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Greg Joswiak: Apple Will Have to Comply With the EU and Switch iPhone to USB-C
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Paranoia by proxy? Why do you care if the EU were actually out to "punish" Apple? Which they’re not.
And wasn’t the Harley Davidson situation a response to punitive duties for European products, implemented by the previous US administration?
That tariff didn’t go ahead and was in response to US tariffs on imported steel and aluminium. Guess what EU steel and aluminium was priced out of the market.
They'll do whatever chipset availability is most financially viable. Or 5Gbps/10Gbps as a further product segmentation?
Sure, but it still means a whole different case part, which no doubt adds to costs at least slightly.
But you’re right about not keeping Lightning. They didn’t keep lightning on iPads in any market, why would they do so on iPhones?
It’s 10Gbps on the iPad Air at least, I’ve not checked the others. But economies of scale would suggest they’ll make them all the same.
No different from Lightning which is just another Apple proprietary nonsense. Arguably, they’re still up to it even today with MagSafe on Macs.
The iPad Pro with M2 gets the full Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 40 Gbps. It’s determined by what SoC the device uses as the port capabilities are built in to the chip.
The EU doesn’t care about what data capabilities/ speed the port has. This rule is all about charging interoperability.
Thank you, didn’t know it was built in, I presumed it would be a separate controller.
Just looking at the 2022 iPad, there’s no mention of what speed it supports, although you can connect an external display at up to 4K@30Hz.
Lightning made good sense in its time - much better mechanically and far more versatile than mini/microUSB - but should have been replaced with USB-C in 2016 when (a) apparently USB-C was all you needed on a MacBook and (b) they removed the headphone jack from the iPhone, so people needed new headphones anyway.
LocalTalk & ADB, offered unique features not offered by “industry standard” interfaces when they first appeared (there was no USB, and Ethernet was expensive) - but they were ready to be replaced when the first iMac came out.
As for MagSafe, the current MacBook Pro version is completely optional - the charger has a USB-C output and the MacBook Pro can be charged by it's USB-C ports. It’s also an example of when a dedicated connector can be useful on a computer with space for multiple ports - it does one job well - an easy to pull-out breakaway connector solves a particular problem - trailing laptop power cables pulling computers off desks - and avoids wasting a whole Thunderbolt port & controller just to power your laptop - but it is too easily disconnected to use for connecting disc drives etc.
The MicroUSB agreement expired years ago (& also allowed the use of a dongle) and they've taken this long to produce a new directive.
Everybody is spinning this as EU vs. Apple, when Apple isn't really the big offender. Their iDevices have always used chargers with USB sockets so its only cables that get "wasted" (I've been travelling with a single adapter and a mix of Apple and Android devices for years) and they've only gone through 3 connectors (Firewire, 30 pin, Lightning) in the entire history of iDevices.
People seem to have forgotten the bad old days of the 90s/00s when every brand of phone, media player, digital camera - sometimes even different models from the same brand - came with its own idiosyncratic power & data sockets and (usually) a charging brick with a captive cable. These days, one USB-A adapter and 3 cables (lightning, microUSB, USB-C) and you're usually sorted.
Whether the EU had any influence on this - or whether USB was going to emerge as the de-facto standard low voltage power/data interface anybody is harder to say, but at worst the EU directive is irrelevant and just pushing on an open door.
However, the reason for such directives is "the tragedy of the commons" - the majority of consumers don't look at the big picture and if one manufacturer can gain a competitive edge with the old "cut the sticker price and make up by selling expensive proprietary chargers" they'll all fall for it, and soon other companies will be forced down the same road by competitive pressures. The more discerning consumer won't have any choice. When done properly, these sorts of rules level the playing field for manufacturers who want to do the right thing and can actually improve competition.
If you're choosing (say) a phone, you want to make your decision on things like the merits of iOS vs. Android or the relative quality of the cameras - not whether you'll have to replace all of your accessories.
There is no such thing as a 'free market'. That is just a silly concept in people's heads to prove a point.
oh did they ... hmm let me see how many times the 80% of the Producst have changes the connector sice apple changed it from 40pin to lightning ... lets count, MiniUSB, MicroUSB, then some PropriateUSB and now last 3to4 years USB-C which still is not the same as the first one.
So what the hell are you talking here, you dont even know what you have written not that apple should have done something.
If you believ that you will change the USB-C iPhone with a standard USB-C cable from china ... LOLOLOLOLOLOL ... the be prepared for a surpise. YOU WONT :-D
Yes there was such information long time ago ... 256KB should be enough for everyone ... :-D
after 30 years you wont even know what USB-C is nor you could connect something with or to it.
And just how this will be done ? on which product this can / could be, before the "LEGISLATION" will be adapted ? are really thinking what you have just written ... because this is impossible to do.
And just on behalve of what the EU said that the USB-C is better that Lightning ? ... on nothing and no one, the "Standard" is and was never a theme for politicians but for the manufacturers and the cunsumers what they want preferr and how convient is it to use.
I wonder if they said that about USB-A 2.0, 21 years ago. Put the glass down, there’s kids here.