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Quite odd that Apple didn't opt for Lightning for its most demanding devices or come out with another new proprietary port for all its desktop and laptop computers.. and iPads Air and Pro..hmm

Almost as if USB-C is, roughly speaking, as good as Lightning just capable of faster charging and data transfer.

But I'm sure someone forced Apple to use USB-C on MacBooks, iPads, desktop Macs, etc. because there's no way they'd willingly, in all their altruistic wisdom, opt for anything but the superior Lightning.

And it absolutely couldn't be the case that iPhones make up the majority Apple's revenue in terms of hardware sales and Apple makes a ******** in royalties alone without having to do anything but collect its MFi "tax" from accessory manufacturers. Definitely not that.

/s
If they’re gonna do usbc make it thunderbolt 4
 
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The price you quoted is even below the break even point of hosting data with zero backup and almost no transfer (uploading and downloading).

It does sound tight, but services out there are hitting those price points. Look at pCloud for example.
No egress fees.

2tb is $8/mo (https://www.pcloud.com/cloud-storage-pricing-plans.html?period=year)
or you can buy a lifetime of 2tb storage for $350 (breakeven around 3.5yrs).

Apple/Google/Dropbox/MS/etc though are all in the similar price range, and this data is a commodity type service.

What probably would make more sense for most of these companies is to offer a larger suite of features including the backup services to increase price but add value. MS 365 for example does this since you can get OneDrive + the entire Office Suite for $100/yr for 6 years, and it regularly goes on sale for only $40/yr ($3 per month).

In short I'm trying to say that these service CAN be had at those prices. This isn't expensive compute or machine learning. This is just storage & transfer which continues to get cheaper and cheaper, esp with CDNs, cloudflare sharing, etc. Unfortunately Apple and Google don't usually run deals, and those services would be more tightly coupled with their ecosystems.
 
If the EU makes USB-C mandatory, it's inevitable. Aside from the box of accumulated lightning cables I won't need, this is fine; I mostly charge my phone wirelessly anyway. If they make the switch on the phones, I'll be down to an old iPad Mini and AirPods that I'll still need lightning for.
 
The usb c port
It’s not the cable that’s the problem. It’s the port.

I mentioned in another post, Apple use a metal frame that holds the pads on their USB-C ports. Other phone and laptop manufacturers use plastic that can break off or become loose (just like micro USB ones did)

Durability on the Apple USB-C ports should be almost the same as lightning.
 
Apple makes a Phone that shoots video in ProRes and the only viable way to transfer those files is through a USB 2.0 port.

Their USB 3.0 deployment on lightning was only for acting as the host (the old iPad Pro).

That's what I call innovation.
 
This should have happened years ago. And it should happen because USB-C is fundamentally better than lightning — more reliable, faster charging, interoperable. It shouldn’t require, or be based upon, government regulation to get this done.
Yep. It absolutely should have happened years ago. The "Pro" model iPhones should have switched to USB-C for sure when the iPad Pro did. It's just better for everyone if it switches. That said, Lightning is actually not a bad port -- it was Apple's design submission to the USB Consortium before type-C was finalized as the rugged, non-directional USB connector. It's technically capable of everything type-C can do... Which also begs the question of why Apple has not upgraded Lightning port and cable specs to keep pace with type-C on USB 3.x and newer interfaces. I suppose the reasoning is that they always knew they would obsolete it in favor of the new standard connector. But of course they had to milk Lightning for all they could first.
 
This should have happened years ago. And it should happen because USB-C is fundamentally better than lightning — more reliable, faster charging, interoperable. It shouldn’t require, or be based upon, government regulation to get this done.
And consumers could have voted with their $$$ to force apple to give them the product they want.
 
Lightning is a good port. It's bulletproof reliable. There are so many reasons for it to exist.
 
My kids aren't generally gentle with their electronics. From their Nintendo switch to their xbox controllers, they use USBC for all of them. One switch gets docked dozens of times a week I would say, and it's the launch day unit. No issues. Meanwhile, a lightning cables lasts me... 12-18 months (I don't actually know anymore, I use Qi as often as I can because I got tired of replacement cable)? Anecdotal, I know.

Are the USB C ports found on MacBooks and iPads a common failure point? Genuine question here. If they are much more prone to fail than the lightning port, it's a biut surprising they ever put them on iPads, or even MacBooks, for that matter.

EDIT: Asking because the discussion seems to have evolved into a matter of which port is superior in terms of durability.
 
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This should have happened years ago. And it should happen because USB-C is fundamentally better than lightning — more reliable, faster charging, interoperable. It shouldn’t require, or be based upon, government regulation to get this done.
It's also thicker than lightning, and I can't for the life of me see why governments should be telling computer manufacturers what kind of connectors they have to use.
 
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I find it interesting to hear people complain about either USB C or Lightning's durability. Both have always been very firm in the connections, and I've never had a problem (been using a USB C phone since 2015) with either.

Apple's cords themselves are horrible, but the port is perfectly fine for durability.
 
It's also thicker than lightning, and I can't for the life of me see why governments should be telling computer manufacturers what kind of connectors they have to use.

negative externalities (waste primarily in this case) often require government regulation
 
And consumers could have voted with their $$$ to force apple to give them the product they want.

One of the points of regulation is to make things happen which don't otherwise happen in the free market by itself though.
 
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