Kuo: AirPods, MagSafe Battery Pack, and Other Apple Accessories Also to Switch to USB-C in Future

[Lounge vibes 05]

This is not true. Only the newest iPad Air and Pros have USB-C.

No the original post was correct.
Of the five iPads Apple currently sells, only one is still lightning.
The 2021 Mini, 2020Air, 2022 Air, 2018 pros, 2020 pros and the 2021 pros are all USB-C or Thunderbolt.
Now if you meant the majority of iPads *sold* in the past you would be correct, but almost all of the iPads currently being sold are not Lightning.
And the next budget iPad will most likely drop lightning as well

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

If Apple cared about reducing waste, why haven’t they created a Lightning cable that doesn’t fray?

They do.
It’ll cost you $1299, but it’ll be worth every penny.
Just ignore the M1 that comes with it, go ahead and send that to me, I’ll take it off your hands.
/J
But yes the new colorful IMAX come with braided lightning cables. Why doesn’t anything else? I’ve got no idea other than money

 

[iDento]

If this is the case, what charging cables will come in the box?
The argument of everyone has a 5W block means they are shipping a USB-A to USB-C cable, right?

Who said the box should come with a cable inside

 

[zorinlynx]

I must be honest I’m glad for this change. All the different connector types are really annoying. Not just on apple products but in general. USB-a, USB-C, lightning, micro usb. Just pick one for the love of God.

USB-a in particular needs to die. It shouldn’t exist in 2022.

Unfortunately we're going to be stuck with USB-A for a long time. I went on a flight not long ago on an American Airlines 737 with its new "refreshed" interior.

Right in front of me on the back of the seat in front of me was a USB-A connector for charging my phone. If I only had the USB-C to lightning cable that comes with newer iPhones, I wouldn't have been able to use it to keep my phone charged. Luckily I always travel with a couple USB-A to lightning cables.

Most phone charging stations in the wild use USB-A still. I rarely ever see a USB-C port in my travels. New cars only started coming with USB-C fairly recently, and they're usually "charge only" ports that don't let you use things like CarPlay.

USB-A will be with us for a long time still, it's still being put into new stuff, and we're going to have to keep an USB-A charging cable with us for the forseeable future if we want maximum convenience.

EDIT: Looks like there's solutions out there for people who don't want to carry extra cables. But still, you're not going to be able to avoid USB-A for a long time!

USB C to USB Adapter (4 Pack),USB-C Female to USB Male, Type C to USB A Converter Compatible with Apple MagSafe, iPhone 11 12 13 14 15 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy Note,Google Pixel etc, Grey

USB C Female to USB Male Adapter 4 Pack ,SOCW Type C to USB A Converter Compatible with MagSafe Charger,Laptops, Power Banks, Chargers, for iPad Air 4, iPhone 11/12 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S20 etc, grey

www.amazon.com

 

[Marie.D]

One cable to charge five devices isn't going to work well. I'll end up having to go out and buy new cables. And at the end of the day, that's just me. The reality is that while everyone can make excuses for why we should ignore all the waste that such a change will generate, despite Apple's environmentally-conscious PR, most people will simply throw away cables that they view as obsolete and no longer usable.

Even if those Lightning cables have a limited life left in them with legacy devices, most people will throw them in the trash as soon as they get their first USB-C iPhone. Apple's change will have a significant real world impact on the artificial creation of e-waste that will largely be driven by consumer perception that their old cables have no value anymore, and they will end up in landfills. I guarantee it.

Apple is a 3 trillion dollars company. Can we redistribute the environmental bashing a bit off of the consumers?

If they really cared about the environment, they would have more incentives added to their recycling program, like actually buying 3+ years old devices instead of the usual “oh we’ll take them off of your hands, you get $0”.

I’m gonna have to recycle my 2011 MBA soon and it just frustrates me that Apple can’t even find £5 in their wallet for all the rare earth elements in it, just so I can put that towards an accessory, or the App Store, etc.

They could remove the cable inside the box, and sell it to you with a separate charger option by opt-in for a very good price when you checkout, like other big manufacturers have done now.
They could have improved on Lightning by braiding them 7 years ago.
Hell they could even start a transition program where you bring back your lightning cables and you get good value vouchers on your new cables.

To me it seems they don’t really care. Or they care as long as it doesn’t hurt their bottom line. Which is fine, but they shouldn’t advertise themselves as an eco-friendly company every keynote.

 

[dlopan]

As they should. If Apple truly cares about the environment, needing to have multiple different cords for different devices is stupid. I know they want to make $$ with their licensing of lightning, but come on.

Thats why they don't want Usb-C. They wll have to pay for usb-c rights. Oh too bad.

 

[0924487]

I still don’t understand to this day why the mouse, keyboard and trackpad have lightning.
All of these other products having lightning makes sense because they’re mainly meant for iOS devices, so them using the exact same port is expected.
But the mouse, keyboard and trackpad all come with the Mac, are all accessories for the Mac. They should have the same port as the Mac.
Even the iPad Magic Keyboard has USB-C, it makes no sense

It’s called manufacturing market demand.

