Accessory Manufacturers Fear Missing Holiday Sales Rush as Apple Remains Mum on New iOS Device Dock Connector
With a number of reports and now photos supporting the idea that Apple will be introducing a significantly smaller dock connector for its iOS devices in the coming weeks, iLounge reports that Apple's lack of advance notice is causing concern for accessory manufacturers worried that they will not be able to have new accessories ready in time for the lucrative holiday shopping season.
With only two weeks remaining before the expected debut of the next-generation iPhone, Apple has not offered third-party developers the components or engineering details necessary to build docking accessories for the new device—the first iOS product expected to ship without Apple’s now-ubiquitous 30-pin Dock Connector, which will soon be replaced across all future Apple pocket and tablet devices. Noting the time required to manufacture and ship new products, the sources suggest that new iPhone-specific electronic add-ons will likely miss the upcoming holiday season, apart from whatever accessories are released by Apple itself.
Accessory manufacturers also remain concerned over what technical and licensing restrictions Apple will be using with the new dock connector, as well as whether new circuitry will prevent their existing product from working with Apple's next-generation products even with an adapter.
Some accessory manufacturers have apparently been working hard to try to stay ahead of the competition, with a leaked micro-USB/Apple mini dock power adapter from Scosche showing up briefly earlier this week before the company requested that the images be removed. It is unclear how Scosche has been able to source new dock connector parts if Apple has not been working with accessory manufacturers, so it is unknown whether Scosche will have the parts in sufficient quantity to launch its accessories alongside or soon after the debut of the new iPhone.
Update 11:23 AM: iLounge's Jeremy Horwitz tells us that neither Scosche nor any other accessory manufacturer has access to the actual parts. They are all simply designing product based on their best guesses from what has leaked so far.
Popular Stories
Following its iPhone 16 event on Monday, Apple shared a PDF on its website with a list of all new features and changes coming with iOS 18. The list includes many features that were already announced, including Apple Intelligence, new customization options for the Home Screen and Control Center, a redesigned Photos app, several enhancements to the Messages app, a Passwords app, and more....
Will you be skipping the iPhone 16 Pro and waiting another year to upgrade? If so, we already have some iPhone 17 Pro rumors for you. Below, we recap key new features rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models so far: 24MP front camera for all iPhone 17 models: All four iPhone 17 models will feature an upgraded 24-megapixel front-facing camera, according to Apple supply chain analysts Ming-Chi...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
Pre-orders for the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max are set to begin on Friday, September 13 at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time, with the new devices set to become available in multiple countries around the world simultaneously. We've compiled pre-order times for various countries to help MacRumors readers be among the first to order. This list isn't...
With the launch of the new iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple has discontinued some of its older iPhones. As of today, Apple is no longer selling the iPhone 13, and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have been replaced with the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The iPhone SE remains as Apple's most affordable device, with the iPhone 14 and iPhone...
Apple today released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro 2, including both the Lightning and USB-C versions. The firmware has a build number of 7A294, up from 6F8, and it is available for all AirPods Pro 2 users. Apple has been beta testing this update, but it is launching ahead of when iOS 18 becomes available next Monday. There are multiple features that Apple is adding to the...
