Apple Updates Made For iPhone Licensing Program With USB-C Ports, Lightning to 3.5mm Output Cable

[se1000]

Your laptop definitely does not use Qualcomm's QC3. It uses USB-PD. So either your phone isn't quick charging, or you have some magical Shrodinger's cable that is both compliant and not compliant with the USB-PD standards.

For the record, a USB Type C connector !=

• USB 3/3.1
• USB PD
• Quick Charge
• Dash Charge
• Thunderbolt
• ???
• Profit

USB-C is simply a connector. Unless there's some magic cable that I'm oblivious to (and I don't claim to be the gods' gift to USB cables), an Anker cable that is QC 3.0 compliant will not fast charge a USB-PD device like a laptop, iPhone, Pixel, Essential, etc. In fact, the cable could potentially fry a device.

...and that actually reminds me of something. Conflicting reports say that the S9 supports PD. I can't wait to see the salt flying when all the fanbois find out their QC3 setups don't work any more.

QC3.0 is not mutually exclusive of USB-PD for cabling. Assuming he has a USB-C/PD charger, and using a USB-C to USB-C cable, he could be using it to USB-PD his laptop, and also charge his phone. Also keep in mind, USB-PD is NOT required to fast charge devices like phones. Yes there are a few phones that are specced up to USB-PD, but that's REALLY fast charging.

Also, not at all a fact that a USB-C compliant cable could fry a device.

 

[4jasontv]

Well don't just yank on them like a jagoff. Grip them by the head and remove them.

Unless you're one of those "people" who don't take care of your belongings (and then whine on forums that the quality is bad). If we were talking Dock cables, especially the revised smaller Dock Connector, then yeah, the rubber shielding followed by the metal weave underneath would fray.

Modern lightning cables, and especially their USB-C cables? Yeah, don't be a jagoff.

Don’t be rude.

Apple cables break, and it’s pretty well established that they do. There is no “release button” design and real world conditions of how people use cables don’t support their design. The adapters bend beyond support far to easily when put in a bag or when rested on the cable. Other brands don’t have this issue as often or as quickly, and considering the markup it shouldn’t be an issue.

Im sure they are fine if you use them no more than once a day or they live on your desk or you never travel or you don’t have cats or you don’t use the phone while it’s charging or are storing the cable in a safe room or if you handle them with white gloves. The rest of us simply don’t like the quality control of the most expensive brand.

I am really happy for you if your lifestyle lets you use their cable for more than a few months, but for the rest of us the reviews and personal experience match up quite well.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

QC3.0 is not mutually exclusive of USB-PD for cabling. Assuming he has a USB-C/PD charger, and using a USB-C to USB-C cable, he could be using it to USB-PD his laptop, and also charge his phone. Also keep in mind, USB-PD is NOT required to fast charge devices like phones. Yes there are a few phones that are specced up to USB-PD, but that's REALLY fast charging.

Also, not at all a fact that a USB-C compliant cable could fry a device.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...e-thats-so-bad-it-fried-his-chromebook-pixel/

I think Benson may disagree with you. And again, USB-C is a connector, not the wiring-within-the-cable standard.

C'mon now, we're not robotphone users, we're supposed to be smarter than this.

EDIT: Wait, you are per your signature.

Don’t be rude.

Apple cables break, and it’s pretty well established that they do. There is no “release button” design and real world conditions of how people use cables don’t support their design. The adapters bend beyond support far to easily when put in a bag or when rested on the cable. Other brands don’t have this issue as often or as quickly, and considering the markup it shouldn’t be an issue.

Im sure they are fine if you use them no more than once a day or they live on your desk or you never travel or you don’t have cats or you don’t use the phone while it’s charging or are storing the cable in a safe room or if you handle them with white gloves. The rest of us simply don’t like the quality control of the most expensive brand.

I am really happy for you if your lifestyle lets you use their cable for more than a few months, but for the rest of us the reviews and personal experience match up quite well.

Seeing as how I travel, have a pair of cats, don't own gloves period, and my cables take no more damage than the off-gray color tarnishing, your comment is invalid.

I'm happy that you're happy that I'm not a jagoff and know to grip a cable, regardless of whether it's Lightning, a wall plug, USB, ethernet, 3.5mm, etc, by the head in order to remove properly, as well as properly wrap a cable in order to minimize stress during transport.

 

[VictorTango777]

That’s the problem. Not all USB C cables that are sold are to spec.

