Apple Reportedly Not Planning to Release USB-C Version of AirPods 3

segfaultdotorg said:
Good! Everybody has a ton of Lightning cables, might as well keep using them. Switching to USB-C is bad for the environment because everyone will have to purchase new cables and throw the old ones away.
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Oh FFS.

The REALITY is that
- if you have any sense you charge your iPods Pro TODAY by placing them on a wireless charger (either the Apple phone wireless charger, or the Apple watch charger or some 3rd party wireless charger)

- if you travel frequently and don't want to travel with a wireless charger (which is larger so a minor hassle) you buy a multi-headed cable with lightning, USB-C, USB-micro and whatever else is important to you.

This whole transition (for phone or airpods) is a big nothingburger, a perfect example of bikeshedding in action, at both the political and social levels.
 
mrat93 said:
You clearly take great care when using your phone while plugged in, and that’s great for you!

In reality, myself and many others that I know (and millions of others all over the world) end up having cables that fray after several months of use. Many keep using these cables to avoid paying for a new one. This can and does create a fire hazard.

You can say that people need to change their habits, or the industry can adapt to reality and make cables that don’t fray under normal use.

Just because it’s isn’t a problem for you, doesn’t mean that their cables aren’t notorious for fraying for a newsworthy amount of consumers.
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Look, your cables fray because you pull on the thin cable part, not the thick "header" part that plugs into either the phone or the charger. This is perhaps acceptable in a 2yr old, not in a grown adult.
Apple can't change basic physics and basic lack of understanding of mechanical strength. The exact same thing would happen with any other cable by any other brand.

If almost everyone else in the world is doing just fine with non-frayed cables, and your cables are always breaking, perhaps it's worth analyzing what the rest does differently?
 
Flight Plan said:
It’s not a stupid question. This is what happens to all of my old earbuds…but not when I “upgrade”…when I replace them:

  • The left one goes into the garbage because the right one fell in the toilet…
  • They both go into the garbage because they fell into the composter when I was turning it over with a pitchfork…
  • The right one goes into the garbage because the left one fell on the street and got run over by a car before I could retrieve it…
  • They both go in the garbage because one or both are splitting apart and opening up at the seams. I have a theory that it’s not due to a battery failing; it’s probably due to my earwax building up inside and causing a critical mass bursting of the casing…
  • They went missing while I was tilling the garden…
  • One of them won’t charge anymore even after a Bluetooth reset.
Like the sock monster who lives in the dryer and never eats more than one sock from a pair, Kismet usually does in one of my earbuds and I end up throwing the other one out and buying a new set.
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Why on earth would you throw the other one away instead of… I don’t know… Just getting a replacement single AirPod?
It’s like half the price of an entire new pair and means you don’t have to throw anything away.
Also, less lithium batteries being disposed of just by being thrown right into the garbage is always better.
To me it just sounds like you threw away a lot of perfectly working AirPods…
 
name99 said:
Look, your cables fray because you pull on the thin cable part, not the thick "header" part that plugs into either the phone or the charger. This is perhaps acceptable in a 2yr old, not in a grown adult.
Apple can't change basic physics and basic lack of understanding of mechanical strength. The exact same thing would happen with any other cable by any other brand.

If almost everyone else in the world is doing just fine with non-frayed cables, and your cables are always breaking, perhaps it's worth analyzing what the rest does differently?
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That’s what I don’t get. I deal with hundreds of people for IT support. You quickly identify the people who can’t seem to treat a cable with even basic car. They’re the same people who complain of keyboards breaking all the time. Constant replacements, yet no one else seems to have that problem….
 
I was hugely pro-Lightning in the beginning. It seems like an elegant, compact design, but I've had nothing but PROBLEMS with the port on several iPhones. Thank goodness for Qi charging, otherwise I'd have a dead iPhone 13 Pro. I just don't get it. No matter how careful I am, the port just eventually stops making a connection. But none of my USB-C ports are failing me.

It's time for Apple to ditch Lightning.
 
citysnaps said:
You didn't. Lightning is a far more mechanically robust connector, designed for frequent insertions/extractions, and is especially ideal for devices that do not need much charging current and don't need to transport high-speed data.

