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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 law

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.

ZiiS 4y ago
Apple has been using the law to stop other phones coming with lightning ports. If they had left it open the market may well have chosen it.
pwpw 4y ago
Bell Labs allowed others to produce transistor based hearing aids royalty free. Volvo allowed others to use a 3-point harness system royalty free. Apple created Lightning to solve a problem and wanted royalties on all products using it. Naturally, the market moved to another solution. While Lightning may be a good piece of technology, I think Apple is largely to blame for its demise. Standardization is good for consumers. Apple had control over its fate. I don’t blame them for wanting to collect royalties, but they were the only major manufacturer on the market not playing ball with a standardized port. Yet even their other products use USB-C, and the MacBook was actually an early adopter. Accordingly, I don’t think this law eliminates competition. It brings simplification to consumers for a simple, boring port that can now be shared with many of their other goods and a single cable.
- a-user-you-like 4y ago
  USB-C, so good you’re forced to use it!
  - semi-extrinsic 4y ago
    Lightning vs USB-C is like VHS vs Betamax or HD-DVD vs Bluray, only Apple has sufficient market power it can abuse to avoid the inevitable convergence towards a common standard. It's exactly the correct thing to do for a regulator to step in and fix this.
  - anoonmoose 4y ago
    Between my wife and I, we have two cell phones, three laptops, and a pair of wireless headphones. Only one of those devices doesn't use USB-C- her iPhone. I don't believe the other five devices have USB-C because they were forced to.
    - gnicholas 4y ago
      Great anecdote! My wife and I have a number of cell phones, tablets, headphones, and computers. The computers have USB-C, and so does one of the tablets. One headphone has micro-USB, and everything else is lightning. We have plenty of charging solutions for lightning (mostly USB-A bricks with lightning connectors), so moving to USB-C will mean we'll have to buy a 5-10 new bricks and cables. Not looking forward to it!
      - NegativeK 4y ago
        > Great anecdote! This is unnecessarily snide.
      - yellowapple 4y ago
        > moving to USB-C will mean we'll have to buy a 5-10 new bricks and cables Why? Your computers and one of your tablets already have USB-C chargers, so you could just use those for your phones. Further, USB-A to USB-C cables exist, so you could reuse your existing USB-A bricks, too.
        gnicholas 4y ago
        I can't unplug my computer to charge my phone because I use my computer in clamshell mode, which sadly only works when its plugged in. I do sometimes charge through my computer, but I find this is pretty slow. I figured that USB-A to USB-C cables exist, and we might decide to buy some of these. But if the change is happening, it might be foolish to purchase cables that have one foot in the grave already. The upside would be that we could still charge our micro USB devices from the same bricks.
        4y ago
  - bdcravens 4y ago
    Apple thinks it's good enough for iPads.
    - blitzar 4y ago
      Apple thinks it's a groundbreaking innovation for iPads.
- culturestate 4y ago
  > they were the only major manufacturer on the market not playing ball with a standardized port I genuinely believe that there’s only one real reason Apple resisted moving away from Lightning: They saw the writing on the wall from the EU over the last few years, and - remembering the way people lost their minds over the switch from 40-pin to Lightning (“it’s a money grab! they want me to replace all of my accessories!”) - chose to wait so they’d have someone to deflect blame to. Licensing revenue from Lightning MFi is a drop in the bucket. I’m not a manufacturing operations expert, but I have to imagine that the simplification of supply chains alone will nearly offset that loss over time.
  - frosted-flakes 4y ago
    Except if Apple voluntarily made iPhones that charged over USB-C, most people would rejoice, because most people already have loads of USB-C chargers for all of their other electronic devices.
dkjaudyeqooe 4y ago
Superior how exactly? It's not clear that its properties plus royalty costs outweigh the alternative royalty free standard.
amluto 4y ago
Superior how? Lightning ports have springs that wear out inside. They have issues with arcing, which damages the plug (look at a charging cable that has been in use for a bunch of cycles. One pin on each side will be burnt.). But hey, the plug part is pretty, so it must be better
nkingsy 4y ago
I’ve bought and worn out SO many lightning cables. Never before have I dealt with such a poor connector. All my usb c is working fine. All my lightning cables work about half the time, need to be jostled. I know if I buy all new ones AGAIN it will sort out the problem. I don’t understand this take and replies. Also, lightning doesn’t power external devices. Love that I can run a midi keyboard off my new iPad. The same on my iPhone requires a powered usb hub.
ddalex 4y ago
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
IsNotNull 4y ago
Apple disagree. They moved away from Lightning on iPads and Macbooks already.

