The lightening connector is too slow and does not carry enough power for fast charging. USB-C is not water resistant. Wireless charging is simply too slow and may not be that healthy. The EU is requiring USB-C has stifled invention. It is going to be very difficult to every transition to a new connector. I don't see how a new connector could be acceptable to the EU because they have created a huge catch 22, you can't use a new connector unless it is widely adopted and it can't be widely adopted before it has been accepted.
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Apple's Lightning Port is Nearing Its Expiration Date, So What's Next for the iPhone?
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I wish they would at least follow the iPad model and offer USB-C for the iPhone Pro. That way users get a choice. Pro users would 99% of the time be happy with it.
You can get wireless adapters now for wired CarPlay installations. If Apple *did* do away with Lightning, you know that this add-on market would only grow…
(I.e. “wireless adapter” = “magic” ?)
I'm finally starting to get some Apple devices that require USB-C chargers and I can't, for the life of me, find a replacement USB-C to lightning cable that is 0.5m (18") to replace the Apple USB-A to Lightning I use in my car. It's the perfect length to go from my car charger to my MagSafe vent mount without a bunch of leftover cord to wrap up. Does anybody think they'll make something like this? It would be great to utilize fast charging/PD with the new car charger I bought over a USB-C cable, especially one that's a Apple or a reputable brand like Anker or Belkin. I looked online all over and at Amazon and the best option I could find is one (and the only one!) brand called TxTech but the reviews are 50/50, most saying it stops working after a few weeks or months.
Unfortunately, the USB-C stack (at least on the iPad) isn't as robust as the lightning stack. Take a look at Yubikey 5ci. It has both a lightning and a USB-C port. The lightning works great on all lightning devices, the usb-c port works great on computers with usb-c, however you can't use the device as designed on an iPad Pro because the stack doesn't have the full support that is in the lightning stack.
Apple made a MacBook 12" with exactly 1 port back in 2015. Seven years ago. It's time for iPhones to catch up.
Yes, because making every device rely on more rare minerals that are only available from regions with massive human rights abuses is a great idea.
Apple needs to provide much more reliable options for transferring video and photos. There are like five different qualities and compressions whether you transfer heic via lightening, automatic vs lightening, icloud, airdrop or attachments. And it crashes all the time.
The pictures and videos are great but the file management is insanely bad.
As is the, IMHO class actionable, upload to icloud statements that the high quality of the images and video will be retained in icloud. The quality is not retained.
They should also fix that "your iphone storage is nearly full" error, which promotes a one click to their cloud services, as I only have about 58GB used of a 128GB iphone.
Perhaps they can introduce a plug-in adapter for older CarPlay units. When i bought an aftermarket CarPlay radio wireless support was one of my requirements.
my car has carplay. it requires a USB A to Lightning cable. if Apple ditched the port they could just put out a USB A to Magsafe cable or a magsafe adapter. you could use a USB A to C cable and plug it into the magsafe.
that is of course assuming Apple can figure out how to transfer data through Magsafe. I'm sure it's possible somehow.
It's a shame you needed to justify your preference two or three times. You have more patience than I have! Cheers!
Given the only company this really affects is Apple, this is specifically anti-apple legislation.
My MFI attachments (mic, external micro SD reader, external USB/lightning Flash storage) better make the transition! and maintain support without some more clutter and stuff I have to haul about.
When Phil Schiller introduced the Lightning connector at the unveiling of the iPhone 5 in September 2012, he called it "a modern connector for the next decade," and with that 10-year mark coming up later this year, questions remain over what the future of the iPhone looks like and whether or not that future will include a Lightning port, or perhaps no port at all.
Every iPhone since the iPhone 5 has featured a Lightning port, which Apple touted in 2012 as a "smaller, smarter and more durable" port compared to the previous 30-pin connector. Even as the majority of the company's iPad line and the entire Mac line now feature USB-C, the iPhone has become the odd one out with its inclusion of Lightning.
