iPhone 5 Rumors: Apple to Kill Traditional Dock Connector in Favor of Smaller One?

We all love rumors and can’t get enough of them, to be honest. The latest rumor is that Apple is planning to get rid of its 30-pin connector for something smaller (read: micro) for its next generation devices.

The origin of the latest rumor is iMore, a blog centered around all things Apple. The reason for the micro dock “isn’t anything political, like a new desire to conform to an outdated micro-USB standard, but typically Apple: to save space inside the iPhone 5 for what are now more important components,” the site said. Unfortunately, however, the tech giant won’t be replacing the 30-pin connector with Thunderbolt, which is a bit odd, since Apple invested so much in Thunderbolt.

The new connector is rumored to be smaller. It takes up less space, which allows Apple to fit more components in its future iDevices. Apple removing that huge connector is a good idea. However, it would have been more exciting if Apple had chosen to go with Thunderbolt, or even Micro USB for that matter.

And, there’s something else to take into consideration - Apple is slowly moving away from the traditional file transfer via cords. With its iCloud storage solution, Apple is eyeing for the day when everything is transferred through iCloud or anything that is wireless such as Bluetooth, or even NFC for that matter. Many iPhone users are transferring files over Wi-Fi, while only using the dock for charging their device. Apple might be looking at this, and thus slowly moving to a world where iDevices can only transfer files wirelessly. Hey, we wouldn’t mind if Apple did something like that. After all, the life of wires is becoming too cumbersome these days.

No idea when we might see the new dock, but if it is real, we are sure Apple will have something to show to us at the rumored iPad 3 reveal in March.

(Reported by Vamien McKalin, edited by Wendy Li)