iPhone 5’s Dock Connector Smaller Than Expected With A Metal Ring Inside? [PHOTO]

While rumours of upcoming iPhone 5 to introduce a 19-pin dock connector or an 8-pin dock connector have been floating around for a good number of months now, a new publication by French site Nowehereelse.fr reveals a new photo [Google translation] showing that the connector itself will be even smaller than originally thought with a metal ring inside the casing cutout for the new dock connector (via MacRumors). Yesterday, 9to5Mac also reported on a reference to “9Pin” in a section of iOS 6 code addressing core hardware features but regardless of the exact number of dock connector pins, it does look quite tiny in the newly leaked photo.

According to the source:

The purpose of the ring is currently unknown, but some have been hoping that Apple’s new dock connector will include an attachment mechanism similar to the MagSafe standard used on the company’s notebook computers. A MagSafe-like dock connector could allow users to insert the cable in either orientation.

But other details on the new dock connector have remained unclear, with various sources reporting different numbers of pins for the new connector compared to the current 30-pin design.

I would personally love to see a MagSafe-like connector as it gets much easier for the cables to simply snap into place. What do you think?

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