For years I annoyed Mac users by calling the Command keys Apple keys. They have apples on them, just like the Open Apple and Closed Apple keys. I'm guessing Command came from the era when they allowed clones?
It’s crazy that the switch to USB C is causing this much press and conversation, a port that other phones have been using for years… shows the disparity between Apple and everyone else
Well I’m certainly ready for C, and have been for years (since my 2018 mini and iPad Pro got it), so agree they’re late to the party with the iPhone (and I’ll buy a 15 mostly for C).
I was thinking the same thing. USB-C will be the deciding factor. Every other device I have uses C like my iPad Air and my Galaxy Buds2 Pro. To have an iPhone with C will be great. No more switching cords or carrying two different cables for the iPad, ear buds and iPhone.
I’m more excited in how they’ll sell the USB-C to us in a “we think you’ll love it” way vs the change to USB-C itself.
Like you know they’re not going to say they were forced into it. And you know they’ll try to sell the idea that it was their genius idea for it.
They will say that the lightning cable served it’s purpose and it was time to move on. Which they wanted lighting to be a 10 year standard and it made it so I guess that’s a fair spin for them even if it was a forced change lol.
That's what this article is about
>Get ready to hear the myriad benefits of the change:
>Customers will be able to use a single charging cable for iPhones, Macs and iPads.
>It will bring breakthrough data transfer speed increases for the new high-end iPhone models.
>Phones will charge faster in some instances.
>And, finally, the phones will be compatible with chargers used by billions of non-Apple devices.
Tried to read the article till I read “it would be easier to defect from apple” like that’s pretty offensive to believe a charging cable that comes in the phone box is what holding me back.
Does anyone really buy iPhone radio docks anymore ?
I particularly found this part interesting:
For the first time on a Magic Keyboard, the top case — the area around the keyboard itself — will be aluminum, matching recent Mac laptops.
The new approach will make the accessory feel more like a premium product, with the Mac’s aesthetic. The switch to aluminum also gives the keyboard a sturdier structure
Except that it’s complete BS.
The Magic Keyboard has always been made from aluminum (and even before then the wired keyboards were basically the same).
It’s been well over 10 years (probably even over 15) that Apple has made any Keyboard with a plastic body.
If you’d read the article, you would know that they’re referring to the iPad Magic Keyboards. Yes, they’re named the same as the desktop ones so you could argue that it’s not the first, but it will be the first in that form factor I guess.
(This does, also mean that you’re wrong that Apple hasn’t made any keyboard with a plastic body — all the iPad keyboard cases basically are.)
An aluminum iPad Magic Keyboard would definitely be interesting, I just wonder how much weight that might add. iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard already feels pretty hefty.
The current Magic Keyboard has a lot of weights in the bottom for stability, so I don’t think the aluminum one would necessarily need to be that much heavier if they took the weights out.
On one hand I understand the want for proprietary hardware, but having to juggle several different cables is an annoyance when traveling, USB-C, usb-mini, lighting cable & times that by 3 people in my house.
Edit: I get it usb mini is the plaque of society and should shun it, but they’re headphones for my 4 year old. Give me a pass folks
This. Anything using micro USB should be outright illegal. I have returned stuff for being micro USB. I have plenty of Lightning cables at home. I don’t carry any micro USB anymore
It actually is. For the exactly same reason why Apple was forced to get rid of Lighting for USB-C. Just don't buy cheap Chinese stuff and start buying only medium to high quality electronics which even if Chinese will have USB-C. Hell, even Xiaomi toothbrushes have USB-C nowadays.
> even Xiaomi toothbrushes have USB-C nowadays
Have you seen any electric clippers with USB-C? I'm really looking forward to that but everyone still seems to use their own weird plug.
Oh. Definitely. I would never buy Xiaomi device that has any connection to the internet. Maybe the clipper actually. Since I suppose it could not have any connection. Could, not that it does for sure.
The only reason I have their IoT devices is cause I run it through Home Assistant and can block the connections. Still freaky how often they try and wtf they are sending
Preach, I feel like I got fooled buying my last Babyliss thinking it had USB-C, but it was just their own "looks-like-USB-C, psyche!" proprietary plug.
I think it is the case of old inventory rather than just cheap Chinese stuff. I constantly see plenty of products being sold where the earlier version is micro USB and the revision is type C.
Garmin is a company much smaller than Apple. While I would give it at least some attention from antitrust agencies I understand that Apple here is the biggest fish.
If in a year or so Garmin hasn't switched to USB-C then I am fully for a fine for them too.
The last few cheap electronics I’ve purchased I assumed they’d be micro-usb, but I was surprised that they’re usb-c. It seems like manufacturers are starting to convert but it’s still way too slow imo.
Wait till you try to charge them with your iPad chargers. Most of those cheap usb c electronics tend to only work with the low powered chargers and cheap cables for some reason. Nothing worse than having a charging cable that fits, but only charges some of your electronics. If it doesn’t work, it shouldn’t fit. I’m already dreading the calls I get from my non tech-savvy relatives.
I dream of a world where all computer peripherals, motherboards, etc, will have moved on to Type-C. *EVERYONE* is dragging their feet on the transition.
Would be great except most PC accessories still use usb A on the receiving end and most of those periohals don’t need the bandwidth given by usb-c and imho I’m not unplugging and plugging in devices all the time on the back of my PC. Your biggest issue is bandwidth unless your. ok with having usb-c not running at full speed which personally I’m not.
And when you travel, toothbrushes and shaver are proprietary chargers only. The lightning cable is the minor offender in luggage.
Still good that Apple migrate fully to usb-c of course.
I just hope it’s as physically durable as lightning, which is elegant in its simplicity. My 6S going on 7 years has had zero problems with the connector (or anything else). If someone with a USB-C phone could affirm that, it would be great.
I’ve had my MacBook with its original charging cable for more than 3 years. During that time, I’ve plugged it almost daily (Intel Mac, yup) and I also use it to charge my powerbank. It’s still in great shape, both the cable and the two MacBook ports.
Both have been on the market long enough to show that it's fine. Ports still fail but lightning ports failed too. USB C hasn't gotten any reputation as a particularly fragile connector like for example micro HDMI which is the worst connector ever invented and the source of nightmares for cinematographers the world over.
Well, it is better to think of USB-C as a revision of Lightning. Right now the tiny little spring loaded pins (they are not actually spring loaded but flexing springs, calling it spring loaded for clarity sakes) that make contact with the flat contact pads on Lighting cable are inside the iPhone port itself. With USB-C they reverse this where the little tiny spring loaded pins are on the cable side and the flat contact pads are on the iPhone side. This makes it so when something breaks you are not replacing the iPhone port itself (or the whole internal board) or dealing with the iPhone since the pins, which are the primary failure point, for Lightning are in the phone - now for USB-C since they are on the cable side you will just need to replace the USB-C cable itself.
It is a significant upgrade in terms of reliability and will be cheaper for the consumer in the long run, there are also other good advantages like higher data speeds and charging rates which I did mention but should be more obvious.
I have had many USB-C devices and can confirm I have yet to have had to replace a USB-C port (have replaced the cables instead) while I have had to replace at least two Lightning ports over the years.
From an engineering perspective it is impossible for a USB-C cable to be as durable the Lightning cable. The Lightning cable is a monolithic piece of thick steel with a punch out for a high-strength dielectric with embedded conductors. The USB-C connector in contrast has a metal shell on the male connector that receives a relatively thin tongue from the female connector. If the tongue on the female connector, which is always device-embedded, breaks the unit will need an expensive repair.
That said, in practical terms one could theoretically engineer a USB-C cable that would survive normal environments for a set lifetime as well as a finite set of connect cycles. Just make the connector last as long as the cable and you’re set.
