Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law • Hacker News Board

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

#171

Post by walterbell » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:05 PM UTC

chomp wrote: post #52

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…

I stayed at a hotel in Italy a few years ago, and the radio alarm next to the bed _still_ had the 30 pin connector. No doubt that there are probably a ton of people still annoyed at Apple.

There are 30-pin to Lightning cables/adapters for connecting to older equipment that otherwise continue to work perfectly.

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

#172

Post by walterbell » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:08 PM UTC

yardie wrote: post #86

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…

I stayed in a hotel recently with one of those clock radios with the 30-pin connector on top. It would have been nice to have it use the larger speakers for background music and the alarm. But with over 200 rooms they probably weren't in a rush to replace all those units with Lightning and now USB-C.

There's A Dongle For That (tm). Not just clock radios, there were audio receivers which used the 30-pin connector.

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

#173

Post by samatman » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:08 PM UTC

somerandomqaguy wrote: post #160

rootusrootus wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm more cynical in my interpretation of Apple's motives: I think they just wanted those licensing dollars They've switched every other non-iPhone device to USB-C. The more plausible interpretation would be that they don't want to piss off a core constituency of customers who've built up 10 years of Lightning cables. The number of people who care about standardizing on USB-C are definitely less than the vocal folks…

Maybe? The USB specifications calls for USB Micro-B to have the same 10,000 connect/disconnect cycles as USB-C: ----------------------------------- Table 3-1 USB Electrical, Mechanical and Environmental Compliance Standards Performance Requirement 1500 cycles 5000 cycles for Mini “B” 10,000 cycles for Micro series 10,000 cycles for ruggedized Standard “A” Cycle rate of 500 cycles per hour if done automatically and 20…

The main thing USB-C and Lightning have going for them, which Micro-B doesn't, is the redundancy of two connection pads.

I've had more than one female Lightning port start to get tetchy about which direction a cable goes in.

All I'll miss from Lightning is being able to clean the port with a toothpick. Then again, that's not a small thing. When I hear/feel a bit of grit in a USB-C port I get a sinking feeling, with Lightning I just reach for a dental pick.

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

#174

Post by giantg2 » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:08 PM UTC

djvdq wrote: post #127

lrvick wrote: post #96

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 was thinking the same about both connectors. And then I bought an iPhone. I never broke a USB-C connector nor socket in few years of heavy usage on few devices, but I needed to buy new lightning cable because the pins have worn out after less than a year of just connecting the cable to iphone.

I have a family member with a similar iPhone charging issue.

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

#175

Post by crazygringo » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:10 PM UTC

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…

> There was so much hardware that was now incompatible

Huh? There's a 30-pin-to-lightning dongle that, AFAIK, works for everything. (Or nearly everything?)

I use one still, to connect my ~2010 Zeppelin speaker (30-pin) to an old 2016 iPhone SE (Lightning) I use exclusively for Spotify. Works like a charm.

The idea that the transition to Lightning somehow turned all of this old stuff to junk is silly.

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

#176

Post by RockRobotRock » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:11 PM UTC

brundolf wrote: post #103

rootusrootus wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm more cynical in my interpretation of Apple's motives: I think they just wanted those licensing dollars They've switched every other non-iPhone device to USB-C. The more plausible interpretation would be that they don't want to piss off a core constituency of customers who've built up 10 years of Lightning cables. The number of people who care about standardizing on USB-C are definitely less than the vocal folks…

> They've switched every other non-iPhone device to USB-C The only device I know of that started out on lighting and switched to USB-C was the iPad, and that was specifically because they're pushing it as a "creator" device, for which people needed to be able to plug in things like flash drives, SD card adaptors, cameras, mice and keyboards, etc. There's significantly less drive for those kinds of accessories on iPho…

It feels like anything labeled "Pro" got USB-C faster, except the AirPods Pro gen 2 :(

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

#177

Post by aquova » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:11 PM UTC

I've never really understood why they hadn't done it yet. The iPad has used a USB-C connections for a few iterations now, they got a lot of criticism for switching only to USB-C style connectors on their Mac line years ago, yet they've resisted bringing the iPhone into the same ecosystem. There's a lot of third party peripherals that are reliant on lightning, but that doesn't really seem like something that would hold Apple back.

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

#178

Post by MBCook » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:13 PM UTC

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…

> It's sad that it took legislation to make this happen, but I can see why.

Did it? Apple moved their last Lightning product (outside of iPhones & their accessories) earlier this week.

It seemed pretty clear they were going all USB-C, just on their own timeline. It was already widely expected next year.

I bet it would have happened within 2 years if the law wasn’t passed.

If all the iPads, or even most of them, were still Lightning I’d agree. But when even the cheapest model moved, the writing was on the wall.

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

#179

Post by geocar » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:14 PM UTC

orra wrote: post #8

Honestly, I'm kinda surprised Apple isn't switching to USB Type-C... but only in the EU.

Don't forget Apple's Lightning patents run out soon.

I think rather than ride it alone in the carnage of out-of-spec Lightning kit that would undoubtedly flood the market, getting switched to USB-C (while the customers blame regulators for having to buy new accessories) is probably better for Apple.

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

#180

Post by smoldesu » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 5:15 PM UTC

aquova wrote: post #177

I've never really understood why they hadn't done it yet. The iPad has used a USB-C connections for a few iterations now, they got a lot of criticism for switching only to USB-C style connectors on their Mac line years ago, yet they've resisted bringing the iPhone into the same ecosystem. There's a lot of third party peripherals that are reliant on lightning, but that doesn't really seem like something that would hol…

I feel like a Thunderbolt 3 iPhone has been possible since at least iPhone X. If Apple went all-in on a high-bandwidth connector for all their devices, maybe they could resurrect the dead dream of FireWire.