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iPhone 15 USB-C port is 100% standard; MFi certification rumors wrong
- gruturo 3y agoApple probably realized that they've been selling USB-C cables for years, even in their own stores, and those might have lacked an MFi certification. Better to avoid the ridicule and do the right thing for once.
- ehPReth 3y agothat, or people running rumour accounts throw everything at the wall to claim victory when something sticks
- smoldesu 3y agoIt would have been more ridiculous if Apple's previous serial bus didn't have DRM.
- dangus 3y agoWhat really happened is that they came up with something proprietary and desirable (MagSafe) to make up for lost accessory sales.
- fh9302 3y agoThe iPhone 15 supports Qi2, which is based on Apple's MagSafe standard. It's not proprietary.
- dangus 3y agoI’m not saying it doesn’t support existing standards, I’m saying that they debuted MagSafe as a proprietary but superior version of the technology. The non-proprietary Qi2 version of this technology came out multiple years after Apple already sold millions of proprietary MagSafe accessories and built up a brand name around it.
- kube-system 3y agoWhen lightning came out, it was also desirable because it was durable and reversible, and USB-C didn't exist yet. Its main problem is that it stayed around for too long.
- dmonitor 3y agothat’s been around for years now on iphones.
- dangus 3y agoThat fact doesn't invalidate my reasoning. When MagSafe was introduced to the iPhone, Apple knew that Lightning was going away in a few short years.
- cr3ative 3y agoI was going to suggest they confused MFi and e-marking for the USB-C cables, but it appears you only need e-marking for above 60 watt applications, which the iPhone 15 isn't going to require. Good news all round.
- runako 3y ago> Good news all round. Maybe for people new to the ecosystem. Most existing users have had their existing inventory of cables suddenly rendered useless for future phones. When I eventually upgrade, I will have to buy at least 2-3 additional cables (I am not a fan of dongles). I will spend this money even though there is no tangible benefit to me as the only USB-C device I have is a Kindle.
- wlesieutre 3y agoMy USB-C devices include: headphones, earbuds charging case, laptop, tablet, VR headset, and Switch My non USB-C device is: eBook reader I do have a bunch of Lightning cables, but I also have more than enough USB-C cables because literally everything else uses it, and I'm looking forward to not needing to bother with carrying a special cable around for one device anymore. The eBook reader is a minor nuisance with micro USB charging, but battery life is long enough that for short trips I don't even bother bringing a cord for it. And around the house I can unplug my Qi pad and use its micro USB cable. EDIT: forgot one more USB-C device, it's also on my Ryobi battery bidirectional charger. Don't use that frequently, picked it up for power outages. But it means the Ryobi provided charger in the garage which I sometimes use for headphones will be able to charge my next phone as well.
- runako 3y agoThat's great. I recognize most people who do not use iPhones use USB-C heavily. I have 10+ years of Apple devices and no USB-C. Devices which work on the existing Lightning connector: - standalone speaker - charging stand - AirPods case - and of course all the cables I don't know how common/rare my use case is, but I can say that this switch is basically all downside for me.
- sysadm1n 3y agoHow do I get USB3 'superspeed' data transfer though? I regularly shuttle multi-gigabyte files onto my iPhone's flash storage and that takes too much time. One of those sit-back-and-make-some-coffee moments in life that doesn't have to be that way. It would free up so much time if the transfers were near instant.
- astrange 3y agoThe Pro phones are USB3.
- spacedcowboy 3y agoYou buy a ‘pro’, which has the correct hardware to do super speed. The pro has a new chip, the ‘normal’ 15 doesn’t.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y agoThe Google Pixel from 2016 has Type-C USB 3.0
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- dmonitor 3y agorather than increase BOM and R&D costs, they opted to not upgrade the USB interface. Having a USB3 capable cup through a lightning connector would be pointless since it would be speed capped. If you truly need fast USB transfer for some reason, they sell a phone model with that.
- stewarts 3y agoWhich is fine to mention, but isn't applicable to a discussion on iPhones. 15 Pro is the first version to support USB 3.0 speeds over USB-C.
- zamalek 3y agoDidn't the EU explicitly warn Apple that MFi would not be in compliance with the USB-C law?
- fh9302 3y agoThey warned Apple based on rumours but that doesn't prove that MFi certification for USB-C ever existed.
- thoughtsimple 3y agoIt was always a stupid rumor. Can you imagine if Apple required a different USB-C cable for your new iPhone rather than what already works with iPads and MacBooks? They would never do that.
- zamalek 3y ago> Can you imagine if Apple required a different [... snip ...] cable for your new iPhone rather than what already works with iPads and MacBooks? My alteration of your comment brings it in line with the status quo prior to the USB-C which, keep in mind, Apple fought tooth and nail against. It is a stupid idea, but Apple did it anyway. The world runs on stupid ideas daily; either because they are more profitable, or are too entrenched, or both.
- paulmd 3y agolet's recall that lightning came out before usb-c, because vendors within the USB-IF didn't want to upgrade their devices to replace micro-b with something more expensive and were stalling the acceptance of the standard. for everything you can say about apple, they have at least been consistent on connectors, some would say to a fault. when they deprecated the 30-pin they promised that iphone (not ipad, not laptop) would remain on lightning for 10 years.
