Apple Reportedly Plans to Announce New AirPods With USB-C Charging Case at iPhone 15 Event

[tripsync]

You could go on holiday/work travel with literally one cable

We're producing billions of unnecessary USB-C cables so you couldn't be bothered to carry an extra cable (which by the way, I'd still be taking more than one because I enjoy charging more than one device at a time)?

I stand by what I said. Environmental. Disaster. It's far better to have Apple *not* include the cable in the box which they could have easily done with a lightning port.

 

[henkie]

They are addressing it. It's more environmentally friendly to keep lightning until iPhone goes portless than to switch to USB-C for a few years.

It absolutely is an environmental disaster the way EU is going about it.

How is that charging wireless going for you at 45C? And how is the power efficiency of wireless charging? And you want to bring a little wireless charging puck with you everywhere you go? And how is that “magic wireless charging pad” Apple was working on doing?
Environment disaster, how? Either you receive a usbc to lighting cable in the box or you get usbc usbc (for now). Your cables and lightning iPhone will keep on working….

 

[tripsync]

Yes that is definitely a thing: just about everyone who is non-tech-savy/Apple adept calls it an iPhone charger.

Calling a charger an iPhone charger doesn't make it a real thing, sorry.

Please elaborate which other non-Apple devices use the Lightning connector. We will wait...

You're confusing a charger with a cable.

 

[henkie]

We're producing billions of unnecessary USB-C cables so you couldn't be bothered to carry an extra cable (which by the way, I'd still be taking more than one because I enjoy charging more than one device at a time)?

I stand by what I said. Environmental. Disaster. It's far better to have Apple *not* include the cable in the box which they could have easily done with a lightning port.

Which they did not until at least the last iPhone. So now l, suddenly, this year they would have? I bet, next year at iPhone 16, 17 at the latest, they will leave out the usbc cable. Thanks EU!

 

[tripsync]

But you claim now, that after all these years, Apple would have suddenly decided to not include it because of environment?

They got rid of the charging brick and earphones 13 years after the iPhone 1. 5 years later was the iPhone 5, so lightning technically started 5 years later *but* iPhone 5 started with a larger user base so it's quite feasible Apple would remove the cable from the box this year.

 

[henkie]

Agree to disagree. We're talking about millions of 60-70 year olds who would think that Apple USB-C cable would only work with Apple devices and more.

It's you who is very shortsighted to understand how non-tech savvy users work.

Ooof: pretty anssumptious (is that a word?): to think that 60-70 year olds cannot phantom this. Even if that would be the case: who is to blame ? Indeed: Apple for not using the usbc standard all these years…
Edited for clarity.

 

[tripsync]

How is that charging wireless going for you at 45C?

It's funny that you mention this because I received an alert yesterday during one of the hottest days in LA this month that my phone stopped charging and will continue when it cools down. This was connected with lightning.

Cable doesn't solve the temperature issue.

And I don't need to be connected to the cable when I can just slap on a MagSafe battery on the go. Gets warm in the pocket, sure, but never had it shutdown on me.

 

[tripsync]

Which they did not until at least the last iPhone. So now l, suddenly, this year they would have?

Took 13 years for Apple to remove the brick and earphones. Lightning started later so they'll be removed later. Yep

 

[tripsync]

Ooof: very assumptious (is that a word?) Even the: who is to blame? Indeed: Apple for not using the usbc standard all these years…

I honestly have no idea what you're saying.

Anyways, have a good one.

 

[Torty]

What are you talking about? Right now, to charge my Apple devices on the go, I need to carry a USB-C to lightning cable AND a USB-C to USB-C cable. Once AirPods and iPhone move to USB-C, I’ll only need the latter.

And I’m not aware of a single Apple device that requires a USB-B cable.

So if I read your argument correctly, all tech is allowed to improve and to upgrade, but not the port, even if we can provide a far more superior (and universal) port. I assume you still want an iPhone with a 30-pin connector and carry a VGA cable in case you want to plug your laptop to a monitor. Let’s also carry some floppy disks just in case.

I want a free world where companies are free to develop their products w/o (non elected) politician‘s interventions.