The smartphone industry has rapidly transitioned to USB-C, with the vast majority of handsets on the market featuring the more versatile port. Apple's reluctance to follow the industry in adopting USB-C has annoyed many customers, but it appears Apple is sticking with Lightning on iPhone for the considerable future.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who frequently shares accurate insights into Apple's product plans, has said the company believes the adoption of USB-C would negatively impact its Made for iPhone (MFi) program and notes that Apple is concerned about lower standards of water resistance for USB-C compared to Lightning. Given those two points, Kuo says the iPhone will continue to feature Lightning for the "foreseeable future."
Apple's ultimate goal for the iPhone is to go completely portless, relying on MagSafe and wireless connections for charging and data transfer needs. MagSafe on the iPhone, which first debuted on the iPhone 12, is still not fully matured and is so far limited to charging. Apple is highly unlikely to abandon Lightning and adopt USB-C for only a few years before going portless. Instead, it's more likely to use Lightning while continuing to MagSafe matures for a future portless iPhone.
The European Commission could, however, impact how soon we get a portless iPhone. The EC has proposed a directive that would require all consumer electronic devices, including smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers, and handheld videogame consoles, to feature a "common port," aka, USB-C. If the directive does pass in 2022, companies such as Apple will have two years to transition their devices to USB-C.
There are some caveats, though. On paper, the directive would constitute a significant change for the iPhone as it would be forced to include USB-C, but the directive only applies to devices that charge via cable.
A spokesperson for the EC confirmed to The Verge that if a device exclusively charges via wireless charging, it isn't required to include a USB-C port. That, alongside the two-year transition period that the directive would allocate to companies to transition to USB-C, gives Apple ample time to mature MagSafe and abandon Lightning in favor of an all-wireless future.
Apple's confusing port lineup has not gone unnoticed. Across the latest iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, Apple Watch, and AirPods models, Apple offers customers four completely different types of chargers to juice up their devices. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman highlighted the inconsistency in his Power On newsletter this past August. As Gurman noted at the time, "Lightning served Apple well since 2012, but USB-C has clearly won out across the industry and has become the default connector for new devices."
Article Link: Apple's Lightning Port is Nearing Its Expiration Date, So What's Next for the iPhone?
More to MFI licensing than physical plug. There’re API compatibilities and Apple support and assurance of compatibility at stake. Big stake.
Never say never😂, Usb C has a weaker build to it, if it gets something stuck in it or it just chips…since it’s hollow. You may know how to plug it it but some people can plug it in wrong, they shove those plugs in to their laptops and break those ports usually. I say a lightning 2.0 development; and just as fast if not faster.
I say this because the iPhone 14 Pro models are the ones that could most benefit from using a USB Type C port with Thunderbolt 4/USB4 connectivity. The regular iPhone 14 models will likely stay Lightning, though, but there is (in my opinion) a chance the Lightning port could be upgraded to USB 3.1 connectivity.
They do like their proprietary connectors so it wouldn't be totally inconceivable for them to develop Lightning 2.0 and base it off of existing/modernized USB specs. Especially if they could make it backwards compatible with 1.0 so that everyone's old accessories still work.
They can keep MagSafe if they like, but anything but USB-C can kindly get in the proverbial sea, please.
Yep. Lightning has its limitations but you can tell it’s been designed to be one solid piece so no little tabs or prongs can break.
My usb c work laptops have had a doggy and loose connections. It is nice having a universal port but usb C isn’t perfect and mandating it will mean we’re stuck with it for years.
I was done with the lighting port on the iPhone 6. It fell out often was unreliable in connection and now slow speed. I would never buy a lighting port device for those reasons. As of the 7 getting rid of the headphone jack and switching to a dongle that had all it issues above plus one more thing to loose and didn't work with the mic on my headphones, not great. Now the Pro iPhone is offering Prores video and expect your going to down load that at lightning port speeds.
Apple is just compromising my convenience and usability for their profit. I don't buy the weather sealing challenge for USB-C port. The only thing keeping iPhone in my pocket is the eco-system and they are testing that.
Apple is just compromising my convenience and usability for their profit. I don't buy the weather sealing challenge for USB-C port. The only thing keeping iPhone in my pocket is the eco-system and they are testing that.