Apple to Make Your Docking Accessories Obsolete

Back in May 2011, word came down that Apple (AAPL) would be finally joining the likes of Android (GOOG) and BlackBerry (RIMM) and offer over-the-air updates in iOS 5, thus negating the antiquated need to tether one's iPhone to their computer with a USB cable to upgrade their software. Much to our pleasure, Apple drove another nail into the cable's coffin with iCloud, allowing users to wirelessly stream and access files from one device to another, without the need of a cord. And then came a rumor from the Wall Street Journal that said Apple was developing "a new way of charging the phone." Although expectations naturally migrated to a wireless charging similar to HP's (HPQ) TouchPad station, anyone holding an iPhone 4S in their hand knows it still requires that damn proprietary cable to recharge the battery.
While it's fantastic Apple -- along with Google, RIM, and Microsoft (MSFT) -- are making headway in OTA updates, wireless syncing, and cloud technology, freeing us from cord inundation, we still need those blasted things to charge our devices. And unfortunately, with its proprietary dock connector standard, Apple is the odd man out -- a powerful one, at that -- from establishing a unified USB standard. Micro USB works with Motorola (MMI), Nokia (NOK), HTC, Samsung, HP, RIM, LG, almost every type of mobile device except those coming out of Cupertino -- which is sticking with its 30-pin dock connector.
Apple blog iMore reported that Apple may be ditching the 30-pin dock connector in its next generation of mobile devices in favor of... another standard incompatible to competitors.Silva Bamboo MacBook Pro Case: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Laptop.The chief reason, iMore explained, is to clear some room that the old dock connector took up inside the devices -- presumably to free up some space for larger batteries. (More validity for 4G networking, perhaps?)
iMore claimed Apple won't be choosing the ubiquitous Micro USB standard because it's too slow, even though USB 3.0 achieves data transfers up to 5Gbps -- far quicker than Apple's internal flash memory can process. And Apple's Thunderbolt -- which boasts speeds of 700MBps -- can't be implemented because iPhones and iPads don't operate the PCI Express architecture necessary to run that standard.But if data transfers and syncing are being shifted to the cloud, then speed shouldn't be the issue. Space is one thing, and there's something to do be said for improving upon design, but if most manufacturers can make do with Micro USB, what's the problem with going 3.0?