Reversible Type-C USB Connector Ready For Production 191
orasio writes: One of the most frustrating first-world problems ever (trying to connect an upside-down Micro-USB connector) could disappear soon. The Type-C connector for USB has been declared ready for production by the USB Promoter Group (PDF). "With the Type-C spec finalized, it now comes down to the USB-IF to actually implement the sockets, plugs, cables, adapters, and devices. The problem is that there are billions of existing USB devices and cables that will need adapters and new cables to work with new Type-C devices. It’s a lot like when Apple released the Lightning connector, but on an even grander scale. Further exacerbating the issue is the fact that China, the EU, and the GSMA have all agreed that new mobile devices use Micro-USB for charging — though it might be as simple as including a Micro-USB-to-Type-C adapter with every new smartphone."
One of the most frustrating first-world problems (Score:5, Insightful)
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As an Apple customer, I am quite happy they ditched the "30-pin" connector and went with the reversible lightning connector. One less thing to fiddle with when charging my phone. Nice to see USB picking up the feature, even if it is a couple years later with implementations still not available.
That said, the cable/connector interface on the lightning cables is not nearly strong enough for the insertion/removal force required. It will be interesting to see if the USB design will work better in that regard
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The cable connection at the lightning connector has failed on me several times, specifically because the connector stays connected to the device. The removal force exceeds the strength of the cable. Yes, I understand you shouldn't pull from the cable, but the connector body is sometimes too small to get a good hold on.
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Wouldn't you have been better off if they had gone to Micro USB though? It's cheap, ubiquitous, supports full 1080p video without nasty compression and does everything else that the Lightning connector does. Apple could even have added some extra pins for their own functions, like Samsung and HTC have done, while still retaining full compatibility.
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microUSB does NOT SUPPORT TV OUT.
Sorry, but do not confuse MHL, SlimPort or other "let's hack a micro USB compatible connector" standard with micro USB. MHL and S
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Look at your fuel gauge in the car. There is a little arrow on it that tells you which side your gas tank is on.
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Work colleague got a new Ford Ranger, the arrow points to the wrong side :-P
That's not the wrong side, it's just that on his Ranger, the arrow points to which side of the pump you're supposed to be on.
Not at all dumb (Score:2)
Seriously, how dumb are we becoming?
We aren't dumb at all, as evidenced by multiple directionless plugs taking over where annoying plugs held sway before.
That's a lot of pointless time saved in aggregate.
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Wrong; if all cars have the cap on the same side it leads to inefficiency at pumps when big vehicles / those too bad at driving to park sufficiently close to the pumps cause queues by having to wait to park on the same side of the pump. Yes, I know that pretty much every pump has a long enough hose that it doesn't matter which side you park on at least with a smallish car, but it still seems beyond some people. Optimally 50% of cars will have the cap on the left, 50% on the right.
It is not about the pump, as the hose is long enough to allow filling cars on both sides of the isle, but about the driver being able to check what is being done to his car on gas stations with full service.
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No good reason? Really?
Look on the bright side - with Type-D they'll figure out how to go reversible and genderless and then we'll be done for good.
Re: One of the most frustrating first-world proble (Score:2)
Don't they call that Bluetooth?
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Look on the bright side - with Type-D they'll figure out how to go reversible and genderless and then we'll be done for good.
Along those lines: the "gendering" (sort of) of USB was deliberate. USB is a master/slave protocol with a host that supplies power and a device that (optionally) consumes it. The cables were designed to prevent people from connecting two hosts together and shorting out their power supplies. The newer USB On-The-Go (OTG) standard allows two hosts to connect using special connectors (micro-AB) to control power switching and a connection protocol for deciding which end is the master, but it's pretty complicate
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That may be how OTG was conceived but I never heard of anyone using it that way.
People (including me) use it for USB keyboard, mice, hard disks, flash drives on phones or tablets which also act as removable media to a PC.
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with Type-D they'll figure out how to go reversible and genderless
The two are mutually exclusive, aren't they?
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RTS: Apparently not, although it might be hard to make it obvious which way they can be oriented.
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Type-C is [...] genderless.
No it's not [wikipedia.org].
