USB-C is the connection going forward on all new iPhones. The margins are probably so thin on the iPhones sold in India, it's not worth the investment to change existing designs and manufacturing for a population that wants to buy last year's phone. I side with Apple on this one. It's not them pushing Lightning. It's extremely expensive to rejig production lines for devices that should already be out of production.
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Apple Pushes Back Against iPhone USB-C Regulations in India
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USB-C is the connection going forward on all new iPhones. The margins are probably so thin on the iPhones sold in India, it's not worth the investment to change existing designs and manufacturing for a population that wants to buy last year's phone. I side with Apple on this one. It's not them pushing Lightning. It's extremely expensive to rejig production lines for devices that should already be out of production.
Agreed on production issues, but Americans want and demand "Made in the USA", so why should it be any different for India? Is this a case of double-standard?
Thank you. I’d love to enjoy “the best” European developed, designed, and produced laptop, computer, tablet, OS, or TV. But alas, Philips won’t do…
ASML is a great company, but they make machines for chips designed by others and assembled by others. I’d love for them to come out with a design of their own that could compete with AMD and Intel. Like Sony has done in the camera sensor field, blew away the established photo manufacturers.
Again, I am not saying that Europe lacks talent, skill, or funding. The UK used to be the leader in personal computing when I was still in my early teens. And yet, something seems to always get in the way of any real growth…
Did you read the article, or just looking for ways to bash on Apple? This is about older-gen devices that would require expensive redesigns, not just with the device, but established production lines.
This will be a nightmare when the next standard comes along. Imagine a new connector that allows much faster data rates or additional features that USB-C can’t handle. (Or perhaps a new connector that doesn’t have all the charging/data speed/DP alt-mode confusion that USB-C has.) They’ll have to have different products for different markets until all the different governments change their laws to allow the new standard. Or we’ll just have to wait for the new standard to be implemented until all change their laws. This is what standards organizations were for!
Adding the following…
It would have been a lot better if governments had worked with a standards body (IEEE, USB Implementers Forum, etc.) and indicated that all newly designed phones must implement the new standard within 2 years (or similar) of release. Other phones can be grandfathered in under standards around their release date. (Though, that could allow the standard to develop multiple variants over time if not limited by standards forum rules.)
Adding the following…
It would have been a lot better if governments had worked with a standards body (IEEE, USB Implementers Forum, etc.) and indicated that all newly designed phones must implement the new standard within 2 years (or similar) of release. Other phones can be grandfathered in under standards around their release date. (Though, that could allow the standard to develop multiple variants over time if not limited by standards forum rules.)
...at which point, Lightning was on the road to obsolescence, as it couldn't fully support USB 3, Thunderbolt or full-bandwidth DisplayPort, yet iPads and high-end iPhones were becoming sufficiently powerful to benefit from those things.
In 2015, Apple added USB 3 support to the iPad Pro, but it was limited by the fact that Lightning didn't have enough conductors so it was reliant on an active dongle (the USB-3 camera adapter). That would have been the sensible point to start the transition to USB-C.
The bizarre thing as that Apple decided to push USB-C as the One True Port for Macs - where it was a solution searching for a problem, because Macs had plenty of space for dedicated ports - as early as 2016, but not for mobile devices which actually needed a standard, small do-everything port.
Apple dug this lightning hole for themselves by focusing on profit (MFI program) by keeping lightning alive way past its time. They should have switched iPhones and all accessories over when they moved to USB-C on the Mac/iPad lineup years ago.
"It" is the democratically elected representation of almost one and a half billion people. Its boots are pretty big.
This is the same absurd baseless hubris that motivates politicians. It's no big deal...just switch the port. Which means changing productions lines, supplies, motherboards, etc etc etc. But people are so eager to use violence to boss people around they assume the groups they want to bully are just too lazy to do what they want. Maybe...maybe its not easy...
The people are not complaining about this or they wouldn't buy the phones. Assuming govt represent people directly like that is...as we say once we read some history and political theory...cray cray. It's not companies over people...its beurocrats over people. The people are still buying the phones and in order to reach your conclusion you have to paternalistically assume...the people buying the phones dont know what's good for them. But people are directly making the choices...the govt are indirect actors.
