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As someone that deeply detests Apple and would never give them money, I will admit the lightning connector is superior in durability, inspectability, and safety

by lrvick 4y ago

As someone that deeply detests Apple and would never give them money, I will admit the lightning connector is superior in durability, inspectability, and safety than USB type C in virtually every way. The real crime here is that Apple insisted on patenting the design and keeping it for only themselves, forcing the rest of the industry to adopt an inferior connector and ultimately force it on them too. Classic Apple.

fsflover 4y ago
> I will admit the lightning connector is superior in durability, inspectability, and safety than USB type C in virtually every way Any links to back that claim?
- tengbretson 4y ago
  Do you have a source for the question you are asking?
  - anoonmoose 4y ago
    Yes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33360137 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33360137
- lrvick 4y ago
  The pins are on the outside making it easy to visually inspect for damage, or obstruction. With USB C a bit of conductive debris can be in the hollow cavity in the connector and cook your hardware. Or bend pins. Watched it happen. Also if you work in high security environments where badusb attacks are a risk, lightning makes it is even easy to inspect data delivery pins are intentionally missing before you plug in a cable to an airgapped machine. With USB C you have to custom make complicated usb m-to-f condom devices with transparent enclosures so you can visibly inspect the PCB traces. I have worked in high security environments where these were a must. Further lightning is simply a solid metal connector and more structurally sound. It is hard to bend pins or cause a short. I have distributed a lot of usb-c devices and watched people hand them back to me with snapped or crushed connectors many times. I hate that Lightning was made by Apple instead of the USB standards boards. USB Type C is a terrible connector. I literally use laptops with barrel jack power to avoid it.
djvdq 4y ago
I was thinking the same about both connectors. And then I bought an iPhone. I never broke a USB-C connector nor socket in few years of heavy usage on few devices, but I needed to buy new lightning cable because the pins have worn out after less than a year of just connecting the cable to iphone.
- BackBlast 4y ago
  I wore out the USB-C connector on my android phone in about a year and a half of daily charging, so probably lasted less than 500 cycles. I had to resort to wireless charging to keep the phone functioning. This is my first long-lifed usb-c connector and so far it doesn't impress for durability. My wife has used apple for years, while she does need new cables from time to time the phone side has never had an issue.
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    I've been using MagSafe (the Qi wireless kind, not the one for macs) for most of my iPhone charging. I guess this is why I don't wear the cables out. I've added a magnetic adapter connector to my oculus USB-C setup, and that seems to work well also.
  - ranguna 4y ago
    I've used my USB c phone for two years now, charge once a day and it never failed me. My lightning cable on the other hand, feels so cheap and thin like it could break at any minute and the connector is so tiny that it looks like it could snap on the slightest bend. USB c on the other hand, since it's hollow, feels way stronger to bending.
- giantg2 4y ago
  I have a family member with a similar iPhone charging issue.
  - jamiek88 4y ago
    Toothpick. Clean port. That has saved almost every iPhone people bring me that’wont charge’. Every other one Apple has fixed for free as some internal solder has failed. But that was twice in about 50 cases. (I do free/volunteer tech support for old peoples homes)
93po 4y ago
Lighting can be safer and more durable, but it's still a dumb choice when USB C can deliver a ton more power and serve more purposes (like connecting to a monitor, daisy chaining, and powering laptops).
- lrvick 4y ago
  Lightning could actually been the physical connector for all the usual USB type C power delivery framework features. If Apple did not patent it. Now it is left behind in features and adoption. Lightning is doomed to history along with other good patented ideas like MiniDisks and Magsafe.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
mft_ 4y ago
I think lightning has a much poorer data throughput, though? I seem to remember Apple needing to embed clever video comrpession ICs in their cables to get around this, in cases where it couldn't cope with the data needed for a raw signal?
- scarface74 4y ago
  The first generation iPad Pro with Lightning could transfer over “USB3” speeds. But most of the cheaper USB C cables only transfer at USB2 speeds.
stefan_ 4y ago
It's also forever limited to USB2 speeds, state of the art year 2000, and can't do half the things that USB-C does. Of course that's easier to make, but don't worry, the patents notwithstanding, nobody wanted it anyway.
- least 4y ago
  One can lament the inability to adopt and develop a superior connector without disagreeing that USB-C is the future. I think USB-C is better but it's not because the physical connector is good. It's worse in every way. It's also worth noting that there was a usb3 lightning connector in the 2nd generation iPads Pro.
aasasd 4y ago
It seems that the patents aren't the only obstacle to ubiquitous Lightning: > Yes, it's hard to make floating paddle and sheet metal spring indents more robust than a solid metal puck, but it also comes with extra baggage that Apple is willing to eat and most USB committee companies are not willing to. USB has always made the connectors out of stamped sheet metal for mass production, but it is not possible to make the lightning puck like that. Having potentially live exposed contacts also complicates things. (https://reddit.com/comments/6xfo53/comment/dmfqbnc https://reddit.com/comments/6xfo53/comment/dmfqbnc)

by lrvick 4y ago

fsflover 4y ago

> I will admit the lightning connector is superior in durability, inspectability, and safety than USB type C in virtually every way Any links to back that claim?

