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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

#761

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if the whole world adopted this kind of regulatory stance, there would be much less incentive to invent that better cable because you now have huge regulatory bodies that may block its adoption and thus mean most of that work was money and time wasted. This kind of thing may tilt the risk / reward of research towards the riskier end of the spectrum. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing— just that it’s not without cons…

> if the whole world adopted this kind of regulatory stance, there would be much less incentive to invent that better cable because you now have huge regulatory bodies Imagine you didnt have law on shape and voltage of ordinsry power plugs in a house, and if you buy a samsung power socket to ibstall in your house, you mist buy samsung fridge and samsung washing machine and samsung hair dryer

> Imagine you didnt have law on shape and voltage of ordinsry power plugs in a house, and if you buy a samsung power socket to ibstall in your house, you mist buy samsung fridge and samsung washing machine and samsung hair dryer

You seem to be conflating the wall socket with the on-device socket.

I have several AC powered devices that use the same wall socket plug but have different on-device sockets - some with very different shapes. Even a single manufacturer may require different power cables: the original PS2, PS3, and PS4 all have different and incompatible power sockets and cables (squared/polarized 2-prong, "standard" 3-prong, and figure-8 2-prong, respectively).

US homes often have 220V sockets for large appliances (electric clothes dryers) as well as 110V sockets for smaller appliances (handheld hair dryers.) The sockets/plugs/cables are different and are not compatible.

As I understand it, every iPhone already comes with a charging cable in the box that plugs into a standard USB C power socket. Already better than anything with a wall wart power supply.

But I'm pretty much in favor of addressing the absurd proliferation of incompatible wall warts and other DC power supplies, even though they plug into the same wall socket.

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

#762
post #735

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, via building/construction codes.

And we are stuck on AC which is a terrible and wasteful way to move electricity. How much energy is wasted converting AC to DC?

>> And we are stuck on AC which is a terrible and wasteful way to move electricity.

That's a really strange thing to see here on HN. Where did you get this idea?

BTW Europe having 3-phase AC to the home is brilliant. Wish we had that in the U.S.

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

#763
post #756

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was no previous iteration of that laptop.

Is there some point you're trying to make or are you just being needlessly pedantic? The 2016 Macbook Air[0] was not the first in the series. The lack of ports was controversial due to it differing from the previous 2015 model[1]. [0] https://support.apple.com/kb/SP741?locale=en_US [1] https://support.apple.com/kb/SP714?locale=en_US

What you linked is the MacBook, not the MacBook Air. The MacBook Air has never had one USB-C port. The one-port MacBook was unique, relevant to a specific niche, and never the only laptop option from Apple.

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

#764
post #8

The EU stance and strictness on this is one of the things making me happy to be an EU citizen.

> The EU stance and strictness on this is one of the things making me happy to be an EU citizen. It's going to look funny in a few years after the rest of the world moves to better technology.

...which the eu may then adopt.

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

#765
post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then it's very childish. It's the responsibility of legislators and regulators to be clear and precise -- to mean what they say and say what they mean. To "punish" a company for following a law, because of something the law doesn't actually say, is not what rule of law means, and would be a shameful thing. No company should have to intuit or guess what the government "really" meant, over and above what the law actual…

Clarifying what the spirit of the law isn't "childish". Law isn't software. Judges always take the spirit of the law into account when making decisions, and precedence is as important as the actual written text. This is true in both the US and the EU.

spirit of the law is not the actual law however. "Spirit of the law" carries 0 consequences, nor does anyone have to follow the spirit.

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

#766

Lol and a lot of Apple's charging cables are Lightning to USB C now. I can't wait to get a USB C iPhone. All my stuff is USB C, from my Braille display to my game controllers. It'll make things so much easier to only need one kind of cable for everything.

I learned about an interesting corner case last week: devices that use USB-C physical connectors but have USB 2.0 PHY. You can get away with a much longer cable at that lower Baud rate, but that cable likely won't work for most USB-C devices.

I’ve been messing around with implementing a USB C port on a board I’ve been working on. The chip I’m talking to is only USB 2.0 so there’s a whole pile of things to figure out related to getting any given host to talk right to my thing. It’s cool, but complex.

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

#767

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I learned about an interesting corner case last week: devices that use USB-C physical connectors but have USB 2.0 PHY. You can get away with a much longer cable at that lower Baud rate, but that cable likely won't work for most USB-C devices.

Most USB-C devices and cables are USB2. Most USB-C phones are USB2, and there are a lot more phones than there are laptops with USB3 USB-C. It is probably better to think of USB3 as extension that requires special, shorter cables. I like to think of them as charging cables and data cables. I probably have two USB3 USB-C cables for MacBooks (and I found one that is 6ft long) and dozen USB2 USB-C cables for charging ph…

I recall hearing Alex Lindsay talk about only ever buying Thunderbolt cables now because it’s so uncertain of the USB3 cable you’re buying will actually do everything you want it to do.

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

#768
post #735

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And we are stuck on AC which is a terrible and wasteful way to move electricity. How much energy is wasted converting AC to DC?

>> And we are stuck on AC which is a terrible and wasteful way to move electricity. That's a really strange thing to see here on HN. Where did you get this idea? BTW Europe having 3-phase AC to the home is brilliant. Wish we had that in the U.S.

Fact that the US main power distribution network(eg: pacific DC intertie)runs on DC that we concert back to AC for regional distribution and then back to DC to power our houses like lights, tv, electronics etc. AC is inefficient long distances and still needs to be converted to DC to power our stuff.

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

#769

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What accessory makers? The only thing lightning is used for these days is charging. I can’t imagine that charging cables is a huge money spinner for apple.

I assume the large car makers are paying apple a huge amount to be able to install lightning cable adapters in the cars.

They’re not. In fact I’ve never seen a lightning port on a non-Apple device. The other end of the cable is either USB-A or USB-C.

And Apple is pushing for new vehicles to use CarPlay wirelessly anyway.

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

#770

So will there be 2 tiered iphone class system? EU phones are premiere tier, and rest is lower tier in terms of usability?

Conversely, if Apple did this they might give the European product the “bare minimum” standard and continue to innovate and build proprietary solutions for their non-European products.

The markets Apple cares most about right now are China and India.

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