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At this point, I strongly suspect Apple are hoping to keep Lightning going until they're ready to make phones wireless-charge-only. That's probably still a few

At this point, I strongly suspect Apple are hoping to keep Lightning going until they're ready to make phones wireless-charge-only. That's probably still a few years away, but I'm sure they're thinking in that direction. It'll cause some initial grumbling, but I'm not sure it would be a terribly thing. As well as making waterproofing easier, little sockets at the bottom of phones always seem to collect lint in my pockets, which ends up causing dodgy connections. What would the EU do in this case?

LyndsySimon 8y ago
I agree with this. Lightning seems like a mostly dead standard, being kept on life support because it allows a slightly thinner device. I seriously doubt I'll ever buy another Lightning cable to charge a device; the ones I have now are high enough quality that I expect they last longer than the devices I have, and the next generation will charge wirelessly.
swebs 8y ago
That seems like the perfect plan, in my opinion, and I'm surprised why Apple hasn't done it already. Those who already have an Android phone with wireless charging quickly find the USB port useless, especially since Google removed USB mass storage support a few years back and replaced it with some awful MTP implementation that never fucking works. It would certainly fit Apple's image to have a sleek, futuristic looking device like that.
- yoz-y 8y ago
  Until the wireless charging works at a distance of at least one meter and is way more powerful, there will be need for cables. Currently there are still quite a lot of uses which require constant charging and not being just placed on a table. Namely debugging apps and gaming.
  - dasmoth 8y ago
    I'm not the biggest mobile gamer, but I'm not sure I've ever played a game on my phone while it was plugged into a charger. The "debugging apps" case doesn't entirely convince me, either. Unless you're pushing it pretty hard, I'm fairly certain an iPhone will make it through the day on one charge. If not, drop it on a charging mat when you go for lunch. (note that recent versions of Xcode can deploy and debug iPhone apps over Wi-fi -- so the cable isn't really needed for data any more...) But for those who do need this, it's pretty easy to imagine a case with some charging coils embedded in the back.
    - yoz-y 8y ago
      iPhone does allow debugging over Wi-Fi but sadly it is not as reliable as a cable (hopefully yet). My phone is a bit on the older side and has took a beating. My iPad would drain after less than an hour of PUBG were it not plugged in.
TomMarius 8y ago
> What would the EU do in this case? Fine Apple for not following its regulation, of course. Classic EU.
- swift532 8y ago
  If you want to express how oppressive the EU is, it might be better to use "late modern EU".
  - rbanffy 8y ago
    I would suggest he goes for "socialist EU".
    - swift532 8y ago
      I was just joking because before his edit he had "classical EU" instead of "classic EU".
      - TomMarius 8y ago
        Sorry I didn't update the page and didn't see your comment. I'd add an edit notice, but I thought nobody has noticed. :X
        swift532 8y ago
        You would've gotten away with it, if it weren't for the meddling me! :)
- sjwright 8y ago
  If I were Apple, I'd just not pay the fine and let the EU try to ban the iPhone from being sold. And then I'd ignore the ban until they tried to enforce it, at which point I'd just stop selling them. It would cause an absolute uproar. No iPhones because the EU doesn't like the Lightning port? The argument won't stand a moment's scrutiny and within a week, individual governments will be so averse to the controversy that the EU would be forced to fold.
rbanffy 8y ago
I think the chargers are already OK - they use a cable and they output via USB. Most phone makers here provide you with a charger and a cable or, sometimes, just the cable (and you can use an Apple charger if you want - I do because the design is good and I have a bunch of them). For Apple, it'd be a no-brainer to ditch Lightning, except for the fact it's a bit thinner than USB-C. If Apple goes pocketless, putting a USB socket on the charging platform is a no brainer. Lightning is much smarter and does a lot more than charging, which is not needed for this.

LyndsySimon 8y ago

I agree with this. Lightning seems like a mostly dead standard, being kept on life support because it allows a slightly thinner device. I seriously doubt I'll ever buy another Lightning cable to charge a device; the ones I have now are high enough quality that I expect they last longer than the devices I have, and the next generation will charge wirelessly.

swebs 8y ago

That seems like the perfect plan, in my opinion, and I'm surprised why Apple hasn't done it already. Those who already have an Android phone with wireless charging quickly find the USB port useless, especially since Google removed USB mass storage support a few years back and replaced it with some awful MTP implementation that never fucking works. It would certainly fit Apple's image to have a sleek, futuristic looking device like that.

yoz-y 8y ago
Until the wireless charging works at a distance of at least one meter and is way more powerful, there will be need for cables. Currently there are still quite a lot of uses which require constant charging and not being just placed on a table. Namely debugging apps and gaming.
- dasmoth 8y ago
  I'm not the biggest mobile gamer, but I'm not sure I've ever played a game on my phone while it was plugged into a charger. The "debugging apps" case doesn't entirely convince me, either. Unless you're pushing it pretty hard, I'm fairly certain an iPhone will make it through the day on one charge. If not, drop it on a charging mat when you go for lunch. (note that recent versions of Xcode can deploy and debug iPhone apps over Wi-fi -- so the cable isn't really needed for data any more...) But for those who do need this, it's pretty easy to imagine a case with some charging coils embedded in the back.
  - yoz-y 8y ago
    iPhone does allow debugging over Wi-Fi but sadly it is not as reliable as a cable (hopefully yet). My phone is a bit on the older side and has took a beating. My iPad would drain after less than an hour of PUBG were it not plugged in.

TomMarius 8y ago

> What would the EU do in this case? Fine Apple for not following its regulation, of course. Classic EU.

swift532 8y ago
If you want to express how oppressive the EU is, it might be better to use "late modern EU".
- rbanffy 8y ago
  I would suggest he goes for "socialist EU".
  - swift532 8y ago
    I was just joking because before his edit he had "classical EU" instead of "classic EU".
    - TomMarius 8y ago
      Sorry I didn't update the page and didn't see your comment. I'd add an edit notice, but I thought nobody has noticed. :X
      - swift532 8y ago
        You would've gotten away with it, if it weren't for the meddling me! :)
sjwright 8y ago
If I were Apple, I'd just not pay the fine and let the EU try to ban the iPhone from being sold. And then I'd ignore the ban until they tried to enforce it, at which point I'd just stop selling them. It would cause an absolute uproar. No iPhones because the EU doesn't like the Lightning port? The argument won't stand a moment's scrutiny and within a week, individual governments will be so averse to the controversy that the EU would be forced to fold.

rbanffy 8y ago

I think the chargers are already OK - they use a cable and they output via USB. Most phone makers here provide you with a charger and a cable or, sometimes, just the cable (and you can use an Apple charger if you want - I do because the design is good and I have a bunch of them). For Apple, it'd be a no-brainer to ditch Lightning, except for the fact it's a bit thinner than USB-C. If Apple goes pocketless, putting a USB socket on the charging platform is a no brainer. Lightning is much smarter and does a lot more than charging, which is not needed for this.