Next iPhone Will Have 8-Pin Dock Connector Plus New iOS 6 Bluetooth Feature [Rumour]

Jeremy Horwitz from iLounge has a new report on a couple new features coming for the next iPhone and possibly iOS 6. Horwitz claims their sources have further confirmed the next iPhone dock connector will have 8-pins, instead of the previously rumoured 16-pins or 19-pins:

1. New 8-Pin Dock Connector. According to two sources, Apple’s new Dock Connector features only 8 pins, seemingly contradicting claims of “16-pin” and “19-pin” connectors. Although the original Dock Connector contained 30 pins, reports of 16- or 19-pin connectors seemed hard to square with the port’s small size and Apple’s actual need for additional pins beyond what USB/Micro-USB offer. No images or parts for the connector have leaked out, either. Both of our sources concur that there are eight pins in a line within the new Dock Connector, which may well receive a different name going forward.

Furthermore, he notes a recent patent received by Apple could allude to a possible dock connector accessory to connect old docks with the new one. As for design of the new dock connector, one source claims it will be allowed to connect to docks and cables in any orientation (backwards or forwards, like MagSafe), but one other source could not confirm this.

The next rumoured feature iLounge sources note is a new iOS 6 feature that will enable Bluetooth 4 iOS devices to connect with each other to send messages and make calls between devices:

2. iOS 6 + Bluetooth 4 Link. Our source also claimed that Apple is working on an as-yet-undisclosed iOS 6 feature that will act as a bridge between its Bluetooth 4-capable devices. The feature would enable, say, a future iPod nano to display iMessages received by an iPhone, record voice memos that could be shared via the iPhone, and even initiate phone calls through its own headphones. It could also conceivably let you make iPhone calls from your iPad (or possibly even recent Macs), assuming the iPhone was paired with the computer over Bluetooth. The core concept here might sound familiar to fans of HP’s ill-fated TouchPad, but our source claims that it’ll be more broadly and deeply executed by Apple.

Back in May, iLounge also reported on a smaller universal dock connector between all iOS devices, plus details of a larger next generation iPhone screen size. More recently, they also released new details about Apple’s entire iOS line up, such as a mid-September ship date for the next iPhone.

For those that think Thunderbolt might come to the next iPhone, some say it won’t be coming anytime soon.

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.