EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 • Hacker News Board

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#651

Post by funklute » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:10 PM UTC

blue_light_man wrote: post #607

TheYumasi wrote: post #555

As an EU citizen, I am really happy with this decision. I am an iPhone user, but having an iPhone is not ubiquitous here, almost all of my friends/special other, use an Android phone with USB-C. Most of their laptops, Mac or not, use or allow USB-C for charging. This as been the case for a few years now, yet, if I go somewhere for more than a full day and forget my lighting cable, my phone will become a useless paper…

This is such a short sighted view. What just happened is, EU, a political organization enforcing the use of a technology on a company which operates on free market. It's Apples best interest to make technology that the consumers want so that they can sell more units of that. A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU citizens already make this decision for themselves by voting with money and choosing to…

> A political organization like EU has no say in this.

This is the short-sighted view. The unguided free market very often makes "decisions" that are detrimental to society as a whole, and it is absolutely necessary for political organisations to correct for this.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#652

Post by yellowapple » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:10 PM UTC

bee_rider wrote: post #588

MichaelZuo wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were no mandates to adopt micro-usb in the EU. As a sidetone it's astonishing how quickly a lie easily disprovable by publicly accessible information, in this case the EU's own website, can be spread around by people that otherwise seem like credible HN members.

Thank goodness, micro-usb kinda sucked, especially compared to USB-C (which seems quite good). It is sort of weird that they decided to mandate USB-C rather than creating an ongoing group to keep track of charging and update the rules accordingly (like in the US, where many of our laws create an agency to regulate something rather than having congress pass a new, slightly different law every couple years)

The problem with the US approach is that now we have a bunch of agencies effectively inventing laws without anywhere near the same degree of oversight or public accountability. Sometimes that's a feature rather than a bug, but not always.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#653

Post by kaba0 » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:10 PM UTC

blue_light_man wrote: post #577

tgv wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank God nobody ever standardized electrical plugs. I'd hate being able to plug my vacuum cleaner and laptop in the same outlet.

You don't even know what else could have happened if there was no standardization. Maybe the industry must have progressed without the need of outlets in the first place.

Yeah, we would definitely use nuclear mini-reactors in our vacuum cleaners otherwise, if only it wasn’t for the damn EU!

These are very well understood areas, there is only so many ways you can transport electricity. Also, there is nothing stopping innovation “after” the plug. It’s like saying that HTTP somehow stifles innovation.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#654

Post by poulpy123 » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:12 PM UTC

blue_light_man wrote: post #607

TheYumasi wrote: post #555

As an EU citizen, I am really happy with this decision. I am an iPhone user, but having an iPhone is not ubiquitous here, almost all of my friends/special other, use an Android phone with USB-C. Most of their laptops, Mac or not, use or allow USB-C for charging. This as been the case for a few years now, yet, if I go somewhere for more than a full day and forget my lighting cable, my phone will become a useless paper…

This is such a short sighted view. What just happened is, EU, a political organization enforcing the use of a technology on a company which operates on free market. It's Apples best interest to make technology that the consumers want so that they can sell more units of that. A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU citizens already make this decision for themselves by voting with money and choosing to…

Actually the only thing that EU is interesting is for standardizing stuff

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#655

Post by Arrath » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:12 PM UTC

blue_light_man wrote: post #607

TheYumasi wrote: post #555

As an EU citizen, I am really happy with this decision. I am an iPhone user, but having an iPhone is not ubiquitous here, almost all of my friends/special other, use an Android phone with USB-C. Most of their laptops, Mac or not, use or allow USB-C for charging. This as been the case for a few years now, yet, if I go somewhere for more than a full day and forget my lighting cable, my phone will become a useless paper…

This is such a short sighted view. What just happened is, EU, a political organization enforcing the use of a technology on a company which operates on free market. It's Apples best interest to make technology that the consumers want so that they can sell more units of that. A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU citizens already make this decision for themselves by voting with money and choosing to…

You seem to be placing a lot of doom and gloom onto the proscription of a given physical port.

