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iPhone 15 Models Have 'Completely Standard' USB-C Port Without Restrictions on Accessories
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Believe me, Apple badly wants to sell iPhones in the EU. What's not necessary is to sell the exact same product worldwide. Like this stupid limitation of the YouTube app on iOS to restrict support for picture-in-picture mode only for US customers. Unfortunately that's not as clear a competition law issue. Just another dick anti-customer move by the moderately evil people at Google. 🤬 Don't be google!
That is honestly sad that a highly placed Commissioner would do something like that based simply on a rumour. That announcement sounds rather insulting and presumptuous (assuming a crazy rumour as fact) and it also doesn’t speak well of their process, as they should be setting clear enough rules up front that don’t allow a rumour to cause them to second guess themselves.
Calling an organization out for something it hasn’t yet done is beyond acceptable, and I doubt the Commissioner would appreciate being criticized based on rumours of things it is possible that he might do. It reminds me too much of Minority Report.
On the other hand the rumor mill is part of Apple's secretive public relations approach. And they did indeed require MFi cables in the past. So the rumor wasn't completely outlandish.
Exactly my point: Pre-crime law enforcement is equal to prejudice.
They have allowed standard USB-C cables (with all their USB-C non-standardness) on every USB-C device they have made since they added it to the Mac, so it actually was completely outlandish. MFi was for Lightning or the Dock connector, intended as a certification that you were purchasing an approved cable. I have a couple of cheapo non-MFi Lightning cables, so that requirement was not much of a requirement. I trust the MFi ones more, but keep a mini knockoff in my car in case I forget a better cable.
And the rumour mill being part of Apple’s secret PR approach sounds an awful lot like another rumour. I have heard at least four rumours in this last cycle where many comments said “yeah, that sounds like Apple” and the rumour turned out false, so apparently Apple doesn’t sound anything like Apple.
And I believe we actually have the same opinion, but I have to point out that pre-crime enforcement is well past prejudice. One can be prejudiced and not act on those prejudices, but talking based on rumours was his acting on those prejudices. He would be well within his rights to state the intent of the rules once Apple did try releasing an MFi USB-C cable, but not before such an event.
I did miss his speech, but I doubt it was more than a few weeks ago so the speech would be basically pointless, because if that rumour had actually been true, there would have been no time to change the cables anyway, so he might have well at least waited until there was some validity to his statement.
If it‘s warm or hot on the outside you can be sure that it‘s even worse inside. Absolutely agree that this stresses the battery unneccessarily, and decreases battery health in thr process.
Reminding someone “if you do X you will be in trouble” is not “pre-crime law enforcement“.
It also serves as a reminder to Apple to be careful about how they word their adverts and warranties etc. and not to include FUD about non-Apple accessories.
I didn't mean to say that Apple is orchestrating the rumor sites. They are secretive about their future plans, which creates demand for speculative information about upcoming products. For example the MacRumors Buyer's Guide, which extrapolates former product cycles into the likelihood of an upcoming product refresh. Apple could announce upcoming release dates well in advance, but they chose not to and in this way invite for speculation. This is intentional, they like the free attention they get from us and it also creates the environment in which all the false rumors flourish. All of that (including the bad PR) is Apple's responsibility.
Publicly threatening the world's largest tech company with a sales ban on the single most profitable product in history of mankind in its second largest market accounting for ~20% of global sales is not my idea of "reminding someone". Mister French guy could've been way more tactful and less provocative while achieving the exact same result. If this is his overreaction to a sketchy rumor, what will he do in response to actual information about anti-competitive behaviour?
There are a lot of people that don’t relish trawling the internet for news and information about cables and, as a result, while they know they’re paying more for Apple cables, they DO know they’re Apple cables and will just work. Heck, there are a lot of Android users using Apple’s USB-C to 3.5mm cable because it works reliably.
It might have been his obsession with thinness that made Intel define the USB-C port as the next iteration of Thunderbolt
It wasn’t “credible enough”.
If it was credible enough, they would have been reaching out to legal counsel at the company indicated finding out what’s really happening and, once confirmed the rumor was false, would have left it at that. As it is, anyone who thought the EU Commission was above any petty social media gainsaying learned otherwise.So the rumor is that Apple backed down from implementing MFI because of a letter, BUT fully intend to do it anyway? Won’t they just get another letter when this rumor I’m typing now gets to the letter writer which will stop it (making probably will, probably won’t)?
M’kay, this IS MacRumors after all.
Possibly - "Thunderbolt 4" has become, in many respects, Intel's equivalent to MFI - since the 40 Gbps tech is now part of USB 4, "Thunderbolt 4" is basically just a trademark licensing & certification program. However, AFAIK, all the TB4 features are now a non-proprietary USB standard that is optional for USB C - TB4 just makes them required for TB4 branding. Not sure how that's going to play out with TB 5.
