Yes, I agree. Time to move on to USB-C.
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India May Exempt Certain Devices From Law That Would Force USB-C Port
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Under Steve Jobs, Apple would have flexed how ahead of the curve they were to adopt USB-C for faster charging, transfer, better for the environment, etc. Tim Cook is just grinding his teeth thinking of change.
It is excruciating.
It is excruciating.
Despite being on “MacRumors,” this article likely has zero to do with Apple. AirPods will switch to USB-C due to EU legislation regardless of whether India mandates it or not. The impact will be on companies that make items specifically for India.
I don't think it really matters in this case - thankfully there is very little reason to keep airpods on the obsolete Lightning connector once iPhones use the superior USB-C so that changeover will happen regardless, as it already is on Beats products.
Governments already regulates most of our life aspects. Giving us usb c on iphones its one of few good things EU did so stop arguing, or keep a vintage iphone collection for the upcoming years.
And yet under the same current leadership they forced USB-C onto unsuspecting Mac users as long ag as 2015 - eight years ago this year - kickstarting 'dongle life', because back then USB-C accessories were so rare you could almost call it obscure. Here we are in 2023 waiting for it on an iPhone.
It makes me wonder sometimes whether the Mac developers and iPhone developers sit at different tables in the canteen and scowl across at each other. It certainly seems they do not talk to each other.
While I welcome not having to untangle a mess of nearly identical white cables every day, does this mean we’ve reached the apex of connectors?
I still have boxes full of scsi, serial, parallel, FireWire, USB in all its many variants, etc. Someday I plan to open the worlds first Computer (Cable) Museum.
So let’s just say, hypothetically, that a far superior charging/data transfer method were to come along. Better than lightning, better than usb-C. Sound good? Well guess what? You’ll never know. Because thanks to these laws, no one will be allowed to use it. That’s why these mandates are idiotic - because while they might be well-meaning, they have the potential to stifle progress.
THIS!
The problem with government imposed standards is that you have a really hard time breaking away from them. Politicians don't want to review legislation often enough to keep up with technology.
I am sure someone has developed a much better wall outlet for homes but we will never see it.
So, forget the whole political side of this argument, with the EU mandating the move to usb-C.
USB-c is not as pleasant to use than lightning.
It feels incredibly cheap and flimsy. I think Apple is right to keep the lightning, as there is a very satisfying “click” when the cable is inserted. Vs USB-C which never feels like it’s solidly connected.
(As evident by the USB-C connection on the 20watt charger)
I will greatly miss the lightning.
USB-c is not as pleasant to use than lightning.
It feels incredibly cheap and flimsy. I think Apple is right to keep the lightning, as there is a very satisfying “click” when the cable is inserted. Vs USB-C which never feels like it’s solidly connected.
(As evident by the USB-C connection on the 20watt charger)
I will greatly miss the lightning.
They have lol. UK Type G, safest in the world, including a shutter-mechanism in a three-pronged grounded socket and partly-insulated prongs in a fused plug.
Unfortunately it is very bulky.
I am just here for the 😭. I have literally never plugged my AirPod pro2s into a cable. Just chuck it on a MagSafe puck and walk away.
If a device has a port, it needs to be USB C. Nothing says a device has to have a charging port at all.
But governments SHOULD insist on charging ports, and frankly should require wireless charging to reach a certain level of efficiency before it is allowed on any devices going forward.
All this wireless charging is wasting 40% or more of the power consumed. We're in the middle of an energy crisis and we've adopted a charging mechanism that throws 40% of the energy out the window.
This noise about a standardized cable is distracting us from the bigger issue of the inefficiency of wireless charging.
But governments SHOULD insist on charging ports, and frankly should require wireless charging to reach a certain level of efficiency before it is allowed on any devices going forward.
All this wireless charging is wasting 40% or more of the power consumed. We're in the middle of an energy crisis and we've adopted a charging mechanism that throws 40% of the energy out the window.
This noise about a standardized cable is distracting us from the bigger issue of the inefficiency of wireless charging.
So while the Android/Windows Mobile world was bouncing between mini, micro, USB-C, Apple improved and standardized on a reversible port that was smaller and less prone to failure.
Lightning debuted in 2012. The first USB C phone was three years later in 2015. There's little doubt in my mind that USB C was in no small part a response to Lightning's improvement over mini/micro USB ports which were fiddly, prone to failure, non-reversible...
So keep complaining about Apple's walled garden I guess.
Apple already hiked the prices across all products before switching to USB-C.
Any further price hikes would be too much for the market and lessen demand too much.
Additionally, Apple has had about a decade of bonus revenue from the whole MFi Lightning scheme. So they should be more than fine taking a loss for a few years.
Any further price hikes would be too much for the market and lessen demand too much.
Additionally, Apple has had about a decade of bonus revenue from the whole MFi Lightning scheme. So they should be more than fine taking a loss for a few years.
That's the way Apple could go to keep its MFi cable bonus revenue.
I certainly think no ports does make sense for some of its devices, like AirPods -It's only charging so why not increase dust and water proofing by doing Qi+MagSafe only?
On the other hand, I don't get doing no ports on iPhone. At least not as long as it's still being used as a "Pro" camera and marketed to as being cutting edge in terms of video and photography.
Reliability for wireless data transfer is still too shaky to go 100% portless.
Users needing their iPhones for photography or social media would greatly benefit from Thunderbolt transfer speeds via USB-C.
And compatibility with accessories would increase greatly without needing the various Lightning-USB-C cables and adapters.
Are you sure?
The USB Type-C Specification 1.0 was published by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) and was finalized in August 2014.[4] It was developed at roughly the same time as the USB 3.1 specification. In July 2016, it was adopted by the IEC as "IEC 62680-1-3".[5]
Also Lightnng I don't believe went through as many improvements during its time, certainly not tangible ones anyway.
Geez, why don't we just bring back crank starting devices like that were on the Model-T car? USB-C please!
You do realize that USB-C has been around for almost 10 years too, right? Not saying they should keep Lightning, but age has nothing to do with this conversation. USB-C has been updated multiple times to support more power and higher data transfer speeds, whereas Lightning is still transferring data at USB 2 speeds and is proprietary.
While true in many cases, there are some where a USBC port just isn't the best solution.
Consider Shokz OpenRun bone-conduction headphones. Charging connector is similar to the old style Macbook magsafe connector in which the magnetic cable clicks onto the charging studs. IP67 waterproof/resistant, easy to clean sweat off the contacts after a run. There's no data transfer to the headphones. USBC would be a step backward.
There are phones with USB C that are IP68 water resistant. You don’t have to go to a proprietary design to support that. I have devices with specialized magnetic connectors and the benefits typically don’t outweigh the drawbacks of requiring a proprietary cable.