It's called Lightning, and is said to be more durable, all digital and 80% smaller than the 30-pin connector so many of us have gotten used to. As Phil Schiller, SVP of worldwide marketing, explained in his introduction, "it's time for the connector to evolve, and that's just what we've done."
The 30-pin connector has been around a while, a fact Schiller acknowledged when he told the crowd "so much has changed since we first created that."
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Those of you with 30-pin-compatible docks and speakers aren't going to be left in the lurch: The Apple exec also said the company is creating a 30-pin-to-Lightning adapter.
Schiller said that Bose, JBL and Bang & Olufsen are working on new devices compatible with the Lightning dock connector and we imagine other third party products will be out soon enough.
Good thing -- more than half the people who took the instant poll in our live blog were worried about having to buy all new accessories for their upgraded phones.