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No, India is going to force them to do something just like the enforcement that started rolling in other countries worldwide, Apple even publicly fought against it. Remember they are not part of EU nor of the US, so EU-DMA, EU-DSA, EU-RightToRepair and the upcoming Bipartisan US Bills won’t “officially” take place in India.

I knew people would start saying that Apple is gently moving to USB-C purely by self motivation. Waiting for the day to read the same about downloadable Apps, sideloading and alternative AppStores. That day Apple probably will have invented the download and installation of Software.
They are a low budget market so the effects in India would probably be greater than in Europe.
 
I'll repeat what I have previously said. Let us see USB-C used for electric toothbrushes, shavers, etc.

If I want to travel for more than a few days with such devices, I'll likely need to take the device-specific chargers along with me. In time, with USB-C being expected as standard in hotel rooms, holiday lets, etc., we might be able to get away with just a couple of cables.
 
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This sucks! I have never had a single issue or failure with any lightning port but my last 2017 MBP had to have the USBC ports replaced, on both sides, as they were loose. No way the USBC connector is as robust as Lightning.
 
Lightning is smaller, more durable, more water resistant, and serves the purpose it was designed for. There’s little reason for Apple to change the iPhone to USB-C.

Further what happens down the line when someone wants to improve on or replace USB-C? They can’t. Why? Because of a rule put in place by a mbunch of old out of touch politicians lobbied by Apples competitors and sold a bill of goods about “reducing e-waste”. Computers and other electronics have existed for decades without mandated connectors. Somehow all of a sudden it’s necessary? Yeah right.
There is countless and countless of old electronic which is dead because the proprietary charger is lost/dead. Is it necessary? Yes.
 
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Forcing a standard charger for all is a good start, but smartphone manufacturers should also be forced to make batteries switchable again. For smartphones and tablets batteries are usually the first parts that degrade and "force" people to buy a new device. Manufactures say that with switchable batteries their devices would no longer be water resistant, but that looks like a lame excuse. If a device is water resistant despite having an open USB or lightning port, that proves that should also work for the contacts that connect the batteries.

A normal smartphone battery is built for about 500 charging cycles. After that the capacity is down to about 80% and from there is even goes down faster. So after two or three year you either need a new battery or a new phone. The manufacturers love that. They even profit from making it hard to switch batteries. I hope the EU will stop that practice. Not just for smartphone, but for all devices with rechargable batteries. Electrical toothbrushes for example. That would help the environment much more than a universal charger.
Or you could just have the battery swapped out for $70 or so. After 3 or 4 years of use that doesn't seem like a pricey investment. Waterproofing the ports is a lot different than waterproofing a battery.
 
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There is countless and countless of old electronic which is dead because the proprietary charger is lost/dead. Is it necessary? Yes.
Absolutely.

Furthermore, many companies used the same, or very similar, physical connectors for very different purposes. Different voltages, polarities, even AC vs DC. Differences which could have safety implications.

And, if you want a 90-degree connector, with USB-C you can go buy a suitable cable. With proprietary, it's probably not available, never was and never will be.

The one thing I'd like is a USB-C magnetic connector - making it a bit like MagSafe. I know such things are readily available from the usual mega-suppliers, but there are several incompatible designs. And I still can't decide which one I should choose! (I'd like one for my iPad. The way I use it, I tend to charge it at night by my bed. And it's nice not having to worry about knocking it causing damage.)
 
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Manufactures say that with switchable batteries their devices would no longer be water resistant, but that looks like a lame excuse. If a device is water resistant despite having an open USB or lightning port, that proves that should also work for the contacts that connect the batteries.
I know, right? How crazy for them to expect us to believe a battery sealed inside of a phone is more water resistant than a phone with huge creases for a battery to be removed. :rolleyes:
 
This sucks! I have never had a single issue or failure with any lightning port but my last 2017 MBP had to have the USBC ports replaced, on both sides, as they were loose. No way the USBC connector is as robust as Lightning.
Several times I have had fun trying to extricate bits of paper (or crud) that has entered the Lightning receptacle. Damned nuisance if it happens at an inconvenient time.
 
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I’d be interested to see how this legislation was written. If all these countries are specifying USB-C only, could that discourage the development of better interfaces in the future?
Yes. There is lip service to the effect of "if another connector is better and becomes widely adopted, we'll consider updating the mandate to that" floating around. But this becomes a near impossibility when USB-C is mandated. It effectively means only a company or organization with enough money to grease the wheels of the bureaucracy can ever introduce a new connector that has any prayer of adoption.

An individual or a small company couldn't come up with a bright new idea and get anywhere close to wide adoption, and manufacturing new products with two different connections in order to boost adoption of an improved connector would likely be unfeasible. Product size, manufacturing costs of adding two ports or making devices with different ports for different countries, etc would make that next to impossible. These types of legislation are built to pick winners and losers and prevent new ideas from making it to the marketplace unless they come along with plenty of money for the associated lobbying campaign.
 
I'll repeat what I have previously said. Let us see USB-C used for electric toothbrushes, shavers, etc.

If I want to travel for more than a few days with such devices, I'll likely need to take the device-specific chargers along with me. In time, with USB-C being expected as standard in hotel rooms, holiday lets, etc., we might be able to get away with just a couple of cables.
Yep. I needed a new electric screwdriver and wanted to get one that was USB-C. Couldn't find one, so went with micro-USB which is still better than a specialized adapter.
 
I imagine Lightning can be thinner (slightly) and maybe easier to waterproof. Other than that, the USB-C can carry more power and faster data, and I'm not super fond of ultra-thin anyway, as it's structurally weaker and leaves less space for battery.

