is met if an apapter is included or even exist i think. So apple now have this: http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD099ZM/A
Quit shooting down my dreams with your facts :)
Never. A micro usb is too mainstream for apple. They would just design something completely new and NOT!!!!!!! put the headphone jack on the bottom
About the headphone jack - why are you so sure? It's already on the bottom in the iPod Touch and Nano...
Because the port for an iPhone isn't a "charging port", it's a Docking Port. And that's how they got past the Micro USB bandwagon. :)