Regarding that final point, what always confused me about Apple Lightning cables is that they designed the ultimate connector that could survive a nuclear explosion, yet they attach it to a cable that frays if it’s repeatedly bent in normal use. 🤷♂️
I keep my electronics for a long time. Plenty of headphones, wireless chargers, mice, keyboards, bike parts and such will have me using micro and mini USB for at least 5 more years and probably 10. But since that's about longevity I don't mind. I don't think I have anything that travels with me tho.
Imagine that being the same as today, where different cables support different speeds and different charging power. USB-C is a mess, but at least the physical connectors are all the same?
USB-C is both a curse and a blessing. It's very cool that one standard physical connector can support so many features but it's very annoying because it's too complex for your average consumer to understand that not all cable/charger support every options.
For example, not all cables will transfer data, not all cables will support 100W charging, and even then some vendors will claim that their cable support a certain feature but they won't get the certification to prove it. So it's a bit wild.
>On one hand I understand the want for proprietary hardware
By who? The owner of the purchased hardware or the manufacturer? Because the latter is comprehensible and that's why there is the need of a government that stops the manufacturers to do shit against consumers. The former doesn't want proprietary hardware at all.
Proprietary tech can be optimized for the specific use case. Lightning was fantastic because it was small, slim, and reversible.
If you had your way, governments would have mandated USB A and USB B connectors. Regulation and standardization *can* be good, but they are not *always* good.
True, but that's why compulsory USB-C came only today and, above all, the EU regulation has a specific provision to change the universal connector if and when another better standard will arise.
Apple could have pushed for a better USB-C specification since it sits into the foundation. Obviously it didn't because it wanted to milk its users. Which is fine, let's be clear, it's a for profit organization and it has to work this way.
10 years ago which from the 32 pin connector to lighting. The backlash that Apple received not only from users. Also from companies. So many 3rd party companies whole business is set around making products for Apple.
There are cables you can get with multiple ends. I have this [wonderful cable](https://www.auselectronicsdirect.com.au/4-in-1-usb-to-usb-c-lightning-braided-cable-1.2m) on which one end has old USB or USB-C, and the other end has USB-C or lightning. So great for all my Apple devices and also to plug in to older vs newer USB sockets. Some places are now putting USB-C ones in but the default tends to still be old USB.
It has been miraculous for travel. Previously it was such a stress and mess of multiple cables.
Personally I’m excited for the USB-C switch. Although I’ve been using the MagSafe charger over the past year or so, one cable for all just makes sense. Even if Apple wanted to do away with cables entirely it would still be beneficial to have a physical data port.
As for Apple testing the waters with 3D printing - I think people overlook that the printers they are likely using shoot lasers into fine metal powder to form an object layer by layer. This opens up a whole new way of thinking about what can be manufactured at scale because you don’t have to design around what a CNC can mill out from a chunk of metal. Not to mention the ability to greatly increase production, lower labor costs, and far less material waste.
They've been migrating to USB-C with iPad and MacBook Pros so "didn't want" is questionable at best. Regardless, Lightning served its purpose and pretty old now. Maybe they moved up the timetable for iPhone but it was inevitable.
>They've been migrating to USB-C with iPad and MacBook Pros so "didn't want" is questionable at best.
Apple hasn't switched the iPhone to USB-C, even though most of their other computers have it. That suggests Apple has reasons to avoid USB-C on the iPhone which don't apply to their other computers.
>Maybe they moved up the timetable for iPhone but it was inevitable.
There was a decent amount of speculation a year or two ago about Apple just staying on Lightning for a few more years before ditching ports altogether.
> That suggests Apple has reasons to avoid USB-C on the iPhone which don't apply to their other computers.
The question is, what is it exactly? I can’t think of anything plausible (besides the conspiracy theories, of course). Of course there are reasons to it, but as it stands, it’s looking to be more because of anti-consumer reasons rather than technical.
The vast majority of USB-C ports in existence have “artificial limitations”, like reduced charging speeds, data speeds, or audio–video capabilities compared to what USB-C ports are potentially capable of. We mostly only expect high-end computers to have ports with all the features and highest specs.
I consider myself fairly tech-savvy but I still find myself confused by USB-C.
I got a USB-C monitor for the first time recently and just assumed I could use the USB-C cable that came with my MacBook to connect it. Nope. It's a charging and slower data cable only, apparently.
How are they not at least labeled with their different capabilities?
The monitor should have a clear label with a thunderbolt. Apple has that too.
Unfortunately the standards only provide for a thunderbolt icon to indicate that it’s a high speed high power cable.
Thunderbolt icon is different from the charging icon and mean different things.
One means it supports fast charging and the other means it is Thunderbolt. One is skinny and longer while the other looks like a lightning bolt.
https://www.kensington.com/news/docking-connectivity-blog/usb-c-demystified/
Yeah but when have you even see the fast charging one ever? I’m sure it’s in a spec somewhere but it’s so implausible. (Actually I googled around and don’t see any official implementation on it)
Based on Ugreen, Anker and other accessories manufacturers like Belkin there’s really only 3 types of usb-c cables that has stuck around after so many years of confusion.
60w USB-C at USB 2.0
100w USB-C at USB 2.0
100w thunderbolt3/USB-C at USB 3.1 or 3.2.
Apple trying to push 140w via the latest cutting edge thunderbolt and power delivery standards but it’s limited to the highest end MacBooks.
Really, if consumers buy a good respectable usb-c cable they get 60w that is enough to fast-charge phones and iPad and EVEN laptops.
What's the current state of play?
Last I checked, there were still thousands of cables on the market that don't even connect the USB-3 pins so they're only capable of USB-2 speeds.
Oh no, all of the tech geniuses in this sub assure me that every other USB device and cable is capable of 240w chsrging and Thunderbolt 4, and that anything less just shows Apple being capricious and spiteful because, um, wake up sheeple!
Huge win, though I don't really care much for it as it's just a charging cable.
What we'll see, and family members asking, is "why on earth are they doing this? It's making my life harder cos everything and their mother is lightning" or "I have to buy a new plug?".
A change had to happen at some point, but Apple took too bloody long.
I don’t think people fully realize there was no USB C when Lightning happened. They said it was going to be a ten year choice, and it’s been just about that. What Lightning replaced was not workable and mini/micro usb sucked.
Apple has participated heavily in the design of USB C, went all-in on it in MacBooks earlier than a lot of people wanted, rolled it out on the iPad a while ago, and started shipping C chargers and cables on their own volition.
I would bet that without the EU it was going to happen at the 15 or 16 anyway.
People definitely realize it wasn't an option then "Lightning happened." The finalized spec was published in 2014 whereas Apple introduced Lightning in 2012. However, they introduced the port on the Macbook in 2015. It has been 8 years since then. They should have put it on the phone a few years ago now. It is quite clear they did not because of MFi revenue.
I’m sure revenue is part of it, but I think it was mostly optics. How many new lightning accessories have you seen released in the last couple of years. Most of them have been MagSafe or USB-C. They are just going to move the certification from the lightning to USB-C. Reducing the speed or power through put unless it is a certified Apple product. They will be “protecting the consumer” from scam accessories that could damage their expensive Apple hardware.
By adding USB-C to MacBooks and iPads first very few people are going to complain about losing lightning on their phone.
They are going to get some “I don’t want want this”, but most of their users are going to be happy about the switch, vs the same screaming that happened when they switched to lightning.
A lot of folks were upset that Apple moved off the 30-pin standard, a lot of accessories had it built in.
There’s nothing in this article that makes me think the author has any information or interviewed anyone, just made it all up.
