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February 28, 2005

Hidden features of the iPod shuffle’s USB plug

shuffleusbcable.jpg
Chipmunk International has posted a careful dissection of an iPod shuffle and they notice a very interesting feature of the USB plug. A standard USB plug has 4 connections, right? Not so with the iPod shuffle's plug, which features an extra 5 contacts. That's right kids, there are 9 contacts in the USB plug (and I use that industry-standard term loosely) and you can clearly see them yourself now that you know to look for them. Those Apple people are always doing something clever, aren't they?

So, what does Apple have up their sleeve for the shuffle? I have to think that they do have plans for this, otherwise it would have been easier and cheaper to use a standard 4 contact plug. Whatever attaches to the plug would need to have a special pin layout in order to hit those extra contacts. So far, there is no audio line-out available for the shuffle so that could account for 3 (maybe 4) of those contacts, but I'd like to think it would be more exciting than just that.

Posted on February 28, 2005 12:42 PM | Category: News

Comments

Um… wrong picture there. That’s the end that connects to the PCB. The picture of the actual USB plug end is here: http://www.chipmunk.nl/ipod/chipmunk-shu-us.jpg

Posted by: Eric3 on February 28, 2005 11:43 PM

Yep, know that. Thanks for pointing out that this is the other end of the ribbon cable though. It runs from the USB connector to the circuit board. I chose this image because it more clearly shows the nine contacts. Wait… I just counted and there are 10 contacts there. wtf?
David
Editor

Posted by: David on February 28, 2005 11:50 PM

we ran a scope over the usb connector hoping to find a lineout. The leftmost USB pin had a noisy audio signal on it. More interesting was the ‘extra’ pin 2nd from left, which had a modulated HF signal. We suspect this may be digital audio, which would explain where the FM transmitter for the shuffle gets its audio.

Posted by: dan on March 24, 2005 10:46 AM

Hi,

I have seen some battery chargers out there I believe that with those you can only charge the Shuffle’s battery but you can’t use it while it charges, so I think a couple of the extra pins may be used by the Apple’s battery pack that gives you extra power for using your iPod. So if you use the standard USB pins you’ll charge the iPod’s battery but if you use the extra pins you may extend you iPod’s power to play more hours. Have you tried it?

Posted by: Alvaro on August 14, 2005 12:02 PM

Alvaro,
That’s an interesting observation. I’m testing two USB chargers from ezGear for iPod (car and wall chargers) right now for an upcoming product review. With these units, the iPod does indeed continue to play while it charges the battery. However, the USB plug on the charger unit appears to be a standard plug, a plug that would connect to the USB-standard four contacts in the iPod, not one of the special contact strips. I haven’t tested any other iPod shuffle chargers so I can’t comment on those. So, the theory doesn’t seem to hold up in this case, but it’s a good question though.
David
Editor

Posted by: David on August 15, 2005 04:19 PM

I no dis aint got nottin 2 do wiut dis but i duno wah to do my shuffle aint chargein like i connect it to my pc n notthin my computer dont even show its connected n the shuffle dont even light up wah can i do plez help…

Posted by: Shorty on August 4, 2006 03:55 PM

My shuffle has the ribbon cable pulled away from the USB connector and no way can I get it to recognize the shuffle when I plug it in. Can I get a DIY replacement or someway fix this one?

Posted by: Mikey on August 21, 2006 09:00 PM