Apple iPhone 5 review: new dock connector [Epic Review]

Posted October 3, 2012 by Thomas Shambler in Reviews

Apple iPhone 5 review lightning dock connector

The Apple iPhone 5 Epic Review is a long-form look at one of the most anticipated mobiles ever produced. It’s sponsored by JadoPado.com – your one-stop online shop for all things gadget related. Want to pick up an iPhone 5 just like the one we’ve reviewed? Click here

We’ve already looked at the iPhone 5′s screen and the new design. Today, it’s all about the Lightning dock connector.

iPhone 5 dock connector

Thunderbolt and Lightning, very very frightening? If you’ve just bought a pricey iPhone dock it might be, because the iPhone 5 has ditched the almost-10-year-old 30-pin connector and replaced is with the tiny, all-digital Lightning connector, which means your new phone isn’t going to fit.

Apple is launching two adapters, but they’re expensive at US$50 (although there are good DAC-flavoured reasons for the prices) and big enough to at best ruin the look of your sexy sound setup, and at worse ensure it doesn’t fit at all.

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But change is occasionally necessary, and Lightning is certainly more elegant than the 30-pin. It’s reversible, it feels robust, and on the bright side it means we can expect a whole raft of new docks in the near future (Apple announced partnerships with audio luminaries Bose, Bowers & Wilkins and JBL on launch night). Lightning-to-HDMI and Lightning-to-VGA (yep, apparently one or two people out there still use VGA) adapters are also planned.

Straddling that Lightning port is a pair of tiny chassis screws, and beyond that are two sets of machined grilles, covering a microphone and a speaker. The latter won’t get anyone body-popping, but it is loud and clear enough for hands-free calls, sat-nav instructions and irritating everybody on the bus. The 3.5mm headphone socket is, for the first time in iPhone history, on the bottom edge rather than the top.

iPhone 5 review Apple EarPods earphones

Coming tomorrow: Apple’s new EarPod headphones – are they any good?

Apple, iPhone, iPhone 5

About the Author

Thomas Shambler

Editor of Stuff in the Middle East. Known for his witty reviews and insightful comments on some of the world’s coolest kit, he is responsible for putting together the magazine, testing the newest tech, and writing features at the laser-cut edge of the gadget world. Thomas also makes regular broadcast appearances during which he gives friendly advice and warns the world of the impending robot Armageddon.