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Kuo: AirPods, MagSafe Battery Pack, and Other Apple Accessories Also to Switch to USB-C in Future
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USB-C is a free standard, and Apple was one of the companies that created USB-C (a quarter of the engineers were from Apple) as a member of USB Implementers Forum. There is a certification process but there is no need to license the right to use it.
FindMy is locating my AirPods in the case just fine although it won't play a sound until it's outside the case. Maybe it's just not working for you?
Mostly they stop complaining after a year or two (Lightning, Firewire, Optical Drives, Floppies) because the old tech was obsolete and the new tech was demonstrably better. The old 30 pin connector was designed to accommodate things like RGB/Component analogue video and separate analogue audio, which were no longer relevant.
When they're still complaining about it 5 years later (USB C) and even Apple have done a partial U-turn on all-USB-C machines, then maybe, just maybe there's something to those complaints. USB-C on laptops/desktops depended on gaslighting the customer base into thinking USB 3, DisplayPort, HDMI etc, were now "obsolete" despite the fact that most available "USB-C" products used exactly the same protocols with no performance advantage, and the most popular products that actually exploited USB-C's capabilities were the ones that gave people their old ports back...
I'm still seeing USB-A on brand new products including Apple's latest Macs although at least now we're seeing a decent number of USB-C ports - so you don't knobble so much of your Mac's high-speed I/O capability every time you "waste" a 20Gbps USB-C port on something that works perfectly well on USB 2....
I agree to some extent but there is a definite benefit to having less port variety. For the first time we have a chance to unify connectors on all devices, including all device form factors and OEMs. While the transition is painful and creates lots of waste via old cables and dongles it also shows how much waste was there before from needing to work with multiple connectors.
Good point.
The data speed transfers is something I suspect most others don’t consider for downloads/cross-over. That is something Lightning can’t compete with.
"Portless iPhone may cause more problems due to current limitations of wireless technologies & the immature MagSafe ecosystem. 2. Other Lightning port products (e.g., AirPods, Magic Keyboard/Trackpad/Mouse, MagSafe Battery) would also switch to USB-C in the foreseeable future."
This was precisely my logic whenever I would point out that Apple needs to switch to USB-c and people would say "it's never going to happen, Apple is going portless first.' It makes no sense. Usb-c can enable Apple to offer 10, 20, or even 40 Gbps speeds, and faster charging up to 100W or even more... why go portless when a wired usb-c solution provides so many benefits?
This was precisely my logic whenever I would point out that Apple needs to switch to USB-c and people would say "it's never going to happen, Apple is going portless first.' It makes no sense. Usb-c can enable Apple to offer 10, 20, or even 40 Gbps speeds, and faster charging up to 100W or even more... why go portless when a wired usb-c solution provides so many benefits?
Not true the previous model of ipad air ( the last one with an A series SoC) and this years model with the A1 both have USB-C ports, and I've heard the ioad oros have had them for even longer, so it's realy only the ioad ( no pro or air ) and possibly the mini ( if it still exsists) and the iPhones that still have lightning, as fir accessories and mac peripherals, I guess they will chsnge, unkess apple plans on liising thrpe whole Ey market, not bldy lightly
Why go portless when precise 0 human beings care about it being portless? Better question.
PCs are bad for this too. I built a PC last year and all the X570 boards had 0-2 USB-C ports and like 12-18 USB-A ports.
Now A might still be more prevalent for accessories, but that ratio could’ve been a lot better.
Don’t most laptops only offer 1-2 as well?
Your lightning cables aren’t lasting 10 years, mine are.
One thing about google, it will give you any answer you are looking for. Yes I use my lightning cables with care, but I also don’t use metal on my non-stick pansAnd mrat93, I hate to tell you but WOW! That cat really gets around. Do a search for Apple Lightning Fray and you'll find that cat is a global traveler... and perhaps super-powered, because only super-speed might make it possible to chew fray that many cables.
Any of these people who have never suffered a frayed lightning cable are lucky people who must treat them very carefully... or forgetful people who have replaced them regularly and just don't remember that they have to keep doing so. More than a few times, I've took tape and even duct tape to some in a pinch. There's web "how to" pages focused on the topic of how to minimize Apple Lightning cable fray using springs and other additives. Bad kitty... bad, bad kitty.
Because of when they originated, and size. The choices for at least some of them would have been USB-A or Lightning. Lightning was a lot smaller, and allowed for thinner profiles (we all know how much Apple loved those) and less internal volume used by the connector. As to why they haven't switched? Likely more inertia than anything, and sounds like they're looking to switch now.
Will be very good if this happens. Especially for the Magic Mouse. A future redesign of the Magic Mouse with a different charging port location and USB C will be fantastic.
I think Apple knows that they will be going to USB-C for everything so it’s silly to see them drag it out. I don’t think there is a huge ecosystem of stuff that uses lightning, it’s just mostly being used as another variety of USB cable but it’s slower and can handle less power than the new stuff.
There‘s no good reason for why the 2022 iPhone couldn’t have this change or why we should have to wait for 2023.
There‘s no good reason for why the 2022 iPhone couldn’t have this change or why we should have to wait for 2023.
Anyone wanting their cables to last should avoid bending the terminal part too much, but with Apple's cables it's actually pretty easy to bend them too far during normal use.
Apple's cables include a strain-relief sleeve which should help preventing excessive bending near the termination, but it's pretty inadequate actually and the cable can fray anyway right past the very short sleeve. More adequate sleeves would be bigger but Apple likely didn't implement them for aesthetic reasons.
Apple filed a patent a few years ago for cables with integrated variable stiffness to address exactly this problem, so they likely recognize the need to improve the situation.
Makes sense that when they finally make the transition everything will come along.