Apple loves to mess with their products after launch. Usually for the worse. Hey, it's not a bug, it's a feature! That's what makes the recent story about iPad USB woes so believable. 9 to 5 Mac is reporting that iOS 4.2 blocks certain USB devices from being used with the iPad's camera kit. They claim this includes everything from certain cameras, keyboards, and microphones. The story has started making the rounds, with even Engadget reporting it as true.

Here at MMNTech, we never take tech rumours at face value. I tried two things on the list. Both my wireless RF keyboard and headset worked as before. The beef of the story seems to be a drop in power output from the dock connector. 9 to 5 Mac claims it was reduced from 100mA to just 20mA. The RF receiver for my keyboard is rated at 55mA, so that dispels this myth. The claim seem to stem from people who are trying to use plugging ridiculously power hungry USB devices. I wouldn't expect my Blue Snowball microphone to work with my iPad, though apparently one commenter did.

The keyboard hack has always been a little temperamental. Still, the dock connector uses a basic USB standard packaged in a proprietary plug. If they killed third party keyboard support with the camera kit, it's unlikely their own keyboard would work. That along with a whole host of other official devices that use the dock connector. Basically, any device that worked before should work now as long as it's rated below 100mA.

Source: 9 to 5 Mac
Image courtesy of Gotronics