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.

ZiiS 4y ago

Apple has been using the law to stop other phones coming with lightning ports. If they had left it open the market may well have chosen it.

pwpw 4y ago

Bell Labs allowed others to produce transistor based hearing aids royalty free. Volvo allowed others to use a 3-point harness system royalty free. Apple created Lightning to solve a problem and wanted royalties on all products using it. Naturally, the market moved to another solution. While Lightning may be a good piece of technology, I think Apple is largely to blame for its demise. Standardization is good for consumers. Apple had control over its fate. I don’t blame them for wanting to collect royalties, but they were the only major manufacturer on the market not playing ball with a standardized port. Yet even their other products use USB-C, and the MacBook was actually an early adopter. Accordingly, I don’t think this law eliminates competition. It brings simplification to consumers for a simple, boring port that can now be shared with many of their other goods and a single cable.

a-user-you-like 4y ago
USB-C, so good you’re forced to use it!
- semi-extrinsic 4y ago
  Lightning vs USB-C is like VHS vs Betamax or HD-DVD vs Bluray, only Apple has sufficient market power it can abuse to avoid the inevitable convergence towards a common standard. It's exactly the correct thing to do for a regulator to step in and fix this.
- anoonmoose 4y ago
  Between my wife and I, we have two cell phones, three laptops, and a pair of wireless headphones. Only one of those devices doesn't use USB-C- her iPhone. I don't believe the other five devices have USB-C because they were forced to.
  - gnicholas 4y ago
    Great anecdote! My wife and I have a number of cell phones, tablets, headphones, and computers. The computers have USB-C, and so does one of the tablets. One headphone has micro-USB, and everything else is lightning. We have plenty of charging solutions for lightning (mostly USB-A bricks with lightning connectors), so moving to USB-C will mean we'll have to buy a 5-10 new bricks and cables. Not looking forward to it!
    - NegativeK 4y ago
      > Great anecdote! This is unnecessarily snide.
    - yellowapple 4y ago
      > moving to USB-C will mean we'll have to buy a 5-10 new bricks and cables Why? Your computers and one of your tablets already have USB-C chargers, so you could just use those for your phones. Further, USB-A to USB-C cables exist, so you could reuse your existing USB-A bricks, too.
      - gnicholas 4y ago
        I can't unplug my computer to charge my phone because I use my computer in clamshell mode, which sadly only works when its plugged in. I do sometimes charge through my computer, but I find this is pretty slow. I figured that USB-A to USB-C cables exist, and we might decide to buy some of these. But if the change is happening, it might be foolish to purchase cables that have one foot in the grave already. The upside would be that we could still charge our micro USB devices from the same bricks.
        4y ago
- bdcravens 4y ago
  Apple thinks it's good enough for iPads.
  - blitzar 4y ago
    Apple thinks it's a groundbreaking innovation for iPads.
culturestate 4y ago
> they were the only major manufacturer on the market not playing ball with a standardized port I genuinely believe that there’s only one real reason Apple resisted moving away from Lightning: They saw the writing on the wall from the EU over the last few years, and - remembering the way people lost their minds over the switch from 40-pin to Lightning (“it’s a money grab! they want me to replace all of my accessories!”) - chose to wait so they’d have someone to deflect blame to. Licensing revenue from Lightning MFi is a drop in the bucket. I’m not a manufacturing operations expert, but I have to imagine that the simplification of supply chains alone will nearly offset that loss over time.
- frosted-flakes 4y ago
  Except if Apple voluntarily made iPhones that charged over USB-C, most people would rejoice, because most people already have loads of USB-C chargers for all of their other electronic devices.

dkjaudyeqooe 4y ago

Superior how exactly? It's not clear that its properties plus royalty costs outweigh the alternative royalty free standard.

amluto 4y ago

Superior how? Lightning ports have springs that wear out inside. They have issues with arcing, which damages the plug (look at a charging cable that has been in use for a bunch of cycles. One pin on each side will be burnt.). But hey, the plug part is pretty, so it must be better

nkingsy 4y ago

I’ve bought and worn out SO many lightning cables. Never before have I dealt with such a poor connector. All my usb c is working fine. All my lightning cables work about half the time, need to be jostled. I know if I buy all new ones AGAIN it will sort out the problem. I don’t understand this take and replies. Also, lightning doesn’t power external devices. Love that I can run a midi keyboard off my new iPad. The same on my iPhone requires a powered usb hub.

ddalex 4y ago

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

IsNotNull 4y ago

Apple disagree. They moved away from Lightning on iPads and Macbooks already.