Till September 21 dawns on us, bringing in its wake the fabled iPhone 5 release, rumors of the Apple smartphone wonder will continue to abound by the dozen. Yet another Apple rumor is doing rounds on the tech circuit claiming that the iPhone 5 will debut with an 8-pin and not the rumored 19-pin dock connector.

For several months now, the grapevine has been abuzz with rumors that Apple's next-gen iPhone would sport a smaller dock connector in order to accommodate 4G and sturdier batteries. However, the latest rumor thwarts all previous claims of the 19-pin dock connector, suggesting that it will be even smaller.

According to iLounge, a smaller 8-pin port is is on the cards. Citing two unnamed sources, iLounge reported on August 1 that Apple's iPhone 5 (along with the iPod touch and iPad) will have a newly designed 8-pin dock connector. The dock connector will replace Apple's more than a decade old 30-pin port, which is currently in use on all iOS devices.

According to one of the sources, the 8-pin dock connector may also imbibe other innovative features. These features may allow the dock connector to be plugged "in either orientation" like the MagSafe connector, which is used in Apple notebooks.

Leaked images of purported iPhone 5 cases, Apple patents, and job listings on the Apple website have fueled rumors of a change in pin design. Earlier in May, two job listings posted on Apple's website sought a "Connector Design Engineer" and a "Product Design Eng - Connector" to work in Cupertino. The post revealed that the job would "involve adaptation of existing connectors or complete new designs."

iFans fear that a change to the 30-pin dock connector would make existing docking systems obsolete and incompatible with future iDevices. The only way round it would be if Apple released some sort of adapter. Eventually, whether the 8-pin dock connector is real, much like other speculated features, will be confirmed when the iPhone 5 releases.