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EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

engadget.com

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Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#111

Post by qalmakka »

plonk wrote: post #55
qalmakka wrote: post #2

2024? There's still plenty of time for them to remove the port altogether and go with just MagSafe/Qi. Which they control, and they still can get fees from. Trust me when I say that Apple will NEVER submit to this legislation, they will find every sort of obscure or arcane tricks to comply with it without actually doing it. It would set a precedent that legislating can change Apple's behaviour, which they clearly do…

They already use USB-C on macs and iPads. The only practical reason for Lightning to survive is existing iPhone accessories. It could have been on the way out even before this. Not sure the fight is worth picking.

> The only practical reason for Lightning to survive is existing iPhone accessories

Do you have any vague idea how much money Apple makes from Lightning accessories? Every single thing that wants to use Lightning has to pay an Apple tax, and go through an incredibly cumbersome and expensive certification process. Letting that slip away from Apple's control means they lose a bit of control on their walled garden.

Meanwhile, MagSafe is also an environment for accessories they can control, and they can use as a way to extort fees from accessory developers. Apple has only one goal in mind - their margins. Everything they do must be seen in function of that. It's clear Apple is going to remove every single port from the iPhone, they only have to find how.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#112

Post by marticode »

bluescrn wrote: post #95

So will USB-D be announced before then?

USB-C is highly extensible (some would say way too much), I doubt we will need to make a connector that is physically incompatible anytime soon (although I'm sure the standard will be upgraded for more speed/uses)

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#113

Post by rubyfan »

kingsleyopara wrote: post #108

This all seems pretty short sighted. Great in the short term (I want a USB-C iPhone and for everything today to be USB-C) but will surely be a pain going forward - where would USB-C be if this policy had standardised on micro USB earlier? Some will say wireless is the future but I’m not convinced. Maybe the best solution would be to have this policy expire after a certain number of years?

The baked in expiration seems like a great idea.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#114

Post by spacexsucks »

glogla wrote: post #15
lekevicius wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is the right take. - We already have reliable rumors that next-next iPhone (not this Sept, but next) will have USB-C port. - Qi is not a standard they control like Lightning either way. - Portless phone would be very unpopular (no fast charging), USB-C would be very popular. Apple would not choose to be unpopular just to watch the world hate them.

> - Portless phone would be very unpopular (no fast charging), USB-C would be very popular. Apple would not choose to be unpopular just to watch the world hate them. The same Apple which removed headphone jack so they can sell more dongles and wireless headphones? I can see them making portless phone just out of pure spite (maybe having cheaper version with port and not selling that in EU).

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Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#115

Post by spacexsucks »

kaba0 wrote: post #76
glogla wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Portless phone would be very unpopular (no fast charging), USB-C would be very popular. Apple would not choose to be unpopular just to watch the world hate them. The same Apple which removed headphone jack so they can sell more dongles and wireless headphones? I can see them making portless phone just out of pure spite (maybe having cheaper version with port and not selling that in EU).

The headphone jack did take up a considerable amount of space and made waterproofing quite a bit harder. It't not like it was not a well-considered tradeoff. Companies don't work based on spite, but based on profit.

No post body was provided.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#117

Post by rbanffy »

frizlab wrote: post #16
messe wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Lightning is a far superior plug than usb-c (don’t tell me about data transfer, I don’t care, I care about the durability and ease of plugging of the plug itself), I have MANY lightning cables (that I will have to throw away, how is that good for e-waste?), and in a more general sense the law basically forbids evolution. I am livid that they’d do something like that instead of working on actual stuff like forbidding…

> that I will have to throw away, how is that good for e-waste?

We are not most people. Most people get yet another lightning cable with every Apple device when they could just use the cables we all already have for other devices. I also have a bunch of lightning cables because each device came with one, but, at least, they stopped coming with power bricks.

> I am livid that they’d do something like that instead of working on actual stuff like forbidding mining

This is not an either/or thing. Other groups are working on doing that without causing supply chain collapses and crashing economies. It's a very complicated and chaotic system with tons of interesting emerging behaviors.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#118

Post by gadders »

I don't have an apple phone, but my daughter does, and I've always thought that mechanically at least the Apple connector was better because it had less bits to go wrong.

USB C, like micro USB has that "tongue" piece that has to fit inside the end of the cable which always looks like it could snap off. The Apple connector is just a solid piece that goes in the end of the phone. No fiddly interlock pieces.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#119

Post by RGamma »

kingsleyopara wrote: post #108

This all seems pretty short sighted. Great in the short term (I want a USB-C iPhone and for everything today to be USB-C) but will surely be a pain going forward - where would USB-C be if this policy had standardised on micro USB earlier? Some will say wireless is the future but I’m not convinced. Maybe the best solution would be to have this policy expire after a certain number of years?

Micro USB was the standardized smartphone port for years (around the time of the feature phone->smartphone transition): https://techcrunch.com/2009/06/29/micro-usb-to-be-the-standa...

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#120

Post by dan1234 »

akmarinov wrote: post #97

That's very interesting, not because the new iPhone would have a USB-C, but due to the fact that Apple continues selling older phones. Currently they sell the SE, 11, 12 and 13 By 2024 they will be selling a SE, 13, 14 and 15. Will they rework the SE, 13 and 14 to get USB-C? Will they stop selling them just in Europe? That's potentially a lot of money left on the table.

As I read it, the new laws are concerned with the chargers more than the devices being charged - if Apple just includes a lightning to USB-C cable (as they already do for the 12), wouldn’t that be enough to satisfy the legislation?
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