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The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

arstechnica.com

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Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#151

Post by itopaloglu83 »

notyourwork wrote: post #118
itopaloglu83 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple also helped develop ARM, but I believe nobody likes to talk about that. I wonder when the Europe is going to open up European companies like ASML, who are pretty much the de facto monopolies in their field. I believe the Nexperia incident showed that there's also a lot of political and national reasons behind such decisions, not just creating open and fair markets.

Who is stopping someone from competing against ASML?

Who’s stopping anyone from competing with Apple?

Let’s force ASML to open up its manufacturing line and cancel their patents for squandering innovation, but wait they’re an incredible company that dominated the field with their hard work and diligence, so it’s not fair for them.

Similarly, the open markets should apply to everyone, not just dominant American firms.

Though, I’m not saying they’re innocent and I think they have to be even broken up due to their monopolistic behaviors.

Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#152

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

notepad0x90 wrote: post #145
bigyabai wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem is, what you're describing is not competition. Apple is not exposed to any commercial threat, their products like iMessage, Safari and the App Store are artificially segregated from free-market pressures. Nothing can dethrone them, period. The only way to create a true competitor to these apps is to receive Apple's private entitlements. If you cannot understand that, you won't be able to interpret anyone's an…

Apple is already dethroned, the only market they're doing well at is the US. And even then Android phones are still the majority, apple just tends to make a lot more money in the US. I can't think of a single product where apple is the leader of the market share, but by all means correct me if I'm wrong. Whatsapp, Signal, Viber, etc.. they're all threats to iMessage. These apps even make themselves the default SMS ha…

> Yes it does. Give me back my lightning charger. Now I have USB-C where male port is on the phone and the connector is exposed to wear and tear. Apple

I have one of every Apple device category except the HomePod. But this is a horrible take. I can now use my same USB C cables everywhere.

But more importantly, I can use standard USB C peripherals from network adapters USB C external monitors, standard USB C to HDMI cords, plug a USB C storage device in etc

Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#153

Post by stephen_g »

usrnm wrote: post #9
MBCook wrote: post #3

So they forced Apple to drop an Apple proprietary thing in favor of… a Wi-Fi standard Apple helped develop specifically to replace their proprietary thing. Not quite as strong as the headline makes the case sound.

Apple also helped develop USB C more than a decade ago, they still had to be forced to actually use it in their phones. There is no contradiction here

That did turn a huge number of chargers and accessories into e-waste though...

Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#154

Post by isodev »

madeofpalk wrote: post #27

People keep mentioning Wi-Fi Aware with this, but so far haven't seen anyone actually prove that this is the case. Apple undoubtedly added Wi-Fi Aware support to iOS https://developer.apple.com/documentation/WiFiAware , but its not clear whether iOS actually supports AirDrop over Wi-Fi Aware. Apple clearly hasn't completely dropped AWDL for AirDrop, because you can still AirDrop from iOS 26 to earlier devices. Note t…

It’s funny how we’re all trying to piece together the stack from bits and obscure clues. Would be so cool if Apple and Google finally embrace their role as “essential public infrastructure” and release their specs, interoperate, etc.. so one doesn’t end up trapped one way or another when picking a personal device.

Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#155

Post by accrual »

Imagine the worldly gains of allowing such an amazing technology to permeate society. Ah, well, that's against the interests of the shareholders. It's better to lock shit down and earn a dollar than precipitate betterment for human kind. The dollar! All hail!

Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#156

Post by PunchyHamster »

llm_nerd wrote: post #12
usrnm wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple also helped develop USB C more than a decade ago, they still had to be forced to actually use it in their phones. There is no contradiction here

Users all got to complain that the EU are the meanies responsible for their old wires and chargers and accessory no longer being compatible, but it seems infinitely more likely that Apple was going to adopt USB-C on largely the same schedule even if the EU didn't intercede. To be clear, Apple had already moved their laptops and computers to USB-C -- long in advance of almost any one else -- and had moved their iPad P…

EU kinda failed with it once before, they pushed for phone vendors to get to common standard https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/memo_1...

didn't work, apple still did their own thing so EU went "ok, fuck you, usb-c"

Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#157

Post by PunchyHamster »

giantrobot wrote: post #41
ricw wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple probably wouldn’t have changed to usbc for their phones. Lightning was a mobile phone / other development, whilst usbc and its contributions came from their Mac department. They did not like each others standards. I know Apple engineers working on the phone who dislike the change even up to this day…

USB-C is a worse mechanical connector for a device plugged in thousands of times over its lifetime. The female port of a USB-C connector has a relatively fragile center blade. Lightning's layout was the opposite which makes it more robust and easier to clean.

Incorrect. You want springy bits on part that is easily replaceable - the cable. USB-C does that, the springy bits are in the connector, not the socket.

My phone is now 6 years old, zero problems on usb-c connector

Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#158

Post by BenjiWiebe »

KK7NIL wrote: post #98
yearolinuxdsktp wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 10K cycle insertion rating for USB-C is an idealized metric that does not include lateral force, torque, device movement, or real-world wear patterns. These non-axial forces are a known cause of USB-C port failures and are explicitly not accounted for in the standard 10k-cycle durability claim. USB-C center tongue female design means that the port will break before the cable. With lightning, the cable plug takes…

> These non-axial forces are a known cause of USB-C port failures and are explicitly not accounted for in the standard 10k-cycle durability claim. I agree and that's par for the course for any standard, they have to limit the requirements to something that is economically manufacutrable and testable. Meanwhile, lightning connectors have no public standard to speak of so this is a mute point. > USB-C center tongue fem…

*moot point

Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#159

Post by vineyardmike »

usrnm wrote: post #9
MBCook wrote: post #3

So they forced Apple to drop an Apple proprietary thing in favor of… a Wi-Fi standard Apple helped develop specifically to replace their proprietary thing. Not quite as strong as the headline makes the case sound.

Apple also helped develop USB C more than a decade ago, they still had to be forced to actually use it in their phones. There is no contradiction here

Apple said from the day that they made lightning cables that it would be supported for 10 years. They literally contractually guaranteed that to third party manufacturers in exchange for them creating a massive availability of cables for Apple users.

The EU “forced them” to switch to the standard they helped develop (USB C) on the 11th year after developing lighting. I’m sure it was all the EUs doing.

Re: The EU made Apple adopt new Wi-Fi standards, and now Android can support AirDrop

#160

Post by Dylan16807 »

smallmancontrov wrote: post #62
gambiting wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> which they were already almost completely done doing Honest question - why did they stick with lighting on iphones for so long, given that usb-c has been ubiquitus on phones for years before that point. I mean we can sit here and say "duh apple was going to do it anyway" but like.....why didn't they? Why did samsung have usb-c phones long before apple?

Because they were getting a reputation for churning the ports too quickly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyTA33HQZLA&t=19s and then they went all-USBC on the MBP before the ecosystem was ready, got absolutely slammed for it, and went back (on magsafe). 4 times bitten, once shy. I'm sure the cynical money reason played a role too, of course, but nobody else is mentioning the 4 times bitten so I felt obliged.

The MBP would only be an example if they were scared of being too new to USB-C on phones. That stopped being possible once a quarter of new phones were USB-C. So they weren't scared of that.
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