EU standardizing around USB-C, death of lightning in sight

[Guest]

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

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Quote

Under the proposed rules, all phones and tablets sold in Europe will have to comply by the fall of 2024. Laptops will have longer to make the switch. The commission will also be able to set standards for wireless charging in the future.

 

The proposal was first made last year by the European Commission. It’s meant to cut down on environmental waste and save consumers an estimated €250 million ($247 million) a year as they will no longer need to buy a different charger for each device, Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager told the parliament on Tuesday.

Jobs would be so angry he would fire the lawyers that let this happen.

 

I am very excited for this. I really like USB-C and am annoyed anytime a device doesn’t have it.

[stepee]

3 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

WWW.BLOOMBERG.COM

 

Jobs would be so angry he would fire the lawyers that let this happen.

 

I am very excited for this. I really like USB-C and am annoyed anytime a device doesn’t have it.

 

 

I’ve only used an iphone since the first one came out and also FUCK anyone not using usb-c

[Jason]

I can see the argument that Lightning made sense on stuff that's iPhone-first, like the Airpods, but it's been ridiculous that Mac-first stuff like the wireless keyboard and mouse have continued to be Lightning even after the Macs went entirely USB-C. 

[Brian]

I guess instead buying the 14 this year, I might as well hold off one more year. I hate the lightening port. I bought my mom a new iPad Air this weekend and that uses USB-C. It is so strange Apple won’t fully commit to USB-C. 

[chakoo]

 

lighting cables can fuck off

[Jason]

6 minutes ago, Brian said:

It is so strange Apple won’t fully commit to USB-C. 

 

[stepee]

The thing is Apple can still make plenty selling charging cables, just call it “magic charge” instead of fast charge and sell them for $50.

[Keyser_Soze]

Lightning to USBC cables are included when you buy the product. I know my Ipad and iphone 13 did. I can just plug them into my PC easy or into the chargers. 🤷‍♀️

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Lightning to USBC cables are included when you buy the product. I know my Ipad and iphone 13 did. I can just plug them into my PC easy or into the chargers. 🤷‍♀️

But you can’t plug non-lightning devices into it  So it is an extra cable just so Apple can be extra.

[Keyser_Soze]

1 minute ago, sblfilms said:

But you can’t plug non-lightning devices into it  So it is an extra cable just so Apple can be extra.

 

 

Who would want to plug something into their phone? And if you do, you just get those cheapo converter things on amazon which apple doesn't profit off of.

[finaljedi]

I'm not even convinced it's about selling cables anymore.  You can buy lightning cables for the same price as USB C cables next to the gas station cash register.

[ort]

I think Apple gets way too much undeserved flak for this...

 

What is the common criticism... oh, apple makes you buy a whole new adaptor ever year. They just want money, blah blah blah....

 

Well, Lightning has been on everything they sell for 10 years now. In the world of charging cables that may as well be 100 years. Isn't that what people want? Lightning cables are great. They started out great and they are still great. They stuck with them for a decade straight. That is something that should be applauded, not condemned.

 

I guarantee you that this law passing will end up having a much greater short term negative environment effect. Every "apple" house that is filled with perfectly working lightning cables everywhere will have to switch over. The transition period where half your families stuff is lightning and the other half is USB-C also sucks... although we're already there...

 

It's also funny that they get flak for not going USB-C when they were heavily involved in creating the standard (not confirmed, but strongly rumored to have created the entire connector system by themselves)  and were one of the first companies to make a real hard push USB-C, by making it the only connector port on their entire laptop line years before the rest of the industry was doing it.

 

I also wonder what happens when 5 years from now something way better than USB-C comes out. How will it get introduced to the world? What is the incentive for anyone to innovate in this field ever again?

 

All that said, I'm down for switching everything to USB-C. Sometimes you just have to rip off the band-aid... Let's just do it. It will suck for a few years as we transition through a phase of having devices charge both ways throughout our house, but in like 2-3 years it will be great... but until then, oof...

[ort]

11 minutes ago, finaljedi said:

I'm not even convinced it's about selling cables anymore.  You can buy lightning cables for the same price as USB C cables next to the gas station cash register.

 

It's not. Apple customers went ape-shit when they switched from 30-pin to lightning. Everyone hated it. No one wants to switch. They were mocked on late night shows, people everywhere hated it and whined about it... it was a whole thing.

 

This transition will be the same. They will get dragged through the mud publicly and the vast majority of their customers will not like the change and will not want the change and will not understand or care why they had to change. All they will know is that the change will make their lives worse in the short term.

[Brian]

Lightening cables and ports wear out for me quickly. The main reason I am getting rid of the 11 Pro is because the port is already finicky. I plug it in at night and it’s 50/50 that the cable will stay connected and charge. Same happened on my last phone. 

[Guest]

Ort, most Apple devices use USB-C already  If you’re an actual Apple household, you most likely already have USB-C cables, or if you own any of the current gen gaming devices, also all USB-C for charging. 

[Guest]

Just now, Brian said:

Lightening cables and ports wear out for me quickly. The main reason I am getting rid of the 11 Pro is because the port is already finicky. I plug it in at night and it’s 50/50 that the cable will stay connected and charge. Same happened on my last phone. 

This is true. USB-C is better on both ends than lightning.

[ort]

Let's go through the stuff we charge...

 

Work MacBook = USB-C

Personal Mackbook = USB-C

My iPad = USB-C

Son's Chromebook = USB-C

Nintendo Switch = USB-C

Son's iPad = Lighting

Wife's Phone = Lightning

My Phone = Lightning

Son's Phone = Lightning

AirPods x3 = Lightning

Wife's Beats = USB-C

Big Ass Portable Battery = USB-C or Lightning

Magsafe Battery = Lightning

Oculus = USB-C

[Uaarkson]

I am currently charging my phone with a USB-C to Lightning cable.

