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EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

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Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#941

Post by adam_arthur »

CharlesW wrote: post #931
adam_arthur wrote: post #928

Amazing to witness all the Apple apologists coming out to defend the lightning cable, which is both technologically inferior to USB-C, and proprietary. Apple has reached sufficient scale where their anti-competitive practices can be hugely detrimental to society... we don't need regulation if they would opt into consumer friendly practices to begin with. Obviously any regulation needs to be implemented in such a way…

This isn't an "anti-competitive" thing. (1) Lightning was introduced a decade ago when USB-C was just a dream, and (2) Lightning works. > Connectors have been pretty much standardized without the need for any regulation, barring Apple. In reality, Apple took a leading role in USB-C adoption starting with 2015's MacBook Pro. Do you really think Apple wasn't going to adopt USB-C everywhere anyway? The cool thing is tha…

Apple could have easily adopted USB-C on the iphone, just as they did on many of their other devices years and years ago.

The fact that they didn’t strongly implies they didn’t want to give up the revenue from their proprietary connector. Because there is no technical reason not to use it.

Cables being sold for a dead protocol are the real waste. There is far less waste in the long run having all devices use the same connector. There’s not even an argument otherwise

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#942

Post by int_19h »

n8cpdx wrote: post #684
cyborgx7 wrote: post #318

Self-regulation only works if government regulation is a serious threat in case self-regulation fails. In this case, self-regulation failed, so government regulation stepped in to force industry to do what is right. All the handwringing about stifling innovation is on its face ridiculous as mandates to use micro-usb didn't stop android phones from adopting the new and better standard as soon as it was viable.

This assumes that it is in the government’s interest to dictate the kind of cable used to charge phones, and that making the “wrong” choice is such a bad outcome that industry needs to “self-regulate”. Perhaps the EU should step in to force industry to do what is right in all cases, not just charging cables: - ban e2e encryption - pedos and criminals use it - mandate client-side CSAM scanning on all devices, report d…

The interest isn't in dictating the specific kind of cable, but rather in having a single kind that's universal. It's the industry that converged on USB-C by itself, not the EU bureaucrats.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#943

Post by brokenmachine »

codexb wrote: post #706
TheYumasi wrote: post #555

As an EU citizen, I am really happy with this decision. I am an iPhone user, but having an iPhone is not ubiquitous here, almost all of my friends/special other, use an Android phone with USB-C. Most of their laptops, Mac or not, use or allow USB-C for charging. This as been the case for a few years now, yet, if I go somewhere for more than a full day and forget my lighting cable, my phone will become a useless paper…

There's nothing wise or moral about this decision. Mandating a technology standard, purely for personal preference and convenience reasons -- not for reasons related to safety, or pollution, or security -- especially for things that change as fast as phones, is one of the most short-sighted and naive things any government could do. There's a long history of Apple using proprietary connectors to achieve performance sp…

>in favor of wireless charging

So, force people to have more stuff and use the less power efficent option. As well as the glued-in non-replaceable batteries that were such a wonderful futuristic idea before.

Thank the flying spaghetti monster that the EU is "behind the market", because the market is consumer-hostile garbage.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#945

Post by speleding »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #702
speleding wrote: post #696

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem I have with USB-C is that it is not a particularly good standard for power delivery. For one, USB-C is not "IP rated" for use in the kitchen or the bathroom, so you still need separate chargers there. Also the USB-C connector supports fast data delivery, which makes it a lot more expensive than a connector that focusses on power only. A standard that would do just power delivery <100W and works in da…

> A standard that would do just power delivery Don't you just have a RCD/GFCI on your outlet / breaker for this purpose?

The breaker box is a last line of defence if things have gone wrong. Plugs designed for use in a bathroom will not short out if they get a bit damp, etc.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#946

Post by ThatPlayer »

ralfd wrote: post #465
ChrisRR wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does no-one remember how there were like 50 different phone connectors in the early 2000s? This is why we all (apart from Apple) settled on one standard

Yes, exactly: The market could innovate and develop better connectors. For example Apples Lightning, which is older (and smaller/more robust) than USB-C. Imagine instead the EU mandating micro USB and how we would be forced till the end of times to have a 50% chance to plugging it in wrong. Is USB-C the best connector or form factor we could ever do?

Maybe not, but it is good enough. "Perfect is the enemy of good" is a phrase I like to keep in mind while programming or making something and can also apply here. Should we wait around for a perfect connector? Or is USB-C as close as we can get as of now?

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#947

Post by ThatPlayer »

sam_lowry_ wrote: post #64

Why not enforcing split sales? Charger apart from phone? Pretty much like they should have done with computers and OSes in 2009. Mind you, split sale = two items at checkout and the oppotunity to buy separately.

Yes, that was part of the proposal: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_...

> Unbundling the sale of a charger from the sale of the electronic device

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#948

Post by dmitriid »

arcticbull wrote: post #708
codexb wrote: post #706

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing wise or moral about this decision. Mandating a technology standard, purely for personal preference and convenience reasons -- not for reasons related to safety, or pollution, or security -- especially for things that change as fast as phones, is one of the most short-sighted and naive things any government could do. There's a long history of Apple using proprietary connectors to achieve performance sp…

Apple hasn't changed the 'fast-changing' lightning connector since 2012, and USB-A lasted from 1996 to, well, present. USB-C came out in 2014 and is likely going to outlive us both. Connectors simply don't change that fast, and I'm not sure why people think they do. I think even the EU can regulate on that kind of schedule.

> USB-A lasted from 1996 to, well, present. USB-C came out in 2014 and is likely going to outlive us both. Connectors simply don't change that fast

How convenient of you to forget Mini-USB and Micro-USB and regular USB-B

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#949

Post by [deleted] »

dmitriid wrote: post #948
arcticbull wrote: post #708

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple hasn't changed the 'fast-changing' lightning connector since 2012, and USB-A lasted from 1996 to, well, present. USB-C came out in 2014 and is likely going to outlive us both. Connectors simply don't change that fast, and I'm not sure why people think they do. I think even the EU can regulate on that kind of schedule.

> USB-A lasted from 1996 to, well, present. USB-C came out in 2014 and is likely going to outlive us both. Connectors simply don't change that fast How convenient of you to forget Mini-USB and Micro-USB and regular USB-B

[deleted]

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#950

Post by idle_zealot »

zaik wrote: post #688
tunap wrote: post #669

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But in long sight it's a hinderence to progress by enforcing a technology on the market instead of letting the free market decide the technology. No, it's not in any way a hindrance to the market, merely one player who desires rent seeking. What it is doing is enforcing standards on manufacturers instead of the other way around.

Maybe we can have an internet standard for messaging apps next?

Isn't that covered by the recently-passed Digital Services Act? It mandates messaging platform interoperability.
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