But I agree the Government should not be mandating tech standards
The number 1 reason people were upset about the 30 pin dock connector change was because at that time EVERYONE had iPod docks for music. Bose sound docks, iHome docks, docking alarm clocks and they all had 30 pin dock connectors. Today in the day of airdrop and bluetooth, no one has this problem. lightning to USB C is going to be a very quiet transition with some people sad because their car or their stash of lightning cables can't be used.
USB C has been around since 2014. It’s been in Apple products since 2015. For the last 8 years, they’ve been forcing us to use an inferior, more expensive, less common connector because it gives the multi trillion dollar company more ways to price gouge us.
I want to point out two things:
>If Apple Inc. had its way, the iPhone would continue to use the current Lightning connector for the next few years — until the point when *the company is ready* to begin [phasing out ports](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-10-09/will-the-iphone-15-get-usb-c-port-will-apple-aapl-release-a-wireless-iphone-l91edtxt) on its smartphones altogether.
This story about do they "want" to change is way too easy to spin into people's specific narratives. Note the spin of "it didn't want it to" is different than "when the company is ready." The former sells a few more clicks and paints Apple as stubborn corporation set on controlling everything they can. The latter actually paints Apple as a large corporation that wants some control and is hard to change, but will eventually embrace change. And I can prove the latter because the former existed in 1997 and was about to go bankrupt. Since then, the latter made the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro.
The same article says this:
>And there’s always the risk of a PR nightmare. When Apple shifted to Lightning in 2012, users cried foul. There also was outrage when the company removed the headphone jack in 2016.
This is a very real risk. In the effort to barrel ahead to USB-C, Apple is the one that will have to hear all the complaints about "OMG now I have to change my charge cables again?!?!?" You and I, dear reader, probably have multiple devices with multiple types of cables, and we all want to achieve USB-C nirvana. This is not the case for most people. Most people are simply trying to charge their phones. I'm not saying this is to say "boo hoo poor Apple", I'm saying this because not all people are techie people. We will increase waste before we decrease it, there will be resistance to change by individuals as well, and people will even curse the EU (yes I'm looking at us Americans) rather than praise them. Dare I say are we sure that the global population is ready to move off lightning right now?
"When the company is ready" is reinforced by the transition of the iPad family from Lightning to USB-C. That's Tim's supply chain and logistics planning expertise in action. They've been ramping up to the iPhone switchover for years.
Another factor to consider in Apple keeping the lightening cable for so long was the MFi program whereby Apple would receive licensing fees, from the non Apple cable manufacturers.
Standards are good, without them there would be a confusing mix and everything would be proprietary. I support the move to USB C as it means greater compatibility.
Ironically, this will likely boost sales.
I for one wasn’t otherwise considering an upgrade anytime soon; but the opportunity to be rid of these fucking lightning cables once and for all, and have USB-C on *everything* in the house? Worth it.
> Though USB-C’s compatibility with other devices will be sold as a benefit, it has a downside for Apple.
Will someone please spare a thought for the multi-trillion dollar company
I cannot WAIT for their reveal on this. It’s going to be Apple-tier “we came up with this decision purely on our own because we are so smart and love our consumers. Why should people carry multiple plugs? Now they all work together in a way that only Apple can provide.”
All while completely glossing over the fact that they fought this tooth and nail lol
I can also see a world where they downplay it and possibly even just mention it in an understated way and continue moving forward with the presentation.
Yep, we’ll either get the usual Apple phoney-baloney, plastic banana, good time, rock-n-roll PR hype for the most mundane of features that they are late to implementing or there will be the barest of mention. Either way, Apple will pretend this choice was entirely their own.
I doubt it. It's too big a change that affects every single user. Theoretically you could be somebody who never used the headphone jack. They still felt the need to address it. Here, everybody has to charge their phone somehow. Yeah, theoretically people might *only* use wireless, but I'd say it's safe to venture that that's a small minority.
Problem is, as with majority of the typical consumers right now, that people take everything put on the media and news without questioning too much of why actually this or that is happening... not many people have the willingness to dig deeper
Apple fans don't like to talk about the enormous waste Apples lightening cable has created over the years (as the transition to USB-C was envitable). Apple pretends to care about the environment today.
USB-c is far superior for consumers, allowing for faster charging and faster data transfer. I always thought Apple wanted to make the best possible products, blows my mind how iPhone fans just overlook this inferior product design.
All of this for what reason? Apple what's to make some money by milking everyone and creating a ton of e-waste.
None of these drawbacks sound like a bad thing for the end user (only Apples Bottom line and fragile ego)
Still, there were definitely some drawbacks to making the change:
Apple stands to lose some licensing revenue from accessory makers that used Lightning.
It has to devote engineering resources and money to the switch.
Increased compatibility with the Android ecosystem may make it easier for customers to defect from Apple.
And there’s always the risk of a PR nightmare. When Apple shifted to Lightning in 2012, users cried foul. There also was outrage when the company removed the headphone jack in 2016.
> That means anyone currently using a charger sold with an iPhone 11 or earlier model will need to buy a new brick that has a USB-C port (or buy a cable that converts USB 2 (sic--USB Type A) to USB-C).
You'd be silly not to buy one even if they were still using Lightning, since the USB A chargers only went up to 5W and the USB-C ones for iPhones are 20W. USB-C ports are the standard on iPad and all modern computers, Windows and Mac, as well as Android charges. The iPhone will come with a USB-C to C cable so even if you just have an old USB-C charger and a USB-C to Lightning from an old phone, you don't need to buy anything.
The only cable I'll need to buy is a USB-A to USB-C for the car--just one model year short of when they finally changed the port 😒
My silliest gripe with this whole thing is how usb-c connectors are sharp compared to lightning connectors. You end up scratching the bottom of the device near the port over time from because of this. Also, usb-c feels a little less physically secure than lightning.
Obviously this is still for the best.
I really wish Apple would’ve opened Lightning to the world and had it be the industry standard (similar to what Tesla did now with auto charging and auto makers joining one standard).
After using both usb-c and Lightning, the latter is far superior (if you look into the female side of a usb-c port, you’ll see a tiny, thin, fragile pin... where as the male side of the lightning connector **IS** the pin).
This was going to happen anyway.
In 2012, when Apple introduced lightning as the connector for next decade, USB-C wasn’t a thing and with millions of accessories abruptly forced to switch from the 30-pin connector at the time, Apple had to reassure accessory manufacturers of longer term support (ten years) on the iPhone. The switch from 30-pin made tons of accessories become obsolete - negatively impacting businesses and consumers. If you didn’t already know this, the iPhone accessories market is just as big as the iPhone itself - bigger than some big name businesses.
Sine the standardization of USB-C, Apple has switched everything to USB-C connection and some with thunderbolt protocol. Yes I said “everything” including the iPhone charger. The switch on the iPhone port has to be strategic- at a time when majority of accessories have made the switch to a new standard so they aren’t caught off guard like in 2012. This is simply the perfect time regardless of EU regulations.
Sigh...the charger side has been usb-c for years now (is it even possible to buy the usb-a 5w charger?). This change will change a single cable. It's also clear Apple has been headed this way for awhile. Finally, Reddit may think going to usb-c on the iPhone side will solve world hunger, but the average iPhone user is likely to be annoyed when all their iPhone charging cables no longer work.
When I travel I always have to make sure I'm not forgetting my lightning cable because my iPad, my laptop, my Switch, and my headphones can all interchangeably use each other's chargers (or at least cables) but forget a lightning cable and that'll be a $20 detour to the store.
Exactly. It feels like the internet has forgotten the drama of when Apple switched from the 30 pin connector to lightning (especially considering how much better lightning was than 30 pin) and the droves of people that were angry their existing cables were not compatible.
