# iPhone 5 to have a new 19 pin connector. Will make all accessories for previous models obsolete.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 21, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865 "2012-06-21T18:11:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/21 "2012-06-22T03:01:26Z")
Technology marches on.
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/22 "2012-06-22T03:13:07Z")
The first iPod came out in 2001. After 11 or 12 years (depending on when the iPhone 5 comes out) I can’t see how anyone is getting upset about needing to revise the connector.
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### Author:  [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/23 "2012-06-22T03:32:38Z")
> [@Rick](#):
>
> The first iPod came out in 2001. After 11 or 12 years (depending on when the iPhone 5 comes out) I can’t see how anyone is getting upset about needing to revise the connector.
Yes. Especially if the new connector is going to be of the mag-safe type as speculated.
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### Author:  [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/24 "2012-06-22T03:35:54Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> Doubtful.
> The iPhone outputs real honest-to-god analog stereo and composite video out of it’s dock connector. Which means you can attach it to any A/V equipment in existence. I serious doubt that your µUSB connector was going to do that.
Why not? They’re just pins. Four data pins available, and a fifth used for identification. The connector shield provides ground.
(ID = No Connect means standard USB protocol over the other four)
Two pins give stereo output.
Three pins would give composite video.
I’m not sure I could have done both at once without doing something cute..but I absolutely could do one or the other.
-D/a
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/25 "2012-06-22T04:04:42Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#):
>
> Why not? They’re just pins. Four data pins available, and a fifth used for identification. The connector shield provides ground.
> (ID = No Connect means standard USB protocol over the other four)
> Two pins give stereo output.
> Three pins would give composite video.
>
> I’m not sure I could have done both at once without doing something cute..but I absolutely could do one or the other.
>
> -D/a
Sure, if you don’t mind giving up USB when you do your A/V output.
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### Author:  [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/26 "2012-06-22T05:32:20Z")
Clearly what is needed here is a definitive form factor and pin-out for every version of every manufacturers phone ever.
Apple can have the best one because, um, Apple. They get a 30 pin connector that only mates with other Apple products and is (as required) way more expensive than it should be.
Nokia and Ericsson get serial RS232 connections because they’re old and dumb.
Android gets mini and micro USB because they’re sell outs and share common stuff like, like uh, jerks, yeah.
Windows phones get USB3 and Firewire, both just to piss Apple off.
RIM get parallel ports because the codecs were all free, the devices are all wide enough to support those enormous cables, and most RIM users still have their dot matrix printer still plugged into that parallel port anyway.
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### Author:  [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/27 "2012-06-22T09:31:33Z")
Well I’m glad I bought a battery with a USB port, not a dock connector.
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### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/28 "2012-06-22T11:23:51Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#):
>
> Why not? They’re just pins. Four data pins available, and a fifth used for identification. The connector shield provides ground.
> (ID = No Connect means standard USB protocol over the other four)
> Two pins give stereo output.
> Three pins would give composite video.
>
> I’m not sure I could have done both at once without doing something cute..but I absolutely could do one or the other.
>
> -D/a
Because whatever at the other end is, it needs a _redundant_ D/A, D/V, D/? converter. The iDevice arleady HAS that, adding a second one would only add cost and complexity to the device being connected to.
It’s also not the first time they’ve done it, they went from firewire charging to USB charging between the 2nd(?) and 3rd(?) gen iPods. It’s been identical right up til the 4s came out…it’s had it’s own power issue…except that higher voltage charge they introduces with the iPad. I had two motorcycle add-ons (a Bluetooth helmet and a power converter) that were replaced under warrantee because they wouldn’t charge my 4s. The replacments work fine, and I couldn’t get a straight answer from the vendors why the old ones didn’t. (Perhaps they weren’t addressing the USB spec properly?)
It’s frustrating, but hardly a first. More importantly, any device that docked the phone by squeezing the sides and/or leaving the top open, should STILL hold the new phone. I have a boom Box I bought for my 3rd Gen iPod…it’ll charge my iPhone 4s with a Schsche adapter…and will still hold the phone in the slot it was designed for because the top is open. The iPhone 5 is rumored to have a larger screen, is slightly taller, but has a similar width to it’s predecessors.
Name one other portable device with the same kind of eco-system…As it is, Both daily drivers are due for new stereos (one’s a 2003, the other has a stereo from 2001), and I’m waiting til the announcment to decide what to do…honestly, bluetooth makes it irrelevant, just so long as there’s a way to keep the phone charged.
