Lighting connector for cable. Apple's new Lightning interface

Original apple cable Lightning usb has a Lightning connector - this is Apple Ink's own development. The connector was released in September 2012 and was done to replace its previous connector with 30 contacts. The initial goal of releasing a new connector is to reduce the space taken up on new devices. The Apple Lightning connector is much more compact than the previous connector and can be inserted on either side. Its dimensions are 6.7 mm by 1.5 mm. The new connector had only 8 contacts and was intended for connecting mobile devices such as the iPhone 5, iPod touch 5g or iPad mini to a computer. Unfortunately, the new connector is not backward compatible.

Apple lightning cable pinout

• 1 pin GND Ground
• 2 pin L0p Line 0+
• 3 L0n Line 0-
• 4 ID0 identifier /control 0
• 5 PWR charging
• 6 L1n Line 1-
• 7 L1p Line 1+
• 8 ID1 identifier /control 1

Apple lightning cable pinout is adaptive. The built-in microcircuit determines which side the cable is connected to and switches accordingly to the desired contact.

What is unique about the lightning 8 pin connector?

Cable apple lightning USB pioneered cables that could be plugged in on both sides. After this, many cables began to have reversible connectors, for example, USB Type-C.
Apple also included an authentication chip in all of its cables with a lightning 8 pin connector, which the Chinese eventually successfully learned to make. All cables produced by Apple and manufacturers that have received a certificate from the Apple company are registered and entered into the database. Every iPhone has access to this database. In the beginning, this was a big problem for Chinese manufacturers of Apple accessories. Almost everything Chinese cables were of dubious quality and after a couple of connections they gave an error about incompatibility or lack of support for the accessory. But Chinese manufacturers did not stand still and improved production. This is why modern cables no longer produce such errors, although they do not have an MFI certificate.

Which are openly called competitors of the iPhone 8 and the device manufacturer, Google, began selling an adapter from USB Type-C to 3.5 mm, since the new products lack the usual audio jack. Now this is a common practice, but the search giant asked for as much as 20 dollars for its adapter.

Almost 50,000 rubles will have to be paid for a set of 18 adapters for Apple devices presented in the assortment of the Russian online store, the site calculated. When making calculations, only the retail price of branded accessories produced by Apple itself and available for purchase at the moment was taken into account.

After working in the consumer electronics industry for a long time, Apple was able to identify another source of user irritation. Connecting charging cables in the dark is not an easy process, especially if the mobile device is completely discharged and its screen is not capable of functioning as a flashlight. It looks like they have decided to put an end to this problem once and for all.

I wish the new iPhones had already come out. It will be possible to stop guessing what they will look like and what Apple will or will not equip its devices with. There are a lot of rumors going around. They talked about the transition to the USB Type-C connector, and about the disappearance of the , which the company gives customers bundled with the iPhone 7 and . Analysts from Barclays believe that in this regard everything will remain the same.

Many people, as a rule, want to order goods from the USA, rather than overpay their crazy markups to local stores. However, sometimes it turns out that delivery from another country is too expensive, and it turns out that buying a particular product in Russia is cheaper than ordering it elsewhere. But this rule does not always work, and if the package is even lighter than a kilogram (for example, an iPhone or), its delivery will cost very little.

Not long ago the Wall Street Journal published. According to them, the new iPhone, which will be presented by the company this year, will surprise us with the appearance of a USB-C connector, which will replace the Lightning connector. It's hard to believe, but one cannot ignore the credibility of the Wall Street Journal and their sources. However, there were those who were ready to doubt all this.

Yesterday, many analysts, citing their own sources, began to claim that Apple will abandon Lightning in the new iPhone. The news immediately caused a wide resonance, since accessories with Lightning had just begun to appear on the market, and new ones were no exception. There is probably a plan for this as well.

We know a lot about Apple's future smartphone, but we haven't heard anything like this yet. The authoritative publication Wall Street Journal believes that a USB-C connector will appear instead of the Lightning connector. It's extremely hard to believe, but the Wall Street Journal rarely writes about anything they're not sure about. USB-C is actively used by Apple in the MacBook, but has not previously appeared in the company's portable devices.

One of the most discussed questions about the new iPhone now is how the smartphone will be charged. And we are not talking about (we seem to have already come to terms with this), but about the type of connector that will be responsible for this functionality. Yes, we are talking about -C now.