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At some point in your life you're going to have to go all Zen about it and not care so much.
Only then can you throw those old SCSI cables out.
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At some point in your life you're going to have to go all Zen about it and not care so much.
Only then can you throw those old SCSI cables out.
Hah, I scrapped 4 cubic yards of collected computer detritus, including at least a dozen different SCSI cables (with some ultraSCSIs) today. Been needing to do that for years. I did shed a bit of a tear over the Amiga stuff, though.
Yes, I donated to anyone and everyone all that I could before I scrapped. But 4 working PCs couldn't even be given away to an orphanage!
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At some point in your life you're going to have to go all Zen about it and not care so much.
Personally, I don't care what cable it is. All I really care about is being able to plug in what I need to, when and where I need to.... Well, that and how much all the adapters and cables my devices use cost me.
Well, I suppose that's not exactly true, I do care about my wife not complaining about "all the unsightly wires" I have to keep around so I can get the pictures off the cameras, charge any of the phones we have, sync the various "i Devices" of multiple types and ages and all the various tablets la
Er, what? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is genius.
"This new connector, whose only value is that it's reversible, doesn't work on the billions of existing devices. Why don't we include a non-reversible adapter?"
Hell, for extra convenience, just leave the adapter on the cable all the time.
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Not sure if trying to be funny or just braindead. There's this thing called backwards compatibility that is typically required when you change a global standard.
Oh are you going to be massively inconvenienced by having to use an adapter for a few years while all your devices adopt the new standards and your cables get replaced by attrition? Maybe your story can get on Slashdot as the "most frustrating first-world problem".
So yes, it is actually quite genius to design a system like that.
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The whole point of Type-C is to address the ugly kludge that is the current micro-USB3 connector that almost no phone or tablet adopted because the connector is huge - over twice as wide as micro-USB.
As for the EU and others with mandated micro-USB charging, I bet they will include Type-C as an acceptable or even preferred alternative in short enough order.
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I can see them doing this, rather than the much simpler solution of having two ports: a Micro-B port for charging only, and a C port for data/charging.
Compliant with all regulations, simpler for the consumer (no adapter required), minimal outlay (one extra trace on the PCB, one extra component costing fractions of a cent), no questions about cables.
... yas uoy ,elbisreveR (Score:5, Funny)
.revelc woh ...
Re:... yas uoy ,elbisreveR (Score:5, Funny)
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!gnittiF woH ?kroDniatpaC
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Now it's going to take me 4 attempts to plug in my USB device instead of 3.
Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
I know, one more USB connector to have an adaptor for... But this is how the mini/micro and even old USB 'A' should have been from the beginning.
There's nothing worse than having to blind mate USB, and having to flip it four bloody times before it works. (except maybe blind mating 'F' connectors, or sometimes D sub..)
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I know, one more USB connector to have an adaptor for... But this is how the mini/micro and even old USB 'A' should have been from the beginning.
There's nothing worse than having to blind mate USB, and having to flip it four bloody times before it works. (except maybe blind mating 'F' connectors, or sometimes D sub..)
I can think of a few things that are worse, including:
1) Arriving at your destination needing to charge your phone and finding that, although you have the charger and the phone, you forgot the adapter.
2) Having to mate and secure two connections instead of just one.
3) Unplugging phone cable from adapter leaving converter behind. This already happens with car adapters where you can easily walk off with the cable and phone, leaving the 12V adapter behind.
4) Arriving at far off destination to find that you ha
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That's kind of a bullshit complaint. Do you currently plug your phone into a USB A to USB B adaptor, to a USB B to USB mini B adaptor, which is plugged into a USB mini B to micro B adaptor? (yeah, I skipped some USB variants).
No? then shortly you'll just have a USB micro C cable / charger, same as how you have a micro B cable / charger now.
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same as how you have a micro B cable / charger now.
And what about the thousands or hundreds of thousands of installed USB chargers and devices? Some public library in the EU installed 50 micro B USB cables after the EU legislation. How many products went and built themselves around micro USB B? What if you want to borrow your friend's. A lot of stuff has in integrated USB micro B instead of a USB-A.
