Now that rumors pretty much have the new iPhone coming out this fall, everyone seems to have their own thoughts about what the new iPhone will bring. One rumor that has everyone pretty upset is the news out of Asia that the new phone will have a 19-pin dock adaptor, instead of the 30-pin connector we’re all used to.

There’s a reason this news has everyone talking.

No matter when you started with the iPhone, you had the same accessories. In fact, you could have used your iPod cables with your iPhone. I know I did. So this change is a first…and it means we’re all going to have quite a few accessories hanging around.

Some people don’t know what the big deal is. A cable comes with any new iPhone, after all, and once the phone is out you’ll be able to buy new cables online for a couple of bucks. But when someone considers the fact that many of us have been comfortably settled into iPhone ownership for more than five years now, that picture expands a little.

Car chargers will have to be replaced, as well as the chargers you have at work and home. But the big issue will be those expensive accessories that charge your iPhone at night while you sleep. Speakerphones, iHome audio systems…you name it. Most iPhone owners did an automatic mental inventory of all of these items when the rumors began circulating. Imagine if you’d bought a $600 Bose sound dock. You’d certainly think twice about upgrading.

Of course, all of these rumors are only as good as the “anonymous sources” who report them, but iMore’s Rene Ritchie reports that Apple has an adaptor for that.

Ritchie checked with her original anonymous source, who confirmed that Apple will provide an adaptor to allow the new iPhone to work with all the old accessories.

We haven’t heard if one will be included in the box along with the iPhone 5, or will only be sold separately, but either way, come October, you’ll be able to get a new-to-old dock adapter from Apple,” Ritchie wrote. “Apple has done this recently with the MagSafe to MagSafe 2 adapter, and in past years with a variety of other display adapters. Of course, there will likely be some accessories that, due to the physical size or shape, are awkward or impossible to use with the Dock connector adapter, but anything that doesn’t require tight, flush contact should be okay.”

Why the change?

That’s still conjecture, but it seems Apple needed more space inside the casing for the rumored LTE chipset. Apple is trying to save space any way it can, but the company knows people have these pricey docks. The good thing about having an iPhone is that even if Apple doesn’t come out with an adaptor, you know there will be at least a hundred different companies manufacturing their own.

iMore pointed out something I hadn’t thought of. With wireless syncing now available via AirPlay, you may not necessarily need an adaptor to connect your device. Still, they haven’t found a way to charge your device for free, so those alarm clocks that make sure your phone has a full charge each morning while also waking you won’t apply to that theory.

Still, most of us will toss out our old chargers and use the one that comes with the phone. Adaptors are for expensive gadgets you want to replace, not basic cables. But I wouldn’t throw away anything just yet. You never know with these iPhone rumors. The phone may come out later this year with the same 30-pin connector iPhones have always had.