141–150 of 482 posts
Reminder, lightning is still usb 2.0 which is a joke with these 4k videos and tons of photos. Apple could still put USB C on there with 2.0 speeds, like Samsung did as recently as the Flip 3...
It's especially ironic that Apple had to be forced to use usb-c since they were the first to adopt Thunderbolt and they use usb-c/thunderbolt in all their laptops and newer iPads. Seems they held on to Lightning connectors simply to sell more cables (or maybe spite).
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…
This is pedantic, but the 30-pin connector did have one minor feature Lightning didn't -- the interface supported a design where it needed to be squeezed to be released, like DisplayPort or RJ45, and a small number of products took advantage of this to build very secure mounts. When switching to Lightning it was no longer possible to build a 3rd-party accessory that had such a secure attachment to the phone.
EDIT: I had remembered this as something Apple's original cables did, where you needed to squeeze them to release, but looking back I think you could just pull them out: https://web.archive.org/web/20071023101738/http://store.appl...
EDIT2: that page has a comment "This cable came with my Ipod Touch and all i have to say is , what an improvement. it was a wonderful idea to do away with those silly squeese tabs. all i have to do is give it a quick yank and its out." so maybe I'm not imagining things?
What a pain, forcing everyone to buy new cables.
Indeed. To resolve that issue, the EU came up with this legislation.
While the parent was being a bit disingenuous, they are correct that this will create additional e-waste that really probably wasn't necessary to do. I'm happy that Apple is switching to USB-C, for whatever that is worth.
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And all because Apple refused to play ball and just adopt USB-C like the rest of the industry. They're too used to US regulators that just roll over and don't follow through with their threats. For over a decade the EU has tried to get the industry to adopt a common standard without mandating it in law (we got microUSB on all phones instead of the previous proprietary ports thanks to the 2009 voluntary EU memorandum…
Thank fuck they didn't because otherwise we would have ended up with the shitty mini USB crap. Apple has been the one company making progress on stuff: - no floppy - no optical - no shitty as mini or micro USB - no Flash Each time people whined about the fact that they "didn't use what everyone else does" and each time they were right.
Bluetooth just STILL isn't there from a reliability perspective. Even with the latest Gen 2 AirPods, I talk to friends who continue have sporadic stuff where a single bud cuts out, or you have to reconnect to get the mic working, or etc. etc... Just give me a damn analog plug and let me hear/talk!
Oh my god, please please please this in the US this is an instant buy for me. Can they switch over everything? Airpods too?
I must be the only person on HN who thinks the lightening port is better than USB-C.
How do you define "better?"
For charging its fine, as long as you aren't going for high power levels. In terms of data transfer, it simply can't support the data rates that usb-c can. If you want a simple, robust connector for moderate charging loads with moderate data transfer needs it is a great connector.
That's not opinion, just simple physics. Lightning has a lot fewer wires. Apple has managed to get base USB3 rates with a couple of devices, but nowhere close to the thunderbolt rates you can get with USB-C.
Having said that, for the vast majority of use cases, it is a great connector. Simple, idiot proof, and robust.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Something I found interesting when discussing this with my wife.. All my friends are tech heads and champing at the bit to have usb-c in their iPhones. But when she asked me why people were mad about the switch to usb-c it took me by surprise. Then she showed me a lot of online responses from non technical people who see the change of port as annoying and wasteful because now all their stuff won’t work without adapte…
But even those non-tech people should have some USB-C cables lying around at this point Android phones have used USB-C cables for many years. The Nintendo switch and PS5 controllers use USB-C cables. Chromebooks use USB-C cables. The alarm clock I just bought uses a USB-C cable. My keyboard uses a USB-C cable. Every MacBook made in the last five years (and most iPads sold in the last couple years) uses a USB-C cable.…
Frankly, hardware doesn’t become as obsolete as fast anymore, so there has been little reason to purchase usb-c replacements for our non-usb-c hardware.
As someone that deeply detests Apple and would never give them money, I will admit the lightning connector is superior in durability, inspectability, and safety than USB type C in virtually every way. The real crime here is that Apple insisted on patenting the design and keeping it for only themselves, forcing the rest of the industry to adopt an inferior connector and ultimately force it on them too. Classic Apple.
> I will admit the lightning connector is superior in durability, inspectability, and safety than USB type C in virtually every way Any links to back that claim?