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Second-Generation AirPods Pro Charging Case Expected to Stick With Lightning Port

Keeping Lightning, in general, in 2022 is anti-consumer, anti-competitive, no bueno environmentally, technically pasé bla bla bla..and the Apple cables has kak durability at the part that bends close to connector.

But it makes no sense changing to USB-C on “AirPods Anything” if iPhone still has Lightning. They are used as a pair so it does not make sense keeping it on one and changing the other. You charge them with same cable.

AirPods will get USB-C when iPhone gets USB-C. Simple.

Eventually, older iPhone users with Lightning will have to charge their AirPods with USB-C.

You don’t inconvenience new customers. You inconvenience current/older customers.

The WORST part is not this Lightning/USB-C discussion. Its that Lightning can support USB 3.0 transfer speeds but are stuck on 2.0. YES, for 5GB video files or backing up 100GB its a big issue….and wireless transfer sucks often.
 
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lowkey said:
I’ve never had a USBC cable die on me.
Lightening port on the other hand I’ve had plenty. I’ve got lightening cables that work only if they are in only one way up instead of 2. They are a real pita.
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You can thank the likes of Greenpeace for Apple's cable durability. "Stop using PVC!" they whined, so Apple switched to using natural rubber instead, which is less environmentally damaging, but far less durable.

Apple's latest braided cables included with the Mac hardware seem to be far better, hopefully they start appearing in iPad, iPhone and accessory boxes soon.
 
schneeland said:
A rather odd decision if it turns out to be true. Especially if you consider that the Beats Fit Pro already have a USB-C-powered charging case.
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Beats Fit Pro and all of Beats products combined are nowhere close in sales compared to AirPods.

AirPods are profitable enough to be its own independent company apart from Apple. Billions and billions, every year.

It makes perfect sense for Apple to keep Lightning on AirPods for as long as it can get away with it.

-More incentives for consumers to buy MFi Lightning cables equals more royalties for Apple’s shareholders.

The MFi royalties vanish once USB-C is adopted as it’s impossible for Apple to turn it into a proprietary standard.

I’m also sure Apple will exploit the transition to USB-C as much as possible by first putting out a Lightning version of APP2 and then a USB-C version 1-2 years later when USB-C iPhone drops.

So you’ll have to get another pair of APP2 if you want all your Apple devices to be USB-C.
 
ApplesAreSweet&Sour said:
It’s really a no brainer: Shareholders love the MFi royalties and consumers keep buying iPhones despite the obsolete port because they’re deeply invested in the ecosystem and Apple offers no choice.

Why would Apple change something if doing so only serves to hurt its bottom line?

It’s only the threat of EU fines that is making Apple ditch Lightning. If the EU backs down then Apple is sticking to Lightning.
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How much are Mfi-royalties earnings?

I think it's more a supply replacement matter.

Anyway they will never sell ONLY a lightning case with a type-C adapter if they move.

Rather they'd sell a type-C case with a lightning adapter.
 
Nimrad said:
But this is the whole point. I think we can all agree Lightning is a dying port. Apple even pioneered USB-C on laptops back in 2015. Sticking with Lightning for no reason is just frustrating. And in my experience wireless charging is painfully slow on the AirPods Pro.
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We don’t agree. For me, Lightning is a much better connector, and more widespread (at least where I live). For computers, the upside of speed (of USB-C) is worth it, but not for phones or smaller devices. It’s not a big deal in the end (I’d say 99% of customers don’t care at all), but I hope they stick to Lightning.
 
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AlexESP said:
We don’t agree. For me, Lightning is a much better connector, and more widespread (at least where I live). For computers, the upside of speed (of USB-C) is worth it, but not for phones or smaller devices. It’s not a big deal in the end (I’d say 99% of customers don’t care at all), but I hope they stick to Lightning.
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I would have agreed with you, until they moved iPads to type-C.

widespread is relative (android phones are SLOWLY moving toward type-C), and what does "much better" mean?
 
Obviously it'd be nice when Apple eventually makes the USB-C switch to all products.

But for me this will be a day 1 instant purchase to use alongside my current Airpod Pros to double the 4 hour playtime. Since I'm using llightning cable for everything else until they put it in the phone, it's all good.
 
Let's just hope the microphones quality get better and not worse, mostly considering that without stress they will be even further apart from the mouth.
 
SeaFox said:
Because Apple hates to admit when they're wrong. They'd rather the EU pass a law that requires it, so they can frame it as "well, we unfortunately had to give up on our Lightning port because of that", rather than because following the rest of industry was really just better than using their own custom solution.
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Do you have evidence of that being Apple's motivation or are just passing of your guess as fact?
 
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Funny how so many people here want to frame the Lightning vs. USB-C issue as Apple wanting to keep their MFi royalties, or that they purposely don’t want to change just because they want consumers stuck using their proprietary ports, not realizing just how complex the issue is.

In regards to royalty payments, Apple doesn’t need this small revenue stream to remain profitable, and there is zero chance it hits the top ten for reasons why they shouldn’t change. And as far as their wanting to keep consumers “stuck” with Lightning, it is actually an issue of keeping the vast majority of people who own Lightning cabled devices happy, not stuck. Because if they don’t start by weening general consumers off of Lightning and into USB-C, they’d make a lot of people really unhappy. If I had to guess, the general population of iPhone users worldwide have never thought about Lightning as being a problem or that USB-C would be better - like zero times that has come up in conversation or thought.

It’s really just this vocal minority of tech savvy people who forever want whatever has been pitched as the greatest, bestest, solution to some problem, real or perceived.
 
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Aaaaaannnd I'm out.

I'll stick with my BFP no matter how good the APP2s are now. I was excited to see what Apple would do as they need to respond to the BFP and make a better product but I am one device away from being lightning free.. not going backwards.
 
I highly doubt they’ll ever get rid of the stem. Not only is it a convenient place for the battery, a better position for the mic, and makes putting them in and taking them out much easier, it’s also just iconic and undeniably Apple. Beats on the other hand are still designed by Apple but can be anything the AirPods can’t, like stemless and charged through USB-C.

Leaks probably often confuse them. Same APP2 rumors flooded the internet and then the Studio Buds released instead.
 
Wait, so you'd have to wait another 3 years for USB-C AirPods Pro? I'd just rather see them delayed after iPhone 15 releases.
 
SebCohen said:
Keeping Lightning, in general, in 2022 is anti-consumer, anti-competitive, no bueno environmentally, technically pasé bla bla bla..and the Apple cables has kak durability at the part that bends close to connector.

But it makes no sense changing to USB-C on “AirPods Anything” if iPhone still has Lightning. They are used as a pair so it does not make sense keeping it on one and changing the other. You charge them with same cable.

AirPods will get USB-C when iPhone gets USB-C. Simple.

Eventually, older iPhone users with Lightning will have to charge their AirPods with USB-C.

You don’t inconvenience new customers. You inconvenience current/older customers.

The WORST part is not this Lightning/USB-C discussion. Its that Lightning can support USB 3.0 transfer speeds but are stuck on 2.0. YES, for 5GB video files or backing up 100GB its a big issue….and wireless transfer sucks often.
Click to expand...
Some points are made. But I don't feel inconvenienced. Nor do I believe sticking with lightning on airpods pro 2 is anti-competitive. In fact, it's better for the environment if they don't include a cable.
 
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