Gurman: AirPods and Mac Accessories Likely to Switch to USB-C by 2024

[teh_hunterer]

That train (USB-C) has left the station quite some time ago and Apple is still in the station, could certainly have done better.
And for moving to all wireless - unless you can get the losses down to <5%, bad move. Think about 100M iPhones charged daily and the loses add up to an enormous amount

It's nothing in the grand scheme of things. The impact of just how much more power hungry PC parts will get in the next couple of years would dwarf the extra power consumption of wirelessly charging iPhones.

I also have to charge my iPhone half as much as I had to change my last phone, because it uses so little power in the first place.

 

[bradman83]

What'll happen in 10 years when USB is too slow for data and can't carry enough power? Your portable device has to have a second port on it?

There are a few key points I think are worth reemphasizing:

1. This regulation requires USB-C be an option for charging on mobile devices, accessories, and eventually laptops. It doesn't govern data ports; manufacturers are free to add whatever ports they'd like for data or other I/O.
2. The rule does not prohibit other power source options; Apple can keep MagSafe on its laptops since the USB-C ports also accept power.
3. USB-C itself is a connection standard, not a protocol standard. It's already received several upgrades over the years.
   1. It used to max out at 100W of power delivery, now it can do 240W.
   2. It started out capped at 10Gbps of USB 3.x data, now newer versions of USB and overlays of Thunderbolt have increased that to 40Gbps, with 80Gbps for Thunderbolt 5 and USB4 ver 2.0 on the horizon.
4. More capable USB-C equipment is always backwards compatible with older devices/cables.

USB-C already supports 240W of power which is significantly more than all but the most power-hungry gaming laptops require, and the trend the past 20 years has been for mobile devices to be more power efficient, not less. The whole point is that if you have multiple consumer electronic devices, mobile devices, or a laptop that you can share a power cable between them, something I enjoy immensely across some, but not all of my current devices.

 

[GeoffAlex]

Gurman said that he thinks the USB-C era will be far shorter than the tenure of the 30-pin iPod connector or Lightning, "at least for Apple's mobile devices." The iPod connector and Lightning will have been on new Apple devices for around 11 years each before they were phased out

Yes this is hardly an achievement. It just means Apple stuck to their outdated proprietary connector way longer than they should have, nothing to boast about, quite the opposite. Would be good for them to finally conform to industry standards that get revised/renewed over time and so keeping up with new developments.

 

[icanhazmac]

Here’s something that will blow your mind: Dell has been putting their barrel connector power plugs, and Apple just reintroduced magsafe, on laptops that also charge with usbc

Here's something that will blow your mind, Apple does not have near the power hungriness of a full powered Dell with a 308x0 or 40x0 gpu.

USB-C is not the way to go with a 13th gen intel plus 40x0 nvidia gpu!

 

[trip1ex]

I don‘t understand people defending the lightning port and are against the uniformity of USB C. Apple will surely make a good quality USB C cables like on their Macbooks. We can‘t go back to the nightmare of every manufacturer have their own connectors (more for profit than innovation). They all have the same goal and function, to charge/extend functions, the lightning cable is so much behind the times. USB C can still be improved when the manufacturers work together for new protocols. So why worry?

IT's easy to understand.

What was the first "do everything" cable to let you plug it in either right side up or right side down?

A: Lightning.

Who was responsible for that? Government or Apple?

A: Apple.

Will I need to buy new cables if Apple switches to USBC?

A: Yes

Do I really think I will save on the number of cables I own?

A: No.

Do I ever transfer data to/from my iPHone via a cable?

A: No

Do I already have a lot of Lightning cables?

A: Yes

Do I think Apple would switch the iPHone to USBC if it provided a great benefit to customers?

A: Yes


That's why people are perfectly happy with Lightning still and don't see the point of the regulation.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Cowards! Apple needs to grow a spine, vote with its feet, and pull out of the EU market to protest this governmental overreach.

