You'd avoid the phone because it doesn't have USB-C? Carrying around this cable would be a deal breaker?
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You saved up to upgrade your phone and the charge cable is a dealbreaker? Yeesh, ok. I'm charging 90% of the time off a qi charger anyway, so the only time I use the lightning port is 1) to charge quickly in a pinch and/or with my portable battery or 2) when I plug in headphones. I agree it'll be nice when everything uses USB-C, but the connector I want killed way sooner is micro-USB, which somehow still seems to be built into a lot of things. Lightning is non-directional, compact and pretty benign by comparison.
Re. folks here complaining about no USB C -- is there any practical benefit to a USB C over the lightning cable? I had seen one report that the Apple Lightning cable is still running at USB 2.o speeds, but it is (naturally) not specified on the Apple product page.
Answer - answering my own question, (from Business Insider and MacWorld UK),
The Lightning connector cable does seem to run only at USB 2.0 speeds. :-(
A USB-C (connector) could allow for USB 3.1 speeds (much faster than Lightning), and significantly more power transmission, thus allowing shorter charge up times.
Though, doesn't higher power, shorter charge times heat up the battery more and shorten long-term battery life?
So here's the thing -
Samsung's Note 10 Pro last year could charge via USB-C at 45W. That's faster than the Macbook Air charges. Oneplus, Samsung, etc most Android phone makers have figured out how to charge through USB PD charging SAFELY at speeds much above the 18W Apple seems to be maxed at with Lightning. That's one benefit.
The other is that USB-C is the same port for USB4, which can easily give speeds upto 10gbps. Let's say it's only USB3.1, that's still 5gbps. Lightning is USB2.0. That's another benefit.
I don't want to argue the benefits more, if Apple thought Lightning was so great, they would have used it on their Macbooks and iPad Pros as well. So you can direct your arguments over at them.
For me personally, I will tell you why USB-C is a dealbreaker. I like to travel, a lot and I do so quite minimally. Most of the time I have one bag, also known as onebagging. However, I also have to work, which allows me to travel a lot. So right now, due to the places I may be at, I have to carry:
- 2 USB-C cables for my Macbook Pro (1 spare)
- 2 USB-C to lightning cables for my iPhone (1 spare)
- USB-C to micro-USB connector for my kindle (thankfully it's a tiny connector that attaches on the cable)
If they switched to USB-C like almost every other phone on the planet, I would then have to carry:
- 2 USB-C cables for my Macbook Pro, iPhone and if I choose to take it, iPad pro (1 spare)
It also saves having to use multiple chargers at different plug points and is quite a convenience if at night, there is only one charging point near my bed - I can charge my phone off it, then just remove it to charge my laptop etc. I can do all of that using a single USB PD 60W charger (I also carry a spare for this).
So there are technical benefits and convenience benefits. Of course, none of this applies if all you have is an iPhone and a small 5W charger.
I stopped using the wireless charger near my bed at home as well because it was just very slow and inefficient. Now I have 2 dangling cables on my bedside table, instead of one (1 USB-C for laptop and 1 USB-C to lightning for my phone).
Everyone's use case is different, so I am not going to say this fits every body. But the fact remains that USB-C now is the defacto standard for mobile phones across the world. I'd rather we standardized on it and moved on.
