New EU rule will require all phones and electronics to use a standard charger

sfsuphysics said:
I gotta say that I chuckled a bit about the claim to reduce ewaste for the charging cord of devices that often are replaced every 2 maybe 3 years because companies have made replacing things like batteries prohibitively difficult
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Replacing batteries would reduce ewaste i would imagine. Would much rather they pushed on that instead of charge cables.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
Nevermind that USBc is a pretty decent downgrade compared to lightning when we compare the actual connector. Too bad Apple pulled an Apple and just stopped developing lightning once they had their initial design done.
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How is it a downgrade? I've had to clean the lightning cables often due to one of the pins corroding to the point where it won't conduct power.

XenIneX said:
View attachment 482257
USB 3 says 'hi'.
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Still backwards compatible. Still doesn't need all new wires for old devices, just for new devices to take advantage of the new speed.
View attachment 482258
Every damned day...
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Yea, and you know what else sucks that we gotta plug in? The American power outlet, and we're not about to go replace every outlet in the country to adopt a better one.

 
Darunion said:
Replacing batteries would reduce ewaste i would imagine. Would much rather they pushed on that instead of charge cables.
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I mean I got a 5 year old phone, the back glass is cracked (which idiot designer thought glass for the back was a good idea?), the USB port hasn't worked in 4 years, and the battery doesnt hold charge for shit these days. The last one is the major reason I'm even considering an upgrade, a charging port working would be nice too
 
DukenukemX said:
How is it a downgrade? I've had to clean the lightning cables often due to one of the pins corroding to the point where it won't conduct power.


Still backwards compatible. Still doesn't need all new wires for old devices, just for new devices to take advantage of the new speed.

Yea, and you know what else sucks that we gotta plug in? The American power outlet, and we're not about to go replace every outlet in the country to adopt a better one.
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That little tongue on the device side of the connection is fragile. I've had to deal with ten(ish?) dead devices my crews use for my company. Lightning's failure point is the cable, it's a superior design that Apple just Appled. They stopped developing the tech and wouldn't share it.

To the last bit: I would love a 230V grid.
 
USB-C should be plenty fast enough for any mobile phone in the near future. I imagine it could get outdated quicker for laptops and desktops, but they could also just upgrade the "version" of it for more functionality. I don't know much about USB-C, but hopefully the designers created a method for each device to select the highest-common-denominator it supports.

I was mostly against this ruling until I started thinking of it like Ethernet instead of charging. Everyone agrees on the Ethernet standard. It supports 10Mb up to 10Gb depending on the end device. What proprietary data you send over that cable, over those 8 wires, is completely up to you. As long as it "also" charges.
 
sfsuphysics said:
I mean I got a 5 year old phone, the back glass is cracked (which idiot designer thought glass for the back was a good idea?), the USB port hasn't worked in 4 years, and the battery doesnt hold charge for shit these days. The last one is the major reason I'm even considering an upgrade, a charging port working would be nice too
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Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to sell the new smartphones. This is also the case with other products. Weaknesses are deliberately built in so that a new product can be sold in a few years.

I am sure that smartphones can be built in such a way that they do not break when they fall down. You can also easily install a replaceable battery. But you don't do all that so that you have to buy a new model in a few years.
 
After all, it is not forbidden to develop innovations in the future. No one works against each other anymore and you can concentrate on one way. It is also not forbidden for Apple to work on improvements for USB-C. You only need one cable for charging, which is already an improvement. I just find it sad that it took over 10 years to decide this.
 
Aurelius said:
There are mounting rumors Apple will move to USB-C for the iPhone, so in that sense the legislation has already succeeded.

With that said, the same concerns remain: the EU is effectively dictating tech standards. USB-C sounds great now; it might not sound great in 2032 if the spec is holding everyone back.
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And USB C standards are all over the place, even today. The idea that everyone must use the same connecter is not always a good idea.
 
Maybe I missed it, but because iPhone is smaller, is it possible that the iPad and Macbook has the USB-C chargers now because they have room to include the circuitry to meet Apples charge spec?

Just saying I can totally see a scenario where Apple would be concerned (rightly so) about switching to USB-C and people just using those 99 cent gas station USB-C cables and then wondering why their iPhone burnt up.
 
bigdogchris said:
Maybe I missed it, but because iPhone is smaller, is it possible that the iPad and Macbook has the USB-C chargers now because they have room to include the circuitry to meet Apples charge spec?

