Can someone explain why it’s a problem that different phones use different charger cables?
Waste. Specifically, the need to replace all your cables when you replace your phone even if they're all in working order.
EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
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Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#602IMO, that charger should be Qi. Ever since trying wireless charging on my Nexus 4 back in late 2012/early 2013 I just can't go back to sticking a cable into my smartphone just to charge it. Makes me feel dirty.
Wireless charging is an efficiency nightmare.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#603Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#604I expect that this is a battle that Apple will lose. But I don't think they really care that much - because there is neither business or technical justification for a custom connector. Now they can focus on highlighting why their AC converters are superior - which generally they are.
I expect this is a battle that Apple isn't even trying to fight: they just released an USB-C iPad, and next year marks the 10th anniversary of Lightning.
The dock connector lasted ~10 years (it was first made available in 2003, lightning was released in 2012, the 30pin stopped being produced in 2014 outside of India).
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#605Good, though in practice it's not the charger the problem, I use the same USB plug everywhere, it's Apple and their cable. Right now I always need with me a micro USB cable, an USB-C one, and Lightning, because Apple thinks different™. What's Apple reasoning for not abandoning Lightning for USB-C on their phones?
> What's Apple reasoning for not abandoning Lightning for USB-C on their phones? I can think of 3 reasons: 1. A lightning port is slightly smaller than USB-c, so it enable Apple to keep their phone slimmer than the competition in theory. 2. Apple loves to be in control of everything. With lightning, they could make a switch to a "lightning 2.O" cable / port whenever they so pleased. With USB-C they would be restricte…
Those are all reasonable arguments, but the argument I most believe reflects Apple's internal thinking is pretty much just "everyone already has lightning at this point, switching to USBC would make headlines in a bad way, generate a ton of lightning e-waste, and Qi is so close to wide adoption that maybe we can just jump USBC for these small devices which don't need 30watt+ of power".
The argument that its a physically smaller port feels like an "Apple circa-2016" argument, not an "Apple circa-2021" argument. They just made the iPhone 13 0.25mm thicker to fit a bigger battery (among other things); I think they've moved past the "thinner at any cost" argument (though I do believe that was an argument for lightning at one time).
"Control" is a tenuous given they've thrown USBC/Thunderbolt on everything except the iPhone. They already have a massive voice inside the USB-IF; switching the iPhone to USBC would only increase their strength among the USB community. And sure, they'd still have to be standards compliant, but I really don't think "lightning 2.0" is ever coming, period. I think they have the hard metrics to prove that 0.1% of iPhone users ever use that port for anything except charging.
And selling more cables is also tenuous. They'll sell USB-C cables anyway; I just paid them $30 or whatever for one for my laptop charger, because the two offbrand ones Best Buy sold me couldn't carry 85 watts.
The best argument I've ever heard for lightning is actually: Physically, its a MUCH sturdier connector. Just look at the inside of a USBC female port, versus lightning. There's just less stuff; USBC has a big tooth that sticks out, whereas lightning is just contacts along the outside. Lightning connectors, and cables, are much simpler, and thus less likely to experience damage over time.
So, yeah; I think they want to skip USBC and go right to Qi, basically seal up the entire outside of the phone. And I can't say I disagree; my iPhone only ever charges over Qi. But, maybe its worthwhile to just make them keep USBC around, if for no other reason than e-waste.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#606Earlier quoted context omitted.
> because Apple thinks different™. This is a little unfair, when Apple has been more consistent in keeping the same ports and cables, and moved to generic USB-chargers long before it was standard for anyone else? USB-C wasn't even finalised until 2014; I can't remember how common USB-C was on phones before that, but Apple was using lightning for _years_ before that. What's the e-Waste consequence of changing and forc…
>USB-C wasn't even finalised until 2014; I can't remember how common USB-C was on phones before that, but Apple was using lightning for _years_ before that. Everyone else was using micro USB for years before usb-C. So for years, every phone cable except Apple could also be used to charge your headphones, Kindle, Tablet, etc. It isn’t just phones we are talking about. When pretty much all devices are on one standard,…
> Everyone else was using micro USB for years before usb-C. So for years, every phone cable except Apple could also be used to charge your headphones, Kindle, Tablet, etc.
There were multiple other connectors in use (the 4 most common were Mini-USB A, Mini-USB B, Micro-USB A and Micro-USB B but that's not exclusive) — I still have a few of them because that “every phone cable” nirvana was never true at any point prior to USB-C. microUSB's fragility also meant that most people ended up buying many cheap replacement cables so from an e-waste perspective I'd be hesitant to say that was an advantage over the lifetime of the device.
microUSB also had many limitations — not just the inconvenience of being handed and easily broken in normal usage but also core features like not being able to supply enough power: many non-Apple tablets used proprietary cables because otherwise it would have taken hours longer to charge.
USB C came out years after Apple shipped Lightning and unsurprisingly is a lot more competitive — it's not like the industry didn't learn from the problems with earlier USB standards and I think that it makes sense for Apple to switch now.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#607Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks like all other people on internet with broken lightning connector are blatant liars..
You can break anything if you try hard enough. I make no claims of lightning being indestructible, but USB-C is genuinely fragile.
I plug USB-C cable into my iPad and MBP more than I do to my boyfriend... so yours is only an anecdote of perhaps badly manufacture devices.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#608Bad move, an unforced error. This will stifle innovation needlessly, similarly to how US' (previously) mandated single model of sealed beam headlights stifled their automobile headlights innovation for several decades. Seems some bureaucrat has dusted off the bad old "Everything that can be invented has been invented." quote. The only possible upside would be manufacturers standardizing on wireless charging in all de…
It was an absolute disaster before somewhat unified chargers and there was some legislation forcing that unification as well. Being able to reliably find a charger or borrow others' has been crucial for smart phone adoption.
> there was some legislation forcing that unification as well.
FWIW there was not.
There was the threat of legislation, which led to an MoU, and the EC expressed satisfaction with the results. In fact multiple manufacturers effectively reconducted the MoU unrequired (but probably to show good faith and further mitigate the risk of legislative action)
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#609Last time this happened (with micro USB) Apple just put a dongle in every box.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#610Earlier quoted context omitted.
Surely there are better ways than mandating a very specific technology. It would be like building codes mandating the use of a very specific concrete mix instead of mandating that supporting members must be able to handle total expected load with a safety factor of 5 or something - I’m not a civil engineer.
This is a very popular industry standard with a well known path for updates – it seems pretty reasonable for the government to simply tell the stragglers to adopt it. Unlike the concrete in your example compatibility is a bigger concern - imagine if you needed special shoes to walk on AppleCrete - and the service lifetime is much shorter so waste is a very reasonable concern.
> the service lifetime is much shorter so waste is a very reasonable concern
Lightning has been around quite a while no? So waste wise Apple isn’t doing too bad.