 

[dlopan]

Unfortunately we're going to be stuck with USB-A for a long time. I went on a flight not long ago on an American Airlines 737 with its new "refreshed" interior.

Right in front of me on the back of the seat in front of me was a USB-A connector for charging my phone. If I only had the USB-C to lightning cable that comes with newer iPhones, I wouldn't have been able to use it to keep my phone charged. Luckily I always travel with a couple USB-A to lightning cables.

Most phone charging stations in the wild use USB-A still. I rarely ever see a USB-C port in my travels. New cars only started coming with USB-C fairly recently, and they're usually "charge only" ports that don't let you use things like CarPlay.

USB-A will be with us for a long time still, it's still being put into new stuff, and we're going to have to keep an USB-A charging cable with us for the forseeable future if we want maximum convenience.

EDIT: Looks like there's solutions out there for people who don't want to carry extra cables. But still, you're not going to be able to avoid USB-A for a long time!

USB C to USB Adapter (4 Pack),USB-C Female to USB Male, Type C to USB A Converter Compatible with Apple MagSafe, iPhone 11 12 13 14 15 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy Note,Google Pixel etc, Grey

USB C Female to USB Male Adapter 4 Pack ,SOCW Type C to USB A Converter Compatible with MagSafe Charger,Laptops, Power Banks, Chargers, for iPad Air 4, iPhone 11/12 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S20 etc, grey

www.amazon.com

My brand new 2022 Subaru Crosstrek has 4 usb-a's and 2 12v outlets. no usb-c's.

 

[Dydegu]

this would be a nice time for them to redesign the mouse charging port to a position that isn't complete ridiculous...

It’s in the best spot already. I’d rather it be hidden during the 99.9999999% of the time the mouse is face down than have to stare at the port. Charge it overnight and you’re set for weeks.

You never have to look at it while it’s charging.

 

[AndiG]

Didn‘t Kuo read the proposed EU regulation? Of course, AirPods, trackpads, mice and all other mobile electronic stuff will have to implement USB-C. It is an Anti Apple law, made to kill Apples proprietary Lightning port. And from Apple point of view it makes no sense to stick with Lightning. There is no such thing like an MFI programm for Trackpads.

 

[Hans_J]

Long over due. I won’t buy any new apple device till it has USB-c

 

[LeadingHeat]

Just do it already Apple...

This whole "will they or won't they" sounds like Ross and Rachel...

🤣

Well, they were on a break so..

 

[beerseagulls]

so those of us waiting to upgrade from older iPhones to the iPhone 14 later this year should wait another year?

 

[beerseagulls]

Lightning- like 30-pin before it and firewire before that- has had its run. It's time for either Lightning 2 or to bring the last major holdout product into the Apple product mix's most commonplace jack.

what will come after USB-C?

 

[AndiG]

what will come after USB-C?

USB-C is just a Formfactor at the moment, capable of handling Displayport, Thunderbolt add many other things - it is the port for the next 10years.

 

[darngooddesign]

2015 actually - it debuted with the 12" MacBook.

Trouble is, Apple had it a bit back-to-front. USB-C is a great improvement over microUSB for phones, tablets and small peripherals - and phones/tablets always needed dongles for anything other than charge/sync. Instead, they started with all-USB-C laptops, which were large enough to support multiple ports, where carrying dongles around is a pain and where people often use them on mains power, so you 'waste' an IO/Display port connecting the power brick. Which is a problem when you've only got 1 (12" MacBook) or 2 (Air and low-end MB Pro) ports in total.

...then they keep USB-A on Desktops where it would be much less trouble to use dongles/adapter cables, and the charging issue doesn't exist. Not so bad on the ~2017-2018 models, but even I'd concede that the USB-A ports on Studio seem kinda pointless when there's plenty of space to leave dongles plugged in.

(Of course, behind this is the problem that a full-featured TB4 port, or even a USB-C with 3.1g2 and DisplayPort support requires significantly more resources to implement than a plain old USB A/3.0)

I was merely stating that USB-C, and Apple's adoption of it, is too old to be considered a bandwagon. To your points, the number of ports on the 12" and 13" laptops is a separate discussion and no relevant to whether they were USB-A or USB-C. Imo Apple should have given the MacBook a second USB port instead of the headphone jack; its not like you can't keep a USB-C adapter connected to your headphone cable.

In fact having one C and one A port on a two port laptop would would have been inconvenient to the majority of users; only the edge case of people who simply wont buy a new cable or adapter would have benefitted from that. But if you're the kind of person who needs to have three or more USB-C devices connected to a one or two port laptop you should really get something like a splitter, hub, or dock, or just don't buy a laptop with that limitation.

 

[beerseagulls]

USB-C is just a Formfactor at the moment, capable of handling Displayport, Thunderbolt add many other things - it is the port for the next 10years.