- zamalek 3y agoI'm not buying it. It's just a cable, and regular wear and tear (user error in Apple parlance) pretty-much dictates a lifetime far less than 10 years. The reason is profit, no more, no less.
- Simulacra 3y agoI wonder what the conversation was an apple about losing all that additional revenue from the sale of lightning cables. I never believed lightning was anything more than a way for Apple to gouge the customers a little bit more.
- jmull 3y agoWhen Apple switched from the 30-pin connector to lightning, USB-C didn't exist. What you're suggesting just doesn't make sense.
- Simulacra 3y ago[flagged]
- isykt 3y agoAhistorical as this take is, I’m kind of jealous that you weren’t around for microUSB.
- underseacables 3y agoLightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector, created and designed by Apple Inc. It was introduced on September 12, 2012, in conjunction with the iPhone 5, to replace its predecessor, the 30-pin dock connector. And now that they are switching to USB-C, they are going to lose all that revenue.
- swamp40 3y agoThe thin pc board inside the USB-C connector is prone to breaking. Angled insertion/removal also leverages the pins soldered to the mainboard and can eventually break them loose. The Lightning connector was superior in many ways. I have no idea why everyone is celebrating this downgrade. Now no one is ever able to improve on the connector reliability because the EU has frozen the design forever by enshrining it into law?
- Goronmon 3y agoThe Lightning connector was superior in many ways. I have no idea why everyone is celebrating this downgrade. You say it's a downgrade, but the only issues I've had with cables in this context are lightning connectors where the cable connector broke off into the device and required a good amount of work to get all the pieces out. And that's with only a single device using a lightning cable and many other devices that are USB-C.
- buildbot 3y agoHonest to whatever - How?! Those connectors seem like solid metal, seems like it would take ludicrous force to break it like that. So would a cable side USB-C connector - but in agreement with the grandparent comment that tab in the center port is pretty flimsy… and the ports themselves seem pretty wear happy, similar to how micro usb tended to break the port first after repeated insertion vs. a more easily replaceable cable.
- Goronmon 3y agoThose connectors seem like solid metal, seems like it would take ludicrous force to break it like that. Not that much force. Just a two year old who grabs something before you can stop them unfortunately.
- buildbot 3y agoI posit in this case USB-C would also fail :) Or alternatively, that 2 year old sticks something in that port and breaks that little tab.
- GeekyBear 3y agoThe iPad Pro has had 100% standard USB C ports for years now. The conspiracy theories never made sense.
- SigmundA 3y agoThe iPad Pro used a separate USB controller which adds cost, space, power making it a no go on the phones. The A17 is the first A series with integrated USB3 controller.
- auguzanellato 3y agoWasn't the USB4 controller on the newer Pro models on die? Should be the same used by Apple Silicon Macs
- GeekyBear 3y ago> The iPad Pro used a separate USB controller The iPad Pro has used M series SOCs with an integrated USB controller for years now.
- SigmundA 3y agoI am talking about the 4th gen and prior iPad Pros with A series cpus and USB3, not M series which also have built in USB3 controllers, I thought I made the A series part clear. M series being much larger and more power hungry would also have the same issues in a phone, hence the two different series, so my point still stands.
- jdjdjdjdjduuuu 3y agoApple sucks and tries to not follow standards until it needs to... Thats not conspiracy theories.... Thats just the truth
- Eric_WVGG 3y agoyeah, like their proprietary USB connector on iMacs, or their proprietary USB-C connector on Macbooks in 2016, or when they invented Thunderbolt all by themselves, and the time they didn't make Firewire and open standard… What are you talking about? Proprietary connectors I can think of… - A bunch of ridiculous digital video ports, necessary because the whole industry couldn't agree on how to move on from VGA. - The "dock connector" — literally nothing else in the industry, even after its introduction, could meet all the needs of that thing, up until… - Lightning. USB-C was still years away, and the attempts at small USB were a garbage fire.
- underseacables 3y agoSo now that everyone is switching cables, what will Apple do to make up all that lost revenue? People were locked into the MFI lightning cable for so long
- rubatuga 3y agoThere are a lot of critics on the lack of USB 3.0 speeds in the base model, but this hasn't been a problem for me. iCloud backups happen over WiFi for the general consumer and even when I do iPhone backups over USB it takes less than an hour the first time, and less than ten minutes for the incremental updates. If anything, the fact that Android adds a soft-lock to the DisplayPort output on their USB-C port should be under scrutiny. There is absolutely no reason this should be blocked on flagship models like the Google Pixel, in fact brands like Samsung enable it on their phones (DEX). All iPhone 15 models support 4K60 from their USB-C port.
- johnmcd3 3y ago> All iPhone 15 models support 4K60 from their USB-C port. Do you mean just the iPhone 15 Pro models? I understood the base models are USB2 and wouldn't have the bandwidth for 4K60, right?
- rubatuga 3y agoVideo mirroring and video out support: Up to 4K HDR through native DisplayPort output over USB-C or USB-C Digital AV Adapter (model A2119; adapter sold separately) https://www.apple.com/iphone-15/specs/ https://www.apple.com/iphone-15/specs/
- grumpycamel 3y agoI wonder if Apple will be "blamed" for not-to-spec USB-C cables damaging devices. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/02/google-engineer-finds-usb-type-c-cable-thats-so-bad-it-fried-his-chromebook-pixel/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/02/google-engineer-find...