Just saying I can totally see a scenario where Apple would be concerned (rightly so) about switching to USB-C and people just using those 99 cent gas station USB-C cables and then wondering why their iPhone burnt up.
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Eh, I think it's more that Apple felt iPads needed USB-C more to fit their laptop replacement billing. More accessory support, faster charging, that sort of thing. That and there wasn't exactly a huge ecosystem of Lightning accessories for the iPad like there is for the iPhone, so Apple could break compatibility sooner without alienating users.

I suspect the rumored move to USB-C iPhones next year is due to both EU regulation as well as just a more mature environment for the standard. Your computer is more likely to have USB-C ports; there are more clear benefits to USB-C; and yes, there are fewer junk cables out there.
 
bigdogchris said:
Maybe I missed it, but because iPhone is smaller, is it possible that the iPad and Macbook has the USB-C chargers now because they have room to include the circuitry to meet Apples charge spec?

Just saying I can totally see a scenario where Apple would be concerned (rightly so) about switching to USB-C and people just using those 99 cent gas station USB-C cables and then wondering why their iPhone burnt up.
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Only the SE is too slim in depth to handle USBc They are just being lazy with continuously reusing the same shell with the SE.
 
whateverer said:
Only the SE is too slim in depth to handle USBc They are just being lazy with continuously reusing the same shell with the SE.
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In my opinion, that is not correct. I just looked at the lightning port on my 13 and a c port would at least twice as large. That would means the port might not fit
 
The law was passed...

This is the internet, you could be giving away free rides to space and someone would bitch about it. Give away free electricity, someone (on this forum) would bitch about it. Give away free processors! lol, someone would bitch about it.

It's been 65 million years, where is that meteor?
 
I know I mentioned concerns about effectively freezing tech in stone, but I should clarify: I'm honestly not that uptight about this. USB-C is fine if done well (and it would be; we already know how Apple handles it), it wouldn't lead to many design headaches and it's arguably overdue for the iPhone given swelling video and backup file sizes. I wouldn't want to transfer an 8K clip to my computer over Lightning.
 
Aurelius said:
I know I mentioned concerns about effectively freezing tech in stone, but I should clarify: I'm honestly not that uptight about this. USB-C is fine if done well (and it would be; we already know how Apple handles it), it wouldn't lead to many design headaches and it's arguably overdue for the iPhone given swelling video and backup file sizes. I wouldn't want to transfer an 8K clip to my computer over Lightning.
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The lighting itself is not the issue but the fact that they used the usb2 standard that is the issue. They could have used usb3 and we probably would have then not cared.
 
ManofGod said:
The lighting itself is not the issue but the fact that they used the usb2 standard that is the issue. They could have used usb3 and we probably would have then not cared.
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True — I just wonder if it would have required any significant connector changes, and possibly created compatibility headaches. It could easily have been a PR headache. Imagine Apple having to call the format "Lightning 2" (or something similar) and spend time explaining both legacy support and why it didn't just go with USB-C.

One thing seems likely: the moment Apple embraces USB-C on the iPhone, the standard gets another burst of momentum. It's fairly common now, but the uptake for USB-C is still far less enthusiastic than it was for USB-A.
 
i'm still stick with micro usb anyway for some crap and mini usb for my logitech 350 remotes for as long as those last (still 2 in storage in the box, 3 in use)

i just have a lightning/usb-c/micro usb cable setup in the living room and office to charge whatever i need in either or, i'd go from 3 to 2 i guess, something
 
GoodBoy said:
The law was passed...

This is the internet, you could be giving away free rides to space and someone would bitch about it. Give away free electricity, someone (on this forum) would bitch about it. Give away free processors! lol, someone would bitch about it.

It's been 65 million years, where is that meteor?
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This is the internet, you could talk about a law requiring a certain thing to be used and someone will use a horrible analogy with getting something desirable for free as being the same thing :D :D :D
 
It's really just a matter of time. IP13 charge cable is USB-C on one end and Lightning on the other. I think they are just giving time for the old Lightning stuff to work their way out of the system. This way all new charging bricks people buy are USB-C. So when they finally kill Lightning, all you need to buy is a simple cable.
 
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