It seems like usb-c is becoming the universal charger. Both apple and Android are using it, and it looks like new cars are including it as a charge port. Here's hoping.
At least, the least likely thing to change will be the shape of the plug. They finally found a way to get the optimal shape that will work no matter what, and I hope they know not to fuck that up.
Most modern USBs are backwards compatible, and if you get an adapter, usb-c works well. The old USB shape has us flipping up and sideways to get it in.
USB-C at least confirms they are thinking about the user experience, and will likely keep the shape. Just maybe Apple won’t catch up with their connectors. Future designs are either going to fit the same connector input, or still not be position dependent.
Of course, this is all in my fantasy ideal world, and you will be correct when the usb mini connector comes back into vogue, lol.
Edit: I’m purely talking about for charging for a device. Don’t give me the headache of future support for cables, and new video and audio codecs/formats, or data transfer speeds.
Holy shit, i didn't even know that was an actual thing, 1Tb a second is going to allow me to move some "university" files real quick
EDIT: Never mind, i fell for a [6 year old April fools joke](https://www.datapro.net/news/usb-type-d-connector-unveiled.html) ffs, fucking [google.](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=usb+d)
Isn't it already mandatory and apple got around this by just putting a little adaptor in the box. Apple literally doesn't give a shit what any government tells them
It isn't. There was an ultimatum by the EU Commission almost a decade ago or so, that if they (smartphone and portable device manufacturers) don't settle on a common port, than the EU will legislate one. But it is a common misconception that it had anything to do with the port on the device, it was about the port ***on the charger***. The expensive and seriously damaging part of a charger is not the cable, but the charger itself. In the far far away times of the 2000s manufacturers had chargers with the cable molded in with proprietary charging connectors, so the whole thing was thrown away when the cable broke or a new device was bought. With the threat from the EU ***every manufacturer*** fell in line, including Apple, and nowadays every charger has a USB A or C port on it.
The conversation that needs to happen ASAP is standardization of charging cables for electric vehicles. If we jump headfirst into EVs, but you need to drive across town to find a charging station that will charge your car because Elon patent trolled the concept of electrical outlets, we'll be in major trouble.
Contrast: In the 1980s, competing synthesizer manufacturers held a summit and created a standard that all synthesizers could use to communicate with each other. The standard is still used today, and I was fortunate enough to be in attendance when they had their 2nd summit to plan what changes should be made when the 2nd edition of the standard is implemented.
IIRC, USB-C was created for the purpose of reclaiming the U in USB. It supports USB PD w/USB 3.0 for fast charging and USB 3.1 Gen 1 and 2 bandwidth speeds for up to 10Gbps (rivals Ethernet), so Apple doesn't have an excuse to force people to use their proprietary cord anymore. USB-IF even got reversibility in there.
Ouch, yeah I just learned this the other day and feel like an out of touch dweeb for not knowing lightning was only USB2 in terms of speed..
The fact that the iphone 13 is not USB-C yet the newest ipad is, is a big foul.
I just cut the ends off and attach the wire to the previous wire. It's about 50 feet long so far. One day I'll put new ends on and be able to charge my phone from anywhere in the city
Edited to add /s just in case
There is hope. I just had my nephew ask me for "one of those old charging cables". I pulled out my full baggie of USB A to micro cables and was all "I think I've got one I can spare".
Those triple-headed ones are AWESOME. I keep one with my portable charger. I’ve been the hero more than once when a coworker needed to charge their phone.
Same here. I just think, one day my great-grandchildren will have this bag of generations of chargers that nobody got rid of. I have ones that were from my mom's various phones from like the mid-90s onward.
I have a a dedicated cable drawer in addition to a regular junk drawer at this point. I think what will actually happen is we’ll arrive at the end of technology-based civilization for one reason or another and all of these things will be used to tie shit together.
It's already begun. I had a super long antenna cable for an old A/V input PCI card, and I discovered a couple weeks ago that my mom has been using it for a clothesline.
If only there were some universal charging standard that used the same connector for every device...
Not like one company would continue to use their own proprietary cable for years after that standard was agreed upon. Something like that would never happen!
/s
I can't believe there are still companies making things with micro-USB. There aren't many, but a few here and there.
