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Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

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Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#321
post #233

BS, they love it. Users will just HAVE to buy iphone 15, because it has the noticeable usb hole to differentiate them. Lighting cables are the new green bubbles. Using one means you re poor or hate the environment or both

This right here is the truth. Consumers learn to associate "new cable" with new model aka I'm wealthy enough to grab the latest doodad on launch. Like a monkey wearing a palm leaf, new iPhones or AirPods are a status symbol.

Apple's core market is not San Jose VCs or Mar Vista interior designers. It's Americans living pay-check to pay-check only afloat through credit. Their primary product is the ability to be envied by your neighbours, your classmates, or your colleagues.

This is coming from someone who has completely bought into the Apple ecosystem.

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe? The USB specifications calls for USB Micro-B to have the same 10,000 connect/disconnect cycles as USB-C: ----------------------------------- Table 3-1 USB Electrical, Mechanical and Environmental Compliance Standards Performance Requirement 1500 cycles 5000 cycles for Mini “B” 10,000 cycles for Micro series 10,000 cycles for ruggedized Standard “A” Cycle rate of 500 cycles per hour if done automatically and 20…

> Maybe? The USB specifications calls for USB Micro-B to have the same 10,000 connect/disconnect cycles as USB-C Micro USB was such a dumpster fire. I never got within two orders of magnitude of that spec, I'm pretty sure. It's a terrible connector, easily broken.

Mini USB was terrible, and would typically fail well below 1,000 on the device side. Mobile phones might not make it through their first year with a mini usb port back in the day, depending on how many times a day someone attached it to a charger.

It was replaced with Micro USB and effectively removed from USB - but a lot of devices still shipped it because it was cheaper.

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#323
post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And all because Apple refused to play ball and just adopt USB-C like the rest of the industry. History lesson: Apple worked with the USB-IF to create USB-C, to make sure it met their needs for both USB and Thunderbolt. They were the first to put USB-C on a laptop, the 12" MacBook in the spring of 2015 — an amazing feat considering that the spec was just finalized in the fall of 2014. They were also the first compan…

> So they pressured the EU to mandate the change to a standard that Apple helped pioneer so that Apple's environmentally-friendly record would remain unblemished. Remember when they made us trade our 30-pin cables to Lightning cables? Remember when they made us trade our headphones with 3.5mm jacks to wireless ones or get a dongle? Remember when they made us trade our Lightning cables to USB-C cables? Remember when t…

This is a pretty decent list but is missing two core components

1) Firewire

2) All the assorted dongles over the years.

If you go back far enough, apple was known as the dongle company. You just needed one more dongle to get things to work correctly.

They have changed things up, but still come up with wonders like this:

https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MQLU3AM/A/usb-c-to-app...

Ipad uses USB-C but the pencil uses lightening.. no problem, just use a dongle?

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#324
post #242
post #96

As someone that deeply detests Apple and would never give them money, I will admit the lightning connector is superior in durability, inspectability, and safety than USB type C in virtually every way. The real crime here is that Apple insisted on patenting the design and keeping it for only themselves, forcing the rest of the industry to adopt an inferior connector and ultimately force it on them too. Classic Apple.

Lighting can be safer and more durable, but it's still a dumb choice when USB C can deliver a ton more power and serve more purposes (like connecting to a monitor, daisy chaining, and powering laptops).

Lightning could actually been the physical connector for all the usual USB type C power delivery framework features. If Apple did not patent it.

Now it is left behind in features and adoption. Lightning is doomed to history along with other good patented ideas like MiniDisks and Magsafe.

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you want exactly? Make tracking illegal? Make advertising illegal? The law demands you ask the user for consent, if it made tracking illegal people would complain about their freedom to sell their private data for cat pictures. There are consequences for GDPR, maybe you did not see any but I can assure you that there were news about fines and you can Google for that. I can also inform you that at my work plac…

> Btw here in EU GDPR also has effect in real world, just an example before GDPR you would get exam results published publicly with names, In the US, for decades not even parents could know about their college students without the students signing paperwork. > Same if you go to a clinic to do a blood tests, they need to give you a paper and specify exactly what they will do with your data. HIPAA in the US never requi…

Yes, but HIPA is like EXTREMELY limited, GDPR apples to everything not only websites, mI attempted to clarify this since many confuse GDPR with "cookie law", so GDPR can't tell web-developers how to implement the popups or buttons since is a generic thing, the law specify that accepting and rejecting should be similarly easy , if it is not then you will need to report this bussiness and it takes time for them to get fined.

