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

[Michael Scrip]

At the rate that Apple's own cables fray/fail? Man, I'd be happy if it was only two or three.

Besides, most people have at least several Lightning cables just in general:

1 for their portable charger (sure, you can MagSafe, but it's ridics slow)
1 on their computer/in their computer bag
1 for charging their keyboard/mouse
1 for charging on a nightstand
1 for CarPlay (if they have it in their car)

You honestly don't think people unplug and use the same cable for all those scenarios, right?

That's up to four cables that you're gonna get at best a year or two of use out of before the ends start to fray and splinter.

Even if it's four cables... that's still only $16 for Apple.

And cables can last longer than a few years. I've got Anker cables that I've had since I owned an iPhone 6S. And the cable on my desk is even older than that!

My point was... Apple sells $1,000 phones. So the few dollars of revenue they get per person from cables is tiny by comparison.

Hell... if Apple made a USB-C version of the iPhone... they could charge $50 extra for that!

That extra $50 is the equivalent revenue of twelve MFI cables.

 

[Radeon85]

Just drop the port entirely, no one can complain about cable standards then.

 

[Suicidy]

Why would the EU be stuck? If you look at this type of legislation, the EU is now quite often leading the world - with other regions of the world usually following. If there's a need for a successor to USB-C, the EU will make it the new standard - where's the problem?

The EU is a disaster.

And yet for decades people claiming knowledge of economics have predicted the collapse of the EU (or the US, or Japan) and yet the world keeps on turning and hasn't fallen down around our heads yet.

the EU is a mess. Brexit, a Russian invasion off their eastern doorstep while at the same time being beholden to Russia for energy, COVID riots, a sinking economy, etc.. so I wouldn’t tout rather EU as a big success.

 

[Abazigal]

At the rate that Apple's own cables fray/fail? Man, I'd be happy if it was only two or three.

Besides, most people have at least several Lightning cables just in general:

1 for their portable charger (sure, you can MagSafe, but it's ridics slow)
1 on their computer/in their computer bag
1 for charging their keyboard/mouse
1 for charging on a nightstand
1 for CarPlay (if they have it in their car)

You honestly don't think people unplug and use the same cable for all those scenarios, right?

That's up to four cables that you're gonna get at best a year or two of use out of before the ends start to fray and splinter.

For me at least, I know I am still holding on to the lightning cable that came with my iPhone 5s, and it's still in perfect condition (just dirty as heck). I don't really baby my Apple stuff, but they aren't quite falling apart when I so much as look at them.

 

[Suicidy]

Just drop the port entirely, no one can complain about cable standards then.

Unless the idiots at the EU brain trust decide otherwise. Socialism really is malignant, anti freedom garbage.

 

[Abazigal]

Why would the EU be stuck? If you look at this type of legislation, the EU is now quite often leading the world - with other regions of the world usually following. If there's a need for a successor to USB-C, the EU will make it the new standard - where's the problem?

So what happens if Apple (or any other company) subsequently comes out with their own proprietary standard which is better than usb-c (say lightning 4.0)? Are they barred from adopting it just to maintain a unified front with USB-C?

The issue, I feel, is that we get good things in life because companies are able to innovate outside of the constraints of standards. if you remember, we got lightning in the age of micro USB, which was a very good thing for consumers given how poor micro USB is as a connector. Apple users got to enjoy lightning for a whole 3 years before there was ever a device with a USB-C connector. If anything, it’s the standards that are stopping things being ‘great’ as USB-C took so long to get to market and has had a ton of compatibility problems along the way. Both of which have been worse for customers in comparison to what Apple has been doing.

It's also no surprise that the major tech giants are all American companies, where legislation and oversight is noticeably weaker, but which also gives entrepreneurs a lot more leeway and freedom in acting upon their ideas. Perhaps both for the better and for the worse.

There is good in bad, and there is bad in good. Just saying.

 

[Wokis]

Whats with people carrying two sets of cables? USB-C-to-lightning adapters exist! There are even such cables available where the dongle is attached.

Regarding the regulation, I feel it kinda sucks since USB-C isn’t really the be-all end-all perfect connector (the brittle part is in the female connector on the actual device, so it’s hard to replace) and this will just mean that they can never ever innovate a new one as that would have to go through regulation as well.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Whats with people carrying two sets of cables? USB-C-to-lightning adapters exist! There are even such cables available where the dongle is attached.

I joined this Kickstarter below. USB-A and USB-C on the host end... and USB-C, MicroUSB, and Lightning on the device end!

It's supposed to start shipping next month. I have devices and chargers of all flavors so I'm excited to have one cable that can do it all!

inCharge XL, Making All Other Cables Obsolete.

inCharge, the cable that raised more than $3.4M is back. | A single universal cable for every device | 100W | OTG charging | 30cm to 3m

www.kickstarter.com

Regarding the regulation, I feel it kinda sucks since USB-C isn’t really the be-all end-all perfect connector (the brittle part is in the female connector on the actual device, so it’s hard to replace) and this will just mean that they can never ever innovate a new one as that would have to go through regulation as well.