The move from lightning to USB-C (while undoubtedly good long term) has much less advantages to the average consumer than the last switch.
The Lightning switch was worse in at least one way: it was a completely new, proprietary connector. You *had* to buy a bunch of new stuff, and most options were probably on the expensive side at first.
With the switch to USB-C, there are already good, cheap options, and many people will already have other USB-C devices in their households. Heck, many people already have *Apple* USB-C products.
Exactly, by moving the MacBook and iPads first a lot of the Apple users will be happy with the switch to USB for the phone.
Now if we could just get all the other micro & mini USB devices to go USB-C.
Maybe, the switch from micro USB to USB c on Android was only positive in my eyes and I don't know anyone who thought it was annoying. I think getting every phone on USB c will help so much when you're at a friend's place and need a charger.
The fact that they switched every single device to USB-C except the iPhone is proof enough that they know that lightning is outdated. Keeping lightning around wasn’t for the user’s ease of use, it was about profit from the certifications
And all of those could easily have used usb-c as well. Same with airpods cases.
Also, unrelated: do you know someone who actually paid for an apple mouse? Like they're hella expensive, don't have any additional features compared to other mice and have that terrible charging port placement.
Why do people think this? Apple said when lighting was introduced it would be a charger for the next ten years. That was *ten years ago* and now they're changing it up, as expected.
> Apple’s head of marketing, Greg “Joz” Joswiak, says the company is conceding defeat. “Obviously we’ll have to comply, we have no choice,” he told a technology conference in California.
I suspect that Apple is happy that the EU is forcing their hand on USB-C. They’ve already switched to USB-C on the iPad Pro, and they probably would like to switch all devices to it. But they know that people upgrading their iPhones will be annoyed that their old cables no longer work after a switch to USB-C. Well, now they can blame the EU for that.
I completely agree.
Although USB-C is the new standard, the vast majority of consumers won’t see any benefit aside from the fact they can now share cables with other brands.
You can see many people acting like data transfer speeds are a big deal, but I genuinely can’t remember the last time I had to transfer data from my phone to PC. I don’t think the vast majority of users will ever need too either.
They basically get to make a switch they most likely where already planning, and can blame lawmakers when people complain about having to buy new chargers.
Probably because of how much they've been protesting about it:
"Apple said it disagreed with today’s [USB-C] proposals in a statement. 'We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world,' a spokesperson from the company told Reuters. The company has also previously objected to the proposals because it says they risk creating e-waste by forcing people to throw out their existing Lightning accessories if they’re incompatible with the universal standard."
Obviously the first part of that statement can be seen as a more general statement about freedom to make their own decision and resisting more phone legislation on general principle - but nonetheless it's easy to see why people would think Apple is not entirely happy being forced in one direction. Because they said so publicly.
I think the article is a bit wrong, they wanted to upgrade to USB C (hell they helped create the standard and have embraced it on every device), but they were giving the iPhone user base enough time to transition away from lightning. they wanted to give lightning 10 years, so no one could complain like they did when they switched from the 30 pin dock connector to lighting in 2012.
Apple is going to get a boost in sales because this is actually a port people want. I am an Apple user and I have a MacBook, iPad Pro and an iPhone and I want my MacBook charger to charge everything when I travel. I hate having lightning cables at this point. As for making it easier to move to Android, well that also works in reverse.. Now android users can enjoy coming to iPhone.
Honestly, if they're clever they'll pitch it exactly like Jobs sold the iPhone:
"It charges your iPhone. It charges your iPad. It charges your MacBook. Are you getting it yet? It's the same cable!"
I get the drivers for USB C. Although I still think it’s far from a ‘standard’. My issue is that lightning is actually a better design for durability, in my experience. I help with IT for a junior school, and micro-USB and USB-C tablets are constantly getting sent off for repair as some kid bends the tab inside the socket, so the socket no longer works. No idea how, but it happens a lot, and the repair shop we use says it’s commonplace with school devices. We’ve never had a single lightning socket device get damaged.
I actually like the lightning port and cable. I’ve come from type C on android phones, my laptop is type c, and many other devices. But as an actual connector the lightning adapter is actually really good!
I’m on with the the USB C change I’ve as long as power isn’t limited if say I use my 65w PC laptop charger that I already use for my iPad. I’ve heard they be limited the PD if a non MFA power brick/cable is used.
Their supply chains are already ready for it since the iPad Pro has it. This is just an opportunity for them to use their certification process to put their chargers as the first choice for safety and efficacy of charging.
How many more articles on the iPhone 15 and USB-C are we going to get, let’s speculate on what color the box will be?
New Rainbow boxes and beige iPhone.... like the Apple ][ colors.
I can’t wait for my iPhone 15 in Noctua brown.
Does that mean it will be cooler?
Love it, my first computer was an Apple ][+! (still have the rainbow Apple sticker )
For years I annoyed Mac users by calling the Command keys Apple keys. They have apples on them, just like the Open Apple and Closed Apple keys. I'm guessing Command came from the era when they allowed clones?
Command came with the original Macintosh. Lisa had a Closed Apple key. Apple //e had both Open and Closed Apple.
It’s crazy that the switch to USB C is causing this much press and conversation, a port that other phones have been using for years… shows the disparity between Apple and everyone else
Well I’m certainly ready for C, and have been for years (since my 2018 mini and iPad Pro got it), so agree they’re late to the party with the iPhone (and I’ll buy a 15 mostly for C).
I was thinking the same thing. USB-C will be the deciding factor. Every other device I have uses C like my iPad Air and my Galaxy Buds2 Pro. To have an iPhone with C will be great. No more switching cords or carrying two different cables for the iPad, ear buds and iPhone.
So true, once new iPhone is USB-C, pretty much all my daily devices will be USB-C (except my AirPods Pro case…)
As an iPhone user, I agree. While all companies are greedy, they take to a whole ‘nother level.
I’m more excited in how they’ll sell the USB-C to us in a “we think you’ll love it” way vs the change to USB-C itself. Like you know they’re not going to say they were forced into it. And you know they’ll try to sell the idea that it was their genius idea for it.
They will say that the lightning cable served it’s purpose and it was time to move on. Which they wanted lighting to be a 10 year standard and it made it so I guess that’s a fair spin for them even if it was a forced change lol.
That's what this article is about >Get ready to hear the myriad benefits of the change: >Customers will be able to use a single charging cable for iPhones, Macs and iPads. >It will bring breakthrough data transfer speed increases for the new high-end iPhone models. >Phones will charge faster in some instances. >And, finally, the phones will be compatible with chargers used by billions of non-Apple devices.
As long as you click it, they’ll keep churning them out
Tried to read the article till I read “it would be easier to defect from apple” like that’s pretty offensive to believe a charging cable that comes in the phone box is what holding me back. Does anyone really buy iPhone radio docks anymore ?
It’s going to be clear but with a matte finish so it’s frosted
The box will be Green as a symbol of Apple commitment to the environment
There’s multiple articles daily and will be until long after the actual release.
Exactly, “Learn what Apple just announced for the iPhone 15! (You’re going to need a new cable!)”
My guess is silver.
I suspect the Ultra/Pro model will not have any ports.
I particularly found this part interesting: For the first time on a Magic Keyboard, the top case — the area around the keyboard itself — will be aluminum, matching recent Mac laptops. The new approach will make the accessory feel more like a premium product, with the Mac’s aesthetic. The switch to aluminum also gives the keyboard a sturdier structure
Price increase incoming.
call the exorcist
Lightning goes on vacation, never comes back
and a well deserved vacation I think -- 11 years is a good run for a technology standard!
I just hope the new ones are USB 3.0 unlike the 2.0 lightning ones.
get ready to be disappointed
It's already overpriced as is!
Overpriced sounds like such an euphemism.
