[Trygve]

Is the cable that came with my iPhone 3G the same as the one that came with my previous generation iPod Nano (the tall narrow one)?

They seem the same being USB to the wide, flat connector. Ok to use them interchangeably?

[analogika]

yes.

[Simon]

Yes, you can interchange them.

The plugs are compatible, but the case is a bit different. iPhone plugs are shorter. iPod plugs are longer and have two tabs on the side that you press to release the plug from the iPod. But both types of plugs wok in both types of devices.

[-Q-]

USB-based chargers work fine and are completely interchangeable. An old firewire-based iPod charger, however, will not work with the iPhone. You can use it to charge your phone in an emergency, but it won't transfer files or sync.

[vmarks]

Originally Posted by -Q- 

USB-based chargers work fine and are completely interchangeable. An old firewire-based iPod charger, however, will not work with the iPhone. You can use it to charge your phone in an emergency, but it won't transfer files or sync.

An old firewire based charger will work with the original iPhone, but not the iPhone 3G.

I use the firewire charger for my original iPhone all the time. I'm using the wall-charger - syncing over firewire has been gone for a few years now from iPods.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Simon 

Yes, you can interchange them.

The plugs are compatible, but the case is a bit different. iPhone plugs are shorter. iPod plugs are longer and have two tabs on the side that you press to release the plug from the iPod. But both types of plugs wok in both types of devices.

Apple has been using the shorter plugs for their iPods for some time now.

The one with the side buttons are "old-style".

[Simon]

Oh. Good to know. Last iPod I bought was a black 8 GB nano and that one still came with the big plug IIRC.

[Andrew Stephens]

My in car ipod charger doesn't work with my iPhone. The connectors the same so there's definitely some internal difference that stops it even charging the phone.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Andrew Stephens 

My in car ipod charger doesn't work with my iPhone. The connectors the same so there's definitely some internal difference that stops it even charging the phone.

This thread is about the Apple-branded iPod cable, which DOES work.

Your car charger supplies power to the pins used for Firewire charging, which has been deprecated for some time and has now been dropped from the iPhone.

Anything that powers the USB-power pins works just fine.

[Simon]

Yep, it's not a difference in plugs. It's a difference of which pins are used to charge a device. Only the devices that charge over the USB pins will work with the new iPhone, nano, and iPod Classic. The connectors are still perfectly identical.

[analogika]

nano and classic, as well as iPod touch and 1st-gen iPhone still charge via Firewire, AFAIK.

[Bearsfan34]

I have an older Griffin PowerJolt car charger (black) that I used with both a 5G iPod I bought in 2006 and the original iPhone. Once I got the iPhone 3G, it wouldn't charge in the car...even though it was a USB charger.

Just for laughs, I tried an Apple USB cord in the PowerJolt, and it's been charging my 3G ever since. The Griffin USB cord must've used FW as a means of providing power; the newest short Apple USB cord may work in some older iPod accessories. It's worth a try...worked for me.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by analogika 

nano and classic, as well as iPod touch and 1st-gen iPhone still charge via Firewire, AFAIK.

Correct. While the classic and nano only sync over USB, they still charge through FW.

[daniel]

cool, I was wondering this too

[tooki]

As I understand it, this is the situation: the 3G is also very picky about USB power -- it demands that the USB charging device be able to understand the USB commands to request power -- it won't just draw power blindly from the USB power pins.