European Lawmakers Want to Force All Smartphones to Have Same Charging Port, Apple Defends Lightning

[Rogifan]

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Uh… isn’t Apple the one that eliminates standard ports all the time, necessitating the use of special cables or external adapters? I mean, I’m generally ok with eliminating standard ports if it moves new technologies along, but their response here seems antithetical with their usual MO. Apple is most likely against it because of the money they make licensing their proprietary Lightning plug to 3rd parties. I say we see some of that ol’ Apple “courage” and move towards USB-C as soon as possible so I can simplify my wire collection!

What standard port did Apple eliminate on the iPhone?

 

[joeblow7777]

You are right, politicians love to control people since they think that people are too stupid to make decisions for themselves. It gives them power to extract money from the people being controlled and the companies they are controlling, a win-win for the politicians, a lose-lose for liberty.

I feel that history has proven that people are often bad at making decisions for themselves... or else, they’re all too good at making decisions for themselves which are not good or sustainable for society as a whole.

The catch 22 is that if people are bad at making decisions, they will inevitably choose bad leaders...

 

[dwsolberg]

I'm glad to see that legislators have finally found the bravery to tackle the most important issues of our day. Seriously, though, beyond being an almost insignificant issue, this is shortsighted.. It basically says, hey, usb-c is the last connection. Further improvement won't happen because, basically, they're illegal to use.

 

[Trhodezy]

God bless Brexit.

 

[Dezmond]

Yes please! Much more consumer-friendly to use one standard (if it remains for the foreseeable future)

 

[joeblow7777]

If the European Union is truly concerned about e-waste they should force Android OEMs to provide updates so their devices aren’t obsolete a year after being sold. That’s a far more serious problem than charging cables.

Meanwhile, iPhones are frequently kept in service for 5 years.

To be fair, not having the latest OS does not make a device obsolete. It’s not like a phone stops working because it doesn’t have Android 10. In fact, some people want to stay on older versions because they believe that updates are designed to slow down their phone.

 

[MacSince1985]

[...] as the European Commission's previous approach of merely "encouraging" tech companies to develop a standardized solution has "fell short of the co-legislators' objectives,"[...]

I disagree with that assessment. 10 years ago, just about every phone or device had a different connector, different voltage and/pr polarity, hence the boxes of chargers and adapters. Today, most devices have one of only three connectors: USB-C, Lightning, and Micro USB. The latter is disappearing fast, and Apple is moving to USB-C as well.

I feel the law has achieved its intended goals, but changes to that law are unnecessary as the market is moving to a unique standard anyway.

 

[Laton]

Technological advancement is always faster than the law.

The idea itself is okay, but the law shouldn't force a specific technology.

Like charging cable... Why not make at least a technological leap and go for mandatory Qi-charging ability? 😏

 

[BGPL]

I don't think government should be able to force stuff like this, but in this case if that's what it takes for Apple to go to USB-C, then great. Otherwise they'll stay proprietary for the almighty dollar. The USB-C is superior to lightning and it's the new standard. I would guess it will be around for at least another decade, just based on the life of the USB-A connector... which unfortunately, is still around.

I've had android work phones for 10 years now. I've never had a USB-C cable or port go bad in that entire time. I've had numerous lightning cables get thrown out over the years due to the exposed contacts. If you think this is done for anything other than revenue, you are being misled.

If anyone says Lightning is superior to USB-C, or that USB-C isn't the new standard, you need to stop drinking Timmy's kool-aid.

 

[Menel]

Well Apple's statement only makes sense if they never replace lightning but of course it will happen and there won't be any excuse not to follow an open standard. Especially not when Apple themselves are promoting a completely wireless future (including charging). Unless they are aiming for future devices without ANY ports.

No ports! Gonna try to make my iPhone X last until we get port free like Apple Watch.

 

[trainwrecka]

Why not let the market decide? Why do we need the government to force things like this? If having a universal port is important to people, they would flock to the many USB devices. It isn't. Annoying to some? Yes, but most people deal with it. If enough people were leaving Apple due to the port, Apple would happily change it.

 

[Menel]

To be fair, not having the latest OS does not make a device obsolete. It’s not like a phone stops working because it doesn’t have Android 10. In fact, some people want to stay on older versions because they believe that updates are designed to slow down their phone.

Security. Some people consider it a necessity.

 

[Gasu E.]

No, but it's a very good port that's already in its second (or is it 3rd) generation. It's quite adaptable, and should suffice for a good long time. And when a better port comes along, all of the phone manufacturers can get together and adopt it too. Just like they all* did with USB.