Exactly. It'll basically be USB-C for life!

Which is weird because a lot of people here talk about "competition"

Well there won't be any "competition" in ports and plugs if it literally takes an act of congress to invent a new one. Nobody will bother.

?

 

[amartinez1660]

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.

and your Nintendo switch, and your remote controllers, and TVs, and your fridges and laundry machines I guess (are they considered consumer electronics?).
I guess it’s a good thing, I don’t know, but this is beyond Apple, it’s everything.

I would go as far as force anything that it’s electronics AND multimedia to have thunderbolt style data support: it has to have audio, video, charging, daisy chasing, etc.
If TVs are going to be forced to have type C connectors, make them go all in… every single work screen in my household goes through a single thunderbolt port, even my iPad Pro, I love it.
Those pesky Samsung and LG TVs are still in (several decades old by now) HDMIs, if I connect my laptop to them it doesn’t charge them, etc.
I’m also tired of windows PCs without a properly standardized support on this front.

I think the EU shouldn’t stop halfways then, they should put their money where their mouth is.

EDIT: there are fair points on the threads regarding stagnation. Let them, let people and congress and all of them make the experiment. If it works the rest of the world can or will adopt it. Else we ignore it.

 

[amartinez1660]

"Apple warned that forcing a common charging port on the industry would stifle innovation and create electronic waste as consumers were forced to switch to new cable"

don't make me laugh.lightning is so old ,charging speeds and data transfers are beyond ridiculous.

as for the electronic waste,selling lightning accessories doesnt help the planet i'm afraid.it just helps apple making more money.what a shady company really

USBC is also old, Wikipedia says that the first specification was finalized over 8 years ago.
I think in that case, like I alluded before, they should go all in, make everything thunderbolt… audio, video, data, etc.

Want to kill lightning? How about killing that plus HDMI, DisplayPort and every other nonsense decades old connector?
I really don’t get the hang up against Lightning only when there are tons of others worse than those.

 

[steve62388]

Made a boo boo editing. Ignore this.

 

[Truefan31]

There's a million reasons why this is a bad move. USB-C is a far from decent standard and to mandate that all devices use it going forward is a stupid idea. In fact the standard is basically a crapfest of every other legacy standard thrown into one poorly designed connector shell and negotiation protocol.

Some examples:

1. The USB-C connectors are far more difficult to replace than equivalents due to the masked row of contacts on the header and the mechanical design that actually tears the copper off the PCB substrate meaning the device is 100% irreparable afterwards.
2. The PD capabilities versus cable and charger is an absolute minefield of dog crap to stand in and some cables can actually blow your device up if you terminate the CC pairs on adapter cables incorrectly as the charger will deliver more voltage than the TVS diodes can handle.
3. There are serious security concerns if you can negotiate thunderbolt protocol from an implanted charger. I mean what could possibly go wrong using an untrusted charger that can negotiate system PCIe bus access...

But I digress. Every objection I've made to USB-C since its inception has been responded to by BUT ITS GOT ELECTROLYTES.

The future we have is a tyranny of moronic standards enforced by moronic regulators pushing us all to the lowest common denominator of capability and security.

You might have a point IF Apple didn’t already use usb c on its devices already. It’s already using usb c on the iPads and macs. So there’s zero reason other than money why the iPhones n AirPods don’t have usb c yet……….

 

[Truefan31]

Honestly, I think it's a moronic directive. Yes, USB offers some advantages, but I can safely say that Lightning is a much more robust port design in my experience than USB-C.

I would be all for USB-C if they only made it more resilient. It always floors me just how physically weak USB designs often are. It'd also help if they actually policed cable and charger quality.


Lightning already supports USB 3 speeds in some devices.

Well it’s good enough to be used in its iPads and macs already , so there’s no reason to think it’d be any less resilient on iPhones n AirPods.

Lightning supporting usb 3 in SOME devices is exactly the reason why lightning needs to go. It’s 2022 and it’s ridiculous how slow data speeds are on lightning.

 

[steve62388]

Why do lots of people show up and post the same false claim? I really don't get it and I would appreciate any explanation besides "they just don't read or they just don't understand".

Any device big enough to host an USB-C port has to implement one. Story told. There is no hole, no way around, no bypass. It is meant to be an Anti Apple Law and it is made to prevent Apple from bypassing it.

I’m afraid you’re wrong about that. It is not a requirement that wired USB-C charging is available, merely that if wired charging is available then it is USB-C.

The current proposed legislation states:

Hand-held mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, in so far as they are capable of being recharged via wired charging, shall:
(a) be equipped with the USB Type-C receptacle, as described in the standard EN IEC 62680-1-3:2021 ‘Universal serial bus interfaces for data and power - Part 1-3: Common components - USB Type-CTM Cable and Connector Specification’, which should remain accessible and operational at all times;

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/46755

So if you’re going to come out swinging accusing people of making false claims about things they don’t understand, better get your own house in order first.

