3 ms·

Thanks to an EU regulation mandating type-c connectors

talldayo 2y ago
To be honest, Lightning was always dead in the cradle because of it's licensing fee. Apple tried to take the high road for so long, but vendors actively avoided Lightning unless they could buy bootleg, unlicensed connectors. Apple basically took a serial standard hostage, and then insisted that it was okay because they did it before USB-C was finalized. There's no way Apple didn't know from the offset that they were diverging from the standard and creating e-waste, they helped design USB-C. The creation of Lightning was an exploitation of 30-pin's depreciation.
- riscy 2y ago
  The plethora of crappy, bootleg cables with USB-C connectors that are single purpose (power only, low-speed data only, etc) has created plenty of e-waste, in addition to confusion. I don’t see how this is an improvement over the licensing model, where you know every cable works the same.
  - MBCook 2y ago
    The number of “USB-C” things I have that aren’t is infuriating. Won’t use a real charger or PD, only works with an A to C cable, only works when plugged in “right side up”, etc. At least with Lightning and Micro-B you knew the score. The good USB-C stuff is great. The rest is worse than B ever was.
    - dzikimarian 2y ago
      What are they exactly? I haven't see such issue in years.
      - MBCook 2y ago
        They’re not “real” computer devices but other things with charge ports. One is an air duster, for example. I also have some credit card payment hardware that is clearly USB-B and they just swapped the port. The computer world seems fine. It’s everyone else.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    The licensed model failed. I own multiple gas-station Lighting cables with no data, only (5w) power. Ultimately everyone converges on the "fuck it, what's the cheapest thing on Amazon" mindset and licensing doesn't help.
  - Dylan16807 2y ago
    But that's what all lightning cables are. Low power limit, low speed data only.
    - thedrbrian 2y ago
      I can put 12w through a lighting cable. That’s fine for most if not all of their iPhones and iPads. Hell it’d be ok for my MacBook
      - sgerenser 2y ago
        You can put 12W through all USB-C cables as well (AFAIK). The crappy ones might be limited to something between 12-50W, while decent ones allow for 100W or more.
      - dzikimarian 2y ago
        > Hell it’d be ok for my MacBook If you keep it turned off for entire day to charge then sure.
- archagon 2y ago
  According to DannyBee, it was Google, not Apple, that helped design the USB-C connector: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30033799 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30033799

To be honest, Lightning was always dead in the cradle because of it's licensing fee. Apple tried to take the high road for so long, but vendors actively avoided Lightning unless they could buy bootleg, unlicensed connectors. Apple basically took a serial standard hostage, and then insisted that it was okay because they did it before USB-C was finalized. There's no way Apple didn't know from the offset that they were diverging from the standard and creating e-waste, they helped design USB-C. The creation of Lightning was an exploitation of 30-pin's depreciation.

riscy 2y ago
The plethora of crappy, bootleg cables with USB-C connectors that are single purpose (power only, low-speed data only, etc) has created plenty of e-waste, in addition to confusion. I don’t see how this is an improvement over the licensing model, where you know every cable works the same.
- MBCook 2y ago
  The number of “USB-C” things I have that aren’t is infuriating. Won’t use a real charger or PD, only works with an A to C cable, only works when plugged in “right side up”, etc. At least with Lightning and Micro-B you knew the score. The good USB-C stuff is great. The rest is worse than B ever was.
  - dzikimarian 2y ago
    What are they exactly? I haven't see such issue in years.
    - MBCook 2y ago
      They’re not “real” computer devices but other things with charge ports. One is an air duster, for example. I also have some credit card payment hardware that is clearly USB-B and they just swapped the port. The computer world seems fine. It’s everyone else.
- talldayo 2y ago
  The licensed model failed. I own multiple gas-station Lighting cables with no data, only (5w) power. Ultimately everyone converges on the "fuck it, what's the cheapest thing on Amazon" mindset and licensing doesn't help.
- Dylan16807 2y ago
  But that's what all lightning cables are. Low power limit, low speed data only.
  - thedrbrian 2y ago
    I can put 12w through a lighting cable. That’s fine for most if not all of their iPhones and iPads. Hell it’d be ok for my MacBook
    - sgerenser 2y ago
      You can put 12W through all USB-C cables as well (AFAIK). The crappy ones might be limited to something between 12-50W, while decent ones allow for 100W or more.
    - dzikimarian 2y ago
      > Hell it’d be ok for my MacBook If you keep it turned off for entire day to charge then sure.
archagon 2y ago
According to DannyBee, it was Google, not Apple, that helped design the USB-C connector: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30033799 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30033799