I am not sure why you guys in US see those popups, the websites could just continue tracking you and sell your data.

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#326
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something I found interesting when discussing this with my wife.. All my friends are tech heads and champing at the bit to have usb-c in their iPhones. But when she asked me why people were mad about the switch to usb-c it took me by surprise. Then she showed me a lot of online responses from non technical people who see the change of port as annoying and wasteful because now all their stuff won’t work without adapte…

But even those non-tech people should have some USB-C cables lying around at this point Android phones have used USB-C cables for many years. The Nintendo switch and PS5 controllers use USB-C cables. Chromebooks use USB-C cables. The alarm clock I just bought uses a USB-C cable. My keyboard uses a USB-C cable. Every MacBook made in the last five years (and most iPads sold in the last couple years) uses a USB-C cable.…

But even those non-tech people should have some USB-C cables lying around at this point

Dont most people keep some devices permanently connected to the cable it came with though? I don't use my monitors USB-C cable to charge anything else. I don't use the quest link cable for anything but the quest. In theory it's "one cable for every device" but in practice the only place that happens is in a backpack power bank or car. Every device comes with its own cable and whether the new iPhone comes with a USB or lightning cable all it does is add one more cable to your collection.

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have yet to find a hotel that has upgraded their lamp-mounted or bedside USB ports. This is super annoying because I typically travel with a MagSafe charger for my MBA and a USB-C to Lightning cable to charge my iPhone. I would plug in my phone next to the bed if I could, but typically end up just leaving it with my computer to charge there. Has anyone seen a USB-C port in a hotel? I've seen that some car manufactu…

> Has anyone seen a USB-C port in a hotel? I don't travel as much as I used to, but I was commenting on this in a hotel room in Schenectady just this past weekend. We've just barely gotten to the point where it's a surprise not to find at least one or two USB-A ports in a room, whether built into a lamp or otherwise. USB-C is probably going to take as long to appear as those did, and that was what? Five years? More?…

Yeah I had wondered about the safety profile of hotel outlets as well. It would be terrible for a device to get fried while you're traveling!

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm more cynical in my interpretation of Apple's motives: I think they just wanted those licensing dollars They've switched every other non-iPhone device to USB-C. The more plausible interpretation would be that they don't want to piss off a core constituency of customers who've built up 10 years of Lightning cables. The number of people who care about standardizing on USB-C are definitely less than the vocal folks…

> They've switched every other non-iPhone device to USB-C The only device I know of that started out on lighting and switched to USB-C was the iPad, and that was specifically because they're pushing it as a "creator" device, for which people needed to be able to plug in things like flash drives, SD card adaptors, cameras, mice and keyboards, etc. There's significantly less drive for those kinds of accessories on iPho…

> The only device I know of that started out on lighting and switched to USB-C was the iPad

The new AppleTV remote

> and that was specifically because they're pushing it as a "creator" device, for which people needed to be able to plug in things like flash drives, SD card adaptors, cameras, mice and keyboards, etc.

Apple has sold a USB to Lightning adapter for ages.

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#329
post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm generally not a fan of the EU mandating technical decisions How do you feel about California mandating emissions standards for vehicles?

CA emission standards are a waste of money and resources. WA got rid of emissions testing because almost every single car passes, and it’s actually a net increase in carbon emissions to keep the bureaucracy around. That money could be spent on carbon capture or solar subsidies instead.

WA got rid of emissions testing because almost every single car passes

Not anymore, they don't, now that it sounds like we all live on a Fast and the Furious set. Bring back emissions testing just to cut down on the noise, I say.

Additionally, you know why every single car passed? Because it was enforced. Now that it's not enforced, you think that Honda Civic that wakes up your kids at 2:00 a. m. would pass an emissions test?

Re: Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law

#330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In short there is no way of knowing by looking at a USB-C cable or socket what it supports because there is a myriad of standards all using the same connector - USB Power Delivery, USB 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, 4.0, Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort over USB You have to usually measure to know what does the cable support and what speeds and or voltages are possible.

Not only that, but it is not possible to make a do-everything USB-C cable.

Can you elaborate? What two features can't be combined? Wouldn't a cable with the new "80 Gbps 240W" logo do everything? https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vkQLWTdsaQ6Cw7S6wRsWHD-970...
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