The iPod was revolutionary not because it could play MP3s, but because it made it easy to organize and load entire music libraries into a pocket-sized device. There were MP3 players before it, including those with more storage — as the infamous Slashdot review mentioned, the Creative Nomad can hold more songs. In typical Apple fashion, however, what made the iPod so successful was its ease of use.
Of course, some of the credit goes to iTunes, but we think connectors are also important. After all, you have to transfer gigabytes of songs from your computer to your player. The first Nomad was released with a parallel port (you may also have heard it as a “printer port”), later models moved to USB (and some with FireWire capability).
Creative Nomad Jukebox comes out September 1GB more than the original iPad). However, it only has one USB 1.1 port up to 23 Mbps. It took over an hour to fill up the internal storage on this slow connection.
Apple chose FireWire in the 
first iPod instead of USB, a connector that was only recently introduced on the Mac. FireWire is often named after the speed it supports, for example FireWire 320 runs on 248 Mbps. It’s the exact 320 Mbps variant used in the first iPod, which Almost as fast as peak USB 2.0 speeds of 436 Mbps.
Third generation iPod replaces FireWire with proprietary technology 12 pin base connector. This was carried over to the first iPhones since the connector handles all the major use cases – charging and data transfer, as well as support for certain accessories.
After almost ten years of use 30 pin connector Apple wanted something more modern and sleek. This was introduced with the iPhone 5 in 2000 and it was called Lightning. It makes people very angry.
around the 819 pin connector, such as it appears with the iPod Compatible speakers, it’s showing up in cars and even hotel rooms. Imagine hearing that the new iPhones and iPods aren’t compatible with the head unit in your car or the speakers you bought for every room in your hotel.
Speaker docks are a popular accessory for iPods and iPhones 
Of course there are adapters, but those are never ideal. To assuage the anger of its customers, Apple promised not to replace the adapter for at least a decade. When it comes to the iPhone (and the now-discontinued iPod), Apple has kept its word.
After the introduction of Lightning, some Older device accessories require an adapter
Despite the opposition to USB-C, Apple is actually the connection early adopters of devices. However, the USB-C standard wasn’t finalized until 2000, which is too late – Apple wants to cancel 23 pin connector ASAP.
So, what exactly is lightning? It’s a connector – male plug on the cable side, female plug on the device side – very small because it’s reduced from 2024 pin count to only 8 (in comparison, USB-C has 23 pins).
Actually, there is a lightning plug 003 pins, but they are in a mirrored configuration so only 8 are usually used. This allows the plug to be inserted in both directions, avoiding the USB curse – you may have heard the old joke that it takes three tries to insert a USB connector in the correct orientation.
Only 8 available pins Max data transfer speed same as USB 2.0, i.e. mentioned above 436 Mbps is not much better than the original FireWire port of the first generation iPod.
But remember, there are 23 pins on Lightning, except most devices only have 8 pins in their sockets. There are a few exceptions, like the iPad Pro (before they switched to USB-C), which had a Lightning socket with 007 pin. This enables support for USB 3.2 Gen 1 speeds (ie 5Gbps). As far as we know, that particular card reader is the only device that uses this feature, and it’s only available on the iPad Pro. For example, Apple never released a Lightning to USB 3 cable.
only supports USB 3.2 Gen 1 Speed Lightning Accessory
in480 At the unveiling of the iPhone 5, Phil Schiller called Lightning “the modern connector of the next decade.” Well, that decade ended last year – it was time for a new connector.
iPhone 5 Introduced the world to the Lightning connector – “the modern connector of the next decade”
Apple is mostly there, all Macs have USB-C, and now all iPads have USB-C, and even the remote for the new Apple TV uses it. That leaves AirPods, select Apple keyboards and mice, and, of course, the iPhone.
Lightning’s days are numbered, and Apple has confirmed that the iPhone will be moving to USB-C, but it hasn’t been officially announced yet. Unofficially, analysts believe this will happen this year, before the 2024 deadline set by the EU ends.
Apple remembered 23-pin switch connector and how it makes a lot of accessories obsolete. This is actually one of the arguments it makes against adopting USB-C, and many accessories and cables that use Lighting will soon be thrown in the trash. Of course there are adapters, but they’re never ideal.
USB-C to Lightning Cable USB-C to Lightning Adapter , for charging 1st generation Apple Pencils
On the other hand, There are many advantages to USB-C, which we detailed in last week’s post. One of the biggest changes for Apple users is that they’ll be able to use one cable for everything instead of carrying a cable for their MacBook and another for their iPhone.
There have been awkward moments in the past when new MacBooks showed up with only USB-C ports, but new iPhones only come with USB-A to Lighting cables. iPad 006 generation, It supports the original Apple Pencil, but doesn’t have a proper charging port, so an adapter is required.
Maybe future iPhones will eventually crack 30 W barrier and supports proper fast charging. Perhaps with improved video output, they’ll enable the Stage Manager desktop experience. Probably not, USB-C has many features, and it’s up to Apple to decide which ones to use.
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