The EU Wants All Phones to Work With Interoperable Chargers, Here’s What That Means for Apple's Lightning Port

[cmaier]

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 orwith 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.

You act as if it’s a simple swap to Make a USB-C version of the iPhone. It would mean that every iPhone would have to be designed so that it’s thick enough to have either connector. And it means that, in the future, if Apple wants to eliminate ports altogether, or change to a different port, they have to consider whether it’s worthwhile given that Europe won’t allow it. It stifles innovation for everyone, not just those under EU jurisdiction.

 

[Michael Scrip]

But however thin they can get with usb-c, they will always be able to get even thinner with lightning.

Except when they don't.

In the example I just provided... a USB-C phone is actually thinner than a Lightning phone...

It was just a funny observation. That's all.

Look... I don't care either way. I'm an iPhone user. And I really don't care what cord I have to use.

But it's funny how people deride the USB-C port for being too big... and yet there are phones with USB-C ports that are thinner than Apple's offerings.

It actually makes Apple look a little worse in this scenario. Apple has the advantage of the thinner port... yet they didn't get the overall thickness below competitors using the fatter USB-C port.

It was obviously Apple's choice to make it the thickness it is. But again... it's still a funny observation.

In the end... I hope this conversation ends the myth of USB-C ports leading to thicker phones! We've proven that USB-C phones can be thinner than Lightning iPhones!

 

[cmaier]

Except when they don't.

In the example I just provided... a USB-C phone is actually thinner than a Lightning phone...

It was just a funny observation. That's all.

Why to Take me out of context. It’s not the same phone. If you take that iPhone and replace the port with USB-C it will get fatter. You can’t compare one phone to another. I’ve said it three ways. The port is fatter. That’s a fact. It takes more space. That’s a fact. And the iPhone has no empty space inside it. So where is the extra space for USB-C going to come from?

 

[mrkite77]

“Lightning may also be more durable than USB-C

Going to need a citation for that. With USB-C the ground is the first thing connected which reduces sparking. Lightning has a horrible reputation for sparking when plugging in and unplugging.. which is why pin 4 is always burned.

 

[mrkite77]

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.

Not really.. the female socket (which is the part that matters) for lightning is actually thicker because the contacts are on the side, whereas with USBC the contacts are in the middle. Look at the bottom of your phone, you see the ring around the lightning port? That's where the contacts are, the lightning port requires that ring to be there.

You can see the difference when you look at the actual ports: (edit, better photo of the lightning port from inside the phone.. you can see the female port is more than twice as thick as the actual plug)

 

[MartyvH]

How is e-waste reduced when there will still be the same number of devices? Does it matter what connector those same devices have when they are thrown out in 5 years? If the split between USB-C and Lightning is 60-40 or 50-50 or 80-20, it's still the same volume of e-waste.

There will be an increase in e-waste when connectors are forced to be changed. An increase! And more adapters will be made and then thrown out later....

 

[goobot]

Ive never had a problem with lightening ports and use iphones, ipads, 7th ipod nano along with wife and friends. Never heard of that.

Did you happen to check to see if you have any dust or lint in there?

Yea I got all the lint out and it didn’t change anything. First time this has happened to me too but still.

 

[Ruggy]

Standard cables must be a good thing surely?
The fact so many people use USB C now means the price has dropped from about $30 in 2016 to $7 now for a longer, better quality cable but I don’t believe it will do anything for waste as long as manufacturers include cables with purchases.
Maybe you should get the choice: Do you want a cable included? I have so cables sitting in a drawer including half a dozen or more lightning cables never used.
I recently bought a load of rechargeable bike lights. 5 pairs of LED lights at about $5 a set (I already have some and they are excellent).
Each came with a USB cable so that’s 10 just there.
It’s crazy and it’s right to make manufacturers think and react.

 

[MartyvH]

That is a short-term problem. Eventually, once everything transitions to USB-C, there will be less e-waste.

Less e-waste...with the same number of cords. There was no explanation in your reply.
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We need to focus on REAL sources of waste, not this imagined problem.

Absolutely, like more durable designs in Lightning AND USB-C products.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Why to Take me out of context. It’s not the same phone. If you take that iPhone and replace the port with USB-C it will get fatter. You can’t compare one phone to another. I’ve said it three ways. The port is fatter. That’s a fact. It takes more space. That’s a fact. And the iPhone has no empty space inside it. So where is the extra space for USB-C going to come from?

I'm not saying Apple should rip out the Lightning port in the current iPhone and try to cram in a USB-C port. You're right... it wouldn't fit in that phone as it exists today.

Apple would obviously design a new iPhone from the ground up.

And it doesn't have to be a "fatty" because of the USB-C port.

If Samsung can create a new USB-C phone at 7.9mm... I bet Apple could meet or exceed that thinness.

 

[metallicpail2]

Apple just wants to keep making money on the licensing costs in order to use a lighting cable. That’s why lighting Accessoires are much more expensive

 

[cult hero]

Apple's stance on Lighting is absolutely, positively baffling.

They should have ditched Lightning with the iPhone 7. It made so much sense. Ditch the headphone jack, go to USB-C so all the adapters are USB-C and ALSO WORK IN THE MACBOOKS THAT ARE NOW 100% USB-C!

And now the iPad Pros are USB-C too but... the phones and some iPads and a bunch of random things are Lighting.

Apple, WTF?

Can you please stop pretending you really care about environmental issues while you're at it. You glue in your batteries. It's insane.

