What’s wrong with the lighting port and why is apple and everyone else so anxious to get rid of it? My iPhone 13, Apple TV remote, AirPods, Magic Mouse, all use lightning and I am not upgrading the moment they all feature USB-C ports.
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Other Lightning port
- Thread starter jwolf6589
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Slower. Old. A lot of stuff now use USB-c. My 23' XC90 only has USB-C's. That's the standard now. Faster. Better. Charges faster. Thunderbolt speeds on pro max too. Even my lost mary uses usbc.
Because it is dated and upgraded rarely basically along with the argument of one cable to rule them all (which in my opinion USB-C is far more complex and annoying until manufacturers labeling them is mandatory). Also in the current state the Apple lineup is confusing... you have some devices that use USB-C and some that use Lightning and yes I know they make USB-C to Lightning cables, but the speed and power capabilities are severely cut going to lightning. Look I also do and don't want to make the change...do you know how many USB-A to lightning and C to lightning that I have? I guess these cables will still be good for like my trackpad I have and whatnot, but people are now recording 4k ProRes on iPhones...and while Airdrop is amazing and very fast for what it is, with transferring 4k footage or whatever large files you are needing to move just takes forever especially if you have to do it many times.
Your use case you may be fine as you stated, but others will welcome the change and also think about the opportunity for maybe some more android users to switch, think about how annoying it would be to want to switch to iPhone to know that you need new cables and xyz which just adds to the total cost and even just that one annoyance can be the thing that changes your mind.
Your use case you may be fine as you stated, but others will welcome the change and also think about the opportunity for maybe some more android users to switch, think about how annoying it would be to want to switch to iPhone to know that you need new cables and xyz which just adds to the total cost and even just that one annoyance can be the thing that changes your mind.
I now have more USBC cables around my house than lighting.
Nothing wrong with Lightning in particular, and I don't think Apple's too happy about being forced to get rid of it.
Lightning is slower than modern USB-C, and Apple may have been playing it out to keep their proprietary Lightning connectors while also working toward good enough wireless connections & adoption to go portless. Unfortunately, bureaucrats decided to stifle future innovation for wired connectivity by mandating a 2014 connector technology, so if Apple wants to continue selling products where devices without USB-C are banned, they're forced to use USB-C for an interim period. At least until wireless capabilities become more viable for diagnostics and file transfers, and assuming bureaucrats don't attempt to squelch new technologies there as well.
Nothing wrong with it. Your issue is with the European Union, who is forcing Apple to switch to USB-C for iPhones/iDevices.
I have work provided usb-c headphones. Works great at my work with win pc and at home on mac for leisure. Would love to have an ability to use it with an iphone as well.
Well one advantage. My iPhone and iPad will once again use the s,w charger rather than 2 separate ones.
When people say slower, do they mean for charging? Surely the vast, vast majority of people don’t use a cable for transferring data. We have this thing called the cloud, and apples version of it has been around even longer than lightning!
There’s nothing wrong, I agree with you.
Slower? I don’t use lightning for data for like 9 years.
Strange obsession with usb…
But things change and so usb-c is the new standard. Let’s move on 🤷♂️
Slower? I don’t use lightning for data for like 9 years.
Strange obsession with usb…
But things change and so usb-c is the new standard. Let’s move on 🤷♂️
I don't know the legislation. Does it specifically mandate USB-C or is more like a standardized connector and that just happens to be USB-C at the moment (could conceivably be something else if a standards group agrees)?
It mandates for apple to drop proprietary(read license and fee gatekeeped) solutions to be sold in Europe.
Speaking from a personal point of view, other than all my devices (including iPad and MacBook) being on USB-C and only having an iPhone and AirPods being on lightning - not too big of an issue; there is also the tech spec.
Lightning has not been updated in years, whereas USB-C technology keeps improving.
This was a quick lookup, I have not had time to fact-check it, but even if not precise, you can see the tech differences between the two.
Lightning has not been updated in years, whereas USB-C technology keeps improving.
This was a quick lookup, I have not had time to fact-check it, but even if not precise, you can see the tech differences between the two.
Yes, people still use cables for transferring data.
I don’t use my iPhone 13’s lightning port. I have it plugged up with a dust cap as I am full wireless with everything including charging. I personally don’t care if they keep it or move onto USC-C as it makes no difference to me.
The newest Apple TV remote actually has already switched to USB-C.
That's exactly how it works. It could be a different connector but the current consensus is USB-C.
The only minor point I'd add to this is that Lightning on some iPad Pros supports USB 3.0, so they can do up to 5Gbps in some scenarios, with an adapter.
Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter
Transfer photos and videos to your iPad Pro with Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter. Buy now with fast, free shipping.
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But your overall point about the technical benefits of USB-C over lightning still stand.
Would be interesting to know the percentage of consumers that do so though. I’m guessing it would be a fraction of a percent
But you already stated that you didn't plan on upgrading regardless, plus even if you did upgrade your iPhone you could still use the lightning for the Apple TV remote. Ultimately your question about the uproar (if you will) about the switch to USB-C has certainly been answered and it boils down to capability and availability to majority of people.
I’ll be quite happy to see iPhone move to USB-C. I can then use same leads for iPhone and iPad.
Mind you, I went be able to update airpods and other accessories immediately so will need lightning cable for a bit.
Mind you, I went be able to update airpods and other accessories immediately so will need lightning cable for a bit.
It's gonna be a slow changeover for me as well. I have multiple accessories (AirPods Max and Pro, keyboards, trackpad, Apple TV remote...) that all charge via Lightning and I'm certainly not going to throw them out because a different connector came out. I transfer zero data through Lightning so any speed advantage is irrelevant to me.
Hell, I've still got stuff kicking around that uses Micro USB (truly, the cockroach of connectors) -- but again I'm not throwing out a well-functioning qi charger or bluetooth speaker or e-reader just because it uses a lame charge port.
I understand the need to move toward better connector standards, but in the real world we end up living with "all of the above" for quite a while. That's why I laugh when people are like "I'm only upgrading my AirPods if they have USB-C" as if they're overnight going to reach this holy grail of one cord to rule them all.
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I think that number will slowly rise or something in the near future. The videos and photos are getting larger and Apple is maintaining the 2TB iCloud limit not to mention the cost of that let alone if/when they do give more options. I know most people are not shooting ProRaw and those that are probably offload the footage if it is still needed or delete if not, but all the 4k little videos that people record will eventually hit the limit storage wise and most people don't want the high monthly iCloud or the higher cost iPhone just for basically storage
We can settle this debate by resurrecting the dock connector.