 

[Black Tiger]

I think the story of USB C is fascinating. Apple was vilified for being the first manufacturer to adopt USB C exclusively on computers. And people complained then and Apple chose to roll that back. Now people are complaining and saying that Apple is dragging its feet on USB C for its mobile devices. Come on. USB C is ubiquitous precisely because of Apple’s earlier actions. So now the rest of the industry has caught up and all of a sudden the lightning port is a problem, even when people have drawers full of lightning cables. It’s ridiculous.

 

[ericwn]

Cowards! Apple needs to grow a spine, vote with its feet, and pull out of the EU market to protest this governmental overreach.

It’s perfectly in the realm of the EU to make regulations applicable to all manufacturers of such devices, especially since the market was unable to develop one standard. They should have applied that very same logic to wall outlets decades ago as well, maybe at least some Irish and British customers could have been saved from that his awful three prong wall plug, clearly designed by a blind first grader back in the 1800s.
Apple can easily fix this by adding a little USBC port next to Lightning. Keep both, issue solved.
Moving out of the EU would be the cowardly move and of course it’s completely opposed to any publicly traded company’s purpose to retreat from a market as it would weaken Apple, its shareholders and move the customer base in the first world countries into a position where they’re left to Android - who seemingly are perfectly capable to make this transition, just like Apple has done for most core products outside of iPhones, excluding accessories.

 

[coachgq]

Lightning seems solid usb c seems flimsy.

I can understand that. I haven’t had an issue with anything usb c but I can see where you’re coming from.

 

[coachgq]

I think the story of USB C is fascinating. Apple was vilified for being the first manufacturer to adopt USB C exclusively on computers. And people complained then and Apple chose to roll that back. Now people are complaining and saying that Apple is dragging its feet on USB C for its mobile devices. Come on. USB C is ubiquitous precisely because of Apple’s earlier actions. So now the rest of the industry has caught up and all of a sudden the lightning port is a problem, even when people have drawers full of lightning cables. It’s ridiculous.

I really don’t care which one they chose, I just want to carry one cable. And one MagSafe duo. If they are all usb c, that’s fine with me. Same with lightning.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Cowards! Apple needs to grow a spine, vote with its feet, and pull out of the EU market to protest this governmental overreach.

You'd rather lose several many hundreds of billions in total sales instead of losing a few hundred million by letting go of the MFI Lightning I/O royalty program thing?

That sounds like horrendous financial advice.

Why not give it a postive spin?

-The shift to USB-C is ripe with opportunity to resell you everything you already own just to get faster charging and data transfer speeds.

I bet you'll love USB-C once Apple gets into marketing it to you with new products. Just you wait and see!

 

[ipedro]

AirPods have doubled down on wireless charging. Not only do they work with Qi and MagSafe, they can now be charged by an Apple Watch charger. I think it's more likely that AirPods become exclusively wireless in the same way Apple Watch is. This will happen when Apple unveils an iPhone that has reverse MagSafe. Snap your AirPods case to the back of an iPhone for a quick charge, like Apple Pencil. Just a few minutes gives you up to an hour of listening time.

 

[Black Tiger]

I really don’t care which one they chose, I just want to carry one cable. And one MagSafe duo. If they are all usb c, that’s fine with me. Same with lightning.

I love USB C. I wish everything was this connector only. My point is that Apple was trying to do this first by only having USB C, and got pushback for it, to the point that they backtracked. Now everyone sees the benefit that Apple was arguing back in 2016 that they were vilified for.

 

[Black Tiger]

AirPods have doubled down on wireless charging. Not only do they work with Qi and MagSafe, they can now be charged by an Apple Watch charger. I think it's more likely that AirPods become exclusively wireless in the same way Apple Watch is. This will happen when Apple unveils an iPhone that has reverse MagSafe. Snap your AirPods case to the back of an iPhone for a quick charge, like Apple Pencil. Just a few minutes gives you up to an hour of listening time.

There is no such thing as wireless charging. Because I have yet to see a Qi charger that generates its own electricity out of thin air. And so if the “wireless charger” itself has to be plugged in, I don’t see any benefit to those types of charging options. To me the only benefit of Qi is that it is a universal standard. But USB C is too. And so while I think inductive charging is a great option for people who want it, it will never be as fast as a wired connection, so I hope the wired charging remains.

