EU Proposes to Force Apple to Switch iPhone, iPad, and AirPods From Lightning to USB-C

[adamlbiscuit]

Good luck getting large video files out of your fresh new iPhone pro max. Lighting in 2021 is an embarrassment, it’s hardly better than micro USB.

This. We're thinking about the cable in terms of charging which is it's primary use, but it's not the only use case. There are people who will want to be able to do wired transfers of files. I know syncing phones with computers via a cable seems old hat, but when you've got 100GB worth of ProRes video files, made capable by the new iPhone 13 Pro Max, having the Lightning cable there just creates a massive disconnect between the phones capabilities and it's wired connectivity. Especially video editors using ProRes.

In the interest of staying on topic though, although I do have a pro USB-C outlook I think Apple should be able to do this if they want to and not due to dictatorship from the EU.

 

[jlc1978]

And for free, the rest of the planet will probably get the same because this is one of those directives that will likely apply globally in practice, just like GDPR.

Or, made websites not accessible from the EU or simply ignore it as it has no force of law outside the EU.

“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 cables.” It says the creator of the thousands of dongles. What a BS!!!!

It's possible whatever successor to Lightening Apple has in mind is the real sticking point, not the current connector. If they have a new port in development this directive prevents them from using it in the EU.

Given Apple's push for "pro" quality video from iPhones it stands to reason they are looking at how to get faster data transfer speeds, and USB-C may not be their preferred method.

Then you should support this initiative, because it means no matter what charger/cable comes with a device you purchase it would work with any other device you purchase. And if no charger or cable comes with the device then you’d already have a wide array of cables and adapters that are compatible. That’s the whole point - make everything universal so that whatever cable you leave behind various furniture items will work with almost anything you want to plug in.

Not necessarily. Apple could use the port but design it only to work with Apple certified cables. Or use pinouts differently so as to require a special cable. Not saying they would, but even USB-C isn't universally the same in terms of capability.

and perhaps standardized voltages.

and frequencies.

Atleast where i live (north europe) stores are obliged to take back electronic devices when you buy new. Also we have periodically e-waste collectors around the city where people can drop off their e-waste for free…

Which is good, but what happens to the ewaste? Where does it get dumped? Until devices are designed for recycling all you are doing is pushing the problem elsewhere, even if you feel good about what you are doing.

If Apple were compelled to make a USB-C version for the EU, I can't see any benefit they'd gain in sticking with Lightning elsewhere.

It really depends on Apple's vision for the future of iPhone connectors. If Apple has a different connector design in mid, they could simply ship EU phones with a snug plug that adapts it to USB-C and use the connector elsewhere in the world. No need to include a cable since the EU uses USB-C. It wouldn't be a dongle , just a bit of a wart on the bottom.

Again, I doubt they do that but if they think their design is superior, I can see them doing that to comply while still moving forward. The screaming from the EU would be interesting if they did, no doubt.

 

[adamlbiscuit]

What exactly is "crazy" about that?

It's 'crazy' because the iPod nano is an nine-year-old media player and the other is a £1000+ smartphone that's being billed as a video editors dream thanks to it's camera system and it's ability to shoot ProRes video. I phrased it poorly by referencing lightning as a 'charging cable' - but in actual fact my key point is when you realise the lightning cable is not solely used for charging, that's when the comparison becomes more stark.

Though in all fairness I did read another post about there being different generations of lightning end users aren't aware of, which I will admit gave me some pause for thought.

 

[deeddawg]

and perhaps standardized voltages.

and frequency... (50 vs 60Hz)

 

[Onexy]

Maybe they should first focus on getting rid of the stupid micro USB connectors first, worry about Apple later.

You have not read the article? This would affect all phones including models with micro USB.

 

[gsurf123]

Mandates are bad for business. Seems to make sense to move to USB-C today, but we will be screwed when something better comes along. Once invented it will not be able to be deployed until it is approved. It will be impossible for a new port to gain traction if it cannot be sold.

Maybe all phones should have the exact same dimensions so that there will not be any case waste. Extrapolating this out we could end up with a single phone model for all that cannot be updated because that would require the approval to use new parts. Less government is always better

 

[deeddawg]

It's 'crazy' because the iPod nano is an nine-year-old media player and the other is a £1000+ smartphone that's being billed as a video editors dream thanks to it's camera system and it's ability to shoot ProRes video.