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For most of those issues, the solution is simple: if you forget cables and adapters so often that it is a major hassle, you might want to buy some spare cables and adapters to suit most scenarios. Type-A plugs are not going to disappear overnight (USB 3.0 Type-A maps directly to Type-C so Type-A on PCs, power adapters and anywhere else where shaving cubic millimeters does not matter is not going anywhere) so an A-to-C cable should have you covered in most cases where you cannot do C-to-C... assuming Type-C
Not xkcd, but close: (Score:2)
http://www.smbc-comics.com/ind... [smbc-comics.com]
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Try blind mating an DVI connector. You'll find that USB is a charm compared to that.
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Back when USB first came out the technology to make such small, robust connectors didn't exist.
I don't think we will be needing cables for most of our mobile devices for much longer anyway. My phone and tablet already charge and sync wirelessly. I can even buy a wireless battery charger (you put the cells in the charger, then put the charger down on a charging pad) if I really want to avoid every plugging anything in again.
We are finally ready to get rid of the mess of wires and USB hubs, so hopefully this
XKDC alrady out of date ! (Score:4, Funny)
This is today's XKCD - and it's already out of date !
http://xkcd.com/1406/
Re:XKDC alrady out of date ! (Score:5, Funny)
Shaped like speaker cable (Score:3, Interesting)
Is there a reason why USB cables can't be shaped like 3.5 mm speaker cables just with more 'stripes'? Then they could be plugged in any direction and they'd be rotate-able.
Re:Shaped like speaker cable (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Shaped like speaker cable (Score:5, Informative)
There's even more to it than that. The typical 3.5mm *will* briefly short when mating. Not that this is necessarily a problem but it needs to be taken into account in the design.
Furthermore USB being a high speed data link relies on transmission line characteristics. That is the impedance of the lines need to be carefully controlled, the distance between data lines needs to be carefully controlled, and in these cases the construction of the connector matters a lot. Everything from the spacing of the pins to the shell, to the layout of signals as they reach the circuit board matters. There's no easy way to keep this all nice and even if you pass one signal through another.
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Because those are utterly crap. They provide a long arm and that's what causing the connector to break off quite easy at the PCB side.
No USB in the third world? (Score:2)
I thought that the third world bought their technology from the first world. Like USB devices...
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I'll be inventing a type 'D' USB connector... (Score:2)
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Idiot.
You're supposed to wait a few years to make a killing selling USB 'C' cables before you make an announcement like that. ;-)
Bad idea. Sherlock would not like it. (Score:2)
Took the USB organization close to 20 years... (Score:5, Insightful)
So they are finally getting the connector right. After 5 different connectors and almost 20 years they are finally going to fix the USB connector problem (at least most of them). Not only that but they designed with a future awareness that will hopefully prevent the Micro-USB3 nightmare (two connectors in one) in the future.
It's Smaller than every previous USB connection.
It's reversible so you can plug it only one time.
They designed it with the ability to add additional wires in the future as the standard evolves.
The C connector supports USB 3.1 which allows up to 100watts of power transfer (enough to power smaller laptops).
IIRC it's also designed to put less strain on the connection to the circuit board so you won't get the solder flex failure so common with USB.
What they got wrong is it's almost indistinguishable from Micro without close examination. They didn't put in a color or other requirement that would have made the port obvious without close examination, even though it's smaller a LOT of people are going to be trying to plug USB micro connectors into these ports.
All in all I'd say the USB working group finally fixed a few major problems with USB and it's a good standard that will probably eventually replace all A,B,Mini and Micro ports over the next few years. The beauty is finally incorporating 100watt capability, it should be possible to have standard power adapters on laptops that use 1 or 2 USB ports for power eliminating the need to replace your power brick all the time.
Re:Took the USB organization close to 20 years... (Score:4, Funny)
The C connector supports USB 3.1 which allows up to 100watts of power transfer (enough to power smaller laptops).
Now THIS is totally awesome. I can just plug my laptop into itself, and I no longer have to carry around that behemoth charging brick. That TOTALLY make it worth it.
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You're clearly not thinking outside of the box my friend. I plan on connecting my laptop into multiple USB hubs until I have enough 100 watts outputs to power my house and charge my car.
