
Breakdown of Apple lightning port - basil
http://brockerhoff.net/blog/2012/09/23/boom-pins/
======
ricardobeat
Tangent: I know that that comment is more of a need for self-deprecation than
an actual opinion, but the new brazilian standard plug is not a disaster at
all. It's a clever, much safer design, based on an international standard.
Every product made in the last half-dozen years fits it, and by now most
commercial spaces and every new residence has them. Lately I'm having more
trouble with sockets/extensions that _aren't_ updated than the opposite...

~~~
asdfs
I think the criticism he had of it was that it provides no way to know if the
outlet is 240V or 120V. Otherwise it seems swell.

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arthurrr
Anybody happen to know if the lightning port, in theory at least, can support
Thunderbolt? In the future, I'd really like to be able to plug in a nice A/D
audio converter to the iPad and use it as a DAW.

If it's not theoretically possible, then the lightning port really isn't
future proof.

~~~
delinka
I don't believe that's possible. Looking at my Thunderbolt cable and ports, I
notice: 1) The cable is not reversible. It's a shaped barrel to fit one way.
2) The cable has many connection points (I think I count 10) above and below
the inside of the barrel at the cable's end. 3) The inside of the cable is an
innie and the inside of the port is a outie, opposites of Lightning (Lightning
doesn't have this shaped barrel thing going on, the cable's just an outie with
connections on both sides, so the port's just an innie.)

And I also know from other reviews that Thunderbolt cables aren't just powered
with electricity, but powerized (?!) with processors at each end. My fingers
suspect this is true because the ends get damn hot.

~~~
3JPLW
That's _exactly_ the kind of thinking that the original article is arguing
against! It doesn't matter what shape or size or gender or even the number of
pins a connector has!

The biggest restriction on getting Thunderbolt on an iOS device is not going
to be the connector or cable. It will be the controller chips necessary to
support such a fast protocol. And fast enough flash chips to provide the data
quickly enough.

Lightning can act as both a USB controller or peripheral. It can already
provide or receive power. The active elements inside Thunderbolt won't be the
limitation.

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djt
This is quite amazing. Good thinking on Apples part and is a good bonus for
them later down the track when others try and copy them

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bryanlarsen
What's the good thinking on Apple's part? Being compatible with USB3 by
copying the mechanism that MHL uses to connect microUSB connectors to HDMI and
DP?

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taligent
It's good thinking building a completely generic connector that doesn't adhere
to only one standard. So that if <insert new standard> comes on the market
Apple could support it without a change of connector.

You couldn't do that with USB.

~~~
bryanlarsen
microUSB has already done that with HDMI and DisplayPort, there's no reason to
suppose they couldn't do it with a hypothetical new standard.

~~~
flatline3
No, it hasn't. It requires different hardware in the device itself to output
HDMI/DisplayPort to what "should" be standard USB pins.

~~~
kbuck
Apple's connector isn't going to automatically support any signaling they
decide to add in the future either. It has to have the proper transceiver in
the device as well. If they do decide to add new signaling formats, they'll
end up with the issue of newer devices supporting them and older ones not
supporting them, which will be rather confusing. The same problem currently
exists with HDMI/DP signaling over MicroUSB, though.

The bottom line is that they could have done this just the same with a USB
port. In my opinion, all they really got out of designing their own connector
was: a) something they can license, control, and collect royalties on; b) a
connector that's slightly easier to use (the ability to plug the cable in
either way, etc.).

~~~
veemjeem
Honestly, I don't think that's their reason for choosing something proprietary
over usb. I doubt their first priority was to create something so that they
can license, control, and collect royalties on -- if that was their
motivation, they would be doing that to the audio jack too. After 10 years of
their 30 pin connector, I'm sure they've collected a good amount input from
manufacturers & users and engineered something to fulfill those requirements.

I feel like people tend to have these same knee-jerk reactions to anything
Apple-designed; they always feel it was designed for the purposes of
collecting royalties because Apple is "evil".

I think it's a bit too early to tell if the device connector will lead to
confusion over "old" and "new" lightning supported devices considering nobody
has released any lightning devices yet. Your FUD is based on existing
intermixed standards that have nothing to do with a connector design created
by a single company.

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smackfu
Would be interesting if Apple put Lightning ports on their MacBooks, and then
sold Lightning to Lightning cables. Then there would be no restrictions from
the protocol at the other end of the cable.

~~~
ConstantineXVI
It'd be hard to justify making space for an extra port on the MBA that's only
useful for one specific device; and the gain over USB would appear minimal.
Never mind that Apple is trying to sever the PC dependency in iOS, making a
dedicated Lightning jack of even more questionable use.

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joejohnson
_...if you get a cheap [HDMI] cable, you may find out that it doesn’t work
well (or at all)._

This has been shown to be false over and over.