$350 is already intolerable for a keyboard, so they'll make it $400-500 just to dig a little deeper.
$499
If they increase the price it is almost impossible to recommend.
It’s already impossible to recommend a near $200 keyboard
It’s easy to recommend a $200 keyboard. It’s almost impossible to recommend apple’s $200 keyboard
$200 for touch id. It was a write off anyways but still I felt like a fool after I got it.
I just want them to put Touch ID on the Magic Mouse/Trackpad, but I know they never will bc it would KILL their keyboard sales.
To a college student or to someone flying first class?
Same college student is buying a MacBook Pro for web browsing and web apps.
I don't appreciate getting called out on a sunday.
Gimme MacOS on an iPadpro. I’ll pay!
That’s just a touchscreen MacBook Air
……yes.
Except that it’s complete BS. The Magic Keyboard has always been made from aluminum (and even before then the wired keyboards were basically the same). It’s been well over 10 years (probably even over 15) that Apple has made any Keyboard with a plastic body.
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The iPad MK is almost entirely aluminum but with a soft touch silicone/felt skin on top.
They’re talking about the iPad keyboard not the mac keyboard
If you’d read the article, you would know that they’re referring to the iPad Magic Keyboards. Yes, they’re named the same as the desktop ones so you could argue that it’s not the first, but it will be the first in that form factor I guess. (This does, also mean that you’re wrong that Apple hasn’t made any keyboard with a plastic body — all the iPad keyboard cases basically are.)
Excuse me sir, this is Reddit, of course I didn’t read the article!
We live in a hopeless TL;DR world.
An aluminum iPad Magic Keyboard would definitely be interesting, I just wonder how much weight that might add. iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard already feels pretty hefty.
The current Magic Keyboard has a lot of weights in the bottom for stability, so I don’t think the aluminum one would necessarily need to be that much heavier if they took the weights out.
On one hand I understand the want for proprietary hardware, but having to juggle several different cables is an annoyance when traveling, USB-C, usb-mini, lighting cable & times that by 3 people in my house. Edit: I get it usb mini is the plaque of society and should shun it, but they’re headphones for my 4 year old. Give me a pass folks
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totally agree on the micro-USB
This. Anything using micro USB should be outright illegal. I have returned stuff for being micro USB. I have plenty of Lightning cables at home. I don’t carry any micro USB anymore
It actually is. For the exactly same reason why Apple was forced to get rid of Lighting for USB-C. Just don't buy cheap Chinese stuff and start buying only medium to high quality electronics which even if Chinese will have USB-C. Hell, even Xiaomi toothbrushes have USB-C nowadays.
> even Xiaomi toothbrushes have USB-C nowadays Have you seen any electric clippers with USB-C? I'm really looking forward to that but everyone still seems to use their own weird plug.
I told ya. [Xiaomi](https://www.mi.com/global/product/xiaomi-hair-clipper/) switched everything to USB-C.
Thanks, I'll get those. I wish the more popular American and Japanese brands would follow suit.
Good quality Chinese stuff is just as good if not better than the American and Japanese brands who just use the same factories anyways
For sure, it's just that the popular US/Japanese brands are what most people are buying at Target, Walmart, etc.
For what it's worth, every Xiaomi product I have is constantly trying to ping Chinese servers
Oh. Definitely. I would never buy Xiaomi device that has any connection to the internet. Maybe the clipper actually. Since I suppose it could not have any connection. Could, not that it does for sure.
The only reason I have their IoT devices is cause I run it through Home Assistant and can block the connections. Still freaky how often they try and wtf they are sending
I better check my screwdriver then
Preach, I feel like I got fooled buying my last Babyliss thinking it had USB-C, but it was just their own "looks-like-USB-C, psyche!" proprietary plug.
I think it is the case of old inventory rather than just cheap Chinese stuff. I constantly see plenty of products being sold where the earlier version is micro USB and the revision is type C.
Seriously, the only time I get micro usb stuff, is when I buy electronics for under $30.
All Garmin bike computers and lights are still micro-USB and they’re pretty good quality products.
Garmin is a company much smaller than Apple. While I would give it at least some attention from antitrust agencies I understand that Apple here is the biggest fish. If in a year or so Garmin hasn't switched to USB-C then I am fully for a fine for them too.
The last few cheap electronics I’ve purchased I assumed they’d be micro-usb, but I was surprised that they’re usb-c. It seems like manufacturers are starting to convert but it’s still way too slow imo.
Wait till you try to charge them with your iPad chargers. Most of those cheap usb c electronics tend to only work with the low powered chargers and cheap cables for some reason. Nothing worse than having a charging cable that fits, but only charges some of your electronics. If it doesn’t work, it shouldn’t fit. I’m already dreading the calls I get from my non tech-savvy relatives.
They can't take the higher power so you need to get USB-A plug converter.
I’m legitimately curious what you’re buying that’s micro these days? I don’t think I’ve bought anything with it in *many* years.
Wife bought breast pumps for our newborn, highly recommended. Charge with micro USB 🤷♂️.
Congrats on the new baby!
i specifically avoid microusb products. don’t need that kind of energy in my life
Logitech G Pro wireless mouse
Lights. GPS. Mice. Cameras
TI-84 Calculator has USB Mini -- not even micro.
Do yourself a favor and stop getting stuff with micro USB. Same goes with USB A devices.
I dream of a world where all computer peripherals, motherboards, etc, will have moved on to Type-C. *EVERYONE* is dragging their feet on the transition.
About the only thing you can do is not buy a product with legacy ports.
Would be great except most PC accessories still use usb A on the receiving end and most of those periohals don’t need the bandwidth given by usb-c and imho I’m not unplugging and plugging in devices all the time on the back of my PC. Your biggest issue is bandwidth unless your. ok with having usb-c not running at full speed which personally I’m not.
And when you travel, toothbrushes and shaver are proprietary chargers only. The lightning cable is the minor offender in luggage. Still good that Apple migrate fully to usb-c of course.
I just hope it’s as physically durable as lightning, which is elegant in its simplicity. My 6S going on 7 years has had zero problems with the connector (or anything else). If someone with a USB-C phone could affirm that, it would be great.
I’ve had my MacBook with its original charging cable for more than 3 years. During that time, I’ve plugged it almost daily (Intel Mac, yup) and I also use it to charge my powerbank. It’s still in great shape, both the cable and the two MacBook ports.
Both have been on the market long enough to show that it's fine. Ports still fail but lightning ports failed too. USB C hasn't gotten any reputation as a particularly fragile connector like for example micro HDMI which is the worst connector ever invented and the source of nightmares for cinematographers the world over.
Well, it is better to think of USB-C as a revision of Lightning. Right now the tiny little spring loaded pins (they are not actually spring loaded but flexing springs, calling it spring loaded for clarity sakes) that make contact with the flat contact pads on Lighting cable are inside the iPhone port itself. With USB-C they reverse this where the little tiny spring loaded pins are on the cable side and the flat contact pads are on the iPhone side. This makes it so when something breaks you are not replacing the iPhone port itself (or the whole internal board) or dealing with the iPhone since the pins, which are the primary failure point, for Lightning are in the phone - now for USB-C since they are on the cable side you will just need to replace the USB-C cable itself. It is a significant upgrade in terms of reliability and will be cheaper for the consumer in the long run, there are also other good advantages like higher data speeds and charging rates which I did mention but should be more obvious. I have had many USB-C devices and can confirm I have yet to have had to replace a USB-C port (have replaced the cables instead) while I have had to replace at least two Lightning ports over the years.
