Apple Retail Staff Drilled to Recommend iPhone 15 USB-C Charging Accessories at Point of Sale

[kanga1622]

USB-A to USB-C adapters are readily available on Amazon and eBay for roughly 99¢ each. It could make sense to buy a few today, as a lot equipment has USB-A ports (cars, computers, routers, etc), but a lot of new gear is USB-C.

This is our solution. We will have some iPhone 13s that still use lightning cables, many sets of Bluetooth earbuds that have USB-A to USB-C cables (some that are built into the cradle so no way to swap), a tablet the kids use that still has micro USB charging, sofa with integrated USB-A ports, and a car with integrated USB-A port. So we will need a mix of USB-A and USB-C charger blocks, 3-4 different styles of cables, and some adapters to bridge the gap on items that aren't replaced regularly. I literally have a "hardware" box in my cabinet with all the different cables and charger blocks grouped together. Otherwise we have charging accessories everywhere.

Wonder how many people that installed the USB-A port outlets on their walls will be running out to find updated versions.

 

[NightFox]

This is ridiculous, they should have to include a full charger for your phone!!!What electronic charging product do you buy where they don't include everything in the box for you to use it?

Lots, actually. I can't remember the last gadget I purchased that came with a charger. And whatever that actually was, the charger is probably still sat in the box.

 

[erinsarah]

Yep cause removing the charger was a purely profit motivated move. An easy extra charge. They said it was for the environment but it wasn’t.

I'd say yes and no. It certainly is an opportunity for extra profit, but it also fits in a world where literally everybody and their mother has extra chargers and cables lying around in drawers, and many many people buy consolidated charging bricks and no longer need the wall warts.

 

[erinsarah]

Serious question: now that iPhones are USB-C, does that mean you can get a USB-C to lightning cable, and use an iPhone 15 to charge an older (lightning) iPhone?

Yes it does. In fact I use exactly that.

 

[Chuckeee]

As has been stated previously (multiple time) switching from lightning connector and not including a charger are being forced by EU regulations. And Apple fought tooth & nail to fight these regulations but lost.

I for one say GOOD RIDDANCE TO TOSSING LIGHTNING CABLES AND CONNECTORS. The existed only as a proprietary configuration that Apple could license (specifically the ports) for money and aside for being small they were NOT very good. Yes I will commit the ultimate sin and say it - USB-C is BETTER!!! USB-C connectors break less often, USB-C connections are more reliable, USB-C cables last longer, USB-C ports get clogged up less often and are easier to clean.

cleaning a dirt from a USB-C port with compressed air seen to work at least ¾ of the time, from a lightning port maybe ⅛ of the time. I’ve had to throw out several lightning cables because of a broken connector, has not happen with a USB-C connector yet.

Thank you EU for making this happen

 

[MuppetGate]

Why would they? Apple want to make money out of you. As much as possible. They don't care about anything else.

If they cared they'd be a simple $2 dongle in the box allowing people to utilise their existing Lightning accessories with the bundled USB-C cable.

What’s the point of that?

Not everyone would need the dongle, so that’s just more waste.

 

[nicolas_s]

Because of Apple's decision to switch to USB-C, many perfectly working cables and accessories will become useless and it will also generate a huge amount of e-waste that could be avoided if they stuck to Lightning. This is obvious planned obsolescence.

 

[AppleEnthusiast1995]

Quite the conundrum. On one hand it generates e-waste in the sense that people will likely have no use for lightning accessories. On the other hand, it aids in creating a universal charging port shared by many devices. The best thing for the environment? Using devices until they are considered EOL.

 

[MuppetGate]

Because of Apple's decision to switch to USB-C, many perfectly working cables and accessories will become useless and it will also generate a huge amount of e-waste that could be avoided if they stuck to Lightning. This is obvious planned obsolescence.

But it wasn’t Apple’s decision, was it? It was the EU

Do keep up.

 

[coredev]

Because of Apple's decision to switch to USB-C, many perfectly working cables and accessories will become useless and it will also generate a huge amount of e-waste that could be avoided if they stuck to Lightning. This is obvious planned obsolescence.

Read thru this thread and MR in general again.
It was not even Apple’s decision to begin with.

 

[Lakersfan74]

I’m still waiting for the world to blow up by going from 30 pin to lightning and from mini-usb to usb-c. We will be fine going from lightning to USB-C.

 

[lesnouu]

The only reason to buy a new USB-C plug is to have faster charging. I am 100% sure that everyone has old iphone/ipad/other device‘s USB-A wall plug, and you can buy USB-A to USB-C cords pretty much everywhere for cheap.

Personally i am 100% for that switch. Me and my GF only have 1 working USB-c to Lightning cord and we always fight for it, as both of us need it when we take our Mac or ipads to uni in order to charge our phones with it. But we have plenty of double sided USB-Cs and USB-A to USB-C cords laying around

 

[toobravetosave]

If you’ve purchased any ipad or MacBook in the past few years you’re already on usb c waiting for the iphone and its peripherals

 

[jlc1978]

Yes it does. In fact I use exactly that.

Uh, unless you have a pre-release iPhone 15 there is no way to know if it supports 2 way charging. The USB-C PD spec has bi-directional charging but it doesn’t have to be supported.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Let this be known… it's the same transition Apple Store employees are going through. USB-C Courage!

Credit: Basic Apple Guy

 

[compwiz1202]

Yes it does. In fact I use exactly that.

With iPhone, so you pick which device gives and which takes power, or does the higher Voltage battery feed the lower?

 

[lilkwarrior]

Yep cause removing the charger was a purely profit motivated move. An easy extra charge. They said it was for the environment but it wasn’t.

