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EU Moves One Step Closer to Mandating Apple to Switch iPhone, iPad, and AirPods to USB-C

BeatCrazy said:
Don't pretend every USB-C cable is the same.

Just in my own collection, I have the following USB-C cables, that do things "differently"
  • Supports USB 2.0 data, only about 20w charging
  • Supports USB 2.0 data, 60w charging
  • Supports USB 2.0 data, 100w charging
  • Supports USB 3.1 Gen 1 5Gbps and 60w charging
  • Supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 10Gbps and 60w charging
  • Supports TB3 20Gbps and 60w charging
  • Supports TB3 40Gbps and 60w charging, but only up to 0.8m and not >USB 2.0
  • Supports TB4 40Gbs and 100w charging
Honestly that's all I have time to type out, but I'm sure I have another 3+ variations.
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I’m not pretending anything. The intent of the law is to standardize devices so that they don’t need to include yet another cable that eventually leads to more waste. As you state, USB-C is just a connector design, it is not a single standard in terms of features.
 
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fwmireault said:
I know Apple is making money from the MFi program, but it's still probably marginal compared to all the other sources of revenue in the company.
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Exactly.

I've heard that Apple makes around $4 from every MFI-certified Lightning cable.

Question... how many Lightning cables does a person buy over the lifetime of a single iPhone? One? Two? Three?

So Apple could get upwards of $12 from a person who also bought a $1,000 iPhone. Huh... ?

Of course when you consider that there are hundreds of millions of MFI-certified Lightning cables sold every year... that does add up to a lot of money for Apple.

But you're right... it pales in comparison to Apple's actual hardware revenue.

In short... Apple could cancel the MFI program tomorrow and the company would not go out of business.

I would love if my Macbook Air and iPhone could use the same cable with USB-C plugs on both ends. Though I still have Airpods and iPads that have Lightning ports. So I'll still be using Lightning cables for a while.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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Apple in 2016 when releasing the new MacBook Pro "we believe USB-C is the future and that's why all our new Macs will only feature USB-C ports"

*except for iPhone....oh and AirPods...but our new iPads and Beats will use USB-C
 
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Great, it’ll save so much waste when I have to get 2-3 new chargers for work won’t it…
 
Zorn said:
I fully support this. Everything else in the house uses USB-C, even my damn iPad. There's zero good reason for Apple not to do this other than being greedy for the accessory dollars. If they won't do the right thing, let the EU force them.
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I thought the reasons were significantly stronger connector and easier to weatherproof. the also dynamic pin assignment.

I am definitely for it going to USB-C for convenience. I sort of want to know what I am giving up..
 
bcortens said:
Then why has apple never lobbied to make lightning standard across all phone manufacturers? A common data and charging standard is a good idea in theory and if the regulations were specific enough it could be good in practice too, if Apple is serious about innovation and the quality of the connector they'll take part in the process rather than obstructing it. Lightning is only used by Apple for ecosystem lock in reasons.
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Nailed it ?
 
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Macintosh TV said:
This is going to be a mess. The next standard will come along and it'll take years and years to adopt it because they won't bother to pass new legislation to update things.

It's rarely good when government regulates tech. It generally leads to holding everything back.
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They wouldnt need to mandate things if companies did the right thing. Greed leads to mandates.
 
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NervousFish2 said:
If companies won't do right by the consumer, the consumer has every right to turn to government to force the company to do the right thing. And the only way customers have to fight back against the lobbying is legal avenues and political mobilization. Europeans are a lot better than this than Americans. That's why Europeans have better stuff.
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Yikes. The fact that people think that Apple is "doing them wrong" because the iPhone uses a proprietary port (which they supply you the cable to work with in the iPhone box) is mind-boggling to me. "But I don't wanna Lightning port, I wanna USB-C port! ? Daddy [EU]! Apple won't let me have a USB-C port!" Also, Europeans and Americans both have great stuff. Please.
 
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sideshowuniqueuser said:
They wouldnt need to mandate things if companies did the right thing. Greed leads to mandates.
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You say “right thing” like this isn’t largely about a preference that some people have and others don’t.

Having a single standard isn’t objectively a “right thing” and neither is usb-c. These are preferences among different options.
 