[ort]

9 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

Ort, most Apple devices use USB-C already  If you’re an actual Apple household, you most likely already have USB-C cables, or if you own any of the current gen gaming devices, also all USB-C for charging. 

 

You clearly didn't read my post...

[finaljedi]

11 minutes ago, ort said:

 

It's not. Apple customers went ape-shit when they switched from 30-pin to lightning. Everyone hated it. No one wants to switch. They were mocked on late night shows, people everywhere hated it and whined about it... it was a whole thing.

 

This transition will be the same. They will get dragged through the mud publicly and the vast majority of their customers will not like the change and will not want the change and will not understand or care why they had to change. All they will know is that the change will make their lives worse in the short term.

 

I think it'll be easier this time around.  Before there were tons of products that included that 30 pin connector from speaker docks to cars that didn't come with USB, but just had one of those cables with that connector dangling out of the center console.  Now smart speakers have replaced the speaker dock and cars have been including just straight USB ports for years now.

 

Lightning was great when the other standard was Micro-USB, but it's time to retire it like the 30 pin connector that came before.

[Xbob42]

19 minutes ago, ort said:

I think Apple gets way too much undeserved flak for this...

 

What is the common criticism...

They're using a proprietary cable in an era where proprietary cables no longer make sense.

 

There. That's fuckin' it.

[ort]

4 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

They're using a proprietary cable in an era where proprietary cables no longer make sense.

 

There. That's fuckin' it.

 

Sure. Except that it's a wildly popular and very good proprietary cable that is in use for billions of devices. There is a good chance that there are more lightning devices in the world than USB-C.

 

It's clearly more nuanced of an issue than many make it out to be.

[ort]

What would have happened if this law passed 5 years ago when they were first pushing it and every device was required to have Micro-USB. Would we even have USB-C on phones right now?

[chakoo]

I've had more Lightning cables fray or break over the years than any standard. Apple makes shit cables, It does not matter if they keep giving you new ones they're shit.

[chakoo]

1 minute ago, ort said:

What would have happened if this law passed 5 years ago when they were first pushing it and every device was required to have Micro-USB. Would we even have USB-C on phones right now?

Yes we would, Next dumb question.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, ort said:

 

You clearly didn't read my post...

I did, and then you posted another post which makes your previous notion that it will somehow be difficult completely nonsense because your own example shows the tons of USB-C devices all over your own house.

[MarSolo]

I prefer my cables frayed. Like a man.

 

It shows grit and hard work.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, ort said:

Sure. Except that it's a wildly popular and very good proprietary cable that is in use for billions of devices. There is a good chance that there are more lightning devices in the world than USB-C.

Lightning is not good in 2022. It’s a much less rugged connector both on the cable and the device than USB-C.

 

And there is absolutely no way there are more lightning devices in the wild than USB-C 😂😂😂

[ort]

2 minutes ago, chakoo said:

Yes we would, Next dumb question.

 

Are you sure? If you made cell phones what would be the reason to push a new standard if you are required by law in one of your biggest markets to support an older  standard? Why push to be the first to adopt a new charging standard when so many hurdles are in your way. It can't help but slow progress.

 

You come off sounding like a condescending little prick. Next stupid comment.

[MarSolo]

My cords are very rugged. They’ve been through the shit. Who wants a cord that doesn’t crack at the charging end after a few weeks?

 

You’re all soft man babies.

[GeneticBlueprint]

46 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Lightning to USBC cables are included when you buy the product. I know my Ipad and iphone 13 did. I can just plug them into my PC easy or into the chargers. 🤷‍♀️

 

40 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

But you can’t plug non-lightning devices into it  So it is an extra cable just so Apple can be extra.

 

And the data transfer speeds are a fucking joke on Lightning. Backing up my phone to my computer takes forever. When I initially loaded my music collection onto my phone it took the better part of the day. Christ.

[ort]

8 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

I did, and then you posted another post which makes your previous notion that it will somehow be difficult completely nonsense because your own example shows the tons of USB-C devices all over your own house.

 

The complication is that the 4 devices that need the most frequent and convenient charging are all lightning. All devices don't get equal weight.

 

I've already said that me personally, I want the change. Make the switch. It will suck for 2-3 years and then be better.

 

I just think it's a way more tricky issue than Lightning bad LOL, which seems to be the general level of discourse whenever this topic comes up anywhere. No one wants to even acknowledge that this issue isn't so cut and dried.

[chakoo]

6 minutes ago, ort said:

 

Are you sure? If you made cell phones what would be the reason to push a new standard if you are required by law in one of your biggest markets to support an older  standard? Why push to be the first to adopt a new charging standard when so many hurdles are in your way. It can't help but slow progress.

 

You come off sounding like a condescending little prick. Next stupid comment.

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Please stop asking stupid what if questions. 

[johnny]

so i should wait til next year to upgrade my iphone xs. cool. 

[ort]

5 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

 

And the data transfer speeds are a fucking joke on Lightning. Backing up my phone to my computer takes forever. When I initially loaded my music collection onto my phone it took the better part of the day. Christ.

 

This is one of the main drawbacks of Lightning. It still transfers data at USB-2 Speeds.

 

The other big one is that for lightning the mechanical spring loaded clasps are in the device as opposed to USB-C where they are in the cable. The point of failure is the cable which is better.

 

USB-C is also a hot clusterfuck of standards. There is one connector, but not all cables support all data transfer or charging speeds. It's very confusing. This doesn't effect this particular issue much, but it's frustrating.