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IIRC it's also designed to put less strain on the connection to the circuit board so you won't get the solder flex failure so common with USB.
That is exclusively the department of the connector manufacturer and nothing at all to do with the USB spec or working group. Do a quick search on your favourite parts supplier's website for MicroUSB connectors and you'll see all sorts of weird and wonderful designs from ones which anchor through the circuit board in multiple places to some which have 2 flimsy pads holding the resulting mess together.
There are bad USB connectors out there, but there are also good connectors. None of this changes with the ne
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Of course there are other circuit board connectors, but lets be honest, the reference design is the one you will see the most and the previous reference designs have a serious fatigue failure problem.
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Except that isn't even remotely true. The part chosen is governed price, availability manufacturer preference and required features which usually are based around things like circuit board layout, dimensions, but could be as strange as needing to be waterpoof. Heck one of the most popular devices on the market at the moment (Galaxy S5) has a custom made connector which fixes the receptacle to the case with screws so there's zero stress on the PCB. Farnell lists some 30 different microUSB-B connectors and a
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It most definitely is *NOT* 100W with 5V- the power delivery is negotiated to figure out what each end (and the cable) can handle, and it boosts the voltage (decreasing the resistive heating in the cable). The USB Forum has been working on this for quite a while- don't know how it will all work out, but as most things committee based, nothing was put in the specification without a great deal of discussion and analysis.
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Still, I am quite skeptical towards this standard and the ability of cheap chinese devices (understand ubiquitously rebranded devices) to conform to it securely..
100 Watts (Score:5, Informative)
Please keep in mind an important aspect of this new cable, it supports 100 watts power transfer. That means most devices, including laptops, can be charged through this one connector. I see that as the best reason to switch, fast charging and universal connector for all my devices. The article glosses over that important detail. It also enables 10 Gbs data transfer.
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mmm, USB Inverter! I'll be able to plug my iron into my laptop USB port while at sea!
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I'm sure USB D will have a self negotiating voltage. It'll be made to compete with Thunderbolt 5.
It'll have PCI 4x and negotiate -48 to 48 VDC. The hipsters will get USB to analog phones they've always wanted. It will negotiate
Cheap Chinese adapters then force them to release E...
Big improvement on Micro B (Score:5, Interesting)
The USB 3.0 Micro B connector is horrendous design:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U... [wikipedia.org]
Seriously, worst connector ever. Did they really think that abomination would be used on cellphones?
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A connector which combines the current standard with backwards compatibility to all existing cables and chargers is a horrendous design?
What do you propose, yet another adapter? Throw away yet another charger? Yes maybe we should play this trick every time a new device comes out.
Or maybe you just think it's ugly because it has a notch in it?
And yes it is being shipped on many flagship cellphones.
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But will the interface spec support security (Score:4, Insightful)
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Charge + Ethernet (Score:2)
If I can power my laptop and get a network connection (powerline ethernet) over the same cable, that would be really sweet.
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Male plug in the device? (Score:2)
If i look at the pictures correctly, the male portion of this interface is in the device, while the cable is essentially 'female' inside? Who's bright idea was this? The male side is much more likely to break.
I could just read the article but.... (Score:2)
For the sake of other lazy people, can someone respond to me and answer the following.
What is becoming reversible, just the USB Micro style size or the larger sizes too?
Are we just skipping everything and moving to the one plug at both ends for all USB connections possibly?
If we do move to said plug, what aobut strength? I've seen some mock up pics of the proposed plug, it looks great for a phone, it doesn't look great for a printer / back of a PC - looks quite delicate.
Only C (Score:2)
The idea is to have an unified Type-C connector every where.
Long term plan is to have on both side, device side (harddisk, tablet, phone) and host side (laptop, power plug, etc.)
(Juste like 6 wired FireWire 400 had the same connector everywhere)
Althought they probably will begin used with A to C cables.
Problem?? (Score:2)
The problem is that there are billions of existing USB devices and cables that will need adapters and new cables to work with new Type-C devices. It’s a lot like when Apple released the Lightning connector, but on an even grander scale.
What problem? My existing micro-usb devices won't need adapters, new devices with Type-C connectors will come with Type-C to Type-A cables, and when desktops/laptops start to come with Type-C connectors I'll just buy some new cables.