Though in all fairness I did read another post about there being different generations of lightning end users aren't aware of, which I will admit gave me some pause for thought.

You wrote "charging cable" which is a distinctly different use case from data transfer.

You're also conflating connector type with the underlying data transfer protocols and capabilities. See the myriad USBC connector equipped charging cables supporting USB2.0 data speeds.

Also note - for thirty years we've been using RJ45 connectors for hardwired Ethernet even as speeds and protocols have changed drastically.

 

[Octavius8]

Name one advantage for the market and user of Lightning over USBC. I mean, I don’t want to change my cables, but even Apple has the 2 connectors in its devices, time to homologate to a more advanced solution. Apple has enough trillions of dollars, no need to be greedy with the cables.

 

[dogslobber]

We're lucky that the EU looks out for the rights of us Americans.

 

[nwcs]

In the long run having a standard is good. I suspect, at some point, it would only be about charging as all the data will be wireless at some point. But will this save in e-waste? Maybe, but it would create a lot of initial e-waste as people dispose of their current cables, adapters, and third party products that use the old standards. Any legislation which attempts to use e-waste as a motivator should look to providing a means of proper recycling of the e-waste they are creating with the new legislation.

 

[contacos]

Apple should have brought it to iPhone like 3 years ago, even to be consistent among their own freaking devices and now they are offering an 1 TB iPhone „Pro“ with 10 year ago speed.

wireless charging isn’t a solution either. It is taking FOREVER

So what exactly does this mean ? We are stuck with whatever limitations usb-c has ? No one is allowed to introduce say an usb-d with improvements or do we have to wait for EU approval of each new improved connector type (why would anyone even bother tp try to innovate/improve a connector) ?

And how about these wall outlets that seem to be different even within EU ? Why not regular them too so I don't have to carry different adapters or cables when travelling ?

While it may be a novell idea, I think it is poorly implemented.

The wall outlets are actually the same across the EU since the special snowflake UK left

 

[PilotWoo]

Once again the EU is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. I bet they waste more time and effort putting this in place than any real world savings.

 

[apparatchik]

So, by the writing on the legislation, they'll force the Apple Watch (and similar smartwatches) to integrate a usb c port somewhere? or can the iPhone simply become port-less to comply with the legislation, like the Apple Watch? I agree that this will stifle innovation, when a superior standard (USB D) gets developed, nobody will be able to adopt it because they'll be tied to usb c in Europe.

 

[tridley68]

I can see another $20 dollar jumper being sold like they did when they removed the 🎧headphone jack

 

[kemal]

Lightning connector is a superior user experience though. Apple should just make a new version of lightning that is USB 4 compliant

Until one breaks off in your phone.

 

[bobenhaus]

USB -C is way better than the flimsy lighting connection.

 

[crsh1976]

Lightning connector is a superior user experience though. Apple should just make a new version of lightning that is USB 4 compliant

I sense sarcasm, but I'll say this anyway: the Lightning connector paved the way for USB-C to offer a better user experience (over micro/mini-USB), but failed to become the universal standard it could have been because Apple cannot and doesn't want to play nice with others.

On the flip side, USB-C is sturdier than Lightning, so there's at least an advantage to it.

 

[827538]

As much as I would want iPhone to have USB-C I hope this never gets through. Imagine if they did this when micro-USB was the standard. We would have been stuck with that forever. At some point we will get a connector that's even better than USB-C but this legislation would not allow any new standard to be used.

If I'm remembering correctly the EU did push for micro-USB to become standard which I agree would've been awful.

But USB-C is here to stay and is a good standard. With USB-C I can charge at 100W, transfer data at 40Gb/s, hook up monitors, cameras and other devices and of course it is reversible. It is a great standard and one that should be the default standard. Hell, you can even connect external graphics cards over USB-C ports (Thunderbolt).

If you are worried about durability my 2016 Macbook has a single USB-C port and has seen constant use for half a decade and still works like new. I don't see it as being any less reliable than any other standard.

