Daniel Hruska There has been speculation for some time that Apple might end the coexistence of the dock connector and iOS devices. It belongs inherently to our iPods, iPhones and iPads, but isn't it time to look for an adequate successor? After all, it has been with us since the launch of the third generation iPod Classic.
It was 2003 when the dock connector appeared. Nine years in the IT world is equivalent to decades of ordinary life. Every year, the performance of the components (yes, let's leave out the hard drives and batteries) increases relentlessly, the transistors would be crammed together like sardines, and the connectors have also shrunk quite a bit in less than a decade. Just compare, for example, "screw" VGA with its successor DVI versus HDMI or the interface for Thunderbolt. Another example is the familiar sequence of USB, mini USB and micro USB.
Everything has its pluses and minuses
"The dock connector is so thin," you might think. Thanks to the narrow profile and the contrasting symbol against the white plastic on one side, the success rate of connection on the first try is close to 100%. Well, on purpose - how many times in your life have you tried to insert a classic USB from both sides and always unsuccessfully? I'm not even talking about the now historic PS/2. Thin not thin, the dock connector is simply getting too big these days. Inside, the iDevice takes up unnecessarily many cubic millimeters, which could definitely be used differently and better.
It is assumed that the sixth generation iPhone will support LTE networks with a real throughput of several tens of megabits per second. Antennas and chips enabling this connectivity apparently did not reach the necessary dimensions to comfortably fit inside iPhones last year. It is not only about the size of these components, but also about their energy consumption. This will continue to be reduced over time as the chips and antennas themselves are improved, but even so, at least a slightly larger battery will be a necessity.
Sure, you can already see phones with LTE on the market today, but these are monsters like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus or the upcoming HTC Titan II. But this is not the path for Apple. Design is at a premium in Cupertino, so if there aren't components that fit Sir Jonathan Ive's satisfying vision for the upcoming iPhone, it simply won't go into production. Let's be aware that this is "only" a mobile phone, so the dimensions should be measured appropriately and sensibly.
By air, by air!
With iOS 5, the possibility of synchronization via the home WiFi network was added. The importance of the cable itself with a 30-pin connector, just for the sake of synchronization and file transfer, has drastically decreased. The wireless connection of the iDevice with iTunes is not completely problem-free, but in the future one can (hopefully) expect greater stability. The bandwidth of WiFi networks is also an issue. This, of course, differs from the network elements and standards used. With today's common AP/routers supporting 802.11n, data transfer speeds of around 4 MB/s (32 Mb/s) can easily be achieved up to a distance of 3 m. This is not a dizzying throughput by any means, but who among you copies gigabytes of data every day?
However, what works perfectly is the backup of apple mobile devices to iCloud. It was launched to the public with the release of iOS 5 and already has over 100 million users today. You don't have to worry about anything at all, the devices are backed up by themselves without any notifications. Hopefully the rotating arrows in the status bar let you know about the backup in progress.
The third burden of using a cable was updating iOS. From the fifth version, this can be solved using delta updates with sizes in the order of tens of megabytes directly on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. This eliminates the need to download the entire iOS installation package in iTunes. Bottom line – ideally, you only need to connect your iDevice to iTunes with a cable once – to enable wireless syncing.
What about Thunderbolt?
However, one big question mark hangs in the air for cable connection advocates. Who, or rather what, should be the successor? A lot of Apple fans might think Thunderbolt. It is slowly settling across the entire Mac portfolio. Unfortunately, "flash" seems to be out of the game, as it is based on the PCI Express architecture, which iDevices do not use. Micro USB? Also no. Apart from the smaller size, it offers nothing new. Moreover, it is not even stylish enough for Apple products.
A simple reduction of the current dock connector appears to be a reasonable choice, let's call it a "mini dock connector". But this is just pure speculation. Nobody knows exactly what Apple is up to in the Infinite Loop. Will it just be a simple downsizing? Will the engineers come up with a new proprietary connector? Or will the current "thirty tip", as we know it, serve in an unchanged form for several more years?
He wouldn't be the first
Either way, it will surely come to an end one day, just as Apple has replaced certain components with smaller siblings. With the arrival of the iPad and iPhone 4 in 2010, the people of Cupertino made a rather controversial decision - Mini SIM was replaced by Micro SIM. At the time, a large percentage of people did not agree with this step, but the trend is obvious - to save valuable space inside the device. Today, more phones use Micro SIM, and maybe with Apple's help, Mini SIM will become history.
Unexpectedly, the first iMac released in 1998 did not include a floppy disk slot. At that time, it was again a controversial step, but from today's perspective, a logical step. Floppy disks had a small capacity, were slow and very unreliable. As the 21st century approached, there was no place for them. In their place, optical media experienced a strong rise - first CD, then DVD.
In 2008, exactly ten years after the launch of the iMac, Steve Jobs proudly took the first MacBook Air out of the box. A new, fresh, thin, light MacBook that didn't include an optical drive. Again – “How can Apple charge so much for a little thing like this if I can't play a DVD movie on it?” Now it's 2012, MacBook Airs are on the wane. Other Apple computers still have optical drives, but how long do they last?
Apple isn't afraid to make moves that the general public doesn't like at first. But it is not possible to continuously support old technologies without someone taking the first step to adopt new technologies. Will the dock connector meet the same cruel fate as FireWire? So far, tons and tons of accessories are working in its favor, even Apple's stubbornness against it. I can vividly imagine a new iPhone with a new connector. It is more than certain that users will not like this move. Manufacturers simply adapt.
In theory, it could be replaced with some NFC technology and the dock connector would disappear completely, or they could use a 3,5 jack like it was in iPods and the classic dock would no longer be needed. As for both, you can't go wrong when plugging in ;-)
that's a nice idea, but somehow you've forgotten what's going on with such a dock. This is primarily about multi-connectivity, when the connector provides several dozen (sorry, I don't know the specification) signal and data pins. It can contain information about the establishment of the device, stick buttons, data from the camera, etc., etc... all of this would have to go through one coded transmission, and thus the electronics that decode the information would have to be on the expensive side, which would make some devices quite expensive
If I'm not mistaken, Apple added its signature to the agreement on the standardization of mobile phone power connectors that operated with mini/micro USB (I don't know which one it was anymore).
Yes, but the deal had some flaws, so Apple solved it with a reduction.
http://store.apple.com/cz/product/MD099ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0MQ
Hello, I don't quite understand the sentence: "With today's common AP/routers supporting 802.11n, a data transfer speed of around 4 MB/s (32 Mb/s) can be easily achieved at a distance of 3 m. This is not a dizzying culvert at all, but who it copies you gigabytes of data every day?,, So the transferred data from mac to iphone only goes through some kind of local network?
I thought I would find it in the box with the iPhone, but no, it has to be bought for 230 CZK. What is it for then? I'd rather convince the whole family to buy an iPhone. ;)
I would just like to add that from a mechanical point of view, the DOCK connector really appeared in 2003 with the 3.GEN iPod, but the layout of the PINs was a little different than today. Charging with this version was possible only via FireWire cable, data transfer via USB & FW cable. So if you can't charge your iPod 3GEN with today's USB cable, it's not the fault of the device or the cable, but the incorrect use of the cable. And believe me, few of the "sellers" know this. The charger for the first dock cable FW – DOCK KONEKTOR (and therefore the predecessor of today's USB cable) can be found here:
http://www.datafile.cz/icloud/ipod_3g/fw_nab.jpg
That paragraph is completely nonsensical, the author should first study something about wireless technologies before writing such nonsense.
it's stupid, why would they cancel the Dock connector? mini usb and the like won't hold my iPhone and iPad upright.