I hate USB-C with a fiery vengeance - but, like it or not, it is now firmly ensconced as the standard for mobile devices (and its certainly better than microUSB) where the majority of the use is for charging and other applications have always required dongles and multiple cables (desktop/laptop applications still have a way to go - only last week I took delivery of a new desktop gizmo that still used USB-B and there's still no real replacement for the good old 8-port USB 3 hub). Mobile devices (not just phones) are rapidly switching to USB-C so, as I replace mobile devices via natural wastage, the days of taking Lightning, MicroUSB and USB-C cables on a trip are hopefully coming to an end.
microUSB had its own dumpster fire with MHL (HDMI over microUSB) and "on the go" USB adapters (needed for phones to act as USB hosts) plus that ugly double connector needed for USB 3. Even Lightning was reaching end-of-life, needing an active dongle for full USB 3.0 and not having the 4 high-speed lanes needed for higher-resolution displays.
The multiple cable thing was inevitable given that USB 3-capable cables need more physical wires, 100W+ power needs thicker wires and the faster/longer TB cables need active cable driver chips - but, yeah, the USB IF were stupid not to mandate labelling.
...you can kinda guess from the thickness of the cable, though.
I think that is required for Thunderbolt certification.
My Pixel 7A supports 10Gbps with a suitable cable - the charge cable in the box was only USB 2.0 though, and you can see why if you compare the cables - the charge cable is about 50% thinner and lighter..
So, yeah, Apple hardly cover themselves with glory by not having USB 3 in the regular 15 but it is because its using an older processor, not because they've gimped the USB port. One of the reason that the iPhone has never made it to the top of my shortlist (despite me having Macs, an iPad, Apple TV etc.) is that I don't want a $1000 "mid range" always means "1-3 year old tech".
Hasn't always been true in the past - particularly with "fast charging" which often required the matching, proprietary charger - other chargers would deliver the minimum 2.5W but there was no way of knowing whether they would support fast charging.
A big point of the EU directive is not just that it requires USB-C, but it requires the USB Power Delivery standard.
...but not artificially - the processors in the non-pro iPhones physically lacks a USB 3 controller. The iPads with USB 3 either have a separate USB 3 controller chip (because they have the space) or use the M1 chip (which has on-chip Thunderbolt 4).
There's a big difference between "doesn't support 10Gbps (suitable USB-C cable required)" and "supports 10Gbps (premium priced Apple-certified cable required)".
Or, since the EU isn't worried about data speeds, they're not saying that every mobile device has to be able to charge at 100W, they're saying that any device that can charge at 100W has to do so using USB PD.
It's still no more "pre crime" than a shopkeeper putting up a sign publicly threatening to prosecute customers if they steal stuff from the shop...
...and large companies with hugely profitable products tend to need more than a subtle hint to stop them trying to do an end-run around consumer legislation.
I somehow doubt that Tim Cook needed trauma counselling after such a terrible threat.
All I can say is - you don't understand business in general, and you don't understand Apple.
The iPads have had standard USB-C since 2018 and Apple hasn’t placed any MFI-based restrictions on them. Therefore, there was no reason besides Tim-cook-sucks-ing to believe they would with the iPhones.
As it was pointed out previously it may be Apple's method to suss out leaks.
From a consumer point of view "what's the harm?" but from a WallStreet point of view "what a harm!"
I've been an Apple customer since 2000 and I wish I bought Apple stocks from all them leaks!
I mentioned the reason above, iPhone is a much bigger business, but at this point your assumption and mine are worth equally
can I say this sounds very much like something an Apple fanboy would say, or it is not possible on this forum?
I did that several years ago with my 2007 Corolla. I absolutely love it, and it was the right choice for me, but it’s definitely not a viable option for everyone.
This is the Pioneer AVH-W4500NEX, with Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. Good product.
I added a low-profile MagSafe vent charger to complete the setup.
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Except I was correct from the beginning about there not being any MFI-based restrictions. If you at any time believed that rumor then my assumption has been proven to be worth more.
I remember that Toyota and Subarus have a 200mm-wide double DIN.
A complaint I have with CarPlay radios is that their data port connector are mostly USB-A at ~5W slow charge.
Ideal quality of life timeline for iPhones in the car:
- 2010: iPhones unofficially could fast charge with the iPad's 10W charger.
- 2014: CarPlay launched this year. As a quality of life improvement, Apple could have made it a tech requirement for any CarPlay radio to have USB-A at 12W. Resulting to a 0-50% charge in 30 mins.
- 2015: 1st Android phones with USB-C came out. Many accepted more than 12W of power.
- 2018: Apple makes an updated CarPlay requirement to have USB-C at 27W with the launch of USB-C to Lightning cables.
- Today: For the last 4 years we'd have enjoyed 27W USB-C fast charging in all CarPlay cars.
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