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soupysoupysoup
So if I understand this correctly, this system uses a male connector as a
power OUTput? Does that mean every charger must be intelligent enough to
properly detect shorting if someone touches the lightning tip to a steel
table? Is that when the lightning happens? What about the immense market for
poorly made non-intelligent third party devices without proper safety
circutry.. doesn't an exposed male power output open up a huge danger door?

~~~
klodolph
Scroll to the bottom of the article:

> The pins on the plug are deactivated until after the plug is fully inserted,
> when a wake-up signal on one of the pins cues the chip inside the plug. This
> avoids any shorting hazard while the plug isn’t inside the connector.

I'm guessing that there's a different mechanism for power plugs, since they
have to work even if the device is dead. Yes, there's always a market for
poorly made third-party devices, but poorly-made devices have always had the
potential to be dangerous -- scroll back to the top, and you'll see a
dangerous, poorly-made adapter that manages to be dangerous even though the
power is always transmitted from female jack to male plug.

~~~
soupysoupysoup
Anyone can create a poorly made adapter or a poorly made plug. My question is
why would an industry leader put an elementary risk at the forefront of a new
technology? The pins should be shielded.

Third party garbage is inevitable, and too often very difficult to tell apart
from authentic merchandise. In electrical current even in low amp situations
idiot-proof should be the critical part of the design.

~~~
klodolph
A power adapter which can't handle a short is dangerous, period. Handling a
short should be a part of the design of the power supply. Break open a low-
quality third-party power supply for the last generation of iPhone and you'll
see some downright dangerous, possibly lethal stuff. These dangers aren't
really even mitigated by putting a shield around the plug.

[http://www.arcfn.com/2012/03/inside-cheap-phone-charger-
and-...](http://www.arcfn.com/2012/03/inside-cheap-phone-charger-and-why-
you.html)

And a picture of what it should look like:

[http://www.arcfn.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-
teardown-q...](http://www.arcfn.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-teardown-
quality.html)

Notice that on the shoddy power supply, the isolation between mains voltages
and the other side is about 1mm. Manufacturing tolerances and component faults
could easily bridge that gap and electrify the entire low-voltage side with
lethal 240V mains -- shield and all.

Idiot-proofing low-voltage plug design doesn't help, because you've already
lost if you let idiots design anything that plugs into the wall. Okay,
shorting the plug might blow out your knockoff power supply and possibly start
a fire, if the current limiting circuitry fails (which it shouldn't). But that
knockoff was going to electrocute you anyway, at least if it lights on fire
you still have the chance to run.

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dmishe
Stupid Apple, if only they have used micro-usb...

Update: Ok, sorry, looks like sarcasm is not clear, so here.

~~~
MrFoof
Micro-USB has one tremendously major disadvantage for battery-powered mobile
devices: Maximum current.

USB 2 has a maximum current of 1.5A while communicating and 5.0A when not.
Micro-USB has a maximum current (per spec) of 1.0-1.8A, and the usual rating
for most connectors is 1.0A. The result? By switching to Micro-USB, your
iDevice will now take _significantly_ longer to charge. (However, keep in mind
the iPhone charge adapter is 1.0A, whereas the iPad adapters are 2.1A).

So in exchange for a standardized connector, we would have devices that take
twice as long to charge. Honestly, that's not a tradeoff 99% people would want
to make.

~~~
kens
The new USB 3.0 power delivery spec supports 3A at 20V over micro-USB for
potentially 60 Watts delivered via micro-USB and 100W over USB. The idea is to
get rid of laptop charger plugs entirely and replace them with USB. A bunch of
companies are on this standard, including Dell, Foxconn, HP, Intel, Microsoft,
and Nokia. Apple is absent for some reason. This standard will also allow
external hard drives, printers, etc to be powered over USB without a separate
power plug.

This will be an interesting change if the standard catches on. I wonder about
the failure mode of 60 watts through micro-USB though - I expect dramatic
smoke and flame :-)

[http://www.usb.org/press/USB_Power_Delivery_Spec_Completion_...](http://www.usb.org/press/USB_Power_Delivery_Spec_Completion_FINAL.pdf)

~~~
dialtone
Could the "some reason" be that the USB plug is not a mag-safe plug? I for one
would definitely not welcome going back to a different type of power
connector.

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drivebyacct2
Maybe I was the only one in the dark, but if you've not seen it, this cable is
damn cool (yes, I'm a geek).

It's not "hollow" like USB cables, where the "male" plug is actually a
"female" plug in the sense that there is a negative space in the usb connector
that is filled when it's plugged in. With the Lightning port, it's just a male
nub with the pins on both sides. Meaning you don't have to worry about
orienting it correctly.

~~~
voxmatt
It's also much, much smaller than Apple's images make it seem.

~~~
philjohn
This. I was expecting something similar in size to a USB connector, but having
seen it in the flesh, it's absolutely tiny!

