This wasn’t a recall situation. Just customers not taking responsibility for breaking their devices and lawyers went ahead with the case like because of money
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
EU Warns Apple About Limiting Speeds of Uncertified USB-C Cables for iPhones
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
very true we have idiots on both parties
Not when a company is making as much as Apple and it's products and services have as ginormous impact on the entire World as Apple's do.
The decisions Apple and other tech giants make for their best selling products shape societies and industries.
Regulations are the only way to tame these beasts, it's the only sensible thing to do.
Maybe the insanity should end at abolishing the FDA and letting people bottle and sell whatever they want and make whatever claims they want? Or maybe it should end at abolishing child labor laws and giving parents the "right" to work their kids to death. Or maybe we should abolish any controls over the energy sector and let corporations charge whatever they want for power during a heat wave. After all, if enough people don't buy from that power company, they'll go out of business, right? Lol.
You want to talk about insanity? Insanity is the simpleton knee-jerk reaction to any type of government regulation because anything and everything government does is bad and every regulation is an attempt to control your freedumb. That's the real insanity.
Governments tell corporations what to do all of the time. Government's job is to represent the people, to do right by the people. I won't argue that they often fail, but I'm not so cynical and, frankly, foolish to see this move by the EU as some form of government overreach, much less an attempt at control. This is about doing a good thing for the consumer, for society as a whole, and for the environment. You can't compare the RAM architecture of AS chips with a charging cable. That's absurd.
uhh... sure....
so if apple decided that all iphones that were not bright pink (only the iphone 5c is, lol) were obsolete, you would be okay with that, because their product, their choice?
how exactly would customers alone change apple? by switching to.... *gasp* THE EVIL ROBOT COMPANY!!
apple is too big now, someone needs to bring them back down to earth, lol
From furries to firearms people on both political parties make assumptions about things they don’t know about.
Last edited:
If the cable identifies itself as one that can pass 2A then it should be able to safely do so. There's no need for Apple to have its own verification when this already exists in the USB-C standard, making it "universal".
And the world was getting along just fine before the EU decided to butt in.
Did you just compare the EU regulating a charging/data cable with public health and safety, child labor, etc? Talk about a major category error there. Of course I don't have an issue with the government regulating those things, because the safety and well being of the general public is at stake. That is what governments should concern themselves with, not USB-C cables.
Are you kidding me? It's the exact same principle! Do you not agree being able to upgrade your RAM (or SSD) without having to buy a brand new computer would be beneficial to the consumer? If so, then why are you being inconsistent?
Darn, they are thwarting Apple's plans to sell an Apple iCable Pro.
That's a silly hypothetical, as we all know it would never happen and wouldn't make sense, but sure, they should be allowed to discontinue any of their products for whatever reason they want. They'd get plenty of consumer backlash from such a nonsensical decision. No need for the government to butt in and threaten them over it.
Sure. If the USB-C issue is so grievous, then that's exactly what they would do. If they don't, then money speaks louder than words.
Exactly this.
The EU isn't some anti-Apple organisation set out to destroy Tim Cook & Co.'s profit margins.
They are simply trying to find a balance between what is fair for consumers while also giving businesses enough room to grow.
Today, smartphones are pretty much as essential to working and living as the wall sockets that we put their chargers into are
-Of course charging ports should be standardized. For charging ports and cables, there's no benefit to the opposite, only for Apple.
Apple was more concerned with profit margins than innovating to something equal to or better than USB-C. So now the E.U. is forcing them to upgrade to the latter.
Everyone wins but Apple's shareholders. 🤷♂️
You’re kind of making my point.
Your example is a class action lawsuit. That means a lawyer took the case thinking that there is a chance that it can be ruled in their favor that Apple has a defect in their product. They’re arguing that it’s NOT “customers not taking responsibility for breaking their devices…”
No lawyer with a shred of common sense or dignity would take up a case where users admittedly use untested products and put them inside their devices.
Of course I'm being hyperbolic but yeah, I did compare those things. The fact is, plenty of people who parrot this "government control" trope think we should get rid of the EPA, the FDA, the CDC, etc.
