Apple dropping Lightning port would create 'unprecedented amount of e-waste' • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple dropping Lightning port would create 'unprecedented amount of e-waste'

#11

Post by totalZero » Sun, Jan 24, 2021, 12:12 AM UTC

melling wrote: post #10

totalZero wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> USB-C was released in 2014 and adoption has been very slow, and the standard has had problems. USB-C adoption has been pretty steady and it's on many devices of various form factors. Apple put USB-C on MacBook in 2015. The Samsung Galaxy S8 came out in 2017 with USB-C. Even my uninterruptible power supply has a USB-C port. What problems has the standard had, in your estimation?

The problems are well documented https://www.howtogeek.com/353410/3-problems-with-usb-c-you-n... https://www.dignited.com/28249/usb-c-top-5-issues-usb-c-conn...

No offense but those are two garbage articles with no substance whatsoever and it's a joke to present them as "well documented" examples of setbacks for USB-C.

The first link is just an ad for AmazonBasics. It complains about bad cables (not unique to USB-C), differences between USB 2 vs 3 (this is true for USB-A and Micro-USB as well, so again it's not unique to USB-C), and then cryptically says "Dongle Hell Is Real" as the third problem with USB-C before talking up the merits of AmazonBasics in the section titled "Your Best Bet is AmazonBasics Cables."

The second link complains about cable quality (solution: buy better cables), missing USB-IF logos (not a functional problem and can also be solved by buying better cables), USB-C adoption (like that's some kind of product characteristic), inconsistent supported features (that's true of any standardized connector used for several different applications), and non-compliant cables.

Of a total of eight complaints, four of them can be resolved by avoiding cheap-o cables, one of them is totally unrelated to the product's technical characteristics, two of them are true of all USB standards. That only leaves "Dongle Hell Is Real."

Re: Apple dropping Lightning port would create 'unprecedented amount of e-waste'

#12

Post by Tagbert » Sun, Jan 24, 2021, 2:07 AM UTC

toast0 wrote: post #6

melling wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lightning was released in 2012. It’ll be nine years old in September. USB-C was released in 2014 and adoption has been very slow, and the standard has had problems. Remember all the noise when they dropped the 32-pin connector for the much better Lightning? I’d like a wireless charging solution and no cable. Of course, I’d also like a global standard that plugs into the wall. USB-A into the wall and USB-C into the de…

USB-C has almost entirely replaced USB-micro B on mid-high end phones. The other end of the cable is much harder to replace; there's so much stuff with a USB-A that going USB-C on that side doesn't seem worth it, unless you're deep into Apple. It would be very unApple, but they could keep a lightning port on one side, and add a USB-C port on the other and kill the lightning port later. Maybe not entirely unApple, the…

Apple’s recent phones come with cables with USB-C on the power end and Lightning on the phone end.

Re: Apple dropping Lightning port would create 'unprecedented amount of e-waste'

#13

Post by rkt88edmo » Sun, Jan 24, 2021, 6:36 AM UTC

fredley wrote: post #3

The longer they leave it, the larger the unprecedented amout of e-waste will be. The only alternative is to hold off... forever?

Exactly - how about measuring the existing amount of ewaste they have created with their curmudgeonly non-standard adaptor changes.