iphone 5 charger!

samtoby

I went to go and get a iphone 5 on contract and I could not believe it - they have chaged the charger! So now none of my docking stations in my house will work with it. My in fitted car charger dock will not work and I will have to carry yet another different charger around.

I thought it was the same as the Samsung/ Kindle charger....but no.

All I can think is this is a money maker for Apple so they can bring out new docks and accessories that use the new port.

Pretty annoyed.

So didn't buy the phone. I will keep with what I have got already.

What are peoples views?!

OGR

Sometimes connectors do change but I feel the way Apple have gone about it is a little on the shady side.

There is an EU directive that states that all phones have to be able to charge with a mini/micro USB connector but Apple circumvent this by offering an adapter (at a price of course) which in my eyes is nothing but a money spinner.

The thing that annoys me most is the old 30 pin to lightning adapter which from Apple direct costs £25. £25 for a bit of plastic is a crazy amount of money in my eyes.

The fact that Apple makes 50% profit on all iPhones sold tells you everything you need to know about Apple when it comes to maximising profits.

In my eyes if they were going to change then they should have gone to micro/mini USB like everyone else. At the moment there doesn't even seem to be any real advantage to lightning as the only cable available is a USB 2 one, no USB 3 or Thunderbolt.

nickcc

Just been having a look on Google and read that Apple supply an adaptor so you can use your older dock station and cables, cost $29, hope this is what you are looking for. As above, posts crossed.

julianashcroft

eBay is already filling up with adaptors and cables for the iPhone 5. I have just ordered three cables for £5.99 each.

paddyrg

Apple see you as a cow to milk - their new thundercats (or whatever they called it) connector isn't fully compatible for size with USB (see the current tech press) and they have a proprietory chip in each thundercats (or whatever) connector to hose any chance of cheap aftermarket connectors (again see current tech press).

Selling an adaptor is actively against the spirit of charger harmonisation to reduce waste, and actively against the interests of their customers. I really can't see why so many people are so in love with a company that treats them with this much contempt.

Dreamnine

Why shouldn't they change?

The old connector is perhaps 10 years old now, and I doubt they could have made their new idevices as thin as they are without changing it.

InsideInsurance

Of cause Apple's official response no doubt would be to point out that the connection is actually smaller than the mini USB thus the phone can be thinner and secondly that it is easier to use as it is reversible.

The cynics amoungst us will say it is profiteering.

In fairness though it is not the whole new charger you need to carry with you, the plug end is the same, its just the interchangable cable that you'd need to carry additionally or carry an adapter

OGR wrote: »

£25 for a bit of plastic is a crazy amount of money in my eyes.

The adapter does contain a chip/ electronics to deal with the reversibility of the cable. Evidently once this has been reverse engineered properly then we will see cheap copies available.

Personally I would be concerned about any that are out there already, there are a lot of ultra budget cables that are a total waste of time and unusable as they change socket types without paying credence to the fact that the signal type also needs to be changed - I saw a SCART to HDMI cable for sale ones (no electronics, just a cable) which someone was complaining didnt work to connect their VCR to their HD Projector

OGR

The adapter does contain a chip/ electronics to deal with the reversibility of the cable. Evidently once this has been reverse engineered properly then we will see cheap copies available.

Yes I realise there is a chip inside to convert the old analogue signal into a digital one but does it really warrant a £25 charge. I honestly don't believe that this thing costs Apple more than £5 to make.

Jamie_Carter

This was mentioned on Watchdog. They said that Apple did say that they would supply an adaptor free of charge with the iphone 5, but have now gone back on this. And that they charge £25 for one. And that worst of all they are out of stock of them.

The only reason I have stuck with iphones is because I have two docking systems. But as the phone stands upright, these wouldn't work with an adaptor, as it would put too much strain on the connections. So they have now lost at least one customer, and probably many more.

InsideInsurance

OGR wrote: »

Yes I realise there is a chip inside to convert the old analogue signal into a digital one but does it really warrant a £25 charge. I honestly don't believe that this thing costs Apple more than £5 to make.

I doubt it is anything more than that either but then manufacturing costs and retail price are very rarely linked.

Traditionally when you control the whole ecosystem margins on core products are not amazing and you make your big money with the accessories either via direct sales (at silly margins) or indirectly through licensing your technology to third party manufacturers.

Hence why buying my iMac I got the basic RAM and the same day went to the Cruicial website and bought the maximum it can take as Apple wanted stupid money to upgrade it.

A former employer many moons ago used to sell some budget furniture, on the average sofa it made about £10 profit, it was actually to the extent that if it was damaged in transit or faulty etc they would write it off rather than collect it (obviously first try offering a discount instead). Where they made their money was selling the stain protection, the extended warranty, extra covers etc which were all 99% profit.

malkie76

All I can think is this is a money maker for Apple so they can bring out new docks and accessories that use the new port.

It's a step change in technology, allowing far quicker charging to the phone unit. Furthermore, the reduction in size was deliberate to enable the iPhone 5 to be thinner and lighter while retaining battery life.

No need to be such a cynic