Apple forced to ditch iPhone lightning charger::Apple confirms new iPhone 15 will have a common USB-C charging port after EU forces it into the change.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Apple has confirmed its new iPhone will not feature its proprietary lightning charging port, after the EU forced it into the change.

    The tech giant said that the iPhone 15, unveiled at its annual event on Wednesday, would use a USB-C cable as the “universally accepted standard”.

    The EU had told the tech giant to ditch its proprietary charging ports to make life easier for consumers, save them money, and help reduce e-waste by encouraging re-use of chargers.

    But some experts questioned whether consumers would be prepared to pay the high price tags given the devices are not hugely different to their predecessors.

    “Convincing users to fork out for these new devices will not be easy during a cost-of-living crisis,” said Paolo Pescatore, analyst and founder of PP Foresight.

    “Some will see the new features as incremental, [although] collectively they enhance the overall experience which is priceless among Apple’s core user base.”


    The original article contains 457 words, the summary contains 152 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    Thank fuck, the lightning charger is hot dogshit, IMO. Th lack of compatibility of iphone is annoying, particularly around how 3rd party charging cords won’t work with their products sometimes.

    I had an iphone for over a decade, and finally switched to android. It suits me better. I spend a lot less time thinking ‘i should be able to do this’ and looking for a workaround

  • moitoi@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    Now, I’m waiting how they will use marketing and communication on ditching the magsafe and going back to only USB-C.

    • Estebiu@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Magsafe it’s pretty cool tho. Plus they open sourced it so next Qi standard is probably gonna have it. I don’t know what I’m talking about btw.

      • moitoi@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        We are not speaking about the same magsafe. EU requires in the near future USB-C for laptops too. Apple must include USB-C by default and ditching the magsafe.

        • boonhet@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Are they going to ditch it though? As I understand, they don’t need to ditch it as long as USB-C charging remains an option.

          For charging alone, Magsafe is objectively the better choice because it snaps in and out of place, so it’s both easier to insert and won’t pull your laptop off the living room table if your kid or dog runs into the cable. For docking in your dedicated workspace, you’ll still use USB-C attached to your monitor of course, it’s excellent for that and Magsafe doesn’t do data.

          • moitoi@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            The regulation is the same as for smartphones. In the EU, laptops must charge with USB-C by default. Apple can still include on the laptop a magsafe port which will be useless for the consumer in this area. The easiest to comply for Apple is to put a USB-C to USB-C cable instead of the USB-C to magsafe for Europe.

    • Ocelot@lemmies.world
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      1 year ago

      pretty much all smartphones past few years have been incremental upgrades. Sometimes theres some gimmick but it really feels like we’ve reached a peak

  • June@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • Rootiest@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Regulations didn’t make Apple change. A viable standard that met their requirements did.

      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.

      • June@lemm.ee
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        1 year 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.

        • eee@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          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.

        • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          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.

          • June@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            They decided on 10 years for lightning and stayed with 10 years.

            That’s my whole argument and I thought I made that clear.

            • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
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              1 year ago

              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.

              • June@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                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.

            • thereisalamp@reddthat.com
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              1 year ago

              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.

              • June@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                If chodes aren’t blocking me, I’m doing something wrong.

                Block away papi.