iPhone 3G not compatible with existing accessories

Questions asked over Apple's (lack of) customer consideration

Reader Experience "I've just fallen foul of the fact that the new iPhone 3G is no longer compatible with a countless number of my existing iPod accessories."

"The problem is that, whilst it may work after a fashion in some, it won't take a charge.

"The cause of this problem apparently lies in the fact that the iPhone 3G, unlike its predecessor and all previous iPods, no longer supports charging though the 12V pins on the [allegedly standard] Apple iPod dock connector, only the USB pins.

"This renders many accessories severely limited at best and, in the case of car audio connectors such as the Dension ICE>Link, effectively useless; with 3G and Bluetooth enabled, the iPhone 3G reportedly gobbles juice even faster than my elderly 2.0 litre Mondeo. The same is apparently true for the Bose Sound Dock and, ironically, even Apple's own iPod HiFi!

"Many 'official' fully integrated car audio systems seem to be suffering the same fate.

"Apple will defend this on the grounds that it has been warning 3rd party manufacturers against using the 12V power pins for some time now; however, surely the idea of a standard (albeit proprietary) such as the iPod dock connector is that the goalposts don't shift. For those hoping that a software update may reactivate the 12V pins and rectify this, think again - it's being reported on various forums that the 12V pins aren't connected to anything inside the iPhone 3G. See numerous posts here.

"Still, it seems that at least one entrepreneurial outfit has detected the possibility of a gold mine in the form of an after-market adapter. (Select iPod standard accessories → iPhone charge converter.)

"So what are the reasons behind this change? Apple doesn't have a great presence in the iPod/iPhone accessories market, but it runs the risk of ticking off God-knows-how-many existing customers, not to mention its business partners in the iPod accessories market. Would anyone from Apple like to fill in the blanks - and suggest when a fix may be available?"

Many thanks to "Doctor Mesmer" for this email. If you have any comments on this issue, Register Hardware wants to know your thoughts.