The iPhone 5 was officially announced by Apple today, much to the surprise of…absolutely nobody. People have been expecting the announcement for a long time now, with many people at least 97% sure that it was going to happen on this exact day. While the Apple fan boys (and girls) out there have been absolutely drooling over the thought of a new iPhone, not everybody was as excited, myself included.
While I applaud the iPhone for its innovation and contribution to the entire smartphone industry, I just haven’t been as blown away by it as other people. The same goes for the iPhone 5. Rumors have been swirling about this device for a long time now, some of which were proven to be complete crap and others proving to be true, like the new dock connector that would be smaller on the iPhone 5 than on any other Apple device.
A lot of people have a major problem with this due to the fact that it essentially means that everything they use in conjunction with their current iPhone, iPad or iPod will be completely useless with the iPhone 5. That means that these consumers will have to throw even more money at Apple in order to get things that work with the iPhone 5.
Naturally, this would make consumers very upset. I mean, who wants to buy all new things because one device isn’t compatible? Thankfully, there is a solution. The new Lighting connector on the iPhone 5 is 80% smaller, with prior devices using the iPod 30-pin connector which was launched back in 2003.
The good news is that this new cable, which measures 8″ long, will be able to bridge the gap between the connectors, allowing you to connect the old cable with the new Lightning port. Apple has stated, however, that not all 30-pin devices will be supported, with the same being true for video and iPod out, which means that you may still be required to purchase new accessories to use with your iPhone 5 and the newly announced 2012 iPod Touch.
It also still means that you have to throw more money at Apple. The new Apple Lighting to 30-pin connector cable will run you $40. A cheaper option (though not much cheaper) is available if you do not require the cable. A $30 adapter is also available, which essentially does the exact same thing.
