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Gurman: When to Expect USB-C AirPods Max, Magic Mouse, and More
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I am. And guess what? I'd be just as annoyed if our government pulled this crap as I am about the EU doing it. Our politicians are as clueless about tech as they are about pretty much everything else. And just as determined to make it LOOK like they're doing something...all while causing whatever they touch to crash and burn.
Mentioning I'm in the USA isn't the "gotcha" you might think it is when a lot of us here are just as annoyed with the US government's meddling in technology. They don't know the slightest thing about how technology actually works. Have you listened to some of them talk about it? It's embarrassing! Pretty much everything Washington DC touches turns into a disaster. So yes...I'm from the USA. And the people in charge here are just as self-serving and power-hungry as their counterparts across the pond. Causing inconvenience is what they all do best. I don't think they'd know what to do with themselves if they couldn't come up with something to cause more trouble.
I just think it's a good thing if Apple devices use an industry standard port rather than a proprietary one. Apple is even inconsistent within its own lineup. It doesn't make any sense to have USB-C on some devices such as the iPad Pro but not the iPhone, it's just messy tbh. In addition:
– It opens the door to using all sorts of generic accessories that you might already have purchased for your Mac, like an SD card reader or wired headphones. I've had to purchase two sets of both of these for no good reason.
– You can borrow an Android/Macbook/Winbook charger+cable if you forget yours at work (or lend yours to an Android colleague).
– No more 'MFi' tax for the consumer on Lightning cables.
It's interesting that you see it as an inconvenience. Do you not think that regulating corporations is a good idea?
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To address each point...
1. Never once have I wished for/needed to use an SD card reader on my phone. And with AirPods...don't need wired ones.
2. Never had to borrow a charger because I always have one with me at work.
3. Also never been an issue.
It's an inconvenience because I now have to purchase yet another cable to continue being able to use CarPlay because my car doesn't have wireless CarPlay or a USB-C port. This forced move did absolutely nothing beneficial to me and has instead added yet another cable to purchase. A cable that will only be useful in one scenario. Not the "multiple" scenarios that people love USB-C oh so much for, because a USB-A to C cable is going to be useless to me EVERYWHERE outside of my car.
Do I think regulating corporations is a good idea? Sure! When the people doing the regulating actually know wtf they're doing. Especially because now, if something better comes along...we're going to be stuck with the bureaucratic bs to move forward to it because we all know speed/timeliness is not the government's strong suit. So quite honestly, I would have preferred it if the EU just stayed out of it. Especially because while "demanding" and "mandating" a standard...they themselves aren't too standardized. I seem remember needing to bring 3 or 4 different plugs just to travel throughout Europe because "this particular plug is used in this country but not that one". The EU seems to be quick to mandate "standards" to everyone but themselves. If they like standards and mandates so much, maybe they should standardize and mandate their member countries so you don't need to bring an adaptor kit when traveling there.
I wanted to download photos from my DSLR to my iPhone/iPad while travelling. And I like using wired earpods for video calls sometimes – I have one pair with a 3.5mm jack and another with a Lightning connector. It would be less of a headache if I could just have one with a USB-C connector on it.
Maybe not you but people can and do forget. And 'work' was just an example – I've been in friend's houses or cars and seen a USB-C cable dangling around and thought how convenient it would be just to able to plug in for 20 minutes.
It's not an 'issue' for me either, but I'd prefer not to pay a tax on a cable if I don't have to.
Might be nice if a friend of yours rides with you and wants to charge their Android phone up. Keep the Lightning cable around though just in case.
The speed/timeliness argument doesn't make sense as Apple are the ones who have been dragging their feet here. I don't honestly believe they've kept Lightning around this long because it's better for the consumer/to be innovative, I think they've been making money off it.
It would be too much trouble/too expensive to update all the properties in all the member states with a consistent plug design that's been in use for many decades. The world of tech devices is a bit different as they are constantly being renewed and the old ones disposed of.
