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Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

forbes.com

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Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#31

Post by brundolf »

danpalmer wrote: post #19

It's sad that it took legislation to make this happen, but I can see why. I worked in a pseudo-Apple-store during the height of the 30-pin dock connector and I sold so many cases, speaker docks, charging cables, and all sorts of weird accessories that were built for the 30-pin connector. Then Apple switched to Lightning. It was better in every. single. way. And yet people got burnt. There was so much hardware that wa…

Two key differences vs last time:

1. As you mentioned, most accessories have moved to wireless. I still (usually) use a physical cable for charging, and I guess I have a 3.5mm dongle, but I think those are the only two things I've plugged into my iPhone in years. Docks with a physical port, in particular, were super popular 10+ years ago and don't really exist anymore. People won't be throwing away speakers.

2. They aren't switching to a new proprietary port, they're switching to a standard port. Which means there's already a thriving ecosystem of accessories that will now be usable with iPhones (some of which people may already have, for use with their other devices!)

I'm more cynical in my interpretation of Apple's motives: I think they just wanted those licensing dollars

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#32

Post by mig39 »

generalizations wrote: post #3

And I guess that means we won't get any more cable interface innovation for a while. Are we really that certain that micro USB -- I mean, USB-C -- is the format to standardize on for the foreseeable future?

Sadly, the first time this was considered by the EU was when all the phones were using Mini USB connectors. The same arguments back then.

Of course, Mini USB is largely deprecated and not used these days.

If they had forced Apple into Mini USB, would we have gotten adoption of Micro USB, and eventually Type-C connectors?

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#33

Post by ulfw »

hobbitstan wrote: post #26

I often wonder how much money Apple makes from the fact that lightning cables all seem to die after a few months. I have usb cables that are decades old that still work, but lightning…

And I just threw two Anker USB-C charging cables away in the last four weeks as both broke internally.

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#35

Post by scarface74 »

falcolas wrote: post #14

Good. When we're constantly adding more data transfer functionality and power capabilities to USB-C, I don't buy the "but muh innovation" argument. The magic of USB-C isn't in the physical interface, it's in the chips that connect to the interface (both in the device and the cable). And if those chips want to change the pinouts after bootstrapping via the current pinout configuration, they can and will.

You realize that “magic” isn’t being enforced by the as usual short sighted EU?

There is no requirement to ship USB cords that actually transfer data at USB3 speeds or actually any mandate to have cables that support data at all. What do you think the chances are that cheap Android phones will ship with more expensive cables that can transfer at USB 3 speeds?

Not to mention that I doubt that the cheap USB cords will support video over USB C - something that USB C iPads already support.

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#39

Post by hooverd »

enriquec wrote: post #20
falcolas wrote: post #14

Good. When we're constantly adding more data transfer functionality and power capabilities to USB-C, I don't buy the "but muh innovation" argument. The magic of USB-C isn't in the physical interface, it's in the chips that connect to the interface (both in the device and the cable). And if those chips want to change the pinouts after bootstrapping via the current pinout configuration, they can and will.

you may not buy the "but muh innovation" - its also sad that that passes for discourse for you - but it is economic fact. whats your opinion on "muh regulatory capture"? what about lightning vs microusb?

I don't see anybody complaining about the RJ45 format, or NEMA. If you let companies run wild they would probably come up with a way to shove DRM into connectors.

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#40

Post by frosted-flakes »

nilespotter wrote: post #16
fazfq wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter what you think, the busybodies have made their choice so you can't make yours.

Couldn't agree more. I don't understand why the HN crowd is so supportive of government telling people what to do, as evidenced by your rapid downvotes. I don't use an iPhone but I'm disappointed Apple caved.

It's not much different than governments regulating electrical power oulets/plugs. And no one thinks that that should be a free-for-all.

Of course, there's still fragmentation among different continents/countries, but that was inevitable given the time periods these things were standardised. It's unfortunate that the world didn't decide on one standard, but at least almost all countries are internally consistent. There's no need to make the same mistake with USB.

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