Leaker yeux1122 says that Apple Store staff have been told to make sure iPhone 15 buyers know about the change…
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Or lightning was available first before usbc, and apple went with that and just has been stubborn to change.
Looks like lightning in 2012 and usbc in 2014.
Apple developed lightning. It had the same transfer rate as USB 2.0 which had been out for over a decade. It wasn’t about being “stubborn”, it was about being proprietary.
That’s a fair point. Apple has been known to do that in the past with FireWire.
But I guess on the issue of whether or not — at the time, two years before usb-c was readily available — apple should have used usb-c or lightning (the thing they helped make), you would assume they would go with lightning over waiting until an unknown amount of time for another plug to be available.
When I say they were stubborn to change from that, they were/are simply stubborn to change from that. I wish they would have pulled the bandaid off when they switched to usb-c on iPad.
Though, that said, barring speed/power, I do actually think the lightning connector is a superior design. It’s simpler, and there’s nothing to break inside the port on the phone/device. I wish usb-c was physically the same or similar.
FireWire was legitimately superior at the time, particularly for video transfer.
I still have to disagree. There was no reason for them to develop lightning in the first place. It has 0 advantages over technology already available at the time, and their adapters use the technology they’re trying to upsell anyways- USB.
As for the last subjective part of your statement: “The Apple Community forums are full of people posting stories about their broken cables, and it appears to be one of the most common issues that Apple users are facing.”
Edit: I wish I could find a conclusive source for lightning vs micro-usb charging speed in 2012, it has proven difficult. This article suggests an extremely negligible 0.3A difference that effectively did nothing because all phone batteries at the time had a 1A charging maximum https://www.gearmo.com/things-to-know-about-lightning-cables/
Lightning cables had, and have, substantial advantages over micro-USB:
- More durable ports
- Reversible connector
- More pins for data - micro USB wasn’t usable for their docks, for example
- Fast enough charging to be able to charge the iPad - 12W at the time (and substantially more now) vs 9W at best (generally 2.5-5W) for micro-USB
- Many existing micro USB cables are terrible, i.e., they only support charging (no data) or they only support charging at 2.5W
I’ll preface this by admitting I misspoke. Lightning did develop into a better technology once the power delivery got better and I forgot they desperately needed the slightly higher PD for the 4th gen iPad. I also completely forgot about the logical data layers afforded by the extra pins because it’s such a strange niche to need direct output for your phone rather than just moving the files to a computer. However, this still doesn’t explain why they wouldn’t just switch to USB-C when it was released and proven to serve all these functions, and I take issue with every other point you made.
More durable ports
I would love conclusive, hard data on this but this has been spread everywhere and it’s completely anecdotal. I’ve seen the “40K to 10K” comparisons but the 40K mating cycles minimum is attributed to the lightning port while the 10K mating cycles minimum is attributed to the micro usb/usb-c cable.
substantial advantages
Reversible connector
Really?
Many existing micro USB cables are terrible, i.e., they only support charging (no data) or they only support charging at 2.5W
Apple’s very own branded lightning cables are terrible quality. I don’t see why you wouldn’t hold a first-party manufacturer accountable for their low quality standard and then turn around and point to a low standard for third-party manufacturers.
Apple helped develop USB-C too as they are members of the consortium. No (non-self-serving) reason why they couldn’t have delayed the swap an additional year or two back then.
Or leave Apple Store staff alone because they had nothing to do with any of that?
Maybe they should talk to their employers about being forced to act like corporate mouthpieces. Or refuse. But if a bootlicker wants to lick boot, give em a taste.
Edit: My bad, I forgot you Americans don’t have workers rights. You get what you vote for.
“You get what you vote for”. My friend, you are unfamiliar with American politics it seems. Corruption exists in the world and gerrymandering is a problem in the us. I implore you to see others with empathy instead of hatred.
This comes off very condescending and xenophobic. I get that other countries have better rights. I’d love to have that. But if you don’t quite know the extent of what you’re hatefully spewing, maybe try to see things through others shoes instead of insulting them. We are all people and the world would be a better place if everyone realized that.
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I hope you’re not actually as rude to retail workers, waitstaff, and other members of the service industry as your comments make you seem like you’d be
I’m not rude to anybody who isn’t rude first.
But if someone is going to act like a braindead mouthpiece for a corporation then I will tell them why they’re wrong.
I never said be mean to staff, or rude. And you can’t point out where I have because it didn’t happen. You can still tell staff that insist on telling you that regulators are the cause of e-waste to inform themselves of their corporations decisions and how they sound parroting lies.
Staff aren’t being instructed to say this lol
Then there won’t be anything to say to them about it will there.
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Do you think Apple store employees have the CEOs phone number on autodial?
You’re complaining to the girl at checkout about prices like she has anything to do with it.
She has a boss doesn’t she? You act like there isn’t a chain of command like she can’t go to her manager and refuse to be a corporate shill.