I know you disagree with what I'm saying, and that's fine, you're entitled to believe what you want. I'm just curious, how would you have felt if Apple had moved to USB-C of their own free will?
So they must not be too serious about their desire for "standardization" and "convenience" to users then? Because if they were, they'd be willing to put in the hard work! I don't consider too much trouble/too expensive to be an issue for them when they're seemingly so concerned about this. Instead, they're taking the "mandating standards for everyone except us" approach. I'd call that lazy and hypocritical. Sounds to me like they just want to exercise power but not apply it to themselves because it's "too hard". Someone should tell them that sometimes you actually need to do the hard/expensive thing.
If Apple had moved to it of their own free will? I'd be fine with it. I'd deal with it because it was THEIR choice that wasn't forced upon them. I'm anti-mandate, especially when the people doing it won't apply these same actions to themselves because as you said "it's too much trouble". Saying it's too much trouble/too expensive to mandate a standard among their member states just proves that they aren't serious enough about standards and convenience. They just want to flex some muscle and push someone else around. They're really taking the "do as I say, not as I do" approach and it speaks volumes that people would try to defend that instead of expect them to do the hard work to hold themselves to the same standards they DEMAND.
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More adapters = even worse for the environment. Imagine the billions of extra shipments, packaging, etc...
Apple sold maybe about 120 million iPhone 14s by now. Assuming 15 follows suit, I do believe at least ~2% of those customers would simply throw away their lightning immediately considering it's very likely that is their only Apple device in the house.
I’m a bit surprised that relatively tech savvy community, here on MacRumors, don’t already own USB-C cables.
Have you ever noticed that when you buy an electrical appliance (that runs on AC) that you don't have to worry about whether the plug will fit into a socket in your wall?
That's because of standardization. And yes, at the end of the chain is usually a government with the power to enforce it.
USB is a power outlet. Yes, you use it for data transfer too. But many people every day use it as a power outlet.
So yes, sockets and plugs are standardized. That is how modern society is built.
Then people can stick with wireless charging and data transfer. I’m sure that a significant part of the population does that anyway. And again, if you care that much about the environment, it’s even better if you stick with your Lightning iPhone until it’s not supported anymore. Lightning is not going away anytime soon
This is a conversation about political ideology, in that case, rather than one about the relative disadvantages of moving to USB-C or sticking to Lightning. It's important to separate the two arguments.
I don't think having to replace one $5 cable in your car is that much of an inconvenience (compared to say, your suggestion of hundreds of millions of people having to replace the plug sockets in their homes & rewiring all their appliances), and as you said you wouldn't mind if Apple had chosen to make the change themselves. Let's keep things in perspective here.
Hurry up and update the APM - I went and bought some sony xm4s because I didn’t want to spend so much on 3 year old APMs
Sounds like you agree that this shouldn't be regulated and the market should decide.
By that logic, if EU really did this for the environment, they would enforce an "early phone upgrade tax"
I agree that it’s a shame that the EU had to come to a point where they needed to intervene, yes.
To repeat myself: power sockets all follow standards. Building codes require them.
USB is a power outlet. Why shouldn't it too be subject to regulation?
Well I’m glad they did. Apple didn’t do anything to improve lightning when they had the opportunity to do so, so this port was outdated anyway. The benefits with data transfert speed, external SSD and external display support show how USB-C was long overdue on iPhone. I wish Apple would have moved on its own to USB-C, but I will certainly not complain about the outcome
they shouldn't need to.
if they did, they would cause this cluster**** of what we call the many flavors of usb-c.
Right. We should have stayed with USB 2.0 forever. Or maybe the 30 pin connector? Because following your logic Apple is allowed to innovate on everything except the port
nope. lightning brought many benefits over 30 pin that most apple customers benefitted from with zero downsides to the actual product. usb-c doesn't, and in fact, made things worse. regardless, it should be up to apple to decide, not the gov.