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It is very difficult to damage a lightning port by sticking something into it because the contacts are deep inside the port and only the tiniest bit is exposed,

It is very difficult to damage a lightning port by sticking something into it because the contacts are deep inside the port and only the tiniest bit is exposed, enough to mate with the plug, and the male plug has zero moving or bending parts: https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8059819/verge_DSC_8885_2040pxl_2.jpg https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8059819/ve... In fact, it's remarkably easy to clean a Lightning port and the common advice is "just stick a toothpick in." There's almost no risk of damaging the pins inside. It's also very easy to inspect for debris. Meanwhile with USB-C, you have a very, very thin piece of plastic in the center with contacts on either side, coming out very close to the face of the connector, so you end up with shit like this happening: https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/hadimg_usbc_conn_10.png https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/hadimg_usbc_... Further, the retention mechanism for Lightning is incredibly simple and durable. A large clip that snaps, either side, into large detents on either side: http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/6wSwQDSxsENkhPXC-640x480.jpg http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/6wSwQD... On USB-C they do something kinda sorta similar, but instead of being around the outside of the connector and thus nice and beefy (and protected - there's no way to bend or deform the ends), it's tiny little prongs inside the connector, completely unsupported mechanically and exposed to being bent by debris in either connector, or something being jammed inside. Further: look at the plugs and connectors. The male lightning connector? Really it just needs to be the right thickness and the pads need to be in the right places. The female connector is similarly very simple. The retention mechanism is also very obviously low-tolerance. Look at the design of the USB-C connector and imagine the long list of tolerances needed to get it to work right because you have the entire working guts of the device-side connector in the center of said connector going into the plug.

wkat4242 3y ago
The lightning connector has one major flaw: the springs are in the phone side. Over time these wear out which is why its much better to have the phone side have simple static contact surfaces and the spring loaded contacts on the cable side which is much cheaper to replace. USB until C also did this wrong and C fixed that mistake.
- Fnoord 3y ago
  Yep, here's a picture describing the issue [1] [1] https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-often-do-the-lightning-port-tabs-get-damaged-due-to-overuse.2246448/?post=28688538#post-28688538 https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-often-do-the-lightn...
- stouset 3y ago
  I have had at least a dozen Lightning devices and I have never had the springs wear out. I’ve never even heard of this happening. In fact, if those springs are steel and properly designed to prevent unexpected loads, they physically can’t ever wear out.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    Springs will always wear out. Every connector has a number of rated insertions. Some are as low as tens of cycles only (like the 12HVPWR connector on GPUs), USB-A has 1500, USB-C 10,000 precisely because of this inversion. For Lightning it's not known because it's a proprietary standard but it will have a number of mating cycles.

wkat4242 3y ago

The lightning connector has one major flaw: the springs are in the phone side. Over time these wear out which is why its much better to have the phone side have simple static contact surfaces and the spring loaded contacts on the cable side which is much cheaper to replace. USB until C also did this wrong and C fixed that mistake.

Fnoord 3y ago
Yep, here's a picture describing the issue [1] [1] https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-often-do-the-lightning-port-tabs-get-damaged-due-to-overuse.2246448/?post=28688538#post-28688538 https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-often-do-the-lightn...
stouset 3y ago
I have had at least a dozen Lightning devices and I have never had the springs wear out. I’ve never even heard of this happening. In fact, if those springs are steel and properly designed to prevent unexpected loads, they physically can’t ever wear out.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Springs will always wear out. Every connector has a number of rated insertions. Some are as low as tens of cycles only (like the 12HVPWR connector on GPUs), USB-A has 1500, USB-C 10,000 precisely because of this inversion. For Lightning it's not known because it's a proprietary standard but it will have a number of mating cycles.