iPhone 5 to have a smaller 19-pin dock connector, headphone jack shifted to the bottom: Reuters

Another day, another ‘iPhone 5′ rumor. This time it comes from none other than Reuters that is citing sources that the next iPhone will have a smaller dock connector. According to its sources, Apple will introduce a 19-pin connector, phasing out its popular 30-pin connector that has been in use for years now. Apparently, the next iPhone will also see the headphone jack being shifted from the top to the bottom, right besides the new dock connector. If true, the lower part would house not only these two connectors but even the speaker and microphone, making it very cramped. However, it chimes well with earlier leaks, like the photo above that showed exactly what Reuters sources are claiming.
However, changing the dock connector would also mean accessories with older 30-pin connectors would be rendered useless. While it would mean good business for accessory manufacturers, it could translate into hundreds of thousands of irate customers. It is likely that Apple would introduce an adapter to sort the incompatibility issue with some accessories, it is likely that the adapter won’t work with many accessories, especially those that have precision fitting.
We hear from our sources that Apple has been working closely with some key accessory manufacturers to make it mandatory for new audio accessories to support Airplay rather than having to physically connect the gadget with the accessory.
Considering the leaked photos were posted before any major rumors of a smaller dock and shifting the headphone jack to the bottom surfaced, the rest of the details could also be possibly true. According to the earlier leak, the next iPhone would sport a metal back. It did sport a 4-inch display but the alleged iPhone 5 had the same width as the current generation iPhone 4S. It had a taller display with a 640×1136 pixel resolution. The front camera is also expected to be shifted towards the center, just above the earpiece.