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Do you have any idea how many people are NOT going to be aware of the change and, if the sales people don’t tell them, it’s going to be a steady stream of Karen after Karen in the store. The general public doesn’t follow the tech news like this. Most of them aren’t going to be aware they’ll need a new cable if they need more than what’s in the box.
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Where in that article, other than the headline, does it say Apple is specifically saying that? It doesn’t. It’s an editorial decision.
You’re basing your whole rant on what you read in the headline only?
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You said this…
apple is specifically trying to get their staff to tell people that their old cables are useless e-waste, not to inform them they need new cables, but to disingenuously convince the public that regulators are the cause for the e-waste.
That isn’t actually stated as fact or rumor anywhere other than the headline. So, yes, you were basing the whole rant in the post I replied to on a headline.
What’s that Apple?
Bark bark bark
You pushed USBC down the well?
If theyre in the apple ecosystem, they already have apple products that charge with USB-C.
not an apple user myself, by my cousin is stoked he doesnt have to carry extra cables to charge his phone as he already carries his Macbook charger with him. Doesnt apply to magsafe ones for obvious reasons
The MagSafe ones can still charge over USB-C if you want to, using MagSafe is optional. I never bring the MagSafe cable when I travel and just use regular USB-C cables.
The magsafe ones still use USB-C on the charger side, and you are not required to use the magsafe cable, so honestly just bringing the charger and a C-to-C cable will charge both the phone and the laptop.
How do people even use the magsafe cables? Not a mac user, but I initially liked the idea - so I got some cables and port inserts which pretty much look like the apple variant. I stopped using it after killing a charger by shorting it out with some metal particles trapped by the magnet, and noticing that all cables started collecting small metal particles when used outside of a sterile environment.
My current laptop has a MagSafe, and I had laptops from before they had switched to usb c charging and I have never had that problem.
Do you work in a metal shop?
Do you work in a metal shop?
Not that I’m aware of.
I’m not sure, I can only reply anecdotally that I have used Apple laptops with mag safe connectors for many years and never had a problem with metal getting stuck in there and shorting stuff out.
I think I remember a post from a few years back where someone was having problems charging and found a used staple stuck in there, but I don’t think it has been a wide spread problem.
Wait, did all cables collect metal particles all the time, or did the MagSafe charger change that so it suddenly started doing that to every charger you own?
Staff will advise them that the box includes a USB-C to USB-C cable, but not a charging brick, so they may need to buy one …
Wow big if true.
They stopped including a charger a few iPhones ago. At least they can just buy USB C to A cables if they have USB A chargers, and those cables are going to be cheap, unlike apples cables.
I was being sarcastic. Apple reminds customers old power bricks nay not work with new cables is kind of a non story.
The semi old power bricks will work though since they are USB C out.
I’ll probably buy one or two of the lightning usb-c adapters to use for a while to allow charging when travelling without extra cables.
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MagSafe Charging. I haven’t used my phone or air pods plugs in months (except for my car that still needs wired CarPlay)
those are getting changed to usb c as well
If you buy new AirPods or a new AirPods case
Obviously
I don’t get it, current charger is usbc out. The current charging cable is usbc to lighting. Why won’t the included cable work with the old charger? New cable should be just usbc male on both ends. What am I missing?
All my bricks are still USB-A because they don’t break, so if I were to come home with a C to C cable, I’d be out of luck.
But it’s just a sales tactic, people are acting like Apple is trying to start an uprising against the EU or something
Apple is trying to claim it’s the fault of regulators that usb-c to lightning cables will be useless e-waste despite being the wankers that chose to use lightning instead of usb-c in the first place.
It’s good that regulators put a stop to Apple producing even more proprietary BS cables then.
Lightning predates USB C by like two years
Two years is like no time in the land of technology standards. Apple did not know whats going to happen in 2 years? Come on!
They weren’t going to keep a huge 30 pin connector for two extra iPhone models or spend two years on microusb just to quickly switch to usb-c. And I think they went with the 40-pin over micro-usb as they already had a base of consumers with those cables from the success of iPods. If Wikipedia is correct micro usb was only announced six months prior to the original iPhone.
But not USB as a standard it doesn’t. They still chose proprietary over standard because wankers.
Micro usb fucking sucked. Being a standard doesn’t mean shit when the standard is shit.
Nah, they didn’t suck.
What the fuck are you talking about? Lightning cable specs were identical to micro USB.
Other than, you know, the connector. The thing most people care about. Most USB-C cables today are usb 2.0 still anyway so they have the same spec as Lightning.
Micro usb was non reversible, the little pins broke all the fuckin time so the cable wouldn’t stay in the port, and the connector would damage the port itself so you’d just be fucked.
Lightning was miles ahead of that. It was reversible so it literally didn’t matter how you put it in. There were no fragile little pins to hold it in so it lasted a lot longer, and since the internal pins in the port were all on the sides of the port it was a lot harder to damage the port itself. If the cable got damaged you could just replace it without worrying about the port.
Lightning was better than micro and mini usb in pretty much every way.