I don't think you should talk about the company's strange attitude towards connectors. On the one hand, Apple loves USB Type-C connectors, and the company has put a lot of effort into improving this standard. On the other hand, the company uses its own Lightning connector in its portable devices. One can only guess why Apple came to a single standard, but it is worth noting that the company's decisions are difficult.

The official Apple technical support website has been updated with a warning about the dangers of using counterfeit components and accessories. According to company representatives, more than 90% of retail products marked “Made for iPhone” are produced using artisanal methods and are unsafe for both the connected device and its owner. Be vigilant, they call us in.

A new connector standard called Lightning (from English - lightning) appeared with the release of new devices Apple iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5G, iPod nano7G, iPad 4 and iPad mini. This cable came out of the bowels of the company Double Helix Cables and it has a built-in authentication chip. There are no specifications for this cable, and one can only guess about the principle of operation. It is known that from the 30-pin old Lightning connector it has dropped to 8, but some sources claim that it is 9, taking into account the metal base of the contacts. It is completely digital and the chip in the cable itself determines what is currently connected, be it a media dock, Charger or some other device. The connector has eight pins on each side and does not have a mechanical key, which means it can be inserted in any position and it is not impossible to break it by trying to forcefully insert it the wrong way. Apple called this advantage of the cable - reversibility.

To do this, it would seem that the problem can be solved simply: electrically connect the contacts on the two sides of the plug crosswise, but it’s not so simple. Experts, having “ringed” the connector, found out that the contacts on the upper and lower parts of the plug do not have paired contacts, which means the plug cannot be turned over without changing the connection diagram. This paradox can only be explained in one way: the interface dynamically assigns pins depending on the orientation in which the connector is closed. It becomes clear that this is not an ordinary “camouflaged USB”. It is the dynamic assignment of pins and cable communication with the device that gives us what Apple calls adaptive interface. In principle, once the gadget and the switching chip have agreed on the purpose of the contacts, anything can be transmitted over them. At the moment, the Lightning cable uses USB 2.0, but in the future nothing will prevent it from using USB 3.0, FireWire or even Thunderbolt, putting more complex logic into the cable.

The first fruits of adaptability may appear soon. Some sites have published information that adapters for Lightning to VGA and DisplayPort will be released in the coming months. VGA requires 15 pins, and DisplayPort requires 20, so at least for this reason, the cable must already have a transmitter for the corresponding interface.

Why did Apple need a new interface, while there is a publicly available USB. The Lightning and Micro USB 2.0 connectors are approximately the same in size, but Lightning looks stronger and more reliable. Often the MicroUSB socket is broken out due to the incorrect placement of the connector.

And one more important point. It is logical to assume that when connected to a simple charger, several Lightning contacts can be used for power at once, for example data contacts, which will potentially allow the use of more powerful blocks for fast battery charging, because The higher the charging current, the faster the process. For the USB 2.0 interface, the maximum current on one port is 500 mA, for USB 3.0 - 900 mA. And, for example, the proprietary charger of the third iPad has a power of 10 W, which already gives a theoretical current of 2 A at a standard USB voltage of 5 V, and a 12-watt “charger” is supplied with the fourth iPad. So USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 cannot provide the power current needed to quickly charge tablets with such a large battery. As for MicroUSB 3.0, it is “fast”, but bulky and a less reliable connector than MicroUSB2.0. Lightning is ready to provide support for USB 3.0 and any other data transfer interface as soon as the need arises.

Lightning also outperforms a number of solutions that provide video stream output using specialized HDMI and DisplayPort transmitters. Apple's approach allows you to relieve the gadget from transmitter chips by integrating them into cables. As a result, we again get saving board space and power consumption. As well as reducing the price of the device for those who do not need a video output. In addition, Lightning eliminates the additional headache of deciding which connector to output the video stream through. The Mini HDMI option not only diverges from the minimalist design of Apple gadgets, but also - again and again - requires additional space, despite the fact that it will be useful to an absolute minority.

This is actually a very smart and forward-thinking solution that may become a trend over time: decoupling the mechanical connector form factor and pin switching from the specific bus. Adaptive interfaces and smart cables are the best way to reduce component volume and power consumption of a mobile device, providing rich functionality and growth potential for years to come.