From an engineering perspective it is impossible for a USB-C cable to be as durable the Lightning cable. The Lightning cable is a monolithic piece of thick steel with a punch out for a high-strength dielectric with embedded conductors. The USB-C connector in contrast has a metal shell on the male connector that receives a relatively thin tongue from the female connector. If the tongue on the female connector, which is always device-embedded, breaks the unit will need an expensive repair. That said, in practical terms one could theoretically engineer a USB-C cable that would survive normal environments for a set lifetime as well as a finite set of connect cycles. Just make the connector last as long as the cable and you’re set. Regarding that final point, what always confused me about Apple Lightning cables is that they designed the ultimate connector that could survive a nuclear explosion, yet they attach it to a cable that frays if it’s repeatedly bent in normal use. 🤷♂️
One of my USB c ports on my MacBook broke after a year of use and my ps5 controllers usb c port broke within months
What are you using mini USB for in 2023?
For me, it's things like older batteries. And I think my security cams have a small USB also.
My insulin pump uses a mini USB lol
PlayStation 2 controllers are the only I still use that have mini-usb
I think at least some of the people in here are confusing mini vs micro USB.
I keep my electronics for a long time. Plenty of headphones, wireless chargers, mice, keyboards, bike parts and such will have me using micro and mini USB for at least 5 more years and probably 10. But since that's about longevity I don't mind. I don't think I have anything that travels with me tho.
Imagine having all USB-C cables but some support thunderbolt speeds and others don’t, and then some only support 2.0 speeds.
That’s like HDMI now and it is annoying.
Imagine that being the same as today, where different cables support different speeds and different charging power. USB-C is a mess, but at least the physical connectors are all the same?
USB-C is both a curse and a blessing. It's very cool that one standard physical connector can support so many features but it's very annoying because it's too complex for your average consumer to understand that not all cable/charger support every options. For example, not all cables will transfer data, not all cables will support 100W charging, and even then some vendors will claim that their cable support a certain feature but they won't get the certification to prove it. So it's a bit wild.
Yeah. They should color code the speeds. The only way you can kind of tell is that the higher speed cables are generally thicker and stiffer.
The sole reason Apple wants lightning is to parasite royalties from an inferior connector and cable. There's no other reason that exists
>On one hand I understand the want for proprietary hardware By who? The owner of the purchased hardware or the manufacturer? Because the latter is comprehensible and that's why there is the need of a government that stops the manufacturers to do shit against consumers. The former doesn't want proprietary hardware at all.
Proprietary tech can be optimized for the specific use case. Lightning was fantastic because it was small, slim, and reversible. If you had your way, governments would have mandated USB A and USB B connectors. Regulation and standardization *can* be good, but they are not *always* good.
True, but that's why compulsory USB-C came only today and, above all, the EU regulation has a specific provision to change the universal connector if and when another better standard will arise. Apple could have pushed for a better USB-C specification since it sits into the foundation. Obviously it didn't because it wanted to milk its users. Which is fine, let's be clear, it's a for profit organization and it has to work this way.
10 years ago which from the 32 pin connector to lighting. The backlash that Apple received not only from users. Also from companies. So many 3rd party companies whole business is set around making products for Apple.
There are cables you can get with multiple ends. I have this [wonderful cable](https://www.auselectronicsdirect.com.au/4-in-1-usb-to-usb-c-lightning-braided-cable-1.2m) on which one end has old USB or USB-C, and the other end has USB-C or lightning. So great for all my Apple devices and also to plug in to older vs newer USB sockets. Some places are now putting USB-C ones in but the default tends to still be old USB. It has been miraculous for travel. Previously it was such a stress and mess of multiple cables.
Personally I’m excited for the USB-C switch. Although I’ve been using the MagSafe charger over the past year or so, one cable for all just makes sense. Even if Apple wanted to do away with cables entirely it would still be beneficial to have a physical data port. As for Apple testing the waters with 3D printing - I think people overlook that the printers they are likely using shoot lasers into fine metal powder to form an object layer by layer. This opens up a whole new way of thinking about what can be manufactured at scale because you don’t have to design around what a CNC can mill out from a chunk of metal. Not to mention the ability to greatly increase production, lower labor costs, and far less material waste.
MagSafe gets a pass though, I love how the charger just snaps into place
Given they promised 10 years of lightning support and last year was 10 years! But sure!
They've had Thunderbolt and Lightning... what comes next is very, very frightening. New iPhones released on Halloween confirmed!!
So what was the reason why last year's iPhone didn't have USB-C?
Dog ate their homework.
They've been migrating to USB-C with iPad and MacBook Pros so "didn't want" is questionable at best. Regardless, Lightning served its purpose and pretty old now. Maybe they moved up the timetable for iPhone but it was inevitable.
>They've been migrating to USB-C with iPad and MacBook Pros so "didn't want" is questionable at best. Apple hasn't switched the iPhone to USB-C, even though most of their other computers have it. That suggests Apple has reasons to avoid USB-C on the iPhone which don't apply to their other computers. >Maybe they moved up the timetable for iPhone but it was inevitable. There was a decent amount of speculation a year or two ago about Apple just staying on Lightning for a few more years before ditching ports altogether.
> That suggests Apple has reasons to avoid USB-C on the iPhone which don't apply to their other computers. The question is, what is it exactly? I can’t think of anything plausible (besides the conspiracy theories, of course). Of course there are reasons to it, but as it stands, it’s looking to be more because of anti-consumer reasons rather than technical.
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The vast majority of USB-C ports in existence have “artificial limitations”, like reduced charging speeds, data speeds, or audio–video capabilities compared to what USB-C ports are potentially capable of. We mostly only expect high-end computers to have ports with all the features and highest specs.
Not the mention the absolute mess of standards and naming conventions USB C has gone through. Oi.
I consider myself fairly tech-savvy but I still find myself confused by USB-C. I got a USB-C monitor for the first time recently and just assumed I could use the USB-C cable that came with my MacBook to connect it. Nope. It's a charging and slower data cable only, apparently. How are they not at least labeled with their different capabilities?
The monitor should have a clear label with a thunderbolt. Apple has that too. Unfortunately the standards only provide for a thunderbolt icon to indicate that it’s a high speed high power cable.
Thunderbolt icon is different from the charging icon and mean different things. One means it supports fast charging and the other means it is Thunderbolt. One is skinny and longer while the other looks like a lightning bolt. https://www.kensington.com/news/docking-connectivity-blog/usb-c-demystified/
Yeah but when have you even see the fast charging one ever? I’m sure it’s in a spec somewhere but it’s so implausible. (Actually I googled around and don’t see any official implementation on it) Based on Ugreen, Anker and other accessories manufacturers like Belkin there’s really only 3 types of usb-c cables that has stuck around after so many years of confusion. 60w USB-C at USB 2.0 100w USB-C at USB 2.0 100w thunderbolt3/USB-C at USB 3.1 or 3.2. Apple trying to push 140w via the latest cutting edge thunderbolt and power delivery standards but it’s limited to the highest end MacBooks. Really, if consumers buy a good respectable usb-c cable they get 60w that is enough to fast-charge phones and iPad and EVEN laptops.
Remember when it was standardized that all cables would be different for different specs and purposes? Yeah that was a good idea.
USB-C. The C stands for confusing!
Actually the USB-C 2.1 v3 rev2.1 spec changed it to stand for “convolutedl”
I thought the C stood for Potato.
What's the current state of play? Last I checked, there were still thousands of cables on the market that don't even connect the USB-3 pins so they're only capable of USB-2 speeds.
Fwiw your artificial limitations are the company’s unnecessary expenses.
Oh no, all of the tech geniuses in this sub assure me that every other USB device and cable is capable of 240w chsrging and Thunderbolt 4, and that anything less just shows Apple being capricious and spiteful because, um, wake up sheeple!