No it isn't. It's a practical common sense responsible move. Why give customers a charger they don't necessarily need?It's unnecessarily redundant for most returning customers.

Same thing with a stand for monitor when a meaningful amount of people are going to use a VESA mount anyway instead of ever using the stand. Sometimes the heaviest thing in a monitor box is a stand which is again infuriating to have shipped, carried, or unpack when you're not going to use the thing anyway.

Either is not very green nor is very cost effective for the customer or the business. It's also arguably anti-competitive as you take away the ability for customers to be aware of far better options than such pre-bundled things anyway–that's especially the case with chargers.

 

[a.jfred]

while a USB-C to USB-C cable is included in the box, a USB-C charger is not.

This will 100% be the biggest customer complaint - that they (the customer) is being forced to change out all their cables, the least Apple could do is provide the charger ... completely ignoring that Apple stopped including the charger with the phone 3 years ago (except in some countries, and even that seems to go back & forth).

 

[a.jfred]

No it isn't. It's a practical common sense responsible move. Why give customers a charger they don't necessarily need?It's unnecessarily redundant for most returning customers.

Same thing with a stand for monitor when a meaningful amount of people are going to use a VESA mount anyway instead of ever using the stand. Sometimes the heaviest thing in a monitor box is a stand which is again infuriating to have shipped, carried, or unpack when you're not going to use the thing anyway.

Either is not very green nor is very cost effective for the customer or the business. It's also arguably anti-competitive as you take away the ability for customers to be aware of far better options than such pre-bundled things anyway–that's especially the case with chargers.

It seems like it's "for profit" when you're new to Apple - but for folks who've been with the Apple Ecosystem for a while ... man, I've donated / given away sooooo many charging blocks over the years. Heck, I kept my 96W USB-C charger from my 2019 MBP when I traded it in, just so I could use it with my new MBA; and the dual-port USB-C charger that came with the new MBA? I use that for my phone & iPad. Heck, I have an old USB-charger that came with ... something, I've long since forgotten, years ago that's being used for a USB-to-micro-USB cord that charges all my micro-USB things.

We won't even go into the box filled with cables, and the Watch chargers I have that I never unwrapped.

 

[Numbah One]

"Would you like fries or an apple pie with your order?" - so they're copying every fast food franchise?

 

[Chuckeee]

"Would you like fries or an apple pie with your order?"

Well in some strange way, Apple pie would make sense. 😁

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Because of Apple's decision to switch to USB-C, many perfectly working cables and accessories will become useless and it will also generate a huge amount of e-waste that could be avoided if they stuck to Lightning. This is obvious planned obsolescence.

Do you not realise that people have been saying this exact statement throughout most of the personal computing history?

Whenever I visit the IT support team at my workplace, I'm not even exaggerating when I say that in their store room they have boxes full of VGA and other multi-pin connector cables, USB Mini and Micro cables, CD-ROMs, CD-ROM boxes and cases, manuals for CD-ROMs, 4:3 monitors, cheap tabletop speakers, those microphones that used to be on a boom on stuck to the side of a display, even floppy disks for gods sake. Yes, do you realise how many floppy disks are still in existence in the world beyond landfills, and how stupid it would have been to keep using them because otherwise "they will become useless"?

Indeed, why are you not protesting for the other technology shifts that temporarily annoyed some?

The exact same thing happened with the 30-pin connector. People crowing about how awful Apple was for even considering switching from a large, fragile connector to something a fraction of the size, reversible and more durable - all because their iPod would no longer be directly compatible with a couple of cables and some bedside alarm clock. Big deal. We got through it.

Lightning cables are no different to any other technology that has been superseded. And in many years to come, USB-C will likely be replaced by something that's technically better once again. You can't move forward without letting go.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

What electronic charging product do you buy where they don't include everything in the box for you to use it?

The one that has a proprietary charger that is not featured anywhere else, like a vacuum cleaner?

And if you really don't have a single or spare USB-C cable at home, you have the choice to buy any single one you want - be it a $5 one from Amazon or Apple's own.

It's win-win; those who already have a cable aren't getting another they don't need, and those who do have a choice of which to get.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

All those Lightning cables being put in landfills... Sad!

Yep! Just like, all the tens of millions of floppy discs out there and just about any other technology that's been superseded.

 

[nicolas_s]

Do you not realise that people have been saying this exact statement throughout most of the personal computing history?

Whenever I visit the IT support team at my workplace, I'm not even exaggerating when I say that in their store room they have boxes full of VGA and other multi-pin connector cables, USB Mini and Micro cables, CD-ROMs, CD-ROM boxes and cases, manuals for CD-ROMs, 4:3 monitors, cheap tabletop speakers, those microphones that used to be on a boom on stuck to the side of a display, even floppy disks for gods sake. Yes, do you realise how many floppy disks are still in existence in the world beyond landfills, and how stupid it would have been to keep using them because otherwise "they will become useless"?

Indeed, why are you not protesting for the other technology shifts that temporarily annoyed some?

The exact same thing happened with the 30-pin connector. People crowing about how awful Apple was for even considering switching from a large, fragile connector to something a fraction of the size, reversible and more durable - all because their iPod would no longer be directly compatible with a couple of cables and some bedside alarm clock. Big deal. We got through it.

Lightning cables are no different to any other technology that has been superseded. And in many years to come, USB-C will likely be replaced by something that's technically better once again. You can't move forward without letting go.

Except that this time, we're replacing a small connector by something bigger and uglier. I wouldn't even be surprised if USB-D will be exactly like Lightning, which is already a more compact version of USB-C, but 10 years early 😂