*Excluding Apple, obviously.

Although Apple wasn't part of the original USB consortium, the original iMac was the first popular computer to adopt the USB standard, in 1998.

 

[JustMartin]

I'm not sure why this has come up again. As @Scepticalscribe points out, we had this problem a few years ago when every make of phone or even iteration of a phone came with its own specific adapter. And the end result was drawers full of the things (that's how it's bad for the environment @benface). The EU mandated that all phones should be able to us the same charger and this shifted the market towards USB charging with cables having USB on one end and either lightning or another form of USB on the other.

Having standard inputs on the phones for charging would save on the number of adapter cables being produced, but the effect would be minimal, I think.

 

[WaxedJacket]

Firewire standard or I'll riot.

 

[trainwrecka]

I don't think government should be able to force stuff like this, but...

There is always a "but". You have the choice to choose an alternative, why is that not good enough? If enough of you leave for USB-C devices, Apple would cave. The issue is, you know most people are just fine with Lightning.

PS: I'm still mourning the headphone jack, so it isn't like I don't understand. I just don't want the government stepping in and stifling innovation. Lightning 2.0 will probably be far better than USB-C.

 

[ajfahey]

If the EU government agency got their way they’d force products like the Apple Watch to use the ”common” connector. You’re almost there now Apple. Completely get rid of connectors on all of your phones and eliminate the last opening keeping phones from being virtually waterproof.

 

[techfreak23]

That's right. Instead Apple wants to ship computers that have a (USB-C) port you can't plug your iPhone in (comes with USB-A), and instead of giving you the adapter, sell it to you.
Good for the EU to ensure this never happens again.
Imagine if every company created its own version of the power outlet...

Umm the iPhone 11 Pros come with a Lightning to USB-C cable in the box, along with an 18W quick charger that is USB-C. The 11 doesn’t, but that’s because it’s their “budget” phone. The newest iPad Pro come with the same 18W charger and a USB-C to USB-C cable. Even the new AirPods Pro come with a Lightning to USB-C cable. You can bet that going forward, if Apple doesn’t just completely replace Lightning with USB-C, that Apple will include that cable with their products going forward. These things take time to transition. Hell, I still don’t have a computer with USB-C, but luckily I already had a USB-A to USB-C cable from other devices I have purchased recently. Having the government, which most don’t understand technology at all, step in and try to regulate that is not actually going to help anyone.

 

[Mikey44]

To be fair, not having the latest OS does not make a device obsolete. It’s not like a phone stops working because it doesn’t have Android 10. In fact, some people want to stay on older versions because they believe that updates are designed to slow down their phone.

I agree with your comment to some extent, however, there may be important security patches that may not be rolled out to a user if they are no longer receiving updates. Which is creating a possible loss of PII.

 

[NMBob]

They should require that all phones from all manufacturers standardize on the IEEE 1284 connector.😁

Eight data lines at Thunderbolt speeds...bring it on! That was a nice connector back in the day.

 

[mousekiks]

No, that's what I meant. You have USB Type-C, version 3, 3.1, and 3.2, something something gen 1, gen 2... Heck, you can even do USB 1, 1.1 and 2 over type-C.

What you're referring to is different standards of USB. Don't confuse the connector with the generation of USB technology. Here's a picture showing what I mean.


I may be wrong, but technically speaking it may be possible for the lightning connector to handle much faster speeds than currently supported and you can always have the other end of the connector be USB-C.

 

[MBX]

I don’t care for the EU request. I just find it stupid that Apple still uses the lightning port that isn’t even compatible with their other products and you need a f...ing dongle.

I can easily plug in a Samsung phone to my Mac but need a dongle to connect an iPhone, what a joke.

 

[DogHouseDub]

What standard port did Apple eliminate on the iPhone?

umm

 

[mazz0]

I don't agree with the proposed law on this one, but Apple's response is bull. They'll clearly move cable when they want to, even though all the same arguments against doing so will still apply .

 

[MauiPa]

The only reason Lightning even exists is because Micro USB sucks, and USB-C was not ready in time for the iPhone 5 which needed a physically smaller port.

Apple should put Lightning to rest already and move to USB-C. They already have on iPads and Macs, why is the phone the odd one out? Enough already, Apple! I won't even mind having to buy new cables because it'll probably be the last time.

I agree, the stupid USB commission should hav adopted Lightning, first to the market by a one shot, they just wanted to be different, make em change!