Gallery: How Apple's Lightning-Plug Guru Reinvented Square's Card Reader
01The new Square Reader teardown. Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
The new Square Reader is 45 percent thinner than the previous version--a slimming that took careful consideration of the device's components. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
02The new Square Reader with Visa card. Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
The effort was led by Square's VP of Hardware, Jesse Dorogusker, formerly the head of accessories at Apple. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
03131204-square-new-11
The old Square Reader (left) vs. the new Square Reader. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
04131204-square-new-01
The brains of the operation is a new custom chip. Here it is compared to the Reader itself. It's tiny. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
05Assemble via SMT (surface mount technology). Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
Square also developed a new custom read head--the piece that swipes data from the card itself. The two rectangles here draw from two different data bands hidden in the card's magnetic stripe. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
06Bare Flexible Printed Circuit Board (FPC). Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
A close look at the flexible circuit board. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
07The new Square Reader, plugged into iPad. Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
The new Reader has a tapered lip on both sides, making it easier for customers to situate their card. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
08Hand assemble. Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
The guts sitting in the plastic enclosure. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
09Audio Plug. Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
The new chip allowed for a low power operation. It let Square ditch the coin cell battery of the previous version and draw all power from the smartphone via the audio jack. *Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED*
Spooky New Infostealer Malware Uses AI to ‘Autodox’ Victims
Named “Volta-Autodoxer,” the recently uncovered malware uses AI tools to collect troves of data about victims, from login credentials and credit card numbers to Discord sessions and UberEats receipts.
Lily Hay Newman
Light Up Your Home Like Christmas With These Smart String Lights
Glow up your home indoors or out with these versatile, discounted, full color smart string lights. They’re WIRED-tested and 25 percent off right now.
Simon Hill
There’s a Completely New Type of Whisky. It’s French and Made in Concrete Eggs
The founders of Maison Lineti are, in a world first, making single malt whisky as if it were wine—and the spirit world is mighty impressed.
Jeremy White
Power Outages Are No Match for This Fridge Battery
Backup by BioLite is designed to power your fridge when the grid goes down. It works, but protecting your ice cream doesn’t come cheap.
Christopher Null
Meta’s Muse Could Upend All Kinds of Businesses. It Hasn’t Yet
Companies have spent the past several weeks trying to reassure investors that Muse and other AI agents pose more of an opportunity than a threat.
Paresh Dave
Get Bose QC Headphones at Their Lowest Price Ever
They’re a steal at over 40 percent off in multiple colors. Plus, other great Bose deals you should know about ahead of Black Friday.
Harry Rabinowitz
An AI Agent Injected Drugs Into a Live Mouse’s Brain
A biotech startup let an agent choose a gene therapy and successfully inject the treatment, offering a startling glimpse of the future of research labs.
Emily Mullin
The Keurig Alta Brewer Can Do It All, With No Plastic Pods
This multifaceted home coffee brewer and its new AltaRounds will make you rethink everything you know about Keurig machines.
Louryn Strampe
Are Memories Transferable? Meet the Scientists Replicating an Infamous Study to Find Out
In the 1960’s, an odd experiment showed planarian worms could transfer memories by consuming each other. It was a sensational finding—that is until the worms stopped learning.
Claire L. Evans
Sunrise Alarm Clocks to Help You Adjust to Shorter Days
I’ve never been a morning person. This bedside gadget is the only thing that’s ever changed that.
Nena Farrell
White Dwarfs Aren’t Just White. Scientists Discover Dying Stars Turning Pink and Green
Astronomers find that a white dwarf’s density and the kind of material it absorbed from its surroundings can produce a rainbow of shades in the star’s atmosphere.
Petr Kubala
Wayfair Coupons for November 2026
Get 10% off with Wayfair promo code, up to 80% off furniture, and more top coupons.
Molly Higgins