If you’ve seen the new Square reader and you’ve thought, wow that’s simplistic, yet works, kind of like an Apple product, that’s because Square’s VP of hardware, Jesse Dorogusker, is an 8 year Apple veteran who worked in their accessory division. Obviously, Square is an accessory and this refresh reaks of Apple’s simplicity (in a very good way).

As Marshable reported over the weekend, Square has gotten thinner. They’ve been able to power the magnetic stripe (credit card) reader using power from the phone that it’s connected to, rather than a battery. Removing the battery was able to get the device a slimmer profile. In fact it makes the device 45% thinner and we know how the world loves thinner.

“We designed the new Square Reader for functionality,” a Square spokesperson told Mashable. “In an industry with historically uninspired design, Square is pushing its design forward to help businesses grow and feel good when they’re doing it.”

Square has always used the smartphones headphone jack in order to establish connection to the web, the app and the smartphone. This meant that Square didn’t need to fiddle with different connectors for different smartphones and ecosystems. They could quickly develop one universal device, probably a lesson many mobile peripheral companies could learn from.

Square gets their revenue from taking 2.5% off the top of every transaction. More and more people are using Square because it’s easy. Squre co-founder Jim McKelvey told me in an interview for nibletz earlier this year that he likes to empower people and hearing stories about street vendors who can now make more money by accepting credit cards, sits at the core of the payment company.

Nothing with the app or back end functionality of Square changed, it’s just a little thinner, a little quicker and still just as easy to use.

You can sign up for a square account here and they’ll send you the new square card reader in the mail, absolutely free.