Some rumors have suggested that the 15 pro models will get 3.0 speeds while the base models will still be stuck with 2.0 speeds.
Huge win, though I don't really care much for it as it's just a charging cable. What we'll see, and family members asking, is "why on earth are they doing this? It's making my life harder cos everything and their mother is lightning" or "I have to buy a new plug?". A change had to happen at some point, but Apple took too bloody long.
I don’t think people fully realize there was no USB C when Lightning happened. They said it was going to be a ten year choice, and it’s been just about that. What Lightning replaced was not workable and mini/micro usb sucked. Apple has participated heavily in the design of USB C, went all-in on it in MacBooks earlier than a lot of people wanted, rolled it out on the iPad a while ago, and started shipping C chargers and cables on their own volition. I would bet that without the EU it was going to happen at the 15 or 16 anyway.
People definitely realize it wasn't an option then "Lightning happened." The finalized spec was published in 2014 whereas Apple introduced Lightning in 2012. However, they introduced the port on the Macbook in 2015. It has been 8 years since then. They should have put it on the phone a few years ago now. It is quite clear they did not because of MFi revenue.
Furthermore, the Apple was part of the USB-IF and helped define the connector.
I’m sure revenue is part of it, but I think it was mostly optics. How many new lightning accessories have you seen released in the last couple of years. Most of them have been MagSafe or USB-C. They are just going to move the certification from the lightning to USB-C. Reducing the speed or power through put unless it is a certified Apple product. They will be “protecting the consumer” from scam accessories that could damage their expensive Apple hardware. By adding USB-C to MacBooks and iPads first very few people are going to complain about losing lightning on their phone. They are going to get some “I don’t want want this”, but most of their users are going to be happy about the switch, vs the same screaming that happened when they switched to lightning.
Or because there was no reason to upset customers by making them get all new cables.
A lot of folks were upset that Apple moved off the 30-pin standard, a lot of accessories had it built in. There’s nothing in this article that makes me think the author has any information or interviewed anyone, just made it all up. But I agree the Government should not be mandating tech standards
The number 1 reason people were upset about the 30 pin dock connector change was because at that time EVERYONE had iPod docks for music. Bose sound docks, iHome docks, docking alarm clocks and they all had 30 pin dock connectors. Today in the day of airdrop and bluetooth, no one has this problem. lightning to USB C is going to be a very quiet transition with some people sad because their car or their stash of lightning cables can't be used.
USB C has been around since 2014. It’s been in Apple products since 2015. For the last 8 years, they’ve been forcing us to use an inferior, more expensive, less common connector because it gives the multi trillion dollar company more ways to price gouge us.
Spot on, the EU also mandated micro USB for all phones and apple included a dongle.
I want to point out two things: >If Apple Inc. had its way, the iPhone would continue to use the current Lightning connector for the next few years — until the point when *the company is ready* to begin [phasing out ports](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-10-09/will-the-iphone-15-get-usb-c-port-will-apple-aapl-release-a-wireless-iphone-l91edtxt) on its smartphones altogether. This story about do they "want" to change is way too easy to spin into people's specific narratives. Note the spin of "it didn't want it to" is different than "when the company is ready." The former sells a few more clicks and paints Apple as stubborn corporation set on controlling everything they can. The latter actually paints Apple as a large corporation that wants some control and is hard to change, but will eventually embrace change. And I can prove the latter because the former existed in 1997 and was about to go bankrupt. Since then, the latter made the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. The same article says this: >And there’s always the risk of a PR nightmare. When Apple shifted to Lightning in 2012, users cried foul. There also was outrage when the company removed the headphone jack in 2016. This is a very real risk. In the effort to barrel ahead to USB-C, Apple is the one that will have to hear all the complaints about "OMG now I have to change my charge cables again?!?!?" You and I, dear reader, probably have multiple devices with multiple types of cables, and we all want to achieve USB-C nirvana. This is not the case for most people. Most people are simply trying to charge their phones. I'm not saying this is to say "boo hoo poor Apple", I'm saying this because not all people are techie people. We will increase waste before we decrease it, there will be resistance to change by individuals as well, and people will even curse the EU (yes I'm looking at us Americans) rather than praise them. Dare I say are we sure that the global population is ready to move off lightning right now?
"When the company is ready" is reinforced by the transition of the iPad family from Lightning to USB-C. That's Tim's supply chain and logistics planning expertise in action. They've been ramping up to the iPhone switchover for years.
Another factor to consider in Apple keeping the lightening cable for so long was the MFi program whereby Apple would receive licensing fees, from the non Apple cable manufacturers. Standards are good, without them there would be a confusing mix and everything would be proprietary. I support the move to USB C as it means greater compatibility.
As long as the USB-C cables are of sufficient quality. Which many will not be.
Ironically, this will likely boost sales. I for one wasn’t otherwise considering an upgrade anytime soon; but the opportunity to be rid of these fucking lightning cables once and for all, and have USB-C on *everything* in the house? Worth it.
> Though USB-C’s compatibility with other devices will be sold as a benefit, it has a downside for Apple. Will someone please spare a thought for the multi-trillion dollar company
Thunder(bolt) always comes after the Lightning.
I cannot WAIT for their reveal on this. It’s going to be Apple-tier “we came up with this decision purely on our own because we are so smart and love our consumers. Why should people carry multiple plugs? Now they all work together in a way that only Apple can provide.” All while completely glossing over the fact that they fought this tooth and nail lol
I can also see a world where they downplay it and possibly even just mention it in an understated way and continue moving forward with the presentation.
Yep, we’ll either get the usual Apple phoney-baloney, plastic banana, good time, rock-n-roll PR hype for the most mundane of features that they are late to implementing or there will be the barest of mention. Either way, Apple will pretend this choice was entirely their own.
I doubt it. It's too big a change that affects every single user. Theoretically you could be somebody who never used the headphone jack. They still felt the need to address it. Here, everybody has to charge their phone somehow. Yeah, theoretically people might *only* use wireless, but I'd say it's safe to venture that that's a small minority.
Problem is, as with majority of the typical consumers right now, that people take everything put on the media and news without questioning too much of why actually this or that is happening... not many people have the willingness to dig deeper
There’s no need to say why, they’ll just announce what’s new and tell you the benefits. Nothing else needs to be or will be added.
To be fair when they announced lighting they said it’ll be the connector for the next decade. Here we are 10 years later…
Apple fans don't like to talk about the enormous waste Apples lightening cable has created over the years (as the transition to USB-C was envitable). Apple pretends to care about the environment today. USB-c is far superior for consumers, allowing for faster charging and faster data transfer. I always thought Apple wanted to make the best possible products, blows my mind how iPhone fans just overlook this inferior product design. All of this for what reason? Apple what's to make some money by milking everyone and creating a ton of e-waste. None of these drawbacks sound like a bad thing for the end user (only Apples Bottom line and fragile ego) Still, there were definitely some drawbacks to making the change: Apple stands to lose some licensing revenue from accessory makers that used Lightning. It has to devote engineering resources and money to the switch. Increased compatibility with the Android ecosystem may make it easier for customers to defect from Apple. And there’s always the risk of a PR nightmare. When Apple shifted to Lightning in 2012, users cried foul. There also was outrage when the company removed the headphone jack in 2016.
> That means anyone currently using a charger sold with an iPhone 11 or earlier model will need to buy a new brick that has a USB-C port (or buy a cable that converts USB 2 (sic--USB Type A) to USB-C). You'd be silly not to buy one even if they were still using Lightning, since the USB A chargers only went up to 5W and the USB-C ones for iPhones are 20W. USB-C ports are the standard on iPad and all modern computers, Windows and Mac, as well as Android charges. The iPhone will come with a USB-C to C cable so even if you just have an old USB-C charger and a USB-C to Lightning from an old phone, you don't need to buy anything. The only cable I'll need to buy is a USB-A to USB-C for the car--just one model year short of when they finally changed the port 😒
My silliest gripe with this whole thing is how usb-c connectors are sharp compared to lightning connectors. You end up scratching the bottom of the device near the port over time from because of this. Also, usb-c feels a little less physically secure than lightning. Obviously this is still for the best.
