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All the Hardware Apple Still Sells With a Lightning Port
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Looking on the bright side, anytime I have to charge the mouse I use it as a reason to get up and stretch my legs for five minutes.
Folks, there are many other brands of mouse on the market that are Apple compatible and you can choose the connector you wish to buy.
Frankly, Lightning cables had just one choice of throughput. No surprises connecting it.
A poster above mentioned the good sized array of USB-C cables and most are not labeled with their properties. There is a chance you could grab a charge only cable for the bag and find yourself unable to transfer data at a remote location.
Only very short USB-C cables can handle the high transfer speeds. But if you have lots of cash, you can buy fiber optic cables to transfer data over longer distance.
The original USB-A cables had a length factor of about 16' between the printer and computer. Apple sold the Lightning cables up to 2 meters.
Many devices today on the desktop are using Bluetooth for connectivity which works in an average room for range.
My latest version Logitech mouse has a USB-C charging port at the front, so I can be charging and using it at the same time.
In all the years since I started in computers in the 70s, third party vendors would beat the hell out of the "Brand" name products in both cost and performance. How many of us had OWC SSDs, hard drives and memory in the last 20 years when we could actually tweak our system for our needs? There were more memory brands than I can remember.
The new "M" series put the final nail in the coffin for user modifications to the computing device. The Apple tax is severe for both storage (now SSDs) and memory that is shared. It is all built in at production time. The customization now is a choice of Apple or third party keyboards and mice. There are iMac colors and one of two colors for the laptops.
Old saying: "What is - is. And what I think about it does not change the reality." So as John Wayne said "Suck it Buttercup". If we want to use Apple's products, then we have to live with this reality.
Frankly, Lightning cables had just one choice of throughput. No surprises connecting it.
A poster above mentioned the good sized array of USB-C cables and most are not labeled with their properties. There is a chance you could grab a charge only cable for the bag and find yourself unable to transfer data at a remote location.
Only very short USB-C cables can handle the high transfer speeds. But if you have lots of cash, you can buy fiber optic cables to transfer data over longer distance.
The original USB-A cables had a length factor of about 16' between the printer and computer. Apple sold the Lightning cables up to 2 meters.
Many devices today on the desktop are using Bluetooth for connectivity which works in an average room for range.
My latest version Logitech mouse has a USB-C charging port at the front, so I can be charging and using it at the same time.
In all the years since I started in computers in the 70s, third party vendors would beat the hell out of the "Brand" name products in both cost and performance. How many of us had OWC SSDs, hard drives and memory in the last 20 years when we could actually tweak our system for our needs? There were more memory brands than I can remember.
The new "M" series put the final nail in the coffin for user modifications to the computing device. The Apple tax is severe for both storage (now SSDs) and memory that is shared. It is all built in at production time. The customization now is a choice of Apple or third party keyboards and mice. There are iMac colors and one of two colors for the laptops.
Old saying: "What is - is. And what I think about it does not change the reality." So as John Wayne said "Suck it Buttercup". If we want to use Apple's products, then we have to live with this reality.
I'll drink to that.
However, its the mess that the industry has adopted as standard - including Apple who decided in 2015 that it was the One True Connector for Everything Mac (apart, for some inexplicable reason, Magic Peripherals).
I'm not a great fan of USB-C (especially full size laptops and desktops which don't need to feed everything through a single port) but it is now "coming of age" - at least as a data/charge standard for small devices that don't have room for proper ports - and I'm looking forward to the day when I don't need Lightning, microUSB and USB-C cables on my desk.
That's actually pretty simple: A USB-C compliant cable (i.e. one from from a reputable source) is required to support USB 2.0 data speeds and 60W charging.
Sure - above that it gets messy with different data speeds, charging capacities and a whole other can of worms when you get to Thunderbolt/USB4 cables, which isn't helped by people selling unmarked cables. However, its important to remember that there are reasons for having different cables for different purposes: USB 3 adds 8 more wires to the cable, 240W charging is gonna need thicker/more wires and longer Thunderbolt cables need active signal booster chips. People don't want their phone charger cable to be as thick as their pinky and cost $50 (or $100 with an Apple logo).
