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Apple forced to ditch iPhone lightning charger
(www.bbc.com)
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this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2023
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I commented on a similar sentiment in a different thread, but I think this (Apple being forced) is the wrong take.
There really hasn’t been a question of whether or not they were moving to USB-C for at least 6 months. The only question was whether it would be thunderbolt or not, and it isn’t. The narrative was always that they’d keep lightning for 10 years and then move to something new, Schiller even called it “a modern connector for the next decade” when it was announced, and at the time it was better than anything else on the market.
Now USB-C is the standard and superior, and it’s cheaper to bring the iPhone in line with that standard than to keep lightning or develop a new port/connector. As soon as the iPads went USB-C (5 years ago and well before EU regs) it was a foregone conclusion that the iPhone would follow suit, and anyone who was paying attention should have known it would happen this year, 10 years after lightning was introduced as a 10 year plan.
Regulations didn’t make Apple change. A viable standard that met their requirements did. And, Apple doesn’t need to develop this which saves them money, and they’ll still sell cables at a premium just like they do now. Apple doesn’t need a proprietary cable, they only need their brand which has massive loyalty.
I call bullshit.
USB-C has been around and better than Lightning for a long time, they didn't switch the iPhone to it until they were under pressure by regulators to do so.
If your theory were valid they would have switched many years ago.
If you’re right, why did they switch iPad to USBC 5 years ago?
If they were SO invested in lighting and against USBC, they would have kept iPad on lighting as well.
Apple had no choice with the ipad. USB-C connectors can push out more power than standard A-B busses. It, as a default, has a fast charging option that can handle 3.0A of current. The USB A/B spec, maxes at 2.4A.
If you're right then why did they wait 5 generations of phones before switching them to USB-C (also after EU created regulations specifically targeting them) if they already knew it was superior and used it on the iPad? A "10 year plan" is a bit of a joke when it comes to tech and the pace of development.
They decided on 10 years for lightning and stayed with 10 years.
That’s my whole argument and I thought I made that clear.
That's "Monday morning quarterbacking" though where you're finding evidence after the fact using the benefit of hindsight to support your argument. Something they said 10 years ago has absolutely zero bearing on their current product lineup. They surely didn't wait 10 years to swap ports on any of their other products.
I wish I could go back to find my comments on Reddit from a few years ago talking about this, but it’s been on my mind for at least 5 years when iPad switched.
No company holds themselves back from viable improvement because of a timeline thrown out at the beginning. What a weird take.
What is more likely "nope wecan't make a change yet, this better product is out on every other peice of tech we and our competitors used, but someone said 10 years 2 years ago so we're gonna wait another 6 to begin development"
Or
"This product is so serviceable enough for charging a phone and as long as we keep it we can continue to make significant money off of proprietary connectors"
They upgraded the iPad because the lightening was no longer a viable charging cable, the tech couldn't keep up. And the EU has been threatening to establish a standard since the 30pin was in service, because it locked out competition back then. It became a serious issue to deal with after dongles became standard.
Edit: Oh God it's you. 4 days later and another hot shit take. Apparently I need to block you to improve my lemmy experience.
If chodes aren’t blocking me, I’m doing something wrong.
Block away papi.
Apple absolutely changed because of regulation. Just like how they were forced to provide 2 year warranty in EU because of consumer protection laws, a decision they tried to fight until the very end because then they couldn't sell you extended warranty easily. Apple will always do the absolute minimum of effort for the maximum of income. ALWAYS!
Just like how they instead of fixing the issue with nVidia GPUs back in the day and using a correct solder compound, they instead glued a piece of rubber on top of the chip so laptop case pushes on the chip to make the contact. Far cheaper than reworking the board.
Or how they removed a single drop of adhesive from the touchscreen chip on one of their iPhone Max series to save money which resulted in chip getting torn off of board because of cheaper aluminum as well. Pennies worth of saving money at the cost of quality user's got for their money.
I mean I could go on pretty much year by year. Oh and also iPad went USB-C route because of USB PD which can push more than 3A current while charging, something lightning can't do but is needed for bigger battery, same reason laptops have it. It's just with lightning port they can up-sell overly expensive cables and you don't have a choice. With Apple it's all about money. ALWAYS!
If Apple was going to change on their own, the regulation wouldn't have been made in the first place.