PS: I hate Lightning. I can't think of any other cable I have gone through more of. The exposed contacts suck.

 

[jakebro]

And that's really the important point Apple is making. Given how slowly most government agencies react to changes, tech certainly would be hampered. What if Apple came up with a magnetic charging solution like MagSafe, but with completely flush-mount? That would be amazing, yet the EU wouldn't allow it without years of deliberation.

Government intervention is useful in certain industries, but in this case l think they should allow the market to run its course.

That’s what the EU is doing here - they are locking technology to what it is currently and preventing future innovations. They started dicking with this ten years ago. You can bet that when apple comes out with the next great thing in the Americas and Asia, it will take the EU politicians 10 years to update their law to allow out.

The EU could require manufacturers to use the newest USB standard within a certain period after that standard is finalised (eg 5 years). Then manufacturers would be required to change to the newest version of USB within 5 years after that version is finalised. That way, the law wouldn't need to be updated for new versions of USB.

Also, Apple (a member of the USB Implementers Forum) can continue to develop future versions of USB with the other members of the forum. If Apple does develop a new magnetic conector then it can submit it to the forum for standardisation.

PS: The EU sometimes requires manufacturers to use standards that are set by third parties.

 

[HandITOVER]

SMH.

 

[robinp]

But when you have to change the laws to move innovation forward, companies can lose their incentives to invest millions on the next thing since they would have to update the law and have any lobby from the other side accept these new standards since competition will also have to invest their own millions to update their designs/factories to meet these standards that were created by their competition. And then throw in that the other side may have their own innovation that they would want to move forward.

Its just not worth it.

During the early years of electrical installations, there were many competing standards for wall outlets. Ultimately, it was decided that standardising was beneficial once the rate of innovation had slowed / stabilised.

I’m not sure if we are at the equivalent point with data connections, but it seems there’s a chance that we are.

One look at the prevalence of traditional style USB ports that exist all over the place. It’s going to take quite some time before the world has fully moved on from that. It would seem possible that perhaps USB C / thunderbolt ports are just what we are going to settle on for decades. At least, extremely likely to far outlive any current personal electronic device.

Going a full loop, I expect we’ll start to see USB C PD points being installed in buildings soon. Being able to deliver 100W means they could power most devices around the home. So perhaps, finally, our high voltage mains power sockets will start to be relegated to specific high power uses, with USB C PD ports fulfilling most of our everyday power needs within the home.

Personally, I look forward to that future.

 

[HandITOVER]

SMH.

 

[1345873]

Dear idiots of the European Parliament, what about all the different wall plugs in Europe?

For example, most of Europe uses C or E/F type plugs, however in the UK and Ireland, you will only find type G sockets. In Italy, you might see a type L outlet, and in Switzerland, you might find a type J plug.

Sw

Dear idiots of the European Parliament, what about all the different wall plugs in Europe?

For example, most of Europe uses C or E/F type plugs, however in the UK and Ireland, you will only find type G sockets. In Italy, you might see a type L outlet, and in Switzerland, you might find a type J plug.

now you’re getting there.. standardizing is such a bliss! Even without the ‘idiots’ part.. it takes one to know one?

 

[ondert]

Maybe thanks to the EU, we'll see the next iPhones with USB C like current iPad Pro.

 

[tmoerel]

Dear idiots of the European Parliament, what about all the different wall plugs in Europe?

For example, most of Europe uses C or E/F type plugs, however in the UK and Ireland, you will only find type G sockets. In Italy, you might see a type L outlet, and in Switzerland, you might find a type J plug.

Can we please leave Switzerland out of this discussion. Switzerland is not and will never be part of the European Union and thus does not give a rats arse about what the European Parliament wants!

 

[HandITOVER]

SMH.

 

[robinp]

Can we please leave Switzerland out of this discussion. Switzerland is not and will never be part of the European Union and thus does not give a rats arse about what the European Parliament wants!

Do you really think Apple would make one version of the iPhone for the EU, and another for all other countries?

Even if they were to do that, do you really think they’d complicate their supply chains and distribution just so that Switzerland can have the RoW edition rather than the version being sold in all other surrounding countries?

There’s a reason US commenters are getting worked up. It’s because the EU requiring this would change the iPhone for the whole world.

For the better I’d argue, but that’s the debate.

 

[HandITOVER]

SMH.

 

[MacBH928]

In 2016, Apple supported the adoption of USB-C as a standardized interface at the power source (i.e. the charging plug), but remained against conforming to a standard on devices themselves.

This is one of the most frustrating things I had to read. If you didn't believe in the USB-C as the ultimate port why did you go all USB-C on the MBP 2016? Well of course, to buy $20 dongles.

 

[Jim Lahey]

The EU are meddling busybodies who absolutely will...not...stop...EVER...until they have total control over everything. They'll never run out of things to meddle in, because doing so would threaten their jobs. This is just business as usual.

 

[fairuz]

If they enacted this a few years ago, the common charger would be micro-USB, and it'd be illegal to make anything else. Before that, it'd have been mini-USB.
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It'd be nice if the EU regulations would ban having wireless charging as the only option. This is something idiotic that Apple would likely try to do eventually, given their obsession with eliminating wires. While wireless charging is convenient, it's also inefficient and should never be the ONLY option. Imagine charging with a portable power bank and losing almost half the energy as heat because you can only charge wirelessly.

Buy an Android if Apple does that and you don't like it.