
Apple may be hiring engineers to redesign 30-pin dock connector - iProject
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/05/apple-may-be-hiring-engineers-to-redesign-30-pin-dock-connector/
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nextstep
This article doesn't make a lot of sense. If the next-generation iPhone is to
be released later this year, the design is close to being finished by now.
Either this next iPhone won't have an updated dock-connector, or it's already
been designed. This job posting may signify that the former is true, or more
likely is unrelated to the iPhone.

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deelowe
I hope this means they are developing a connector that doesn't require special
cables and chargers for new Apple devices. I know it's been said a million
times before, but they really should just move to two ports: micro usb &
3.5mm. Even if that means they need to extend the usb spec to support things
like analog audio.

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rogerbinns
There is a standard for doing HDMI from a micro usb connector. It even
includes bidirectional control - ie a device connected to a TV using this can
be controlled using the TV remote control.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-definition_Link>

It has been implemented for quite a while in several devices (eg my phone has
it). I don't know if they left room for expansion (eg a different signalling
to get analog audio).

It is also possible to talk to "apps" on the device such as how the MTP
protocol works. That requires more effort than analog plumbing but can provide
a far richer experience.

The other big issue is power (beyond the original 5V 500mA). Apple have gone
one (incompatible) way with that while the USB standard went a different way.
Even that had to be extended somewhat further especially by tablet
manufacturers since they need a lot of power to charge quickly. (The
signalling is done with differing resistances.)

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ComputerGuru
I highly doubt a new hire would be the one to design the connector to power
the next generation of all iProducts.

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cube13
Or one of their current connector engineers left the company or was reassigned
to a different role, and they're hiring someone to fill the position that they
left.

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applesauce
if by "currently" they mean "as of March 9, 2011" (the day the requisition was
posted), then sure...

I suspect that a "Connector Design Engineer" doesn't necessarily mean they
only focus on engineering the dock connector; there are many, many connectors
in the internals of most iDevices -- just open one up and see for yourself.

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crusso
Although this doesn't look like the right hire for something coming on the
iPhone 5, considering the recentness and newness -- I'd like to see a new port
on the iPhone.

I don't want USB, either. USB connectors are great, but I'm okay with the next
generation.

How about Thunderbolt? It's small, it's fast, it's already on newer macs, and
it can provide 10W of power. Some kind of adapter would be needed for USB
until Thunderbolt is ubiquitous.

~~~
jarek
Thunderbolt is well en route to being about as ubiquitous as Firewire.

~~~
ken
This would be an interesting path to bootstrapping Thunderbolt. Instead of
waiting for PC makers to follow their and Intel's lead (as they did with USB),
put it on a device which millions of them will buy anyway.

~~~
jarek
Apple kind of tried that with the iPod and gave up and went to USB in the end.
Can you imagine the customer confusion chaos along the lines of "can I plug
the iPhone into my computer"?

The current connector might have an usual form factor device-side but the
other end of the cable can plug into and work with 95% of computers. Making it
a Thunderbolt-only connection would be a huge departure from "it just works."

~~~
ken
They didn't have that option with the iPod. USB 1.1 is too slow for syncing a
5 GB disk.

At the time, the USB 2.0 spec had just been finished (and not yet been
ratified) -- it was even more futuristic than Thunderbolt is today. It was
still a year and a half before any Mac had built-in USB 2.0, and no other
computers could handle it, either: neither Windows XP nor Linux 2.4.19 had
been released yet. Not that it would have done any good, because you needed
iTunes 2.0 (a Mac-only app) to make any use of the first-gen iPod.

I wouldn't say they "gave up" on Firewire. I'd say they used the only feasible
mechanism they had available, until something better came along, and
requirements changed.

With recent iPhones, you don't need to ever plug it into a computer, so
there's no real departure from "it just works". Wifi ("n") is almost as fast
as USB2, and syncing can seem even faster if you do it asynchronously (no
cable required). Their answer to "can I plug the iPhone into my computer?" may
well be "you don't need to -- and it just finished syncing while you were
asking".

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philip1209
Don't forget that they can't make the phones and ipods much thinner without
redesigning the 3.5mm jack, too

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jaggederest
You can implement TRRS connectors essentially as thin as you like, if you
don't put sides on it. It looks like a U-shaped slot instead of a full sleeve.

That said, probably not effective for a consumer device, since you'd have
issues with it staying in place.

~~~
ars
> That said, probably not effective for a consumer device, since you'd have
> issues with it staying in place.

I wonder if you could put flexible sides on it that will bulge out when
something is inserted, and hold it properly. Then when you remove the plug it
goes back to being thin.

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zackmorris
Please make it work upside down (or ideally any orientation like a headphone
jack) so it's not a massive fail