 

[henkie]

They got rid of the charging brick and earphones 13 years after the iPhone 1. 5 years later was the iPhone 5, so lightning technically started 5 years later *but* iPhone 5 started with a larger user base so it's quite feasible Apple would remove the cable from the box this year.

Assumptions and assumptions:
Simple question: Apple assumes that all people buying iPhones, previously all had iPhones and none of them had an android phone (hence would definitely need a lightning cable). In contrast, Android switchers and people owning a lot of other types of devices would actually have no problems if no cable would in the box when switching to the iPhone 15 or the new AirPods.

 

[fwmireault]

We're producing billions of unnecessary USB-C cables so you couldn't be bothered to carry an extra cable (which by the way, I'd still be taking more than one because I enjoy charging more than one device at a time)?

I stand by what I said. Environmental. Disaster. It's far better to have Apple *not* include the cable in the box which they could have easily done with a lightning port.

It's funny you talk so much about this supposed environmental disaster (I'm still waiting for evidence of that), but you also suggested that Apple should go straight to portless. If apple goes portless, all the lightning cables you are defending so much would not be useable with newer iPhones... so it's basically the same impact as moving to USB-C (although as we told you repeatedly, lightning cables still have many years of usability ahead)

Wireless charging is proven to be much more inefficient than wired charging, yet I don't hear you talking about the energy lost by inductive charging. Wireless charging is also known to heat the battery more than wired charging, potentially degrading the battery faster over the long term. More battery replacements will also be detrimental to the environment.

All technology choices have their tradeoffs, I'm not judging people who prefer wireless charging. But maybe you could inform yourself on the environmental impact of wireless charging before suggesting that hard to skip USB-C.

 

[fwmireault]

I want a free world where companies are free to develop their products w/o (non elected) politician‘s interventions.

Me too, I wished the EU didn't have to force Apple to upgrade an outdated port. But Apple refused to do it for reasons I can't understand, despite doing it for Macs, iPads, Apple TVs.

 

[bejib66000]

I would prefer if they announced AirPods in black.

 

[henkie]

It's funny that you mention this because I received an alert yesterday during one of the hottest days in LA this month that my phone stopped charging and will continue when it cools down. This was connected with lightning.

Cable doesn't solve the temperature issue.

And I don't need to be connected to the cable when I can just slap on a MagSafe battery on the go. Gets warm in the pocket, sure, but never had it shutdown on me

This is just a dumb comparison…Sorry…But let’s try wireless charging at the same spot where you were charging your phone with lightning? Probably would have heated up much much sooner.

 

[tripsync]

If apple goes portless, all the lightning cables you are defending so much would not be useable with newer iPhones...

That's the point. Lightning will eventually die due to portless phones. So why create this extra step of over producing USB-C cables when the iPhone is going portless?

Saying "well you can just store the USB-C cable later for a new device" is a terrible argument. It's the over production of cables that we won't use that's the disaster.

Remove the cable from the box now. Use the cables that we have until iPhone goes portless. Buy the cable only if you truly need it.

Wireless charging is proven to be much more inefficient than wired charging, yet I don't hear you talking about the energy lost by inductive charging.

I've been talking about it.

If EU was doing this for the environment, how come they haven't banned wireless yet? I'm advocating for EU to either stop over regulating or to take action now if they truly mean they're doing it for the environment. Waiting for 10 billions devices to adopt wireless and then banning it would be even more of an environmental disaster.

You can't be for the environment and also be ignoring wireless charging. If you decide to ignore wireless charging, you shouldn't be touching the ports.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

If recycling lightning and USB-C costs the environment nothing, then choosing a port to standardize makes no difference to the environment.

Exactly, I’m confident the EU is ensuring that each and every one of those millions of lightning cables are not going into the trash to go to a landfill and, instead, they’re communicating to all the EU users precisely how to ensure they get recycled. Wasn’t there a regulation requiring users recycle thier lightning cables or face a fine? No? I’m sure they’ll be eventually getting round to it before the release of the new iPhone.

For the environment, of course.

