Apple is not pushing for a new iPhone connector and the rumored Ultra Accessory Connector (UAC) is intended only for the Made for iPhone (MFI) program upon the request of licensees. There will be no additional dongles for various port conversions like the one bundled with the iPhone 7 that converts headphones with 3.5 mm headphone jack to lightning.
Yesterday's report from 9t05Mac revealed that Apple is introducing a new iPhone connector or the UAC, which is smaller than Lightning or USB-C. This is untrue for the UAC is not a new port but only relabeled by Apple for its own purpose.
The 8-pin connector is not made by Apple and it has already been used for digital cameras and other accessories. It goes by different names like "ultra mini connector" by Mitsumi or the UC-E6 by Nikon.
Apple has confirmed that the UAC is intended for the MFI program and requested by licensees for wired headphones, Ars Technica reported. In short, the Cupertino giant is allowing MFI product manufacturers to use the port to develop cables and adapters that can do the following conversions, from UAC to USB-A, UAC to USB-C, and UAC to 3.5mm headphone jack connections.
The request may come amidst a diverse smartphone landscape when it comes to ports. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus along with future iOS devices use lightning. Moto Z, HTC U Ultra, and the latest Android phones use the USB-C. The 3.5mm is still widely used by almost all phones not mentioned earlier.
To illustrate, a wired lightning headphone will not be compatible with USB-C phones and vice-versa. When Apple ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack in the iPhone 7, it tried to compensate by adding a new dongle with the phone. The dongle converts 3.5mm headphone jack to lightning.
However, the conversion problem does not stop there for the aforementioned ports will still need to be converted for accessories to work non-exclusively to a single brand of phone, Mashable has learned. The only available solution is to use wireless headphones, which audiophiles do not consider a viable option. Another is to wait for Apple to create more dongles.