Ok. Thanks! I guess I can wait for iPhone 25 with a new connector.

 

[DogGone]

This will simplify the cable chaos when traveling. With USB-C, I can charge my personal Mac, work PC, phone, AirPods and Watch. Will only need 2 cables (straight USB-C plus the wireless charger for the watch.
I usually charge the phone and watch using a wireless standard but that is too bulky to bring traveling.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

I still don’t understand to this day why the mouse, keyboard and trackpad have lightning.
All of these other products having lightning makes sense because they’re mainly meant for iOS devices, so them using the exact same port is expected.
But the mouse, keyboard and trackpad all come with the Mac, are all accessories for the Mac. They should have the same port as the Mac.
Even the iPad Magic Keyboard has USB-C, it makes no sense

I've had the same thoughts.

But I'm sure the explanation is as simple as Apple using many of the same parts for batteries, power and charging for all of its smaller, rechargeable devices.

I mean, I haven't torn down Magic Mice, AirPods or Trackpads. But I have to assume that a big quantity of the parts related to charging, batteries and ports are largely interchangeable for all of Apple's Lightning port only devices.

It certainly would be one of the ways I assume Apple keeps its profits as high as it does.

And if Apple ever ditches Lightning, I assume it will do so exactly as Kuo predicts -at a rapid pace and for all new devices once the first iPhones with USB-C launch.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

what will come after USB-C?

Whatever is best at the time... or maybe full wireless can be the best option by then.

Firewire was (mostly) Apples "unique" connector for about 10 years... then 30-pin was it for about 9... now lightning is at what- about 10 years? There appears to be a pattern here. Apparently, roughly 2032 will have yet another change but we can enjoy the seemingly best option available now for the next approx. 10 years. ?

 

[t0rqx]

So, not gonna buy any accessoires from now on untill iPhone15.

 

[44267547]

If Apple cared about reducing waste, why haven’t they created a Lightning cable that doesn’t fray?

Perhaps you should try taking better care of your cables then. Because after owning over 14+ iOS devices, I’ve never had a ‘frayed’ cable, ever.

Unless of course, you want to blame Apple because you let your cat chew on the cables, maybe that’s what you meant by ‘fray’.

 

[I7guy]

Yeah, they already did this once going from the 30 pin to the lightning so... Also, apple could offer an exchange or turn in for those old lightning cables that you would no longer use. Again, it won't create anymore waste than already out there since the lightning cords/cables are some of the most cheaply made cables out there and don't last as it is.

If you don’t believe that lasting 10 years is not lasting long, we have vastly different definitions of what it means to last a while.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Long over due. I won’t buy any new apple device till it has USB-c

Let's not jump to conclusions -USB-C on iPhones has been predicted for many, many years. And there's been absolutely no change to the port year-after-year.

If I know Apple right, then they'll absolutely exploit the opportunity and make it a "Pro"-only feature for at least one year.

And I really don't know exactly why everyone is sure sure it's happening for iPhones 14 or 15 -The leakers and analysts have been wrong on similar specs and there are no confirmed or rumored CADs featuring USB-C for 14 or 15.

On that note, I really get annoyed with analysts and leakers when they repeat rumors for several weeks or months as if it's confirmed to launch within the next two years.

I'm sure Apple is getting more serious about prototyping USB-C for iPhones. Okay. But none of this is confirmed and there's no need to speculate further without more substantial leaks.

Apple has stuck with the exact same port on iPhones for ten whole years this September. I highly doubt it's just going to flip without having a substantial financial reason -As dated as Lightning has been for the last 5-7+ years, it certainly doesn't seem to have slowed iPhone sales substantially.

Only EU regulations can make iPhone go USB-C as the transition goes against Apple's shareholder's intentions in a major way.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

So, not gonna buy any accessoires from now on untill iPhone15.

If you also happen to have Apple Mac(s) and/or new Apple iPads, the USBc accessories you might buy for those can likely work just fine with this rumored switch on the phone.

But yes, buying something new completely dependent on Lightning (only) seems ill-advisable as this rumor gets louder and louder. Once the phone switches, lightning will fade quickly... just as 30-pin did before... and firewire before that. Of course, old lightning-based devices will continue to work just fine, but development of new lightning devices will likely fall off rapidly.

However, just like 30-pin and even firewire, adapters will come with change too. As up to date as I am on many things, I still use one 30-pin device (an iPod classic in the car) regularly and I still have one specialized piece of equipment plus one video camera that uses firewire. It's not like a change makes it all useless. It simply aligns iPhone with the rest of what Apple makes (at last!). Lightning stuff will still work, still connect, still function... likely until whatever uses them conks.

On the other hand, USBc is finally getting its legs under it. Apple was probably too early in the first "exclusive" implementation 5 or 6 years ago but the world is finally making some big strides with that one. Glad Apple is probably finishing what they started from Macs to iPads and finally iPhone. "One jack to rule them all" may finally become a reality in the Appleverse.