The problem is that the spec has too many "optional" features which manufacturers can bypass, yet still claim to be USB-C certified. This was probably a result of manufacturers lobbying the USB standards body. Same thing with the DisplayPort standard. Apple benefits from this also, considering how they still don't fully support DisplayPort MST for daisychaining MST monitors or using MST hubs, yet they still claim to support DisplayPort.

The solution to this madness is for the standards bodies (USB, DisplayPort, HDMI, etc) to tighten their standards and make features mandatory instead of optional so lazy manufacturers can't just slip by with bare minimum functionality.

As for cable confusion, third parties are not the only ones who are guilty:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208368

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201700

Selling all these different USB-C power adapters and cables when one will do just fine for all USB-C MacBook models.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

The problem is that the spec has too many "optional" features which manufacturers can bypass, yet still claim to be USB-C certified. This was probably a result of manufacturers lobbying the USB standards body. Same thing with the DisplayPort standard. Apple benefits from this also, considering how they still don't fully support DisplayPort MST for daisychaining MST monitors or using MST hubs, yet they still claim to support DisplayPort.

The solution to this madness is for the standards bodies (USB, DisplayPort, HDMI, etc) to tighten their standards and make features mandatory instead of optional so lazy manufacturers can't just slip by with bare minimum functionality.

As for cable confusion, third parties are not the only ones who are guilty:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208368

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201700

Selling all these different USB-C power adapters and cables when one will do just fine for all USB-C MacBook models.

I wasn't aware that Apple made different 'grade' USB-C cables. However your first link is for a Thunderbolt 3 cable.

 

[lec0rsaire]

This is proof that 3.5mm removal was purely motivated by profit from licensing, lower manufacturing cost, lower component cost and lower cost to obtain water resistance.

Can’t say I disagree. The 3.5mm jack is kind of like the Ethernet jack. Yes, most people can get by without it but in order to get the best quality or speed possible you really need it.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Can’t say I disagree. The 3.5mm jack is kind of like the Ethernet jack. Yes, most people can get by without it but in order to get the best quality or speed possible you really need it.

Except that they're nothing alike? The 3.5mm jack is all but useless, whereas ethernet has continually been updated to carry more and more data.

The only time I use 3.5mm is when I plug into my Jeep's radio and I just leave the adapter connected to the aux cable. I'm quite happy having one less ingress point and from an aesthetic standpoint, quite happy with more symmetry.

 

[lec0rsaire]

Except that they're nothing alike? The 3.5mm jack is all but useless, whereas ethernet has continually been updated to carry more and more data.

The only time I use 3.5mm is when I plug into my Jeep's radio and I just leave the adapter connected to the aux cable. I'm quite happy having one less ingress point and from an aesthetic standpoint, quite happy with more symmetry.

Do you think people are mixing professional records with wireless headphones in studios? For consumers wireless is fine. It’s just like Ethernet that will always be used in professional environments.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Do you think people are mixing professional records with wireless headphones in studios? For consumers wireless is fine. It’s just like Ethernet that will always be used in professional environments.

Do you think people are mixing professional records with their phones?

 

[outskirtsofinfinity]

3.5mm headphone jack will out live lightning. I've still not had a 3.5mm headphone port, break on me or the wire spontaneously combust just by plugging it in. Lightning ports and cables are flimsy at the best of times, yet all my vintage 3.5mm connections are still going strong. Apple might have abandoned 3.5mm jacks, but they are not going anywhere anytime soon.

Good points.

 

[se1000]

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...e-thats-so-bad-it-fried-his-chromebook-pixel/

I think Benson may disagree with you. And again, USB-C is a connector, not the wiring-within-the-cable standard.

First point, these are USB-A to USB-C, which is a different conversation entirely than trying to go full USB-C, also they were bad enough to have to be pulled from the market, also not what we're talking about in this thread. How do we go from USB-PD to USB-A to USB-C cabling?

Right, I'm also saying USB-C is a connector, Apple can convert to the connector without participating in the USB-A to USB-C issues at all.

 

[thebryceman]

Can’t say I disagree. The 3.5mm jack is kind of like the Ethernet jack. Yes, most people can get by without it but in order to get the best quality or speed possible you really need it.

I really miss the 3.5mm jack for audio in on my iPhone 7+! I have a Røde Video Mic Me and Smart Lav that I now have to use with an older iPhone or dedicated audio recorder - one more thing to carry. I do have the Sennheiser Clip-Mic Digital with lightning connector, but the old Rødes were such good value.

 

[Fiestaman]

They also aren't as high quality/fully in-spec. Don't get me wrong, I buy Anker everything, but after Mobile Reviews Eh did his review of lightning cables, I'll never buy a non-Apple lightning cable again.

