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EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

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Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> do you think Apple intended to stick with Lightning forever? What?? Of course they did. Why do you think they are even considering USBC? Apple has zero incentive to use a common cable format; I'm sure they rake in money with their proprietary apple-only connectors. Look at magsafe. Changed it twice so everyone had to get a whole new set of chargers. Sure, they changed it to C now, but I'm guessing that's just becau…

Apple want to stick to lightning forever? And they have no reason to switch unless a government entity forced them? Ha. Apples own customers complain quite loudly about the inconvenience about USB-C and Lightning, dongles etc. The inability to charge their phone with the same cable as their MacBook or iPads... they are providing a very un-Apple experience. They have an enormous customer base, using a legacy connector…

I assumed they took their sweet time and waited for a Goverment to force them so that large customer base will be angry at the eu for having to buy new cables and throw out their old lightning socks and devices instead of apple

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come on, there can't be that much better of a cable in the future. You already have speeds that are instantaneous on one file and I bet the transfer time to transfer all your pictures an videos from your phone is under an hour, for an operation you are maybe doing once a year ? Time for a full charge is also probably under an hour, that's not unreasonable. Being standard is a better feature than speed. Event if they…

Connectors are dying anyways. I rarely plug my iPhone in to anything, since I’ve moved to wireless charging. I wouldn’t be surprised if an iPhone is released eventually with no port at all.

Wireless charging loses 30% of the energy. It looks bad on the carbon sheets of the products, and Europe is also moving towards regulating carbon a lot.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#463
post #349

I don't understand why USB-C doesn't use the Lightning form factor, which is clearly superior. It's smaller, simpler and more resistant to damage.

> more resistant to damage In what way? Every single lighting cable I've had since the switch was done years ago is unusable after a few months. The same pin, 4th from the left, wears out after a very short time. This has happened across owning multiple phones and iPads. I've lost count of the number of cables I've bought from either Apple or a 3rd party. I see the exact same damage on other people's cables frequentl…

Yes, that's super annoying. However, it's easily fixable:

One can rub the black stuff off the pin using a regular rubber and it usually works again

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words the regulatory bodies decide. They might, if they feel like it, ask some people who actually know something in the process of making that decision, but that doesn't mean they'll listen or care. Why are you denying this basic reality?

If you have a jaded view of the EU out to get you by (checking notes) ignoring the directive and not consulting with the experts so that they can force you to use a specific connector even when better options get created... Sure, I don't think we see the same reality.

I am interested in examples of similar legal systems working as expected/desired. I live in the USA and the trope that I am exposed to here is that of bureaucracy slowing things down unnecessarily, special interests capturing regulatory[1] bodies and having undue control to the detriment of progress or society as a whole while benefiting said special interests.

> Sure, I don't think we see the same reality.

Possibly exposure to different governments acting different ways.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture#:~:text=Reg......

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#466
post #134

From experience I see that USB-C charger that was included with Pixel charges my SE 2021 via Lightning just as fast as original Apple charger, so why would they change anything (I mean the charging speed when switch over to USB-C)?

This is for faster speeds supported by newer/future phones. The SE 2021 (and iPhones in general) aren't that fast when compared to some alternatives that charge much larger batteries in 10-30 minutes. My phone (not Apple) goes up to 60W, for example.

The speculation is that Apple will only allow their chargers or chargers they approve (and get paid for it) to charge future iPhones faster. This is the EU telling them not to do it. USB-PD is a standard (already used by Apple on laptops) and can do up to 240W. No need for proprietary chargers.

Why would Apple do this? Money.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#467
post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a time where they had a least two, and the screen size and the phones got bigger since then.

Yes, let’s waste space that could be used by battery and compromise water/dust proofing by install another port.

If you can have one water/dust proof port you can have two.

How about making phones thicker again? More place for a battery, less risk of the next bend gate.

That's a bogus debate because there are more than enough possibilities.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#468
post #118

What happens when there is a better USB-C plug - isn't there a concern that locking into the current standard means in 50 years the EU is still stuck. I imagine we're in uncharted territory given in less then my lifetime USB was invented and has gone through at least 14 iterations e.g. it's been changing very fast. Unfortunately I fear even asking this question probably angers some, but I think it's an interesting qu…

When a better USB-C plug happens, the standards will get updated, instead of millions of people having to buy 10 versions of a damn plug NOW. It's not like the EU standardizes emergent and rapidly evolving things, it's a freaking plug and "stuck in the past" isn't exactly how I describe the EU.

German speaking. While I see your point on unfair behavior of companies like Apple forcing customers to buy gazillions of adapters, I'm afraid the downsides of those regulations are being downplayed by the EU regulators in kind of an arrogant tone:

- GDPR, e-privacy and such only led to us having to click away cookie banners. Someone should make a study how much of the GDP is wasted because of those micro-interactions maneuvering around dark ui patterns. Still, Big Tech is just collecting the data in different ways and the regulations will never be able to catch up.

- Over time, we saw many smaller companies were put under pressure by some lawyers to also "obey the law". It massively incentivized legal uncertainty for many local companies. We will see the same pattern with generative AI and the obligation to make transparent where the data it's trained on is coming from.

- We have lately seen regulations being misused by some governments to stop things they didn't like (see Italy's government and their take on ChatGPT).

I am not so sure that regulating power plugs isn't just another iteration of stupidity of doing the opposite of what they claim.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#469
post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Besides, nothing is stopping manufacturers from including both USB-C and another charging connector. On a handheld device with limited space? Come on now.

My iPhone has a lightning port and wireless charging. That's two. How long until wireless charging is the default? Particularly combined with the iPhone's magsafe that allows charging to occur while the device is at any orientation?

Wireless charging by definition has no physical port - if you have to plug it in, it's not wireless.

No manufacturer is going to waste space that could be use for battery and further compromise water/dust proofing to add another port, for a total of 2, even if it's better than USB-C because the opportunity cost is too high.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#470
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the strongest pushbacks against USB-C that Apple have: USB-C: You break the stem, you have a useless device and functioning cable Lightning: You break the stem, you have a functioning device and useless cable. One of these is clearly more optimal considering the cost difference between the two. Anecdotally, I have had problems with USB-C ports that I did not have with Micro-USB and (so far) with Lightn…

You forgot the springs. Lighting has the springs in the device, while USB-C has them on the cable. That is why Apple stopped improving Lighting and developed USB-C. The stem can break, but it is far more rare than a tired spring, which is an inevitability.

> That is why Apple stopped improving Lighting and developed USB-C

They did not develop USB-C. That was a thing started by Gruber.

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