Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I understand Apple's position. USB is a mess. It's supposed to be a "Universal" connector, but it's anything but that.

From the USB-C Wikipedia page....

A device with a Type-C connector does not necessarily implement USB, USB Power Delivery, or any Alternate Mode: the Type-C connector is common to several technologies while mandating only a few of them.

But the writing is on the wall... USB-C is coming as the standard across all Apple devices. I have no doubt, but I'll miss Lightning.
[automerge]1582338931[/automerge]
I wish Apple would just be honest and admit they don’t want to change because they want to have crap their own way. Sucks to suck. I’m glad they’re trying to push for a common port on all devices. Literally my iPhone is the only thing I have to carry an extra cable for. That’s a problem.

I swear, the only reason I’m still with an iPhone is because of the whole blue vs green messages nonsense.

Go get your Samsung and be done with it. Keeping an iPhone because of message bubble colour that only others see is silly. iMessage vs SMS is way better... faster and richer. It will be your loss, but you're already resigned to it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage
I would welcome usb-c on iPhone. In particular it would be wonderful to simply plug my iPhone into my MBP charger to charge it.

That would be nice in an emergency... but you wouldn't take a trip and bring one cable so you could only charge your laptop or iPhone, right?

So if you have to bring two cables anyway... what does it matter if the two cables are different?

I'm speaking devil's advocate for a moment... I do see how one type of cable would be great.

But Lightning + other cables isn't really that bad today.
 
While we are at it, lets standardize line voltage plugs :) Will never be able to get around that 110/220 V thing I guess.
I’m wondering if they’ll try to standardise driving on the right! Those of us who live in the parts of the world where we drive on the left would like to keep it that way, please.
What does this mean for a phone that is completely wireless? (Presumably it would mean that a wireless phone would not be allowed. Because wireless chargers would have more negative impact than just a cable.)

And how many people would be forced to replace their now obsolete collection of charging accessories?

The ideal of a universal charger the same as we have universal electrical outlets is appealing, but the short term disruption it causes would take years to "pay back".
I’m curious. In what fictional future did we get universal electrical outlets?
It looks pretty non-standardised still...
(Forgive the sarcasm. Maybe I misread your post?)
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage
Apple already is backing USB4, so I have no doubts about it coming to new iPhones either this year or next.

You’ll still need a USB-A to USB-C adapter if you’re traveling, because we all know airports, hotels, planes, trains and cars won’t adapt that quickly.
 
EU electrical plugs - will the EU standardize that? How much has that costs the world for the last 50+ years? I realize 220V vs 110V is part of the issue, but fix your own stuff before getting into “smart phones” !
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage and danskin
Seems like a good idea until someone comes up with an amazing new connector that supports fantastic new features, and the whole world can have it except for Europe.
EU’s consumer-first attitude has given its citizens faster, more affordable broadband, uncomplicated cellular services, and meaningful privacy protections. I’d rather have that than some magical power adapter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SidricTheViking
Seems most people that want USB C on their iPhones instead of lightning missed the fact that the USB C socket is bigger and, as already stated by Apple, they will have to make their phones thicker! Hello? Is this what you want, chunky iPhones? :rolleyes:
 
I think the focus should be less about moving from lightening to USB-C than everybody having to stick to dated technology. I'd die for an USB-C iPhone and it is Apple's fault for being late in implementing USB-C; they should have had USB-C iPhones a year or two ago.
But think about this: will USB-C still be the best option in 10 years time? Now I'm sure it will be the ONLY option in 10 years time since the EU is mandating it. Governments are notorious for catching up with technologies. So even if there comes a better alternative in the next couple of years, the whole world will have to wait for EU to catch up with their regulation.
I believe an adapter that comes with each phone is the way to go.
 
Seems most people that want USB-C on their iPhones instead of lightning missed the fact that the USB-C socket is bigger and, as already stated by Apple, they will have to make their phones thicker! Hello? Is this what you want, chunky iPhones? :rolleyes:

Wait a minute... according to Apple's own website... the iPad Pro with USB-C is 5.9mm thick.

But the iPhone 11 Pro Max with Lightning is a whopping 8.1mm thick!?!?!?

So... are we sure a USB-C port will give us chunkier iPhones?

Seems like Apple could figure out how to deliver a USB-C iPhone with svelte proportions.
 