OTOH, governments mandating this stuff is obnoxious. A small USB-C to Lightning adaptor (like a USB-C to Lightning cable, but with a socket at the USB-C end and both connectors in one case, with no external cable between) is quite possible, and unlikely to cause landfills to overflow or poison the planet. That might, for the sake of standards etc, not be quite absurd to mandate, but nothing more. Better to leave some problems unsolved or less than optimally (by certain views) solved than to use authority excessively to solve them, even if that means that unsolved problems remain. More than minimum authority IS a problem bigger than just about anything it uses as an excuse (for pursuing even greater authority) to solve.
 
I think Apple is one step ahead of the Indian government. If Ming-Chi Kuo is right, the iPhone 15 models will all switch to USB Type C connectors with Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.2 Gen 2 support in 2023.
 
Yes. There is lip service to the effect of "if another connector is better and becomes widely adopted, we'll consider updating the mandate to that" floating around. But this becomes a near impossibility when USB-C is mandated. It effectively means only a company or organization with enough money to grease the wheels of the bureaucracy can ever introduce a new connector that has any prayer of adoption.

An individual or a small company couldn't come up with a bright new idea and get anywhere close to wide adoption, and manufacturing new products with two different connections in order to boost adoption of an improved connector would likely be unfeasible. Product size, manufacturing costs of adding two ports or making devices with different ports for different countries, etc would make that next to impossible. These types of legislation are built to pick winners and losers and prevent new ideas from making it to the marketplace unless they come along with plenty of money for the associated lobbying campaign.

I think that's partly right. Any entity that can afford to mass-produce a new interface or communications protocol implementation (including hardware support) could by making the specifications open and unencumbered, create an alliance to advance that as a standard. That part doesn't require lobbying governments; and as long as the member companies don't all come from just one or two countries, I don't suppose there should be a big problem for such an alliance to propose that such mandates be updated to include their standard as an alternative or eventually replacement. Which points out one other thing: ONE whatever to rule them all is indeed lock-in because you need generous transition periods, meaning that a good part of the time, two will be needed, both the old and the new.
 
The lightning port is to USB-C like Tesla's connector is to CCS, both superior yet being forced to change to an inferior standard.
 
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The lightning port is to USB-C like Tesla's connector is to CCS, both superior yet being forced to change to an inferior standard.

Lightning MAY be mechanically superior (the exposed connector contacts are prone to corrosion if you happen to lean on them for awhile with a sweaty arm with the power on) in durability, water resistance, or thinness, but IMO in terms of power and data it's inferior. A phone may not need the high end power, but there's never such a thing as too high a data rate. :)
 
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Soon, Apple is not going to have any other choice. This should have been done a long time ago.

I think USB-C is better, mostly, although Lightning does have some points in its favor. But I think mandates are an abuse of power (and that most uses of power over anyone but oneself are abuses). In particular, mandating the port on the device rather than simply requiring a minimalist adaptor (that will not significantly fill landfills or harm the planet!) to be included, is abuse, including of those with existing devices that might outlive the availability of accessories with the old connector.
 


Following in the footsteps of the EU, India is now in the early stages of considering imposing regulations on consumer products sold in the country that force a universal standard charger, including USB-C, by as early as 2024, Mint reports.

iPhone-15-to-Switch-From-Lightning-to-USB-C-in-2023-feature.jpg

The EU had reached an agreement earlier this summer that would force Apple to adopt USB-C on the iPhone and AirPods by fall 2024. While the agreement has been reached, the legislation still needs to be formally approved by the European Parliament and European Council later this year before Apple is forced to change its ways.

Officials in India held a meeting earlier this week with industry stakeholders and popular consumer electronic makers to discuss the possible impacts of a common charger. "The meeting will be more of an explorative nature. We will try to learn from the stakeholders how a common charger can be adopted in India. We will also try to understand their concerns," India's secretary of Consumer Affairs told local media outlets.

The EU and India's push towards adopting a "common port" would impact a wide range of devices, including, more specifically, Apple, which has kept the iPhone with the Lightning port since 2012, while other products, such as the Mac and iPad, have largely moved towards USB-C.


Amid pressure to move towards a "common port," rumors from both Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman have said that Apple is testing a USB-C iPhone, which could debut with the iPhone 15 next year. Other Apple products such as the AirPods will follow, according to Kuo.

Article Link: India Considering New Rules That Could Force Apple to Adopt USB-C on iPhone


Following in the footsteps of the EU, India is now in the early stages of considering imposing regulations on consumer products sold in the country that force a universal standard charger, including USB-C, by as early as 2024, Mint reports.

iPhone-15-to-Switch-From-Lightning-to-USB-C-in-2023-feature.jpg

The EU had reached an agreement earlier this summer that would force Apple to adopt USB-C on the iPhone and AirPods by fall 2024. While the agreement has been reached, the legislation still needs to be formally approved by the European Parliament and European Council later this year before Apple is forced to change its ways.

Officials in India held a meeting earlier this week with industry stakeholders and popular consumer electronic makers to discuss the possible impacts of a common charger. "The meeting will be more of an explorative nature. We will try to learn from the stakeholders how a common charger can be adopted in India. We will also try to understand their concerns," India's secretary of Consumer Affairs told local media outlets.

The EU and India's push towards adopting a "common port" would impact a wide range of devices, including, more specifically, Apple, which has kept the iPhone with the Lightning port since 2012, while other products, such as the Mac and iPad, have largely moved towards USB-C.


Amid pressure to move towards a "common port," rumors from both Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman have said that Apple is testing a USB-C iPhone, which could debut with the iPhone 15 next year. Other Apple products such as the AirPods will follow, according to Kuo.

Article Link: India Considering New Rules That Could Force Apple to Adopt USB-C on iPhone
2024? Just in time for USB C’s tenth birthday!
 
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