Apple should either adopt USB-C or go portless - both of which I'm entirely fine with. In fact I wish they would ditch the SIM card slot as it takes up quite a lot of space inside the phone and both my US and UK carriers support eSIM. If you want to talk about e-waste, SIM cards are another example, they aren't really necessary any longer.

 

[TrueBlou]

I take the same number of cables and chargers away on holiday as I use at home.

Which basically proves my point on how different we all are.

For the most part I take 1 charger with me, which is a high wattage multi adapter.
That one adapter can charge/power my MacBook, iPad Pro, iPhone, headphones, Nintendo Switch, 15” portable monitor, Camera, portable router along with my wife’s devices and anything else I happen to take with me.

Depending on where I’m going and for how long, I may also take my battery pack which can provide AC power and a collapsible solar panel.

But of all the years I’ve been doing that, I’ve never actually had to charge every device at once. Thinking ahead usually helps, charging devices overnight and so on.

But, only my iPhone and AirPods Max require a Lightning cable. Even then, I often just use a USB-C to Lightning adapter instead of taking an extra cable. Or I take a MagSafe adapter as well, for my iPhone.

It’s all six of one, half a dozen of the other really. Our devices need charged, one way or another, regardless of the connection, we will have a way to do it. Likewise with data, it doesn’t give a damn what the connection is, it’s electricity, it’ll work however you design the connector.

But given the choice, I’d still prefer an industry standard connector. Frankly, given that Apple has moved to USB-C/Thunderbolt for many products, I’m surprised the iPhone hasn’t gone the same way.

If I had to choose though, screw all of them, give MagSafe data capabilities, now that I’d really like.

 

[827538]

Even more crazy - your 2021 computer and 1970 refrigerator can use the same wall outlet!

Be careful, you'll end up opening a can of worms on whether we should have DC outlets in homes and get rid of AC outlets and their accompanying AC-DC rectifiers.

 

[Metrosey]

Headphones too? I don’t see audiophile headphones using USB C

 

[827538]

Which basically proves my point on how different we all are.

For the most part I take 1 charger with me, which is a high wattage multi adapter.
That one adapter can charge/power my MacBook, iPad Pro, iPhone, headphones, Nintendo Switch, 15” portable monitor, Camera, portable router along with my wife’s devices and anything else I happen to take with me.

Depending on where I’m going and for how long, I may also take my battery pack which can provide AC power and a collapsible solar panel.

But of all the years I’ve been doing that, I’ve never actually had to charge every device at one. Thinking ahead usually helps, charging devices overnight.

But, only my iPhone and AirPods Max require a Lightning cable. Even then, I often just use a USB-C to Lightning adapter instead of taking an extra cable. Or I take a MagSafe adapter.

It’s all six of one, half a dozen of the other really. Our devices need charged, one way or another, regardless of the connection, we will have a way to do it.

But given the choice, I’d still prefer an industry standard connector. Frankly, given that Apple has moved to USB-C/Thunderbolt for many products, I’m surprised the iPhone hasn’t gone the same way.

If I had to choose though, screw all of them, give MagSafe data capabilities, now that I’d really like.

When buying my iPhone 13 Pro last week I went all out and bought a MagSafe Duo Charger and a dual USB-C power brick. So when I travel I can use a single power brick to charge my MacBook, iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. I like to travel light and this is a great solution.

I also bought the Belkin 3-in-1 MagSafe charging stand and while expensive it's very nice to have and has allowed me to clean up my bed side table.

 

[TrueBlou]

When buying my iPhone 13 Pro last week I went all out and bought a MagSafe Duo Charger and a dual USB-C power brick. So when I travel I can use a single power brick to charge my MacBook, iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. I like to travel light and this is a great solution.

I also bought the Belkin 3-in-1 MagSafe charging stand and while expensive it's very nice to have and has allowed me to clean up my bed side table.

Ohhhh, how are you finding the Belkin? I’ve been toying with buying that for a while.

 

[MallardDuck]

mixed feelings. Hate big handed government regulation, but also detest proprietary connectors.

im afraid that they're going back that way with the next Mac instead of usb c charging. If so, that'll be expensive to replace all the power bricks.

 

[kerr]

You have not read the article? This would affect all phones including models with micro USB.

You have not read my post? The point I am making is that Apple gets all this attention because their phones are not USB-C, however more devices are using micro USB, hence that is a bigger problem.