(No, just keep on. These kinds of regulations were long overdue)
this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
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Because if it’s done right, a single USB-C charger and cable is all you’ll need, instead of 2 or three different chargers. You buy less things, less trash out there polluting the environment. And it’s not like Apple hasn’t made you throw charging cables before… remember the 30-pin connector?
The fact that you need to buy a special cable to connect an iPhone to a MacBook (for example) should be a motivation enough for the change.
Apple has moved most of their products to USB-C, except the iPhone, and the only explanation possible is that using Lighting is profitable for them, even if it’s not convenient for users. Not all iPhone users are Mac users, and as you said, there are more iPhone users than mac users. All those iPhone users (and Mac users that use iPhones) are forced to buy cables from Apple or an authorized MFi manufacturer) that money will be gone with USB-C, as you’ll be able to use any cable brand you want.
On my part, I’m glad they’re being forced to do it. They seem more worried on incrementing their pile on money than doing something that may benefit their customers, in this case. So, good riddance lightning cables! You won’t be missed. And thanks EU, for doing it.
Apple makes as much good and reasonable decisions as they make questionable ones.
But why could that be? Simple, they make what interest and benefits THEM first. And if it incidentally benefits the customers, fine. If not, people will go up in arms, but they don’t care because they know that in the end, they’re powerless and will keep buying their products.
They don’t care if customers have to change accessories (the move to Lightning is the proof), they change things, or use new standards as long as it benefits THEM in any way, or is in their interest. All those changes you mentioned benefited THEM, and in some cases, the customers too, but in others, they didn’t and then customers got upset.
And they simply don’t want to change to USB-C on the iPhone because it’s not beneficial for them, it just benefits the customers. And that’s, in my opinion, all that there’s to it. And again, I’m glad that, for a change, they’ll be forced to do something that benefits the customers and not them.
Hope that clears the point.
This is not Job’s company anymore, and it hasn’t been for a while…
While Cook is not a bad CEO at all, he comes from manufacturing, and it shows.
If they were planning to change it anyway, why the resistance though? Customers have been asking for years.
Heck! I’ve been delaying getting a new iPhone (I have an 11 Pro) until they change that damn port! My iPhone and the Apple TV remote (but now there’s even one with USB-C, so I can change it) are the last 2 devices at home with this connector. All other devices have USB-C or are older devices with Micro-USB. I can’t believe they need to be forced to do it.
The other explanation for lightning on the phone is that it’s a better connector for a phone.
It’s simpler, easier to clean, more durable and is designed to break the cable instead of the phone when twisted or bent.
Lightning was better that the 30-pin one. Or maybe the first iterations of USB-C. These days, USB-C is way more capable, technically, than Lightning, and that’s why the industry use it so massively (even Apple for other products).
They don’t charge it because it will only benefit consumers, but not the company. And they only care for things that benefit them, irregardless of it benefiting the customers.
I don’t know what makes any company make the decisions they do, but it’s easy to see that lightning is a better connector for a phone.
You’re right that usbc supports more lanes and by extension a higher transfer speed and that usbc has a higher voltage power delivery standard.
The better physical port to have on a phone is lightning. It’s more durable, easier to clean, and the cable breaks instead of the port.
The environment phones live in makes those much more important than faster transfers and charging speed (every phone I’ve dealt with from any manufacturer actually throttles back the charging speed to save the battery!).
So while usbc has significant advantages over lightning, it’s physically a bad port to have on a device that’s hanging around in your pocket and that makes it worse.
Citation on the durability claim?
I've been using USB-C since it was released, and none of them ever broke on me.
I’m not aware of anything to cite. It’s kinda common knowledge if you have phones with usbc ports or do microsoldering work. If you have one at hand to look at, just take a gander. The usbc receptacle has more conductors than lightning and they’re thinner and all on a flexible (and breakable) plastic tongue.
In a way it looks like an engineer was playing a cruel joke.
If you just gotta have some kind of data, look up usbc repair videos. There’s a bunch and they showcase all the ways it can get mangled.
I’m not saying it’s a bad port for a desktop or laptop. It’s kinda perfect for those circumstances. Low cycle, relatively clean, etc. A phone needs the exact opposite: high cycle, extreme durability, extreme dirt tolerance, amenable to field expedient cleaning.