It's the same situation when micro-usb replaced mini-usb, I don't remember there being a problem on a "grand scale" then either.
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And, unlike Lightening, USB isn't widely used as a mechanical connector on top of being data. My iPhone doesn't work in most iPhone/iPod docks, but my USB keyboard doesn't have that requirement.
I suspect this will be a very smooth switch.
Re:Government selection of connector technoglogy. (Score:5, Insightful)
I only need to connect my 'phone to charge it. I really don't give a shit if it's Micro, C-type, Mini or Purple Dildo shaped.
Re:Government selection of connector technoglogy. (Score:5, Funny)
It was a great idea for the EU to legislate "One True Connection", because we now have "One True Connection" rather than eleventy-billion connectors, soon to be eleventy-billion-and-one connectors.
I only need to connect my 'phone to charge it. I really don't give a shit if it's Micro, C-type, Mini or Purple Dildo shaped.
All you need is one of these puppies:
http://xkcd.com/1406/ [xkcd.com]
Also, if you have the Purple Dildo shaped connector and try to pass through airport security screening, you may have an interesting afternoon...
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All you need is one of these puppies:
http://xkcd.com/1406/ [xkcd.com]
Huh? NO RS-232 (either DB-9 or DB-25)? It doesn't fit my use case.
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Also, if you have the Purple Dildo shaped connector and try to pass through airport security screening, you may have an interesting afternoon...
Fight Club
Narrator: Was it ticking?
Airport Security Officer: Actually, throwers don't worry about ticking 'cause modern bombs don't tick.
Narrator: Sorry, throwers?
Airport Security Officer: Baggage handlers. But when a suitcase vibrates, then the throwers gotta call the police.
Narrator: My suitcase was vibrating?
Airport Security Officer: Nine times out of ten it's an electric razor. But every once in a while [looks around, leans in conspiratorially] it's a dildo. [leans back] Of course, it's company policy never to imply ownership in the event of a dildo. We have to use the indefinite article, "a dildo", never *your* dildo.
Narrator: I don't own a dildo!
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Honestly if the wireless charging standards would get un-stupid we wouldn't need the charging cables to begin with. There's not much reason you couldn't build a recovery method via BT or WiFi instead of wired either.
Heck, I still don't know why someone hasn't done a mag-safe type USB. Oh yah...patent law. See how that's promoting innovation? (sorry, frustration...not troll attempt)
Re: What for? (Score:3, Informative)
Re: What for? (Score:5, Insightful)
It likely won't, and its failure will be expensive on the device.
As a non-apple-fanboy, I do have to say that the lightning connector used on iPhones is a smarter connector. If it's going to break due to external force, it'll break the tongue off the plug, rather than damaging the socket, subsequently a lot cheaper and easier to fix. Replacing broken microUSB ( and soon Type-C ) sockets on phones, tablets and similar devices is rarely cheap and frequently has additional complications ( such as lifting tracks, broken PCBs or just nearly impossible to find a suitable replacement connector ).
It's a lot simpler extracting a broken off tongue from a lightning socket and getting a new cable.
Re: What for? (Score:5, Insightful)
Say what you will about Apple and their tendancy to buck the greater tech trends in the industry, but when Apple does buck the trend, their solution is technically superior and more user friendly than the incumbent alternative. The Lightning connector is but the latest example. Previous examples include Thunderbolt over USB 3, Firewire over USB 2, ADB over every pre-USB keyboard and mouse connection.
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you left off the best one, the magsafe plug that gets sucked into the port when you just dangle the power cable near it
also, you'll catch flag for bringing up Thunderbolt
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Don't forget they were the first to really embrace USB.
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What you have to consider is that Apple devices are almost luxury items, which mean that they can get away using components that are too expensive for low-end devices.
USB is designed to be cheap and good enough, otherwise it couldn't be "universal".
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I was wondering about the lightning connector. There seems to be a bunch of moving parts inside the socket. There are the "thiniges" that make the electrical contact, and there are two tiny things on the sides that hold the plug in place (the lightning plug seems to have indents on the edge to hold it in)
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Yah, but that's basic mechanical pins to hold the connector. Pretty much every small connector has them in some form or another. Even if they fail, it just means the plug can fall out...but it will still work.
