Apple has just been granted a patent for a new 19 pin dock connector, rendering iPhone accessories useless.
The controversial 19 pin connector tipped for the iPhone 5 due later this year looks slimmer and smaller than the previous iPhone charge dock, and tiny by comparison to the iPhone 4 charging port (as pictured).
The new innovation allows the iPhone 5 to have a slimmer form factor and charger connection a la Android competitors like Samsung Galaxy S III and HTC.
The new 19 pin will replace Apple’s usual 30 pin connector used on all previous iPhone models and accessories like speaker docks and other (usually pricey) accessories.
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A typical iPhone speaker dock and charging station can set Apple users back several hundred dollars.
The new Apple patent as approved by the US Patent Office, believed to be iPhone’s new skinny charging dock, states it is a ‘power adapter for a peripheral device such as portable electronics device.’
“The power adapter includes a housing that contains electrical components associated with the power adapter. The power adapter also includes a data port provided at a surface of the housing.”
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The data port is configured to provide external power to the peripheral device.
However, Apple may release an adapter to keep the potential backlash from iPhone fanatics who upgrade to “5”, at bay.
“I really hope apple releases an adapter of some kind. I have too many apple cords and etc that use the current 30 pin port,” one Apple user wrote on iPhone forum.
“I just want it to be a magnetic connector like their laptops,” said another.
Two dock distributors in Australia confirmed last month that Apple is set to move away from a 30 pin connector to a smaller 19 pin connector.
