MacRumors: Square Debuts New Card Reader Developed by Former Apple Lightning Connector Designer

To develop the thinner card reader for Square, Dorogusker was forced to move away from stock components and develop proprietary hardware such as a new custom read head that is able to read two bands of data from the magnetic stripes on credit cards, resulting in greater swipe accuracy.

Dorogusker and his team concentrated on improving the "feel" of swiping, incorporating additional tension in a spring that attaches to the read head for a more satisfying credit card swiping experience.

Wonderful to see such a great company make such an explicit effort toward the details of using their product.