iPhone 5 Mini Dock Connector Photographed With microUSB

Several photos have appeared in the wild this morning showing off what very much appears to be the rumored iPhone 5 dock connector USB cable. This cable's head is compared to a microUSB cable head, the most common cable head in the mobile device industry today. These cables have been shown to be significantly similar – so much so that we'll certainly be grabbing twice in our barrel of cords once this new head appears, that's for certain.

What you're seeing here is a collection of iPhone 5 (or The New iPhone, whatever you want to call it), cords right alongside some microUSB cords from the Meizu MX, a popular smartphone in China. It would appear that some manufacturer partners have gotten their hands on this collection of next-generation cords in preparation for the iPhone 5 being released later this year. The cord currently appears to have 16 pins – 9 on one side, 9 on the other, interchangeable in the plugging.

With this new cord, the iPhone – and possibly the rest of the Apple mobile universe – will be able to plug without looking. Where before when you'd plug your Apple cord into your iPad or iPod touch or iPhone, you'd have to make sure it was facing forward. Now it'll be a whichever-way-you-want sort of situation. it's also been tipped that the cord will be held in with magnets so that if it's pulled out with force, your device wont go with it.

This device cord will likely appear again on the 12th of this month – Wednesday of this week! That's the day that Apple holds their iPhone 5 event: and we'll be there liveblogging the whole event for you! Check our liveblogging portal for all your Apple action right from the sourcd, and don't forget to check our Apple portal as well for news bits right on the money, as fast as they're announced!