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frequently has additional complications ( such as lifting tracks, broken PCBs or just nearly impossible to find a suitable replacement connector ).
Depends entirely on the connector. There are plenty out there with through hole anchors in the PC and many devices use them. If you manage to do something to damage the board in the cases there's likely not much left of your phone.
The lightning connector has one thing going for it: a single manufacture and a single design. MicroUSB on the other hand comes in all shapes sizes and connections on the PCB end. Heck some of them are physically bolted to the device case ensuring no stress on the PCB at all.
The pr
Re: What for? (Score:4, Interesting)
Pretty much every data connector has its pins exposed to the air and subsequently ingress of dust and liquid when not mated. Having a big metal enclosures/ground planes/shields around the connector is about electrical noise control and sometimes to a limited degree about preventing mechanical damage.
The old apple connector was awful, prone to breakages and pin-lifting due to "real humans" using the devices, it also was a significant pain to replace in the iPod Touch due to its wide body and numerous pins ( at least the phones had a replacable flex lead containing the dock connector ), it was also exceptionally good at picking up crap (lint, paper, body gunk, drinks ... everything that you'd think people wouldn't in their right mind have near it ). I like that it's been changed around to the lightning connector, yes the pins are exposed on it, but it would seem that for a portable device that's floating around in a lot of random environments, the lightning cable is the one that gets the least exposure ( compared to the device ) as it just sits at home waiting till the user returns to charge up their device again. The most common problem we've been encountering is just the socket on the phones filling up with lint over time causing the connection to fail due to the inability to fully insert the plug - thankfully easy to fix of course.
The MicroUSB connector on phones usually are mashed due to people deciding "No, it really MUST fit this way". The SONY Xperia with the Micro-A was a wonderful disaster in that respect ( yes, I know the key is offset to prevent incorrect insertion, but it's useless against determined humans ), or due to looser tolerances the tongue gets partially sheared away when the phone is dropped on the connector while plugged in.
Who knows how people manage to break things in strange ways, but they do, "we" might not, but "they" certainly do.
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I think they can get away with it using better materials (thicker gold plating maybe) and electrical protection built in the cable electronics (lightning cables are active).
Remeber that apple doesn't have the same cost constraints as other manufacturers due to their ludicrous sale prices.
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Actually Apple makes a large profit on each device sold...so yes there are more relaxed cost constraints but it's not like they're eeking by and just barely making money on these.
The actual savings comes from Apples immense and immensely simplified manufacturing. Not only do they sell eleventeen billion of ONE product SKU (ok, some colors or extra flash but that's NBD). So Apple doesn't order 20% of battery A, 40% of battery B, 10% of C, etc....they order eleventeen billion of ONE battery. At that point t
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Really, I think the problem with the micro connector is crappy construction rather than a design flaw. The one on my phone has endured years of use (several thousand insertions) and still fits firmly enough to be able to suspend the phone by the USB cable. If made well, it can be durable.
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Unfortunately, that's not true as every USB adapter has a design where the contacts are facing inwards towards an isolated post which can & does snap off. On USB type-B connectors the post is thick enough so that I've never seen anyone do it but on Type-A's and much more commonly all the newer smaller connectors it's the most common failure mode after poor strain relief that often rips the connector off the PCB.
Apple's design of lightning without this fragile post and more rigorous specification that th
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Full circle?
As in circle jerk? Or am I dating myself?
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Times I've had a problem with not having the right connector because the standard gets dicked around with: holy shit that number is big.
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Err MicroUSB doesn't have thumb screws. You must be thinking of a different connector like RS232 or DVI.
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One of the problems is that in some cases you need to mark both devices. For example, for some Android phones the top of the micro cable corresponds to the screen, while with other phones the top corresponds to the rear of the device. It is an issue mainly for developers who deal with multiple devices in an single day, but still.
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Many more people than just developers deal with both a phone and tablet every day.
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That's one magic cable you have if it has a mark that identifies the up position for both my current phone as well as my previous phone who's usb port has the opposite orientation.