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Apple would only comply once they figured out how to continue their MfI licensing money printer. Apple had no problems switching all their lower volume products (Macs and ipads) to USB-C. But the cash cow iphone is different because of MfI.

I dislike usb-c as a port due to the additional connector tab inside the port that made it harder to clean. But I do want a universal port, and if USB-C is destined to be one, so be it. Now the problem is the various dodgy quality of USB-C cables. I wish they would go further into enforcing USB-PD requirements instead. Too many USB-C cables out there are simply crap USB2 cable with USB-C connector.
 
bcortens said:
I don't care about MAX SPECS ALWAYS, I don't even really care about the port used, but I can see the benefits of a common port on all small rechargeable devices, if the EU wants to regulate this I fail to see any argument in your long post about how Apple is somehow going to be prevented from trying to invent the next port. What Apple may be prevented from doing is having a unique port just for themselves, no one has yet given a concrete example of Apple using their proprietary port for anything special that a generic port everyone could use can't accomplish.

Lightning was great when the only other options were the 30-pin connector and micro-B, and it could have been a great replacement to USB if Apple had pushed for lightning to be the standard for USB-C. They didn't, not because they couldn't have but because they wanted to keep that nice lightning lock in and MFi Licensing program going.

Apple is free to contribute to the next great port design and push for its adoption so this law has only imaginary effect on preventing future innovation. There is nothing here preventing a new standard being rolled out in the future.
People keep bouncing around on innovation without providing nay concrete examples beyond the shape of the port which Apple could've pushed to make the standard (as I keep repeating).

Apple isn't hurt by this, innovation isn't hurt by this, a standard port hurts no one and helps everyone. If the port chosen is less than ideal that is partially Apple's fault for fighting this process every step of the way rather than contributing productively.
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Your stance here is that someone needs to convince you why the pan-European government shouldn't put their time and considerable weight behind making a particular connector illegal? My response to stories like this is to ask "what is so critically important here that it deserves a law?" but what I keep hearing back is that it's such a small detail that nobody should care about this law yet so critically important that this law exist.

Your view appears to be that Apple should be free to innovate at an academic level and then may choose to go through the process of finding legislative sponsors to draft and pass new legislation making their preferred designs legal to mass produce and sell. If Apple, its many competitors and partners, and a multi-national government all agree, then we might be able to buy such a product.

Design by committee isn't sufficient for you, it needs to be design by Continental Parliament? And if the port that government chooses isn't great, it's Apple's fault for not contributing to the global consumer charity?

And you don't see anything about that plan that stifles innovation or impedes freedom of choice...
 
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Many people like USB C, I frankly think it is a poor connector due to its fragile nature. Everyone has an opinion and needs. What annoys is the call for a common connector yet nary a word about the many power plugs/outlets, voltages, and other oddities of the EU power infrastructure. If the logic is one connector for all device thru out the EU why not one power plug and voltage.
 
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Chuck Kemp said:
I see this as government overreach. While I personally would love to see a common connectivity arrangement, but I am against government oversight and not overreach.
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Actually, I think it is a good move. Now that Apple knows governments are serious about standardizing chargers, it knows that governments may become serious about other stuff that Apple intentionally uses proprietary technologies to achieve lock-in. Next time Apple thinks about using proprietary technology, they will think twice as there is a real danger that they will be forced to change it to standard technology after a while. Apple consumers will feel cheated if this happens a couple of times. This is the only way to bring Apple to heel and take a big part in participating in developing standards, which is good for all.
 
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DanteHicks79 said:
I wonder tho if the EU would still blast Apple for not having USB-C, even with a portless phone.

MagSafe/wireless charging was obviously Apple's way of skirting around/loopholing past the issue, by claiming they use the industry standard QI charging system - and that still didn't satisfy the EU in the way Apple hoped.

Also, thanks to BMW, there are still tons of automobile owners whose vehicles lack wireless CarPlay - so those who don't have it will be hosed with a portless phone; I finally invested in a third-party solution, which worked great like ten times, until it crashed one day and the firmware seems to be hosed.

I know it's not in Apple's nature to actually give a $h1t about anything they've released more than six months prior, but if they really want CarPlay to get used, they'll need to introduce some product/workaround for all of us who can't afford to just go out and buy a new car to use Apple's solution to infotainment.
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Yeah! They would have already thunk about it. An CarPlay Adapter for the low low price of $299. /s
 
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