After many years, we finally upgraded our phones to the new iPhone 6. It has been a huge improvement in usability, but has been a bit of a headache as Apple changed the connector plug (still not the industry standard micro USB) a few years ago. So none of our old attachments will work. Apple also saw fit to make it harder for other companies to produce cheaper knock-off cables by requiring an official Apple chip to actually work, so you have to buy the more expensive Apple cable. This meant that our in-car powered phone docks were no longer able to charge the phones. I could buy new ones, but that would also require buying additional Apple cables. It just seemed like a bit much, when the docks themselves were perfectly good.
I was able to disassemble the part of the dock that housed the old (30-pin) connector and fit in on of the new Apple lightning-to-30pin connectors so it would be compatible with our existing setup. I had to file off the corners of the connector (since it was incompatible with any but Apple’s official cases) to make them fit our cases. There is a steel reinforcing band about 2mm beneath the plastic housing, leaving plenty of space for the thickness of the case. This would have been much easier with a Dremel tool, but I wanted to keep all of my fingers. But how to secure the parts together?
Sugru to the rescue!
Apparently Irish meaning “to play”, Sugru is a formable silicone rubber that starts off like Play-Doh and begins to harden after about 30 mins, then fully cures into rubber after 24 hours. It adheres to most surfaces, is inert, waterproof, insulating, and totally fun. I used black Sugru to secure the parts together (and conceal the ubiquitous Apple white). The result looks pretty darn good.
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