Previously we covered reports that the forthcoming iPhone 5 would have a newly designed dock connector, almost 10 years after the first 30 pin connector appeared on the iPod in 2003. Though the rumors were widespread, we were cautious as the design plans for the iPhone 5 have not been officially finalized.
Today however, the rumors are growing louder as Apple has released a new job posting for a “Connector Design Engineer.” The new hire will be responsible for “managing multiple connector designs and developments in support of the iPod product lines.”
“Cross-functional development and consulting will be a major part of your daily work.” So it would appear that the idea is being re-enforced. We have previously seen Apple make moves towards universal connector platforms, in an attempt to capitalize, and some may argue monopolize the market on data transfer. Their new push for Thunderbolt by Intel is a case in point.
If Apple do move ahead with the smaller dock connector, then entire lines of products, cables, and some older computers will become completely obsolete in regard to this new line of Apple products. It’s a gutsy move, but Apple is never one to shy away from those. To this day their computers are the most successful computers to NOT have an HDMI output, forcing users to buy adapters.
Whatever the plan may be, rumors are still placing the release date for sometime in October, unless Apple plans on surprising the world with a new release at the WWDC (Apple World Wide Developers Conference) in June. But usually the case is if a release is that close on the horizon, we would know more about it.