tengbretson 4y ago
Do you have a source for the question you are asking?
- anoonmoose 4y ago
  Yes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33360137 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33360137
lrvick 4y ago
The pins are on the outside making it easy to visually inspect for damage, or obstruction. With USB C a bit of conductive debris can be in the hollow cavity in the connector and cook your hardware. Or bend pins. Watched it happen. Also if you work in high security environments where badusb attacks are a risk, lightning makes it is even easy to inspect data delivery pins are intentionally missing before you plug in a cable to an airgapped machine. With USB C you have to custom make complicated usb m-to-f condom devices with transparent enclosures so you can visibly inspect the PCB traces. I have worked in high security environments where these were a must. Further lightning is simply a solid metal connector and more structurally sound. It is hard to bend pins or cause a short. I have distributed a lot of usb-c devices and watched people hand them back to me with snapped or crushed connectors many times. I hate that Lightning was made by Apple instead of the USB standards boards. USB Type C is a terrible connector. I literally use laptops with barrel jack power to avoid it.

djvdq 4y ago

I was thinking the same about both connectors. And then I bought an iPhone. I never broke a USB-C connector nor socket in few years of heavy usage on few devices, but I needed to buy new lightning cable because the pins have worn out after less than a year of just connecting the cable to iphone.

BackBlast 4y ago
I wore out the USB-C connector on my android phone in about a year and a half of daily charging, so probably lasted less than 500 cycles. I had to resort to wireless charging to keep the phone functioning. This is my first long-lifed usb-c connector and so far it doesn't impress for durability. My wife has used apple for years, while she does need new cables from time to time the phone side has never had an issue.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  I've been using MagSafe (the Qi wireless kind, not the one for macs) for most of my iPhone charging. I guess this is why I don't wear the cables out. I've added a magnetic adapter connector to my oculus USB-C setup, and that seems to work well also.
- ranguna 4y ago
  I've used my USB c phone for two years now, charge once a day and it never failed me. My lightning cable on the other hand, feels so cheap and thin like it could break at any minute and the connector is so tiny that it looks like it could snap on the slightest bend. USB c on the other hand, since it's hollow, feels way stronger to bending.
giantg2 4y ago
I have a family member with a similar iPhone charging issue.
- jamiek88 4y ago
  Toothpick. Clean port. That has saved almost every iPhone people bring me that’wont charge’. Every other one Apple has fixed for free as some internal solder has failed. But that was twice in about 50 cases. (I do free/volunteer tech support for old peoples homes)

93po 4y ago

Lighting can be safer and more durable, but it's still a dumb choice when USB C can deliver a ton more power and serve more purposes (like connecting to a monitor, daisy chaining, and powering laptops).

lrvick 4y ago
Lightning could actually been the physical connector for all the usual USB type C power delivery framework features. If Apple did not patent it. Now it is left behind in features and adoption. Lightning is doomed to history along with other good patented ideas like MiniDisks and Magsafe.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

mft_ 4y ago

I think lightning has a much poorer data throughput, though? I seem to remember Apple needing to embed clever video comrpession ICs in their cables to get around this, in cases where it couldn't cope with the data needed for a raw signal?

scarface74 4y ago
The first generation iPad Pro with Lightning could transfer over “USB3” speeds. But most of the cheaper USB C cables only transfer at USB2 speeds.

stefan_ 4y ago

It's also forever limited to USB2 speeds, state of the art year 2000, and can't do half the things that USB-C does. Of course that's easier to make, but don't worry, the patents notwithstanding, nobody wanted it anyway.

least 4y ago
One can lament the inability to adopt and develop a superior connector without disagreeing that USB-C is the future. I think USB-C is better but it's not because the physical connector is good. It's worse in every way. It's also worth noting that there was a usb3 lightning connector in the 2nd generation iPads Pro.

aasasd 4y ago

It seems that the patents aren't the only obstacle to ubiquitous Lightning: > Yes, it's hard to make floating paddle and sheet metal spring indents more robust than a solid metal puck, but it also comes with extra baggage that Apple is willing to eat and most USB committee companies are not willing to. USB has always made the connectors out of stamped sheet metal for mass production, but it is not possible to make the lightning puck like that. Having potentially live exposed contacts also complicates things. (https://reddit.com/comments/6xfo53/comment/dmfqbnc https://reddit.com/comments/6xfo53/comment/dmfqbnc)