Apple may have to abandon Lightning connector cable

BBC ^ | 16 Jan 2020 | BBC

[Theoria]

Apple could be forced to abandon its Lightning connector cable if European lawmakers get their way.

The cable is used to charge and sync Apple devices, including the iPhone.

But members of the European Parliament urged the European Commission on Monday to force tech giants to adopt a single universal charging method.

Apple products do not accept the other two non-wireless types of charger which are available - USB-C and micro-USB, which work on Android devices.

Regulators will vote on the matter on a yet to be determined date, but Apple says the proposed regulation would stifle innovation and be disruptive to consumers. How likely is this to happen?

If the regulator enforces its proposed regulation, Apple devices sold in Europe would be required to have a new charging method.

It is likely Apple would then adopt USB-C, considering the company's 2019 iPad Pro ditched Lightning in favour of the technology.

A new cable would mark the tech giant's third in 13 years.

[Dr. Sivana]

It’s not asking that much for Apple to adopt what is/has become the industry standard.

Apple actually contributed much to what became USB-C, but its Thunderbolt-3 version (used on Macs) is faster. The Lightning connector was out several years before there was a USB-C, and Android devices were using Micro-USB, which is not flippable, as Lightning and USB-C cables are.

I do suspect that Apple is holding on to lightning for fear of a world of cheap cables and also non-Apple USB devices could more easily be made to work with Apple iPhones/iPads/iPod Touches. There is definitely greed. There is also a problem with some cheap cables causing fires or damage to the phone. Apple is no White Knight, but there is something to be said for quality control.

[FreedomPoster]

Just upgraded phones for the first time in 5-6 years. Bought two iPhone 11 Pro Maxes. The chargers have a USB-C port, with a USB-C to Lightning cable. It would be trivial for Apple to convert to a USB-C to USB-C cable on those chargers.

https://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/350880-image/ch2.jpg

[Huskrrrr]

I believe new iPad pros use usb-c.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I love the Lightning connector...so much better than USB-C.

[UCANSEE2]

Why don’t Android and Apple devices just use wireless charging and eliminate cables ?

[JayGalt]

It’s convenient to have a standard but not to have bureaucrats set them. Once they start controlling they don’t stop.

In the EU they were controlling the shapes of the fruit & veggies that can be sold, losing 20% of the harvest. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/3443343/EU-to-allow-sale-of-odd-shaped-fruit-and-vegetables.html

If people want standard connections they can buy those phones. If Apple loses market share they can change connectors if that is what the customers are calling for.

[Secret Agent Man]

Well then put it back on the eu bureaucrats, make them ban apple products their people want to buy. Let them own their own standards and answer for it.

Or just demand companies there sell such apple products with the lightning/usb-c adapter that already exists.

Government always makes things more complicated than necessary. People don’t need to be patronized when it comes to a matter as trivial and already easily dealt with for those that want to. Government just injects itself in such fascist ways.

[untenured]

Government always makes things more complicated than necessary

Absolutely. You summarized my view on this better than I could have myself,

[Rastus]

I wanted those enhanced versions of Donkey Kong and Buck Rogers badly. It was so expensive, I never even hinted about it to my parents. That turned out to be for the best. I’d still like to play that bakery level of Donkey Jr.

[Jack Black]

The coolest Apple power cable was the magnetic one. You couldn't trip over it, and you couldn't snatch it and drag your lap top crashing onto the ground.

I don't know if it was every used on portable devices smaller than a laptop.

As someone noted the new iPhones have USB-C now. Apple has already dropped Lightning on its flagship product, how long will it last on anything else new they build?

Is there some advantage to lightging? It was better than the original USB mini, which was D shaped and so could be forced in upside down, breaking the connector, or cable. Ugh, that was retarded, and it was the Andriod standard for three generations of phones.

USB consortium finally caught up with Apple, and now I think Apple doesn't see value in maintaining a "different for different's sake" second standard.

The EU has too many people with too much time on their hands, they should lay the lot of them off and let them get productive jobs in the private sector.

[Dr. Sivana]

I wanted those enhanced versions of Donkey Kong and Buck Rogers badly. It was so expensive, I never even hinted about it to my parents. That turned out to be for the best. I’d still like to play that bakery level of Donkey Jr.

I was a professional video game reviewer then, and was regularly getting pre-release copies, including the Coleco Super-Action versions on digital data pack. Best job I ever had. I was a sophomore then, and I remember getting up to go to an 8:30AM class, but my dorm was in the Shoreland, about 3 miles from the U of Chicago campus, so I usually took the bus. When I got downstairs and saw that there was a FedEx package with Super Donkey Kong Jr., I skipped class. I had a duty to the video gaming public ... they HAVE to know. (This had an adverse effect on my GPA).

By now you should know that all these old great games are available on MAME. It is a chance for me to show those great favorites from the golden age of video gaming to my son, and he clobbers me at "Do! Run Run". He can't touch my scores on Carnival or Kickman, though. We play Joust cooperatively.

[RayChuang88]

I believe that the iPhone 12 models (rumored to be one 5.4”, two 6.1” and one 6.7”) have not been completely finalized in design. Given that Apple is already using USB Type C connectors on the various MacBook models and the current iPad Pro models, having the iPhone 12 models adopt USB Type C power/sync connectors should be a cinch. Apple could offer a USB Type C to Lightning adapter as standard on European market models, though.

[Cold Heart]

I took a 5 gallon bucket of chargers I had saved over the years to recycling, and that was after taking out and saving a couple of 12 volt for hobby stuff.

[Rastus]

This is a little off-topic (well, really off topic for this thread), but I loved this article as a kid:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130514001153/http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/people/tvguide.html

Back then, it was rare to get developer insight like this.

[adorno]

Next, they’ll be asking that all smartphones work using the same operating system. Which is not a bad idea, btw. Same for computers and tablets. Heck, all devices should be on the same Operating System, with adaptation for size and type.

[bigbob]

Because the idiots would lose the adapter and then go crying to the EU.

[MrEdd]

Only one?
I have stuck with the method which (although old) is the best, and it requires tortuous mental contortions to dispute that.

Removable batteries and an external charger.

[Cobra64]

I’d tell the EU to stuff it.

[Dr. Sivana]

Back then, it was rare to get developer insight like this.

Interesting story. I hadn't heard of this group. The magazines I wrote for tended to cover individual programmers/designers who self-promoted (Tim Skelly, Ron Fulop) when they did that at all.

I do have an Intellivision story related to the Intellivoice module. I had B-17 Bomber ("uh-Oh. That - is - not- a - tarrrrget" it would say if you turned around and bombed London.)

It was a hit, but the game after it was very off beat, using vocal cues from assistants as you tried to dismantle a ricking time bomb with pliers, a screwdriver, etc. I was playing the game, but finals ended, and I had to race to make it to my flight back east from Chicago. I had to bring one game player with me in my carry-on, and I picked the "Intellivision II" (with integrated Intellivoice). The small white console with the coiled telephone receiver style cables was not as familiar as the Atrai 2600s or even the older flat brown Intellivision, and it fit in my nylon bag easily. It was late 1983, and as I went through security at the O'Hare my bag was opened. All they saw, was a small electronic box, with a couple of coils, and the keypad overlay. The game I had been playing, and had not removed the overlay from was "BOMB SQUAD". I had some explaining to do. Because it was 1983 and not 2003, I made it onto my flight.

[Cronos]

Apple uses it’s own charger for exclusivity and so it can charge a hefty premium