Europe to require USB-C, Apple mad

[pseudoware]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/09/23/tech/europe-phone-chargers-apple/index.html

I got an iPhone 3GS for Christmas in 2008. Seeing that proprietary port while unboxing was a huge strike for me, and it went downhill from there. Had the phone for a year and was happy to replace it with the first Windows Phone 7 a year later, lack of apps and all. Haven't owned an iPhone since. This change alone if required in the US won't get me to come back to Apple, but this is a good thing in general for consumers.

 

[hallux]

The funny thing is - all but one or two of Apple's devices with screens use USB-C!

 

[mustang7757]

Hope apple phones will use USB -C

 

[L0n3N1nja]

The funny thing is - all but one or two of Apple's devices with screens use USB-C!

I think the iPhone is the only thing still relying on the lightning port, they switched the iPad to USB C for productivity reasons.

 

[Chuck Finley69]

Since I've always dual carried, I'm used to having both cords everywhere in multiple quantities. I find issue with ANY government mandating these kind of things however. I knowingly buy a product with all it's limitations and if that's detrimental, I'm free to leave. Once ANY government starts "helping" me, it comes with intended and unintended consequences that may be not so helpful or disadvantageous to my own needs or wants.

I'd suggest that anyone that doesn't like a company or it's policies should be happy to just not support.

 

[hallux]

I see your point @Chuck Finley69 I imagine if this was tried here in the US it would be seen as an obscene government over-reach and would be met with considerable legal battles. A government should not dictate to a company how it should design its products, except in the case of data security (see the Huawei situation). Requiring certain connectors does go a bit far.

 

[anon(50597)]

I can see why they may want a proprietary port to reduce the number of cables polluting our environment. That makes sense.
On the other hand, the lightning port is much smaller and allows Apple to design their iPhones to be thinner. Should they not be allowed to do so?
I’m on the fence about this.

 

[Mooncatt]

This is simply government overreach. Let the markets decide what they want.

 

[dangerousfen]

Surely, standard functionality for charging all devices has to be a win, win for all consumers and the environment.

Nearly all products now use USB-C for charging/data transfer. Why does Apple still push their walled garden onto consumers merely to lock them in.

Only the other day my Daughter asked me for help because her iPhone cable had failed. I couldn't help her, I only have what I call 'standard' USB-C cables. She had to rush out to purchase a new cable at an inflated price. Just because it's "APPLE".

 

[spARTacus]

Standardization and regulation is, in my opinion, normally good. Sometimes it goes overboard, but if there is even ever a thought about if something should be standardized/regulated, then that has often been triggered by a valid situation that is for the greater overall good of all. I can think of some cases where I would have preferred for something to not have been standardized or regulated. However, if I think about it honestly, I am not sure if I can think of any cases whereby there wasn't a valid reason for something that got standardized/regulated.

 

[Mooncatt]

Standardization and regulation is, in my opinion, normally good. Sometimes it goes overboard, but if there is even ever a thought about if something should be standardized/regulated, then that has often been triggered by a valid situation that is for the greater overall good of all. I can think of some cases where I would have preferred for something to not have been standardized or regulated. However, if I think about it honestly, I am not sure if I can think of any cases whereby there wasn't a valid reason for something that got standardized/regulated.

I can think of many cases where regulations have done more harm than good, and it's because you have largely uninformed politicians making decisions about industries they know little about. That's not the same as standardization, where industry works with itself to create workable standards based on knowledge and experience.

That said, even industry can muck it up sometimes. In the quest for a universal standard, phone manufactures went from dedicated, albeit proprietary charging ports to USB based power. Before the switch, power cords lasted more or less forever. After the switch, USB cables were so fragile that you were sometimes lucky to get a few months out of one before throwing it out. I've personally sent probably a hundred or more USB cables to the landfill over the years. I still think a better route would've been to have a standardised dedicated charging port. You get a universal standard and durability.

 

[EnthalpiousKitten]

I think this whole USB-C thing is just plain old standardization. Yeah it's a bit overreachy by the government, but imagine if other things didn't get standardized. Imagine having every manufacturer having their own flavor if WiFi instead of the widely adopted IEEE 802.11 a/ac/a/b/g/n family of standards. Or better yet, imagine every drive manufacturer having a different interface and plug for their drives instead of standards like SATA, M.2, IDE, MFM, RLL, etc...

 

[jagrlover]

Since I've always dual carried, I'm used to having both cords everywhere in multiple quantities. I find issue with ANY government mandating these kind of things however. I knowingly buy a product with all it's limitations and if that's detrimental, I'm free to leave. Once ANY government starts "helping" me, it comes with intended and unintended consequences that may be not so helpful or disadvantageous to my own needs or wants.

I'd suggest that anyone that doesn't like a company or it's policies should be happy to just not support.

Standardization stifles innovation. Could you imagine this was done 10 years ago and we were still stuck with Micro USB?

 

[Mooncatt]

Standardization stifles innovation. Could you imagine this was done 10 years ago and we were still stuck with Micro USB?

Micro-USB is a standard, but that didn't stifle innovation.

 

[anon(50597)]

Nearly all products now use USB-C for charging/data transfer. Why does Apple still push their walled garden onto consumers merely to lock them in.

I’m not arguing for or against but they obviously feel it’s superior due to its smaller footprint on mobile devices, It fits and stays in better and It holds up better. The overused “walled garden” argument is truly dependent on what your garden looks like and how it supports and helps you. I believe, soon, they will be moving towards no ports so this argument will soon be mute.

 

[gomezz]

After the switch, USB cables were so fragile that you were sometimes lucky to get a few months out of one before throwing it out. I've personally sent probably a hundred or more USB cables to the landfill over the years

And yet I have never had a USB cable fail on me. Still got a couple of devices that use a mini-USB connector and apart from my new phone everything else is micro-USB.

 

[joeldf]

Standardization stifles innovation. Could you imagine this was done 10 years ago and we were still stuck with Micro USB?

The stifling that will happen is the loss of licensing income that Apple gets from all the third party products that have to make a compatible connector for the various accessories.

This has long been known as the reason Apple is against using someone else's standard.

"Stifling innovation..." common corporate-speak. It means "stockholders won't be happy". Oh, cry me a river.

I mean, obviously the later iPod and original iPhone connector didn't really need the 30 pins it had to get the job done of data transfer and charging. The early iPod used the 6-pin FireWire. Now, the lighting connector is 8-pin (16 really, but only one side at a time is used in the connector).

All these years, USB could do the same thing with just 4. USB-C has 24 (up to 12 at a time in the connector because of reversibility) on the -C end with varying configurations depending on which USB standard it's being used for.

I'm sure however the standard is written, it will allow for future development that can be phased in.

 

[Javier P]

For me "stifles innovation" sounds more like "corporation cash problem" in this case. Anyway, this is the official EU explanation.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_4613

I agree with that.

 

[anon(50597)]

For me "stifles innovation" sounds more like "corporation cash problem" in this case. Anyway, this is the official EU explanation.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_4613

I agree with that.

So is everyone doing the same thing innovation?

Again, I’m not arguing for or against, but I do believe we should allow companies to design, create and produce products the way they feel is best. Let the market choose.

 

[Javier P]

So is everyone doing the same thing innovation?

Again, I’m not arguing for or against, but I do believe we should allow companies to design, create and produce products the way they feel is best. Let the market choose.

I don't completely disagree with that even thinking that the "let the market choose" doesn't work always very well and many times it's just an excuse for corporate greed.

One good point in that EU proposal is to unbundle chargers. I remember that Apple's explanation was an ecological one (*sighs*). What could be more "ecological" than that having a worldwide standard?