What's funny is Mobile Reviews Eh actually suggests Anker Powerline as the best non-Apple cable. I only use the Anker Powerline+ II cables and they'll last, well, forever, since they have a lifetime warranty. Probably won't ever need to use it though. They're just that good. All the review sites agree these cables are the way to go.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

What's funny is Mobile Reviews Eh actually suggests Anker Powerline as the best non-Apple cable. I only use the Anker Powerline+ II cables and they'll last, well, forever, since they have a lifetime warranty. Probably won't ever need to use it though. They're just that good. All the review sites agree these cables are the way to go.

And that's the caveat, they make the best non-Apple cables. It isn't that I question their durability, it's that Aaron showed that they don't have the proper circuitry compared to Apple's own.

 

[lec0rsaire]

Do you think people are mixing professional records with their phones?

Of course not. That was not my point which was making the case that both the 3.5mm jack as well as the standard 1/4” stereo jack. People use a 3.5mm to 1/4” adapter to use headphones in music production.

 

[Mac 128]

I really miss the 3.5mm jack for audio in on my iPhone 7+! I have a Røde Video Mic Me and Smart Lav that I now have to use with an older iPhone or dedicated audio recorder - one more thing to carry. I do have the Sennheiser Clip-Mic Digital with lightning connector, but the old Rødes were such good value.

Why? The 3.5mm Lightning adapter has a mic input. I currently use it with several telephone headsets with no problem, not just the EarPods. You might need a splitter to break out the signal, which I also have, and used with my car stereo for a while to add a hands free mic with the sound through my head unit.

 

[AppleHeadPhx]

Lightning will die when they remove the charge port entirely. Which is coming.

Apple is slowly moving to a completely wireless solution for iOS devices, and will eventually remove Lightning.

This is the rumor I’ve heard as well. But why would they remove the port altogether? Can you imagine trying to use your phone while trying to charge it at the same time? I can’t imagine doing that while it’s sitting on a wireless charger.

 

[Mac 128]

This is the rumor I’ve heard as well. But why would they remove the port altogether? Can you imagine trying to use your phone while trying to charge it at the same time? I can’t imagine doing that while it’s sitting on a wireless charger.

I'm not sure why using your phone while attached to a wireless pad would be any more difficult than plugging the wire into the phone itself. This assuming of course one is holding the pad and phone together. I'd be curious to know if there's a way to use magnets to hold the charger and phone together like the Apple Watch. And of course that suggests a particular type of pad, or charging case.

That said, Starbucks has had charging mats in their stores for sometime, originally requiring inserting a loaned charging receiver to be inserted in the phone, but it had to be left lying flat on the mat. I saw many Customers nevertheless using their phones while charging this way. I think the iPhone X can be laid on top of these mats now without an adapter? Airports are starting to have these kinds of charging stations as well. So carrying a normal mat and charging it flat on a table shouldn't make it any less usable, just different.

I would also expect Apple to go to some sort of charging case like the AirPods in which the Phone can be inserted and quick charged even while using it.

Either way, in my mind if Lightning goes away, I fully expect them to leave a way to attach a hard-wired connection, using a port-less technology they've already developed in the form of the Smart Connector, or something evolved from that. So customers who still want to carry a charging cable to serve this need can.

However, I was originally hoping Apple would skip pad charging for local area charging, as they have been investing into companies developing such technologies. But it's clear this is a stop gap. Once the iPhone no longer has to make contact with a mat, this problem will be moot. And maybe that's what Apples waiting for until they remove Lightning. Still, that could be only a year or two away.

 

[MrUNIMOG]

This is the rumor I’ve heard as well. But why would they remove the port altogether? Can you imagine trying to use your phone while trying to charge it at the same time? I can’t imagine doing that while it’s sitting on a wireless charger.

I'd agree with the above post of Mac 128, when they drop lightning altogether that will be after "true" wireless charging becomes available for iPhone, at least over a distance of like half a meter or two feet.
Either that, or when battery life somehow increases so drastically that the need for charging while using basically becomes negligible.

 

[Baymowe335]

Wireless is an alternative to the 3.5mm jack, but it's not superior.



Why is there no USB-c on the iPhone?

Depends on what you consider superior. For me, no wires means superior. I absolutely hate headphone wires.

 

[lec0rsaire]

Do you think people are mixing professional records with their phones?

I wasn’t taking about phones. I was talking about headphones themselves.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I wasn’t taking about phones. I was talking about headphones themselves.

Which, if you aren't mixing a "professional" record on your phone, you don't need a headphone jack on said phone.