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Gurman: Apple to Release USB-C AirPods Pro Case, Likely Alongside iPhone 15 Launch
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Just the case? I won't be buying AirPods until they come with USB-C ports. Yes wireless charging is working but I hate carrying extra cables just for the phones/AirPods when I need to travel light. Fewer cables to carry is a welcome change.
Low volume lightning cable production will continue just as I can still buy the 30pin, mini USB, DVI and VGA cables at a speciality retailers. Agents in China will buy buy up alot of lightning cables on the cheap to resell, some will be thrown away which is expected. However the Europeans want to get the ball rolling on consolidating different standards of charge cables for mobile devices and it starts with usb-c.
Again that creates more ewaste than it should. It's not ewaste if a cable continues to be useful. Accelerating the death of a lightning port rather than slowly transitioning it, as well as accelerating the adoption of USB-C unnecessarily creates more ewaste.
Calculate the average number of cables that every Apple user buys in their lifetime and you can see EU increased it as opposed to letting Apple control their ports
So 8 years is to quick you think?
Personally, the 5 original usb-c cables i've had since my 2015 macbook, ipad and samsung galaxy phone are still with me and used daily. I've lost count how many lighning cables I've gone through.
If I were you, id consider getting an iphone 14 so you can continue using your lighning cables for another couple of years.
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I'm not entirely sure how you can "slowly transition" any port on a device that only has one port without creating any waste. Transition to what?
Yes, at the moment people have existing cables that work with their iPhones, but any change to USB-C (or anything else for that matter) means there is a cutoff point when your old cable no longer works.
I'd say at the moment it's actually worse because people will generally use USB-A to Lightning, USB-C to Lightning, USB-C to MagSafe and USB-C to USB-C cables.
What I do know is that currently of the above USB-C has emerged as the most widely supported solution and adopting it will likely mean less waste in the long run because you can charge more or less anything.
Of course it sucks if you already have your cables in place, so do I. But unless Apple puts a Lightning and a USB-C port on its iPhones and iPads, there is absolutely no feasible way to transition anything ever again without creating any waste. Coincidentally, this will just create a slow trickle of waste as well.
I'm not sure what exactly you're asking for or how you think this should be implemented.
Gurman stating the obvious YET AGAIN.
Utter hack.
Anyway, ill finally be free of this ****** lightning cable with the release of the 15 Pro and new AirPods Pro with USB-C.
Held off last year as EVERYONE with a brain knew this was coming in 2023, just like they did with MagSafe cases a year after the first Pro released.
USB-C EVERYTHING!!!! Now I just need OLED on iPad and ill finally be happy with Apple after years of garbage from tight ass Tim.
Utter hack.
Anyway, ill finally be free of this ****** lightning cable with the release of the 15 Pro and new AirPods Pro with USB-C.
Held off last year as EVERYONE with a brain knew this was coming in 2023, just like they did with MagSafe cases a year after the first Pro released.
USB-C EVERYTHING!!!! Now I just need OLED on iPad and ill finally be happy with Apple after years of garbage from tight ass Tim.
Apple were part of making USB-C, it was in the works for years and they still went with their own for $$$$$ reasons.
They do not care about e-waste, never have.
The case is the only component that's ever had a port on it, so I’m not sure the problem?
Each incremental refinement is incremental innovation. This is the basis of kaizen.
That said, big step change innovations and incremental kaizen improvements are not mutually exclusive nor should they be.
Looks like you might be stuck with your lightning ear pods for awhile then.
need context for 8 years, no idea what you're talking about.
not sure what do with anecdotal experiences. personally a bunch of USB-C cables that came with my battery bank, tiny drones, MANY usb-c chargers, game controllers, and other accessories went straight to the ewaste because they were either 3A (60W max), stuck USB 2.0 speeds, broke easily, and etc... no point in mixing the bad cables that are unidentifiable without a device tester with my known good USB-C cables. I too have lost count how many USB-C cables I've gone through. my personal experience is just as credible as yours so now what?
with lightning, the underlying spec never changed so I keep all of them whenever it's included.
the logic "buy an old phone since new phone doesn't have lightning" contributes to ewaste because the old phone will not last as long as the new phone.
and using lightning cable for just 2 more years the exact point i'm making. had apple continued using lightning, i could be using it for many more years. and i think that apple was about to stop including the charging cable soon in iPhones, but EU's plan threw a wrench in that.
Lightning came out 2 years before USB-C. You say that USB-C was in the works for years. Well, can you understand that Lightning was in the works for years before USB-C. You can $$$$$ believe what you want, but Lightning was a big improvement at the time and USB-C was not an option at the time.
I always use my Apple Watch’s magnetic charger with my 2nd generation AirPods Pro. Just like USB-C with the upcoming iPhones, USB-C is something that may be beneficial to me someday, but not today. Besides, we keep hearing about Apple wanting to go port-less so who knows if USB-C will last as long as Lightning did (11 years).
Great, and then everyone can throw out all those trackpads, mice & keyboards for even more E-waste. 🙁
But Lightning port leads to nowhere, it ended up on a few select Apple products with no obvious benefits. Bandwith is so-so, fast charging is okay but isn't super fast. USB-C is here to stay for many of your devices with 120w PD and all.
Hearing aid features would be a good thing. Good hearing aids cost a lot of money, so for those whose hearing isn't so bad that it can be aided by AirPods it could save them a lot of money. Also a lot of older people are embarrassed to wear hearing aids, but AirPods are so ubiquitous now that they may feel better wearing them.
To me, the critical question isn't the release of the case.
It's "will they release a new AirPods 2 SKU with the USB-C case only" ?
I have no use for a lightning case, but I would like AirPods2
It's "will they release a new AirPods 2 SKU with the USB-C case only" ?
I have no use for a lightning case, but I would like AirPods2
What hasn't been established is if you can buy AirPods 2 with USB-C without needing to buy AirPods2 (inc lightning case) + AirPod2 USB-C case....
Surely not but who knows.
I'd imagine the case will become the standard case, included with AirPods, once it is released.