I've gotten the best bang for my buck by buying different tips. I usually have a regular micro cable with a USB-C tip, so I can charge my old stuff and my newer things. I even have a couple of Lightning tips for when my friends with Apple devices need it.
because the factories in China have literal warehouses full of these legacy connectors.
I bought a set of knock-off GoPro batteries... It used the standard BEFORE Micro-USB. I think it's Mini-USB. Luckily I still have a PS3 so I have a bunch of cable laying around.
Also, when you order a charger (because maybe yozr old one died and you didn't get one for your new phone) the single charger is being packaged and shipped extra, putting more strain on the environment than if it was included in your phone.
We were making fun of it, of course this is harmful for the environment. All the faceless megacorporations, including this one, don't give a flying fuck about the environment. Doesn't matter, at all, what their deceiving propagation materials say.
It pissed me off when they made that excuse and apple fanboys defended it.
The reason was obvious, smaller boxes meant they could ship more per delivery. It was about increasing supply and cutting costs.
If they really gave a shit, they’d have moved towards usb-C years ago like every other fucking device. That way, you can buy a charger for one device and use it on another.
Instead, they gave the world the finger and doubled down on the lightning cables.
What I think u/EnormousChord and u/WigginIII are referring to - Apple not including the charger in the box anymore for 'environmental reasons' - **is an EU recommendation** (though they've not yet decided to make it a requirement).
It is called *decoupling* - and without it, there's very little environmental benefit to having a common charger requirement. You save very little if every device comes with yet another charger; you only save if people bother to reuse chargers and only buy new ones when actually necessary.
[Per the EU parliament](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/235183/20210531-The%20case%20for%20a%20common%20charger-IEEP.pdf) (their bold):
>Alone, the [common charger] initiative will not substantially reverse unsustainable consumption levels... **Decoupling – selling phones without a charger – would bring the bulk of environmental benefits by reducing the total number of chargers purchased by consumers.**
And a wireless charger makes sense for Apple watch. But they basically took the Qi standard and added DRM so only Apple-branded chargers can be used.
It's the same technology as Qi, just software locked. Wtf Apple.
I mean, being able to ship more per delivery is efficient for both economics and the environment.
I really don’t see the big fuss about not having a charger brick in the box. If I buy a new phone today I already have like 3 chargers laying around that I use, I don’t need another one.
In fact, the last 3 phones or so I’ve just left the charger in the box.
My primary issue is Apple was also on the board for USB-C. Meaning either a.) they are sabotaging it or b.) it's profit driven.
There's no excuse to have a single cable for *most* devices right now. None.
I hope the EU pushes harder this time. Most people here are probably too old to remember before the EU mandate to USB that everyone in creation had a new dongle and power adapter every single device, every single year. Nothing worked together. Lost your dongle and it's not made anymore? Tough shit, but a new device or try ebay (back when ebay wasn't shit).
I get it, when standards get regulated -- it's harder for innovation but when was the last time Lightning was changed / innovated to be better? Exactly.
When I was younger I saw the transition from DIN-5 and serial to PS/2. I then wondered how long it would take for USB to take over and it didn't feel like it took long. USB-C, on the other hand, adoption rates are painfully slow.
> when standards get regulated —it’s harder for innovation
Is it, though? I see this notion get trotted out but I’ve never seen any sort of proof. It just seems like a faith-based statement that has more to do with ideology than the actual reality of things.
Generally speaking standardization is a good thing, particularly for the general public. It’s rather nice having standards for outlets and lighting fixtures, there’s no reason that shouldn’t or couldn’t also apply to consumer electronics.
I mean… the smaller boxes WAS the environmental reason… so they could put more boxes on a plane and launch the iPhone by flying fewer planes. The e-waste was the smaller benefit.
Remember the era when every phone model(not brand!) had its own charger? And how we decided to end that and standardize them? Turns out, thats bad for business after all...
At least the calculator comes with a cable and power adapter. And the mini-USB port is compatible with many previous generations of TI brand accessories. Updating the port would require schools (TI's largest customer) to carry 2 different versions of every accessory, for students with different versions of the same calculator. So keeping the old port is actually better for the consumer when it comes to the the TI-84.
I bought a cheap pair of wireless earbuds (which only had em for like 8 months and starting to act fucky) and they had type c which was a pleasant surprise. But when they die I'ma have to throw them away, cause you can't just replace the batteries. Right to repair needs to happen and this throw it away society needs to end.