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/29 "2012-06-22T12:19:59Z")
The “ecosystem” may take a bit of a hit over the next months if buyers or suppliers hold out on equipment decisions until the form factor is firm. This will probably be balanced or overtaken by the following sales volume of new form factor gear and conversion adaptors. For instance all those hotel chains that got iDocks on their room clock-radios may plan at replacement time to just get a unit with an AUX-IN plug and a USB power port and pitch it as “compatible with ALL music players and telephones” (after all, just to hear music I already feed my iPod or iPhone out through the headphone plug to my car’s vulgar AUX-IN plug, no need for bluetooth or fancy AV wiring).
Thinking cooly of it, this may mean I’ll consider waiting for the 5S, by which time there should be pleniful third-party new-style accessories, cables and dongles.
Honestly I was much more annoyed when they got rid of tactile controls on the iPod Nano. I like having a player that I didn’t have to stop to look down at whenever I want to pause or skip to the next/prior track.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/30 "2012-06-22T13:35:29Z")
There will always be new connectors. It will never cease.
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### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/31 "2012-06-22T13:39:05Z")
Nonsense! You only say that because it’s always been the case!
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/32 "2012-06-22T13:50:27Z")
> [@Chimera](#):
>
> Technology marches on.
And occasionally breaks into a run, what with Apple always chasing it with those electric prods from _THX 1138_.
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### Author:  [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/33 "2012-06-22T13:53:47Z")
> [@Colophon](#):
>
> They could start by not making the insulation on the charger cables out of cheese (or at least use one of the harder cheeses, rather than Brie).
Yeah, no crap. I’ve had my 3GS for just over two years and I have half the cable wrapped in electrical tape because the heat has made the wire covering crumble.
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### Author:  [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/34 "2012-06-22T23:02:52Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#):
>
> Because whatever at the other end is, it needs a _redundant_ D/A, D/V, D/? converter. The iDevice arleady HAS that, adding a second one would only add cost and complexity to the device being connected to.
I plugged it directly into a TV, a VCR, and a projector as a proof of concept. Processors have had TV out modules for a few years.
But enough of the hijack..yes, it’s easier if you have more pins available.
-D/a
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### Author:  [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/35 "2012-06-22T23:11:35Z")
I’ll be very upset when this hits the iPod…I would have to buy a new stereo for one vehicle. The other vehicle’s stereo has the option of a USB connection; maybe it would work through that.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2012, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/36 "2012-06-24T08:22:48Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#):
>
> I plugged it directly into a TV, a VCR, and a projector as a proof of concept. Processors have had TV out modules for a few years.
>
> But enough of the hijack..yes, it’s easier if you have more pins available.
>
> -D/a
You could always go the USB 3 route and just include extra pins in the same form factor.
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### Author:  [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2012, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/37 "2012-06-24T08:48:32Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> You could always go the USB 3 route and just include extra pins in the same form factor.
In which case it would still be proprietary. Also, most USB connectors look ugly as hell.
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### Author:  [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/38 "2012-06-24T21:43:17Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#):
>
> In which case it would still be proprietary. Also, most USB connectors look ugly as hell.
What does this even mean? Both USB connectors and iPod connectors are tiny oblong metal sheaths with pins inside. What are you even basing an aesthetic judgment on? Unless it’s the plastic casing around the connector, in which case, that’s entirely up to the manufacturer, and has nothing to do with the connector at all, besides a minimum size.
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### Author:  [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/39 "2012-06-24T21:51:03Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#):
>
> I’ll be very upset when this hits the iPod…I would have to buy a new stereo for one vehicle.
I am sure there will be an adaptor.
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### Author:  [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-5-to-have-a-new-19-pin-connector-will-make-all-accessories-for-previous-models-obsolete/625865/40 "2012-06-25T06:31:58Z")
> [@Silophant](#):
>
> What does this even mean? Both USB connectors and iPod connectors are tiny oblong metal sheaths with pins inside. What are you even basing an aesthetic judgment on? Unless it’s the plastic casing around the connector, in which case, that’s entirely up to the manufacturer, and has nothing to do with the connector at all, besides a minimum size.
I was responding to **BigT** saying (as I understood, maybe I’m mistaken) that basically putting a USB connector in the iPhone and adding a few extra pins would be a solution to the problem of proprietary cables. Sorry if that’s not at all what he meant.
And yes, I do find the dock connector more aesthetically pleasing than your typical USB connection (full-size and mini, maybe not the Kindle-style micro - but I really doubt you could fit 19 or even 30 pins in that sucker).
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