I wonder how many lightning connectors Apple has already had manufactured that would need to be thrown out. This might be small assuming this item is ordered by just-in-time manufacturing. Apple may have committed to significant numbers of lightning connectors, molds for said connectors, etc. from their suppliers (including for cables, etc.), and there could be an appreciable cost to getting out of those contractural obligations. That would likely be figured as an additional material cost for modified, pervious-generation phones.
They *should* have pushed Lightning as an open standard as soon as they invented it.
Yes, but what prevents Apple from reaching the same arrangement as was made with the EU - all the iPhone 15 and following models are USB-C, yet the ones designed before an X date can still keep on going until they are naturally discontinued?
The Indian regulation seems like a poorly-thought carbon copy of the EU law.
Still I can’t see what devices would be affected, in 2025 the Apple line-up will likely be (mid-summer) iPhone 16, 16 Pro, 15, 14, and type-C SE.
Apple should offer to split the difference: offer all Indian buyers of older phones a free USB-C to Lightning adapter. And offer to have them manufactured in India.
Michael Scott: “win-win-win”
Michael Scott: “win-win-win”
I suspect profit from the MFI program was a motivator. I, also, remember that the USB standards didn’t provide all the features of the old dock connector Apple used before switching to lightning. The dock connector was huge and complex in comparison to lightning. It took a significant amount of space inside the unit. It’s been shared before by others that Apple likely switched to lightning because they were tired of the new USB standard that may or may not have offered a complete feature set being delayed. When they did switch from the dock to the lightning connector, many were up in arms that they had all these cables that were useless. (This is despite that Apple provided a dock to lightning adapter.) The dock connector was around for 9-10 years. I suspect Apple was also reluctant to switch as they might expect a similar reaction. Finally, it has been shared in these forums previously that the lightning receptacle on the phone is more reliable than the USB-C receptacle (and more impervious to water). Generally, one would prefer to design a cable system where the connector on the more expensive device (the phone in this case) is more reliable. (Though, there are always other competing design constraints that must be balanced.)
The point being that India wants devices being built now to have USB-C. This isn't a case of selling old stock of items that have already been manufactured. Apple don't need to be producing products in mid-2025 that have lightning connectors.
But it would cost Apple 1-2% off their extraordinary margins on older phones and they don't want to lose anything.
Apple isn't sitting on a pile of unsold older iPhones. They are still producing them. If they can't sell them in one of their biggest markets, they'd just produce fewer devices. It's not an ewaste problem. Apple just doesn't want to retool old production lines. Understandable, but I don't really have any sympathy for their "plight". They'll probably get an exemption though. When you're big enough you can usually do what you want.
Finally someone says something meaningful instead of cheerleading every Apple move like most replies on this topic. Apple had enough time to switch their entire lineup to Type-C by now.
They should stop selling outdated iPhone 12/13/14 models in India by mid 2025 when time allotted runs out. Then concentrate on iPhone 15/16 models only. It’s like Apple is not passing benefits of low price on 3yr old iPhone 12 models anyway. Better give all those inventory to local retailers and let them manage with discounts.
Lightning was needed when it was first introduced - the "standard" route at the time would have been microUSB-B which I don't think anybody wants to cheer for.
Once Apple started adding USB 3 capability to the iPad in 2015, Lightning's days were numbered and - if there weren't a viable standard alternative in USB-C (which Apple had also contributed to, promoted and adapted as standard on Mac) we'd be looking at Lightning 2.
Maybe Apple could have made a backward-compatible Lightning 2 by making the connector truly double sided, giving it 16 rather than 8 pins - I wouldn't want to second-guess the technicalities - but that would probably have still needed active dongles to connect to standard USB-C and Thunderbolt.
No phone is maxing out USB-C right now (on power or data speeds). Let's imagine phones doing that first. Honestly, I find that hard to do (TB4 and 240W on a phone, and that's only todays max).
Regulators have already indicated they will work with standards bodies on new regulations as needed. That said, I expect USB-C to have the same or greater staying power as USB A. I think wireless will evolve more rapidly, but I don't expect a different physical port supplanting USB C for a very long time (even on the laptop front).