Its not as if the EU mandated flawed encryption, or silicon manufactured only within the bloc.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#656

Post by hedgehog » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:13 PM UTC

TheYumasi wrote: post #555

As an EU citizen, I am really happy with this decision. I am an iPhone user, but having an iPhone is not ubiquitous here, almost all of my friends/special other, use an Android phone with USB-C. Most of their laptops, Mac or not, use or allow USB-C for charging. This as been the case for a few years now, yet, if I go somewhere for more than a full day and forget my lighting cable, my phone will become a useless paper…

Lightning is a better connector for small devices and it's more durable in my experience. USB-C is way better than micro as a connector but you end up with the issue of many kinds of cables that look similar but are not interchangeable. What speed? PD support? Power only? Who knows!

Maybe switching to a less durable connector or no connector is fine given that Qi support has gotten pretty good. Most of the Lightning cables I've purchased are still in circulation, I'd prefer not to replace them.

If the EU really cared about solving a problem they'd ban micro, that connector is really fragile and totally superseded by type C.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#657

Post by ddalex » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:13 PM UTC

coffeeblack wrote: post #240

emaro wrote: post #218

I agree with the overall tone in the comments here: yay in general, but what a shame a law needs to specify a specific port for ~iPhones~ devices. I really like USB-C. It's sooo convenient to charge my notebook, my headphones, my phone, my everything with the same cable. However what bothers me since someone pointed it out to me: for phones, which are used all day in all kind of situations, lightning has a big andvan…

Very much agree. The port design of lightning is superior, too bad that now a law mandates Apple to sell the inferior solution. But that’s what you get when laws eliminate competition.

if it's so superior, why doesn't apple use the lightning connector on Macbooks and iPads and uses USB-C on those ?

I mean, it's stupid that if I buy an Iphone and an Macbook today, there is no cable in either box that can connect those two

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#658

Post by Arrath » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:14 PM UTC

Swenrekcah wrote: post #624

blue_light_man wrote: post #607

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a short sighted view. What just happened is, EU, a political organization enforcing the use of a technology on a company which operates on free market. It's Apples best interest to make technology that the consumers want so that they can sell more units of that. A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU citizens already make this decision for themselves by voting with money and choosing to…

Respectfully, I would claim it's short-sighted to believe that the individual consumer has any real say in what they want, need or get with respect to offerings by trillion-dollar international conglomerates. There is no such thing as a free and unregulated market. Well, it exists but we call it the law of the jungle. This is not to say that any regulation is sensible, but this kind of standardization to avoid vendor…

> Respectfully, I would claim it's short-sighted to believe that the individual consumer has any real say in what they want, need or get with respect to offerings by trillion-dollar international conglomerates.

Whole heartedly agreed. If I, as a consumer, had my say then my flagship phone would still have a headphone jack, an SD card slot, and a replaceable battery. Yet here we are.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#659

Post by timbit42 » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:14 PM UTC

pif wrote: post #422

_trackno5 wrote: post #49

Why do people think it is a good thing to have this enforced by law is beyond me. I don't see any win besides a minor convenience. A lightning cable weighs almost nothing and it's not a big deal to have one around. As to lightning port limitations, I question whether usb-c will give average iPhone users any other advantage other than charging their phone. What are people gonna do with it other than charge their phone…

> the EU using its influence to exert control over things that don't matter at all. If it doesn't matter at all, why is Apple still stubbornly refusing to adapt?

Whatever the reason is, it's not for the environment.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#660

Post by yellowapple » Tue, Oct 04, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #453

ben_w wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is genuinely innovative about the iPhone connector at this point? It's 10 years old, and the only selling point I can see it having over USB (even when it was new) was the rotational symmetry (which is now also possible with USB C, which is what's being mandated).

The point is that the next connector innovation will have to be ratified by the European Parliament.

Or you ship both connectors.