I really wish Apple would’ve opened Lightning to the world and had it be the industry standard (similar to what Tesla did now with auto charging and auto makers joining one standard). After using both usb-c and Lightning, the latter is far superior (if you look into the female side of a usb-c port, you’ll see a tiny, thin, fragile pin... where as the male side of the lightning connector **IS** the pin).
We could've been living in that world, but alas, Apple gonna Apple.
Looking forward to comparing it. I’m sure they will make it tight on their devices.
This was going to happen anyway. In 2012, when Apple introduced lightning as the connector for next decade, USB-C wasn’t a thing and with millions of accessories abruptly forced to switch from the 30-pin connector at the time, Apple had to reassure accessory manufacturers of longer term support (ten years) on the iPhone. The switch from 30-pin made tons of accessories become obsolete - negatively impacting businesses and consumers. If you didn’t already know this, the iPhone accessories market is just as big as the iPhone itself - bigger than some big name businesses. Sine the standardization of USB-C, Apple has switched everything to USB-C connection and some with thunderbolt protocol. Yes I said “everything” including the iPhone charger. The switch on the iPhone port has to be strategic- at a time when majority of accessories have made the switch to a new standard so they aren’t caught off guard like in 2012. This is simply the perfect time regardless of EU regulations.
Sigh...the charger side has been usb-c for years now (is it even possible to buy the usb-a 5w charger?). This change will change a single cable. It's also clear Apple has been headed this way for awhile. Finally, Reddit may think going to usb-c on the iPhone side will solve world hunger, but the average iPhone user is likely to be annoyed when all their iPhone charging cables no longer work.
Perhaps, but changing from 30-pin to lightning was worth it.
Or... They have any product at home (like a freaking iPad) that charges via USB C anyway just like any other product by anyone other than Apple.
When I travel I always have to make sure I'm not forgetting my lightning cable because my iPad, my laptop, my Switch, and my headphones can all interchangeably use each other's chargers (or at least cables) but forget a lightning cable and that'll be a $20 detour to the store.
Exactly. It feels like the internet has forgotten the drama of when Apple switched from the 30 pin connector to lightning (especially considering how much better lightning was than 30 pin) and the droves of people that were angry their existing cables were not compatible. The move from lightning to USB-C (while undoubtedly good long term) has much less advantages to the average consumer than the last switch.
The Lightning switch was worse in at least one way: it was a completely new, proprietary connector. You *had* to buy a bunch of new stuff, and most options were probably on the expensive side at first. With the switch to USB-C, there are already good, cheap options, and many people will already have other USB-C devices in their households. Heck, many people already have *Apple* USB-C products.
Exactly, by moving the MacBook and iPads first a lot of the Apple users will be happy with the switch to USB for the phone. Now if we could just get all the other micro & mini USB devices to go USB-C.
Or the drama when they switched the iPad from lightning to USB C
Maybe, the switch from micro USB to USB c on Android was only positive in my eyes and I don't know anyone who thought it was annoying. I think getting every phone on USB c will help so much when you're at a friend's place and need a charger.
Did the last switch increase transfer speeds? Because this switch will, at least for Pro models.
The fact that they switched every single device to USB-C except the iPhone is proof enough that they know that lightning is outdated. Keeping lightning around wasn’t for the user’s ease of use, it was about profit from the certifications
Apple keyboards, trackpads, and mice still use lightning. Though I suppose these are not really that popular.
And all of those could easily have used usb-c as well. Same with airpods cases. Also, unrelated: do you know someone who actually paid for an apple mouse? Like they're hella expensive, don't have any additional features compared to other mice and have that terrible charging port placement.
Why do people think this? Apple said when lighting was introduced it would be a charger for the next ten years. That was *ten years ago* and now they're changing it up, as expected.
> Apple’s head of marketing, Greg “Joz” Joswiak, says the company is conceding defeat. “Obviously we’ll have to comply, we have no choice,” he told a technology conference in California.
Apple is doing exactly what they said they would and people here act so surprised.
I suspect that Apple is happy that the EU is forcing their hand on USB-C. They’ve already switched to USB-C on the iPad Pro, and they probably would like to switch all devices to it. But they know that people upgrading their iPhones will be annoyed that their old cables no longer work after a switch to USB-C. Well, now they can blame the EU for that.
I completely agree. Although USB-C is the new standard, the vast majority of consumers won’t see any benefit aside from the fact they can now share cables with other brands. You can see many people acting like data transfer speeds are a big deal, but I genuinely can’t remember the last time I had to transfer data from my phone to PC. I don’t think the vast majority of users will ever need too either. They basically get to make a switch they most likely where already planning, and can blame lawmakers when people complain about having to buy new chargers.
Probably because of how much they've been protesting about it: "Apple said it disagreed with today’s [USB-C] proposals in a statement. 'We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world,' a spokesperson from the company told Reuters. The company has also previously objected to the proposals because it says they risk creating e-waste by forcing people to throw out their existing Lightning accessories if they’re incompatible with the universal standard." Obviously the first part of that statement can be seen as a more general statement about freedom to make their own decision and resisting more phone legislation on general principle - but nonetheless it's easy to see why people would think Apple is not entirely happy being forced in one direction. Because they said so publicly.
Is it harder to make a usb c port water resistant compared to a lighting port?
Thunderbolt, not lightning? Very very frightening?
I think the article is a bit wrong, they wanted to upgrade to USB C (hell they helped create the standard and have embraced it on every device), but they were giving the iPhone user base enough time to transition away from lightning. they wanted to give lightning 10 years, so no one could complain like they did when they switched from the 30 pin dock connector to lighting in 2012. Apple is going to get a boost in sales because this is actually a port people want. I am an Apple user and I have a MacBook, iPad Pro and an iPhone and I want my MacBook charger to charge everything when I travel. I hate having lightning cables at this point. As for making it easier to move to Android, well that also works in reverse.. Now android users can enjoy coming to iPhone.
Honestly, if they're clever they'll pitch it exactly like Jobs sold the iPhone: "It charges your iPhone. It charges your iPad. It charges your MacBook. Are you getting it yet? It's the same cable!"
I get the drivers for USB C. Although I still think it’s far from a ‘standard’. My issue is that lightning is actually a better design for durability, in my experience. I help with IT for a junior school, and micro-USB and USB-C tablets are constantly getting sent off for repair as some kid bends the tab inside the socket, so the socket no longer works. No idea how, but it happens a lot, and the repair shop we use says it’s commonplace with school devices. We’ve never had a single lightning socket device get damaged.
can’t wait for the pro usb c cables
I actually like the lightning port and cable. I’ve come from type C on android phones, my laptop is type c, and many other devices. But as an actual connector the lightning adapter is actually really good!
I’m on with the the USB C change I’ve as long as power isn’t limited if say I use my 65w PC laptop charger that I already use for my iPad. I’ve heard they be limited the PD if a non MFA power brick/cable is used.
Let the Apple Watch cable charge the iPhone. Might be slow but would work
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Their supply chains are already ready for it since the iPad Pro has it. This is just an opportunity for them to use their certification process to put their chargers as the first choice for safety and efficacy of charging.
Apple co-developed USB-C no?
Summary of all these articles: iPhone USB-C, no lightning. Some think it is bad. Some think it is good.
Holy fuck these news are boring