 

[tripsync]

Exactly, I’m confident the EU is ensuring that each and every one of those millions of lightning cables are not going into the trash to go to a landfill and, instead, they’re communicating to all the EU users precisely how to ensure they get recycled. Wasn’t there a regulation requiring users recycle thier lightning cables or face a fine? No? I’m sure they’ll be eventually getting round to it before the release of the new iPhone.

For the environment, of course.

So if it does it at the cost to the environment, standardizing the port is an environmental disaster and recycling isn't going to make up for it.

Thanks for proving my point?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Won't Apple recycle cables you bring them?

Or just post on your local community group that you are giving away your Lightning cables, someone will want them.

Right, and the EU likely has some massive campaign going on to tell their citizens to do JUST these sorts of things. For the environment.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

So if it does it at the cost to the environment, standardizing the port is an environmental disaster and recycling isn't going to make up for it.

Thanks for proving my point?

No problem! I just wish I could see the massive ad campaign going on in the EU right now to make sure that 100% of the lightning cables are recycled! I’m sure that every EU citizen knows exactly what to do with those old cables by now.

 

[The Game 161]

Won’t be surprised if we see a new MagSafe battery pack

 

[Unregistered 4U]

This makes sense. I wonder how soon it will be until all other Lightning accessories transition (Magic Mouse/Keyboard/Trackpad)?

There will be an interesting transition period between being able to charge everything with one cable, to two, then back to one 😆

I figure some of those may be going MagSafe.

 

[tripsync]

No problem! I just wish I could see the massive ad campaign going on in the EU right now to make sure that 100% of the lightning cables are recycled! I’m sure that every EU citizen knows exactly what to do with those old cables by now.

Hard to tell if this line of responses was sarcasm or genuine. But 👍 if genuine.

 

[fwmireault]

Lightning will eventually die due to portless phones. So why create this extra step of over producing USB-C cables when the iPhone is going portless?

Because this is a cable that many people already own, and because the tech world is moving to a standardized port anyway. Apple did that already with Macs, iPhones, Apple TVs and external monitors, and it went well

Remove the cable from the box now. Use the cables that we have until iPhone goes portless. Buy the cable only if you truly need it.

You know what? I agree with you on this. But I think it's much easier to justify to remove the cable if it's a standardized cable than if it's a proprietary technology. After 1-2 years of USB-C iPhones (and regardless if Apple goes portless or not), they could stop providing a cable for every new device, as USB-C cables are cheap anyway.

If EU was doing this for the environment, how come they haven't banned wireless yet? I'm advocating for EU to either stop over regulating or to take action now if they truly mean they're doing it for the environment.

I don't think the EU is doing it solely for the environment, it's about facilitating the interoperability and standardization of the port across different device categories. And as mentioned previously, there is no proof that such transition would create an environmental disaster, as Android phones successfully moved to USB-C, as did Apple for most of its devices. There is a lot of e-waste in general today for sure, but cables are a small portion of that.

 

[tripsync]

Because this is a cable that many people already own, and because the tech world is moving to a standardized port anyway. Apple did that already with Macs, iPhones, Apple TVs and external monitors, and it went well

Again, problem is overproduction of USB-C. Switching to USB-C will cause manufacturers to produce more usb-c than we need.

You know what? I agree with you on this. But I think it's much easier to justify to remove the cable if it's a standardized cable than if it's a proprietary technology.

Disagreed. I believe Apple can remove the lightning cable today from the box. But because iPhone switched to USB-C, it's more than likely Apple will be forced to include the cable for the next several years.

I don't think the EU is doing it solely for the environment, it's about facilitating the interoperability and standardization of the port across different device categories.

They listed environment as a key reason for it.

They also stated USB-C: "as they will be able to use one single charger for a whole range of small and medium-sized portable electronic devices.". But good luck when devices go portless and needing a brand new cable.

there is no proof that such transition would create an environmental disaster

There's no proof that it would be a plus for the environment. Unless you're projecting calculations then you can project calculations for disposal of USB-C cables after phones go portless. Saying USB-C is stored in a box instead of disposal doesn't make it any better as the emissions already were emitted in over production of USB-C cables.