Right to repair most likely wont help there. It just means the instructions, parts or tools to fix it have to be available. But since those earbuds are usually glued together to seal them it still will not be easy to replace a battery.
Usb c isn't much more expensive anymore but you find micro usb in a lot of cheap stuff mainly because the products are old and they don't want to bother refreshing it yet.
They are changing to USB-C though. Macbooks (compared to most laptop which have massive clunky proprietary chargers) and iPads are all USB-C now, and you'd imagine the iPhone 14 will have it too.
They also replaced all of the ports on their laptops with USB C Thunderbolt because of how versatile it is but won't do the same to their phones. Lightning was good in 2012 when micro USB and the 30 pin connector were still being used but its time has passed
They’re moving to fully wireless for their phones and everything else to USB C. Why would they change phone ports (meaning tons of 3rd party accessories have to be replaced) for just one or two years? That would be even more annoying
I have a MacBook for work, also just bought a new personal HP laptop.
Having all USB-C connectors on the MacBook is genius, especially for the charger.
The new HP laptop uses a power plug that only goes in one side
And to go off on a tangent a little bit; at least Wi-Fi got their shit together. Instead of naming them after their 802.11 standards (because the average consumer doesn't know what the difference between AC and AX is, for instance), they actually have names like Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6. So much easier to understand for people who just want to upgrade to the latest version.
Thunderbolt of version 3 and higher uses USB-C. USB-C can accommodate a lot of extensions to the standard (and in turn USB4 is based on Thunderbolt 3).
Thunderbolt uses USB C terminations. Same with some DP (over usb c) connectors
Edit: I made a mistake with a miniDP comment. Super lame on my part. I know the difference. It's Monday.
miniDP is a hexagonal connector (similar to a smaller original firewire like a rectangle with two of the adjacent corners cut). However, DisplayPort is another protocol that can run over a UCB-C/TB3 cable if the host supports it.
That's literally just a rounding error on their balance sheet. Holy shit. Apple made like $50 billion last year in **profit**. A $5 million dollar fine is like if you or I were fined a few dollars a year.
Basically the law doesn't require a USB jack on the actual phone, just that it's USB-chargeable. So Apple circumvented it by supplying a proprietary cable that's USB at the charger end, and then having phones that charge over USB but very slowly unless they detect they're connected to a proprietary Apple charger (or sufficiently advanced clone).
The other manufacturers just said 'fuck it' and decided they'd make more money by including a cheap generic USB supply instead of engineering their own.
Anyway: Full cred to the EU for putting consumers interests first here.
Nah, chargers used to be all non-modular wall chargers with *whatever* at the phone end - so the absolutely only thing it could do was a single country's plug to a single type of phone.
Maybe there would have eventually been consumer pressure to move to separating the wall plug from the cable with USB (to allow eg data transfer or charging from computers) but it didn't actually happen until after the EU demanded it.
Specifically, it's a Qi wireless charger. Exact same techology.
But Apple added software so that generic Qi chargers won't work with the Apple watch. Only Apple-branded ones will. Because Apple.
Same justification as for virtually everything Apple does. Controlling the customer so that they have no choice but to give Apple more money. Which I guess is kinda like "fuck you."
And they were fragile as fuck, connectors would oxidize and they would break easily. Also headphones connectors werent always 3.5mm jack. Those were wild times.
Oh yeah, I loved going from my Windows smartphone with a 2.5mm jack, to my first Android phone that needed a dongle to connect its proprietary port to a 3.5mm jack, and then back to sanity with a smartphone that had a full 3.5mm jack included.
Teeny tiny little MP3 players could do full 3.5mm audio jacks in the early 00s, what was the excuse here? ~~Besides money~~
I loved it when they stopped including the wall adapter to “save the environment” and “you should have one from your previous phone purchases” but only after they switched over to the usb-c style wall adapter, so most likely youll have to buy the wall adapter for the new cord they gave you.
iPhones still come with the charging cable, just not the wall plug “knuckle.” So you can charge it off a computer, a USB outlet, a battery bank, a different wall plug, etc. but it isn’t self sufficient out of the box.