It's not even remotely the same principle. It might have been ridiculous for me to compare the regulation of charging cables to child labor laws...but it's equally ridiculous of you to compare AS to a charging cable. There are numerous very complicated engineering reasons for RAM being integrated. You can't make the same argument for a Lightning cable. Lightning does nothing special. Changing to a common standard doesn't impact product performance or usability. Changing to a common standard is easy, technically. Apple has already done it on some devices. Making AS RAM upgradable would be a herculean task.
As for the MFI cable issue more specifically, I'd support Apple's argument that MFI-certification is required for maximum cable performance if they can show evidence that non-certified cables damage products and have other consumer safety concerns. I have yet to see any such evidence from anyone and real-world empirical seems to support this. Most cables sold are probably generic, yet there doesn't appear to be an epidemic of damaged devices and fires caused by faulty cables.
Last edited:
You would know what I mean if you bothered to even read the paragraph after that sentence.
So I think you understand now that you misunderstood where I was coming from. I'm not one of those who advocates for the abolishment of all governmental organizations. But there has to be a line drawn at some point, and to me there's a distinct line between public health, safety, and well-being and consumer convenience.
But who cares about Apple's engineering? This is about benefitting the consumer, remember? And I'd make the same point pre-Apple Silicon. For instance, the EU should've forced Apple to design the 21.5 inch iMac with easy-upgradable RAM (to do it, you had to remove the display and other parts to get to it--not exactly "consumer friendly", right?) And same goes for soldered SSDs or otherwise hard-to-replace parts.
I'm just pointing out that people are not being consistent with this. If they were, then they'd quickly see what an insane mess it becomes when we give government way too much control over product design.
Sure, because Apple never limits functionality in the name of profit. 🙄
Apple couldn’t put USB-C in entry level iPads because of the original Apple Pencil?
To be honest, I had a hard time following your logic. Just seems like mental gymnastics to justify Apple’s anti-consumer practices.
I’ll preface this by saying I like the iPhone getting USB-C - I think it’s a great idea.
Apple is by no means perfect, but governments of the world are the least efficient and effective groups of people ever assembled. Let the government build their own smartphone if they want - but the EU sticking their nose into product design would only end with an abomination of an iPhone that no one would want to use.
I don’t think any government should have a say in the products companies design, beyond safety considerations. Let the market sort it out - if people want USB C bad enough they will buy phones with USB C and Apple will have to adapt. That’s the joy of a free market.
P.S. - Remember governments aren’t your friend 👍🏻
Not necessarily. Sueing a company, especially some cheap off brand that can disappear overnight, with no money to pay is a losing proposition, even if you win. Lawyers are not willing to spend their time and money on that with no chance of getting paid.
Probably the same lawyers that do this:
Apple hit with lawsuit claiming M1 MacBook screens are 'defective' | AppleInsider
Apple has been hit with a class action lawsuit claiming that M1 MacBook models ship with a concealed defect causing their screens to become easily cracked.appleinsider.com
Apple has a bit more cash than some random company on Amazon.
Remember when the EU tried to force a Micro USB iPhone on everyone.
And one could no doubt make the argument that forcing Apple to fundamentally re-engineer (if it's even possible) AS, resulting in higher costs for the consumer, degraded performance, etc. would NOT benefit the consumer.
There's also a very real argument to be made for forcing Apple and every other consumer electronics company to standardize charging cables/ports. There is a clear consumer benefit and minimal cost to the product manufacturers. Proprietary cables do not benefit the consumer in any way.
The reality is, almost no one upgrades their computers, especially these days. I have mixed feelings on how far regulation should go. When it comes to charging cables, though, there's no gray area for me. This is a no-brainer. Having a charging standard for mobile devices greatly benefits everyone, the individual consumer and society as a whole. I'm fine with government stepping in and setting that standard.
Where's the evidence that government is trying to exert control over product design? Defining a charging standard hardly rises to the level of government meddling in product design. Governments sets all kind of standards by which corporations must abide. Occasionally these standards impact product design on the margins. There's no evidence that any government is trying to insert themselves in the design process in any significant way.