 

[Truefan31]

It’s not about accessory dollars. If it was, they would have kept lightning on everything. It’s about lightning being superior to USB-C for a phone charge cable. Simple as that.

If lightning was superior than it wouldn’t be used on their iPads and macs now would it? Even apple knows usb c is overall a better standard. It allows more power, faster data speeds, etc.

Why brag about taking ProRaw and ProRes pictures/videos and then suffocate it by using slow, outdated lightning as a transfer portal?

 

[Abazigal]

I would go as far as force anything that it’s electronics AND multimedia to have thunderbolt style data support: it has to have audio, video, charging, daisy chasing, etc.

This too. Having all use the same port doesn't address the issue that there are also differing usb-c protocols. Some support fast charging, some have 2.0 speeds, some 3.0, others thunderbolt, some let you output over HDMI (and others don't). I don't expect every cable to be capable of supporting all this (being allowed to buy only thunderbolt cables would be fairly expensive), but I feel there should at least be some way to visually identify what a cable is capable of (eg: some kind of colour coding on the cable itself).

Like if it just does power - blue band.
Purple for usb 3.0
Red for usb 3.2
Power + display = blue and green.

That sort of thing.

 

[EugW]

Well it’s good enough to be used in its iPads and macs already , so there’s no reason to think it’d be any less resilient on iPhones n AirPods.

I have USB-C on my MacBook. The port became loose after a couple of years. Frustrating.

 

[Abazigal]

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.

Here’s how I charge my iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch. No usb c cables involved anywhere.

 

[dampfnudel]

Even if Apple switches to USB-C with the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro, what about the other iPhone models Apple will want to continue selling at lower price points in the EU? I don’t think Apple will redesign the SE, 12 and the 13 to accommodate a USB-C port. Difficult times ahead for Apple.

 

[johnmacward]

iPhone likely too thin for USB-C port, so no go there...

And I converted everything to MagSafe charging, which is awesome.

Usb-C is not a chugger… probably just about the same height as lightning and if it was a touch bigger I don’t think ANYONE would care if their iPhone was 1-2mm thicker for the sake of having everything in their home powered by the one cable type. It’s not a good argument

 

[Truefan31]

I have USB-C on my MacBook. The port became loose after a couple of years. Frustrating.

I’ve had lightning ports come loose as well.

Usb c can do so much more than lightning it’s silly how slow lightning is……..

 

[SanderEvers]

Even if Apple switches to USB-C with the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro, what about the other iPhone models Apple will want to continue selling at lower price points in the EU? I don’t think Apple will redesign the SE, 12 and the 13 to accommodate a USB-C port. Difficult times ahead for Apple.

It would only apply to newly released devices. So older iPhones aren't required to get USB-C.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

And the millennial weighs in on the conversation.

Calling someone a "millennial" or a "boomer" is just name calling, not an argument.

Plus, the whole "war" of the generations is just another arbitrary preoccupation keeping us away from looking at who's actually sucking our societies dry of wealth and destroying the environment.

We are truly facing the much bemoaned "late stage" phase of capitalism when large groups of consumers have their heads so far up the backsides of international mega corporations that they're staunchly arguing against protecting consumer interests at even a basic level.

Consumer interest means us, YOU, your personal finances -Why are you *insert explicit phrase* on Apple when it would gladly sign away any of your consumer rights just to make another dollar?

 

[theotherphil]

By the time this comes out, the iPhone will be completely wireless.

 

[EugW]

I’ve had lightning ports come loose as well.

I have no doubt this is true. Nothing is perfect.

However, it would appear that loose USB-C ports are much more common than loose Lightning ports, including on Apple devices (not just cheap low end USB-C devices). Furthermore, a lot of the time when people encounter loose Lightning ports, it's because it's got dust in the port. Remove the dust bunnies with a toothpick, and it goes back to normal in the vast majority of cases (but not all cases).

But anyways, that's not even the point. The point is that these are competing technologies both with their plusses and minuses, but some bureaucratic organization has decided to waste their time and our time on crap that doesn't actually help us in the greater scheme of things. If we as customers want USB-C, we can vote with our dollars. Apple using Lightning isn't going to stop Samsung from using USB-C. Hell, even Apple uses USB-C. They just didn't want to use it in their phones and that's OK by me.

Yes, the EU should ensure that Apple batteries and Samsung batteries don't explode on us, but that's a far cry from the choice of Lightning vs. USB-C.

Usb c can do so much more than lightning it’s silly how slow lightning is……..

This was already addressed earlier in the thread. Lightning supports USB 3 speeds, albeit... ironically... only via a USB-C to Lightning cable or else the camera adapter. Apple doesn't sell USB-A cables with faster speed support, I suspect because not all the devices can support USB 3 speeds.

I guess the good news is that it is not micro USB. I remember something like a decade ago, the EU was heavily pushing micro USB, and people were pushing Apple to standardize on micro USB, too. Luckily Apple ignored them and did their own thing, because the implementation of micro USB just sucks IMO.