Apple has released a special adapter from the Lighting connector in the iPhone 5 to the usual micro-USB format. The fact is that last year the European Union passed a law according to which every phone must support this standard.

And also an adapter for your old 30-pin connector.

As you know, issues with charging have always been popular with Apple, and this time it’s time to talk about the charging connector for all iPhones.

Although not often, they changed. Some people don't know what exactly awaits them when purchasing a new gadget from Apple. Let's figure it out.

What is the name of the iPhone charging connector?

Apple has always kept up with the times, so their gadgets have only the latest connectors, including the charging connector.

• The first type of connector is called Apple 30pin quite successful, but didn't last very long. It could transmit several analog signals and was inserted strictly on one side.
• Next came Lightning, which is already an 8-pin connector, is more compact and can only carry a digital signal. It can also be inserted on either side, which is its main advantage.

We found out what connectors exist and now I propose to figure out which devices can be attributed to each of them. Let's start.

Charging connector for iPhone 3, 3GS, 4, 4S

This entire list belongs to the 30 pin connector or Apple 30 pin. The iPhone charged quite quickly and there were no problems with it.



But, we all like to do things quickly and very often we had to look at the cable to understand which side the cable should be inserted. It was a little annoying, but everyone got used to it and everything was fine.

Another problem appeared when the transition to the next type began. After all, if you forgot your cable, you simply could not charge your phone.

Charging connector for iPhone 5, 5S, 5C, 6, 6S, 6 PLUS, 6S PLUS, SE, 7, 7 PLUS

As you can see, the list here is much larger and naturally, they are all charged using Lightning connector. Everyone loved him as soon as he appeared.



Inserting the cable either way into your iPhone is pure bliss. After all, it doesn’t take much time and you don’t need to check anything.

Today, this connector has one more function - now it is also a headphone jack. Starting with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 PLUS, the 3.5 Jack simply does not exist anymore.

conclusions

I think all Apple devices will have a Lightning connector for quite some time. After all, it was made to last quite a long time and so far, it is used in a fairly large number of iPhones.

Technologies are developing and perhaps very soon there will be no cables or connectors at all. Everything will happen wirelessly and it will be damn convenient. We will monitor the development.

What is the new connector Lightning?

Unveiled at a press conference dedicated to the iPhone 5 and representative of the 2012 model range, the proprietary connector Lightning replaces the 30-pin connector found on iPhone, iPad and iPod since 2003. Like the 30-pin connector, the connector Lightning used to charge the device, as well as synchronize content and data, audio and video products. New devices come with a USB 2.0 to Lightning.

How is it different from the 30-pin connector?

It's 80 percent smaller, stronger, and reversible, so you don't have to worry about which side is up or down when you plug it in. Apple also claims that it is an all-digital, eight-signal design that adapts to whatever device is connected through it.

What products will it be used with?

Lightning connector used for iPhone 5, iPod Touch fifth generation iPod Nano seventh generation. Since it is part of the connectivity strategy along with Thunderbolt, this will be the connector for products i OS for the foreseeable future, so it's quite expected to see it on iPad fourth generation and other future devices.

Does this mean I can't use any of my old accessories to connect to my new iPhone and players?

You won't be able to connect directly to anything that has a 30-pin connector. However, there are adapters that convert a 30-pin connector to a Lightning . Through this adapter you will get support for analog audio output, USB audio, as well as syncing and charging. (According to Macworld, there is also a digital-to-analog converter for the adapter).

The adapter does not support video outputs, and not all 30-pin devices, so you will still have to buy new accessories for use with the iPhone 5 and 2012 players. Another feature iPod Out, which is provided by certain devices, such as car stereos with the principle of navigating through your music collection, which are also not supported. The adapter is quite large, so accessories that plug into the device probably won't work.

Apple will also sell HDMI and VGA adapters for Lightning . Micro-USB adapter for Lightning will be available in Europe. And you can of course count on a full range of third-party adapters.

Are there accessories that I can buy so that I can always count on them?

There will always be accessories that require the use of a connector, and nothing is ever 100 percent guaranteed in the future. However, as noted by Senior Vice President Apple Phil Schiller, presenting Lightning , much of what we use now is wireless. Whenever we connect something, we can also use Bluetooth or Apple's AirPlay. Keep in mind that the 30-pin connector has been around for almost a decade, so chances are good that you'll have peace of mind for the next few years using Lightning.