Apple is promising that the iPhone 5 will be the fastest rollout of an iPhone yet by hitting 100 countries by December. However, it looks like the new Lightning dock connector accessories aren’t on that same swift timetable.
Apple is forcing a migration to a new, smaller dock connector called Lightning with the latest model iPhone and iPods introduced this week. Besides standard Lightning-to-USB and Lightning-to-wall-plugs, Apple is also planning to sell other Lightning cables. However, not all of these were ready at launch.
Apple plans to sell Lightning-to-HDMI and Lightning-to-VGA cables for those who want to display video to another source with a wired solution. But when will these video-related cables be available? The company didn’t mention it at the launch this week, but Apple told The Verge on Thursday night rather vaguely that these will be available in “the coming months.”
Apple’s also selling converters for $30 or $40 that will keep a new iPhone or iPod compatible with older 30-pin cables and docks. However, the first round of inventory is already sold out. According to Apple’s website, just about 7 hours after it went on sale, three models of 30-pin adapters are backordered until sometime in October. Even the basic Lightning cable now won’t ship for two to three more weeks.
Luckily, if you’ve already bought an iPhone 5 or new iPod, one of the basic cables is included in the box.