 

[RobArtLyn]

Obviously.

My point is that under a government mandate to use port-X no single company will put any effort into making something unique, different and better because the chance they will get it accepted as the new mandate is a daunting task with only a tiny chance for return on investment. Thus innovation is stifled.

Furthermore, when has 1 size fits all ever worked out well?

Wow, are you going to be shocked when you learn that your TV, toaster, and vacuum all use a one-size-fits-all power plug.

 

[darngooddesign]

I love USB C. I wish everything was this connector only. My point is that Apple was trying to do this first by only having USB C, and got pushback for it, to the point that they backtracked. Now everyone sees the benefit that Apple was arguing back in 2016 that they were vilified for.

If Apple saw the benefit of everything USB-C back in 2016, iPhones would be USB-C by now.

 

[Tagbert]

Lightning seems solid usb c seems flimsy.

Lots of people complain about failing Lightening ports and cables. No cable is without some drawbacks. It’s always a tradeoff of durability with other factors.

 

[coachgq]

I love USB C. I wish everything was this connector only. My point is that Apple was trying to do this first by only having USB C, and got pushback for it, to the point that they backtracked. Now everyone sees the benefit that Apple was arguing back in 2016 that they were vilified for.

I agree with you for sure.

 

[RobArtLyn]

Just because something works doesn't mean it is the best implementation.

I am very sure that there is a better way to implement the common household plug in 2022 but to my point no one will ever put any thought into it because it will probably never change.

That’s a feature, not a bug. That there is a standard is often more important than the details of the standard. That inertia keeps someone from making a change just because they were visited by the Good Idea Fairy. Perfection is the enemy of good enough.

 

[RobArtLyn]

yes, but that approached was in a time without any laws that we have now from 2024 forwards
Thank God EU didnt applied this laws when the microusb was a "standard"

Actually, history is repeating itself 12 years later:

European standardization bodies formalize micro-USB cellphone charger standard

It's been more than a year since Nokia, Apple, RIM, Motorola and just about every other major cellphone manufacturer agreed on a micro-USB cellphone charger standard for Europe, but the two key European standards bodies have just now finally followed up on their end of the bargain. CEN-CENELEC...

www.engadget.com

This time, everyone but Apple was already on board.

 

[trip1ex]

Actually, history is repeating itself 12 years later:

European standardization bodies formalize micro-USB cellphone charger standard

It's been more than a year since Nokia, Apple, RIM, Motorola and just about every other major cellphone manufacturer agreed on a micro-USB cellphone charger standard for Europe, but the two key European standards bodies have just now finally followed up on their end of the bargain. CEN-CENELEC...

www.engadget.com

This time, everyone but Apple was already on board.

Yeah but Apple never used micro-usb despite being on board.

And in less than 2 years after that article, Lightning came out.

Now they aren't on board with the EU agreement but might do USBC on the iPhone...

...unless they have a different connector in the works for the near future.

 

[Neepman]

No, I read an article by an electrical engineer that detailed why the Lightning cables fry. It's totally a design flaw. Look at a USB-A plug. Two contacts mate before the rest. It's grounding. Sure, it's possible they could arc too and burnout, but I have never seen one that happened to, but lightning cables? Quite a few. Apple is tired of them too. Try to get one replaced now. Last time they wouldn't. True Apple cables seem to last longer, but they still burnout too.

I would rather replace an external 10 dollar cable than a thousand dollar phone when the internal port connector fails.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

You'd rather lose several many hundreds of billions in total sales... That sounds like horrendous financial advice.

It's a matter of principle. Apple should not kowtow to governmental tyranny such as this.

It’s perfectly in the realm of the EU to make regulations applicable to all manufacturers of such devices...

And it's perfectly within the realm of Apple to pack up its toys and go home.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

I just got a FedEx with an early development iPhone 15 and it has "wireless only" charging but there is also an ugly rubber plug covering a USB-C port on the bottom. There was also a note from a very angry Steve Jobs, which I can't reprint here.

 

[svish]

Will be nice to have USB C on all the products. Looking forward to seeing a new Magic Mouse with USB C