So because of this, if a company wants to try and innovate a better port solution for their devices, they can't just implement it across their range and offer a better solution than their competitors. Instead, they have to innovate, and then ask the EU for please permission to use it, and then convince them to adopt this innovation as the new standard. Basically giving their research away to every single competitor in the process, not to mention the years and years of bureaucratic red tape that any effort would endure.
 
I think the focus should be less about moving from lightening to USB-C than everybody having to stick to dated technology. I'd die for an USB-C iPhone and it is Apple's fault for being late in implementing USB-C; they should have had USB-C iPhones a year or two ago.
But think about this: will USB-C still be the best option in 10 years time? Now I'm sure it will be the ONLY option in 10 years time since the EU is mandating it. Governments are notorious for catching up with technologies. So even if there comes a better alternative in the next couple of years, the whole world will have to wait for EU to catch up with their regulation.
I believe an adapter that comes with each phone is the way to go.

Lightning is better than USB-C for power, so apple gets the credit, not the blame.
[automerge]1582345487[/automerge]
Wait a minute... according to Apple's own website... the iPad Pro with USB-C is 5.9mm thick.

But the iPhone 11 Pro Max with Lightning is a whopping 8.1mm thick!?!?!?

So... are we sure a USB-C port will give us chunkier iPhones?

Seems like Apple could figure out how to deliver a USB-C iPhone with svelte proportions.

iPad is missing things like haptics, and has more room to spread other things out.
 
iPad is missing things like haptics, and has more room to spread other things out.

Gotcha, thanks. Perhaps comparing a tablet wasn't my best idea. ;)

But elsewhere in the phone industry we find the Galaxy S20 5G... with a USB-C port... at 7.9mm

Meanwhile the iPhone 11 Pro Max is 8.1mm

So maybe Apple would have to rearrange some of their special parts internally... but it is possible to make a thinner phone with the supposedly thicker USB-C port.

I was simply providing a counterpoint to the "omg the iPhone would be soooo much thicker with USB-C" comments... :p
 
Last edited:
The EU thinks it can strong arm apple into adopting USB-C, but I predict if apple is banned from selling iPhones in Europe they will still be available, just on the black market.
 
This does not reduce e-waste. The same number of cords are still in circulation.. Only now there will be tons and tons of lightning cords and devices (treadmills, ellipticals, etc) that are now obsolete.

That is a short-term problem. Eventually, once everything transitions to USB-C, there will be less e-waste.
[automerge]1582347236[/automerge]
I’m wondering if they’ll try to standardise driving on the right! Those of us who live in the parts of the world where we drive on the left would like to keep it that way, please.

What environmental problems does that solve? What does driving on the left or right have to do with reducing waste?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Gotcha, thanks. Perhaps comparing a tablet wasn't my best idea. ;)

But elsewhere in the phone industry we find the Galaxy S20 5G... with a USB-C port... at 7.9mm

Meanwhile the iPhone 11 Pro Max is 8.1mm

So maybe Apple would have to rearrange some of their special parts internally... but it is possible to make a thinner phone with the supposedly thicker USB-C port.

I was simply providing a counterpoint to the "omg the iPhone would be soooo much thicker with USB-C" comments... :p
Yes, they can get thinner than they are now with usb-c. But however thin they can get with usb-c, they will always be able to get even thinner with lightning.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage
Calling some Apple BS. iPad Pro with USB-C is .23in deep and the thinnest iPhone (6) with lightning was .27in. the XS is .3in. Physical dimensions are not an excuse apple can lean on....
 
Calling some Apple BS. iPad Pro with USB-C is .23in deep and the thinnest iPhone (6) with lightning was .27in. the XS is .3in. Physical dimensions are not an excuse apple can lean on....
See above. You are comparing apples to oranges. IPad doesn’t have taptic engine, and has far more space in which to spread out components.

It’s simple geometry - the usb-c socket is thicker than the lightning socket, therefore, all else being equal, comparing apples to apples, a phone with a lightning socket can be thinner.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage
I don’t really see a problem. The European Union is sovereign, Apple can comply by making an iPhone with usb-C instead of lightning for the european market - there are already double sim iPhones in China where esim is not allowed.

Most of the commenters here could still enjoy their lightning iPhone or a future upgraded connector.

i don’t think the EU is targeting only Apple there, there are lot of cheaper Android devices, or audio, health etc which are still using micro-usb which is a very bad connector.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Substance90
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.