The iPhone 5 and the refreshed iPod series were not the only products announced by Apple at the press event held in San Francisco this past Wednesday. Besides the much anticipated handheld devices, Apple also introduced the new 8-pin Lightening connector which is believed to cause serious headaches for the consumers. The change from the old 30-pin connector to this upgrade was indeed expected, however, the decision to exclude an adapter for the connector by Apple has not gone well with users.

Difficulty for Users

Apple has been unbundling accessories from the iPhone package ever since the handset was first released in 2007 and users have had to pay significant amounts of money for the typically shiny and glossy add-ons. In order to use the accessories they have accumulated over time, users will have to buy an adapter ranging from $19 to $39 and even then Apple has said that the adapter will not work with all their accessories.

Multiple Tasks Can Be Performed By The New Lightning Port

The new Lightening connector that has been incorporated uses an eight-signal adapter interface and is reversible meaning you can connect it either way up. In an interview to AllthingsD, Apple’s Paul Schiller revealed that the change was not an easy decision but one they had to make in order to make the iPhone thinner and lighter. Like the previous 30-pin connector, the Lightning port can be used for multiple tasks, including charging the iPod or iPhone, syncing data and outputting audio to another device.

8 Pin Connector Better Than microUSB

Despite Apple coming out in support of the microUSB standard to charge devices on International Electro technical Commission’s recommendation, the thinking in Cupertino is that proprietary ports are the way forward. According to Apple personnel, the new connector gives users increased functionality like being able to control the accessories from the handset interface. Also, the adapter has the ability to convert 8 digital signals into an analogue output so any comments about its rather feasible size would be harsh.

Expensive Accessories of the New Lightning Feature

With the Lightning to USB Cable costing $19, $29 for the Lightning adapter and $39 for the Lightning-to-30-pin connector cable, the accessories are certainly not economical, and they also don’t support all functions–particularly iPod out and video out. Secondly, to many the adapter will not appear to be a very elegant solution adding to the fact there are not Lightening compatible accessories out there right now. Whether the connector will be damned or not, only time will tell but one thing is sure that Apple has a lot of faith in its clout. If the iPhone 5 sales keep up the same trend, nobody will be talking about it lightening’s bad side in a couple of months time.