Lightning has passed its sell by date - it maxes out at 20W (and that needs USB C on one end...) and doesn't fully support USB 3.0, let alone 40Gbps Thunderbolt or 5k DisplayPort screens - and doesn't have enough physical wires to support such things. So, if Apple stuck with it, we'd be talking "Lightning 2" and a new, incompatible connector (with all the wailing and gnashing of teeth that would bring).
Even if they found a clever way of making the Lightning 2 connectors backward-compatible, you'd have a similar can of worms to USB-C, with the necessity of different cables for different purposes.
The Anker USB-C cable wasn’t much cheaper and Anker is the only other brand I’ll use in addition to Apple. I had a bad experience with a third-party charger once so that’s why I typically stick to Apple or Anker which I never had a issue with.
great, make sure to buy the AirPods 3rd gen since it wasn't listed in this "informative article".
or you know, you can just check the description on apple's website.
"But I can’t buy an Apple mouse that doesn’t have lightning"
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🤦♂️
"But I can’t buy an Apple mouse that doesn’t have lightning"
NEW Apple Magic Bluetooth Wireless Mouse A1296 MB829LL/A Gen 1 FREE SHIPPING 726714182886 | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for NEW Apple Magic Bluetooth Wireless Mouse A1296 MB829LL/A Gen 1 FREE SHIPPING at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!www.ebay.com
🤦♂️
Apple hasn't made this since 2015
🤦♂️
NRE cost? some of these products look like they have escaped from 2014. I think they've recouped their outlay.
I agree with everything you’ve said. The only caveat I would add in Apples defence is - why does a keyboard, mouse or even an iPhone 15 Pro (like I use) need a USB C cable capable of 40 GB transfer speeds? Sure, if I want to make an Apple style "shot on iPhone" keynote it is required, but as the vast majority airdrop the images of their holiday to a Mac, it’s simply not necessary.
But I understand the benefits of all USB C. Apple just kept it simple. I don’t think it’s mostly about licence fees like many do.
"But I can’t buy an Apple mouse that doesn’t have lightning"
I literally gave you a link of where you can buy it today.
🤦♂️ this is super funny.
Yeah, but I want my smooth scrolling!
(I’m aware of apps that you can install to enable this)
DOn't worry, that cable will die before the last working iPhone with lightning dies.
They are only useless if people can’t be bothered in dropping them off at eWaste for recycling.
It doesn't (at least on the KB/mouse) - that's why the minimum USB-C implementation only requires USB 2.0 plus 60W power "charge" cable ($20 from Apple, under $10 from a good third party) - and why cables with USB 3/4/Thunderbolt and/or 240W charging cost extra*. With the EU mandate for most rechargable mobile devices to use USB-C the connectors and chippery to implement basic USB-C will be made in huge quantities and consequently will be cheap, even if USB 3,4 and TB remain at a premium.
As you point out, Apple are pushing the iPhone Pro as a still/video camera, and the iPad Pro as an alternative to laptops/desktop (YMMV but that's what Apple are pushing) in which case USB 3 speeds on the iPhone and Thunderbolt on the iPad Pro make sense. Also, USB-C/TB enables 5k external display support (useful for what Apple's iPad Pro ambitions) - and once the iPad has a USB-C socket, it makes sense to use USB-C across the range.
* Those higher performance cables have actual, physical differences (like 8 extra wires needed to carry USB 3 or DisplayPort, and active signal boosters for longer Thunderbolt cables) - its not the old audiophile deoxygenated snake oil. Well, maybe a drizzle of snake oil in the Apple cables, but even the infamous $160 Apple cable is probably only about 2x over the odds for a 3m, full-spec TB4 cable, and can't be compared with a $9.99 charge cable.
They aren't wasted. Give them away to the person you sold your phone to, or if you traded your phone in, then just give them away. I bet not everyone in your extended family and friends group bought an iPhone 15.
Lots of people would appreciate free Lightning cables so post an ad or donate them to places like an assisted living facility, homeless shelter, or women's shelter.
Extra cables are only waste if you are lazy.
then your alternative idea is pointless as no alternative was needed since you didn't complain