One of the most relentless rumors about Apple’s next iPhone was that it would feature a new smaller dock connector. Today, during their iPhone 5 announcement, Apple revealed the new connector, called Lightning (Thunderbolt and Lightning!).
In comparison to Apple’s long-standing 30-pin dock connector, Lightning (pictured above via The Verge) has only 8 pins, and is 80 percent smaller than its predecesor. The new Lightning cables are also expected to transfer much more quickly than 30-pin cables.
My favorite part of the new Lightning connector, however, is that it’s reversible! Yup – you can insert it into your device either way. There’s no such thing as upside-down!
There’s a lot that still isn’t known about this new connector, such as whether it uses USB 3 – it will be interesting to see this cable get torn down in the coming days!
Make sure to check out our iPhone 5 Event tag for all of our coverage of Apple’s big day!
Update: Lightning cables and an adapter from 30-pin to Lightning are now available from the Apple Online Store. U.S. prices: $19 and $29, respectively.
