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This did happen 10 years ago, and they did standardize on micro-USB [0]. Use of the standard was voluntary, though. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply
And because it was only voluntary, Apple was able to innovate and create the lightning port which worked in either orientation and inspired the adoption of USB-C by the rest of the world
I'm with Apple on this one. Apple has kept working on improving the charging experience for its phones over time. The original iPhone cable, then lightning, then wireless charging. This stifles innovation. Also: doesn't the government have more pressing concerns to worry about? I doubt Apple's lobbying against this for some nefarious reason, like locking users into their proprietary technology.
Sounds like "why spend money on NASA when we have poverty here on earth?".
Governments have a lot of people and a lot of resources and can work on more than one thing at a time.
> Apple has kept working on improving the charging experience for its phones over time
And it will continue to do so. Except it now has to convince others to adopt its improvements.
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So what specific kind of USB-C cable will be allowed to be packed with my next shiny for the decades to come? What kind of USB-PD will the phone be allowed to support and - if the phone supports a higher voltage/amperage combination than the EU fixed in 2020 - will I have to buy an additional cable to support this? How did we ever switch from SCART to HDMI after the EU forced the TV manufacturers to only support SCAR…
They had no problem allowing USB-C quickly, why would the next one be different?
I'm not someone who's shy about regulation, but even I think this is totally unnecessary. As an Apple user, I should be the first to complain about their own internal (inexplicable) lack of a standard (Lightning for phones, USB-C for everything else). It's annoying, sure, but it's far from a material burden on my quality of life. Is this really the problem we need to be spending our regulatory energies on in 2020?
It's a material burden on the rest of us though. Every home has a dozen cables where 2 would do. The reduction of eWaste is a noble goal.
I'm with Apple on this one. Apple has kept working on improving the charging experience for its phones over time. The original iPhone cable, then lightning, then wireless charging. This stifles innovation. Also: doesn't the government have more pressing concerns to worry about? I doubt Apple's lobbying against this for some nefarious reason, like locking users into their proprietary technology.
> Also: doesn't the government have more pressing concerns to worry about? Sounds like "why spend money on NASA when we have poverty here on earth?". Governments have a lot of people and a lot of resources and can work on more than one thing at a time. > Apple has kept working on improving the charging experience for its phones over time And it will continue to do so. Except it now has to convince others to adopt its…
You get a free charging cable usually when you purchase a new phone and charging cables are cheap.
I get the environment argument but I don't see how this moves the needle on protecting the environment. If anything it could scare off tech companies from developing charging cables that are better for the environment.
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The standard can be changed, it's just that manufacturers have to agree between themselves on the new standard. No involvement from the government is required. They can make USB 4, 5,6, connector C, D,E,Z, whatever. That's fine. What's not cool, is creating proprietary connector and not letting anyone else use it. Mind you they only have to agree on charging, not data transfer. As to whether it's worth it: hard to te…
>The standard can be changed, it's just that manufacturers have to agree between themselves on the new standard. If an agreement of all manufacturers is needed before introducing a new standard in production, it means that it will be delayed by the lowest common denominator of manufacturers until many years later. Which isn't good for the consumer, because they could've gotten a new superior charging standard on thei…
It sounds like you're arguing that the lowest common denominator phone manufacturer will be holding up progress. But the connector is the easiest part, especially if it's a truly ubiquitous standard, because it will be heavily commoditized. The lowest common denominator phone manufacturer will just buy whatever the cheapest connector from China is, and this will almost always be whatever connector is most common.
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Not the parent commenter, and I am not sure if there is lint in the port of my lightning powered devices, but I am confident that I have never had to clean it out to make it charge.
I had to clean out the lightning port on my iPhone 6 constantly, it was awful. With the XS I almost exclusively use wireless charging because of that experience.
I'll miss lightning when it's gone if only because it was the most satisfying and secure feeling cable connection I've ever used. USB-C has some slack built into it by design but it just makes it feel lower quality.
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> Also: doesn't the government have more pressing concerns to worry about? Sounds like "why spend money on NASA when we have poverty here on earth?". Governments have a lot of people and a lot of resources and can work on more than one thing at a time. > Apple has kept working on improving the charging experience for its phones over time And it will continue to do so. Except it now has to convince others to adopt its…
Yes but why is it so bad to let companies choose what charging cables they provide? You get a free charging cable usually when you purchase a new phone and charging cables are cheap. I get the environment argument but I don't see how this moves the needle on protecting the environment. If anything it could scare off tech companies from developing charging cables that are better for the environment.
As for "not moving the needle", every little thing sums up. Also, it's not just the cables - manufacturing lines, shelf space, redundant labor, ...