There were no fragile little pins to hold it in so it lasted a lot longer
…except Apple made the housing and cable super fragile so they’d sell more “certified” cables. Phew, dodged a bullet there. Any excuse Apple ever made about Lightning falls on its face when you figure out how two-faced they are.
Sad thing is that I actually liked Lightning cables, a lot, but I liked them when they were made by decent manufacturers with braided cord and a sturdy connector.
Lightning cables are notorious for breaking. https://you-well.co.uk/why-apple-cables-break-so-easily-what-to-do/
So what is there left to say about it…that you don’t have to look at the port before plugging a lightning cable in? Is that your justification for saying the USB standard sucked?
Most USB-C cables today are usb 2.0 still anyway so they have the same spec as Lightning.
Modern PCs have 3.0 ports. Androids have 3.0 ports. 3.0 cables are available at any online store. What the actual fuck are you talking about?
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Sure, but that moves us out of a conversation about e-waste
Yep, the e-waste conversation is bullshit apple propaganda because they aren’t happy about playing nice with competitors and losing proprietary control of their connectors despite it being the same e-waste as if they were upgrading from or to any other standard.
Eh, at the time they went with proprietary over micro usb to have a reversible port that could push more wattage. I feel like they’ve been dragging their feet because consumers hate changing to new cable standards. I remember the complaints when they moved away from the 30-pin to lightning. They’ve been putting USB C on devices for years now.
at the time they went with proprietary over micro usb to have a reversible port that could push more wattage.
They only came with 5W chargers from the early models up to the iPhone 11 in 2019.
I remember the complaints when they moved away from the 40-pin to lightning.
Are apple consumers more prone to this complaint than the rest of us? Since I’ve had cell phones I’ve moved from USB-mini to USB-micro to USB-C. Every time it was a better change. This is just as many as apple is being asked to do except now they get to benefit from all of the 3rd party cable manufacturers.
I was a bit skeptical of your statement, because it FELT like they came out at the same time; but you are completely correct. The iPhone 5 with lightning was released Sep 2012, and the USB-C standard was published in Aug 2014. Almost exactly 2 years later. The first smartphone with USB-C didn’t come out until a full year later, though. So lightning was more like 3 years ahead in the phone world.
I have friends who still have iPhone XR, XS etc and those came with USB A bricks. And any time I buy some cheap gadget with a USB-C port it just comes with a USB-A to C cable. So I can see lots of people still out there with only USB A chargers, although you’d think they would be in the minority now.
The chargers are fine, but the old cables are now much less useful. The only thing left (I think?) that uses lightning are AirPods.
That’s going to be me after the iPhone 15 comes out. I’ve been needing to upgrade for a while now, but have been waiting until the 15 comes out so I can switch over to usb-c. The only one left after that will be my AirPods.
AirPods, Mighty Mouse, Magic Trackpad.
The new cable, that is included in the box, is C to C, both male, so there is literally no issue. Apple is just butthurt that they had to ditch lightning.
And probably they want to redirect the anger of iPhone buyers from them to the EU.
They are so butthurt they said they will be limiting data transfer speeds to usb 2.0 because they want people to use their stupid icloud subscription
The lightning phones could only use 2.0 speeds. There is no change to the hardware except for the form factor of the connector.
And that is the problem. If Apple was truly selling top end hardware they should have used a USB-3 or even a Thunderbolt 4 port and possibly a truly fast charging experience, but again, they don’t want their customers to use their usb-c ports for anything but charging because that would lower the value of iCloud and they like that subscription money now.
Fast charging and data transfer are two different things. The iPhone must comply with USB PD at least 100W.
And 9to5 mac is butthurt too? Like… I still have two iPod classic cables and they are not going to the landfill. They will replace the one I use when it breaks. Same will happen for these, you will give them along to whoever still has a lighting jack until they break.
They are just reporting what Apple says.
yes
9to5mac spews the same garbage Apple puts out in my experience.
Apple doesn’t tell its store employees SHIT. We were on MacRumors and streaming the keynotes so we wouldn’t be blindsided. I really doubt they were told this.
“Landfill” Wouldn’t it be best if you donate a cable or something if its in a good enough condition?
Better than just tossing it out, especially if some people don’t upgrade every single release and would still like a cable.
Ya that’s dumb asf, especially if it’s just to charge the phone which the majority of people only need it for that.
Problem solved, I have usb c to lightning adaptor too anyone needs to borrow my cable to charge I can use it and so can they
Not from Apple’s point of view. They want you to buy their latest and greatest, not some used device. They just tolerate that market to push adoption.
You mean the “re-use” part of reduce, re-use, recycle? Well no it’s not profitable you see
Previous iphone models are not gonna disappear over night, and there are hundreds of millions of them out there. People are still using iphone 6 and 7 till this day. Lightning cables and accessories are still gonna be made and sold for years to come.
Right? All my old phones go to my wife, and her old phones go to the in-laws, etc etc. The cables can be handed over along with the phone.