Many people just need something to moan about in order to feel better and have a better day.
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Completely disagree. I've had Lightning fail on me on 3 separate iPhones now because the internal connections bend, or something. I'm very careful, and I rarely use Lightning (mostly Qi charging), but still fails. Very very frustrating!
 
5232152 said:
Absolutely despicable.
Apple adorns itself with borrowed feathers when it calls itself environmentally friendly by prolonging this extension.
I hope the EU will ban the sales until they get their crap together.
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I don't think Apple cares (imo) if the AP3 is banned. They'd be happier with higher margin APP2/3.
mrat93 said:
If Apple cared about the environmental impact of people throwing away their cables, they would have switched to USB-C years ago, and switched other products over sooner. And also maybe sell/include more durable cables that last.

For every pair of AirPods sold today, that’s another Lightning cable in the trash in less than 5 years — we all know that neither AirPods or Apple cables last nearly that long when actively in use.
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If the EU cared about the environment, they wouldn't have forced this switch. By this directive tens of millions of lightning cables are going into the land fill and will be replaced by usb-c cables. This move by the EU couldn't have been more environmentally unfriendly.
mrat93 said:
You made an independent decision that you decided was worth the trade off. That doesn’t mean that this move is not brazenly anti-consumer in the grand scheme of things.
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So buying a usb-c cable and throwing my lighting cable away is a good thing?
 
citysnaps said:
You didn't. Lightning is a far more mechanically robust connector, designed for frequent insertions/extractions, and is especially ideal for devices that do not need much charging current and don't need to transport high-speed data.

Many people just need something to moan about in order to feel better and have a better day.
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I agree with your perspective on lightning. IMO, it's a better overall connector.
 
We've now come full-circle.
Historically, most Apple-based port-range centered on Apple moving too fast - dropping established, industry-standard ports in favor of proprietary, forward-looking solutions. Today, we're now worked up that they're not moving fast enough. We're a special breed. 🤪
 
Well I see another patent infringement that will resolve in a 30% decrease in noise cancellation that iPod pro 3 will recover. Also, in Europe price will be at least 350€
 
Motawa said:
obviously. usbc is a PRO feature
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I mean the number of people who care about USB C is limited, and I say this as an avid user. I see so many coworkers of mine setup a 5W USB A charger for their phone. What do you get like +5% an hour or something on the latest Pro Max? Just a damn C to Lightning charger at least.
 
fromgophonetoiphone said:
I mean the number of people who care about USB C is limited, and I say this as an avid user. I see so many coworkers of mine setup a 5W USB A charger for their phone. What do you get like +5% an hour or something on the latest Pro Max? Just a damn C to Lightning charger at least.
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Apple assumes that the overwhelming majority of AirPod users will own an iPhone.

The iPhone is switching to USB-C. It makes sense that you have one connector standard to charge these two products, which are designed to be used together.

Just because the AirPods 3 will (allegedly) not be gaining USB-C does not mean Apple will not update it in the future.
 
Sydnxt said:
Or, crazy scenario, if Apple switched to USB-C years ago, they wouldn't need to manufacture lightning as they're the odds one out. Everything else uses USB-C.

Lightning needs to go away now, to stop more waste.
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Yep, sure would have been nice if Apple had begun the switch seven years ago, starting with, say, one of the MacBooks. Then again, if they had, there would have been a bunch of people whining that they didn't want to give up the USB-A cables they already had, and that they weren't willing to carry dongles for the years and years that the USB-C transition would and should take, and that Apple should keep on including legacy ports until it was over...
 
They should work on the noise canceling. It’s pretty bad. Screetching im metros is very loud, I can’t understand words when riding them, when I listen in normal volume. Wind noise canceling is also pretty bad.
 
I honestly could not tell you what charging port the case of my Pro's uses. Could be micro USB for all I know. It just sits on the wireless charger when needed.
 
I7guy said:
If the EU cared about the environment, they wouldn't have forced this switch. By this directive tens of millions of lightning cables are going into the land fill and will be replaced by usb-c cables. This move by the EU couldn't have been more environmentally unfriendly.
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Wrong. Nothing has stopped Apple to start moving to USB-C years ago. Stop defending cooperate greed over the welfare of the planet and think you are on the right side of history. There is no excuse for the capitalistic greed on this account.
 
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