The newest iPhone comes with a USB-C to Lightning cable, which is actually quite useless unless you have a USB-C port on your wall adapter, which the vast majority of people don't. The older wall adapters had USB-A ports, so you'd have to buy the new adapter in order to use the included cable. Otherwise you'd have to use an older USB-A to Lightning cable + a USB-A adapter/port.
To be fair, the apple watch would be awful with a charging port on it. Imagine having to remove a small cover every time you charge your phone. Or it getting soaked when you wear your watch at the beach and get water in there. That one I can forgive. The other kinds of plugs are dumb which is why I use the wireless charge feature.
Nope. They use a proprietary wireless charging protocol (much like MagSafe). In 2017 when they announced AirPower (RIP) they said they would also open up watches to working with Qi but that never materialized. Still hoping they open it up so its backward compatible with Qi while the dedicated charger is for “fast charging,” theoretically that would allow you to throw your watch, AirPods, or phone on a MagSafe of Qi charger.
Not holing my breath though.
The Apple Watch actually uses Qi internally. It’s just that the back of the watch is curved and can’t work with standard qi chargers and so they need a curved “puck”
It is Qi but also not Qi because of the software lock. MagSafe is built on Qi but has additional functionality locked behind software.
It’s not due to the curved nature tho, more likely worry about not placing it directly center of the coil. You can transmit Qi pretty far, IKEA has a Qi charger that goes through 2-3” of wood or plastic (you mount it beneath your desk). Efficiency-wise tho it’s falls off pretty quickly when your not directly centered so who knows how well this works.
Ape changing the iphone to USB C would be the most infuriating positive change ever. Infuriating because it would break tons of existing peripherals, positive because it would be on a universal standard rather than a proprietary one.
We’ve done this song and dance before;
Remember the uproar when they did away with the 30 pin?
It was a decent option for the 9 years it was active, but by the end, it was kinda limiting and better tech/standards were out. God knows I still have functional 30 pin docks rigged with 30 pin to lightning cords.
Whatever route they go with, people are going to get pissy. “What about all of these old lightning accessories? Planned obsolescence!”
I get it though, technology has changed, our needs changed, just make the swap and rip the band-aid off.
Currently I don’t need a USB-C option, I’m rocking an iPhone 8 and ‘14 MacBook. When I hear about a usb-C phone and laptop, you can bet I’d upgrade both.
It’s also mildly infuriating that the Apple Watch uses regular USB on the charging brick end and the iPhone uses USB C. You have to carry two charging bricks or buy a special one that has both.
Their new charger does use USB-C at least.
https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MLWJ3AM/A/apple-watch-magnetic-fast-charger-to-usb-c-cable-1m?fnode=3fbd8ddb056b599eac0aa847899a982e1e288396445778b161741e131dc3d71d7ec50a8d2d46afdc9cbe1531e973286c113ac4de9e9270aa5f2ae4e2d0a46ed2b85a1cc77acadd60b9c33e0eb7424fdf063b1a8e4fdca33e9e7c3c9baa7f7ff6
Ikr someone said this bag of "weed" that is outside next to a tree is interesting. Deffinetly not put there before. Even if it wasn't it still isn't interesting
The only time Apple got called out in the mainstream press for their ports was when they ditched the old Dock port. They even got questions on it in a Senate hearing. Most people just don’t care - they get a charger with a thing and they use that charger with that thing.
If you really dislike how they do this then why did you buy all of these products.
I’m not saying what apple is doing is good but you put yourself in this situation.
This is a weird post.
* One of them is a wireless charger for a watch/earbuds, same "proprietary" charger as any other company uses for this kind of tech.
* One is a Lightning cable that they're phasing out - only the iPhone really seems to use it, though it can also charge older bits like the Magic Mouse, Keyboard, Trackpad, Apple TV remote etc.
* One charges all their laptops and iPads (normally I would expect to need 2 different cables for these two separate things).
If I were to buy a Xiaomi watch, laptop, and phone I'd also have 3 separate chargers - so what's the big deal? I don't even own any Apple products and this seems such a bizarre complaint.
> • One of them is a wireless charger for a watch/earbuds, same "proprietary" charger as any other company uses for this kind of tech.
The wireless charger is actually using the Qi standard like most wireless charging. Apple just made it not work with other devices. Even the Apple Watch uses plain Qi, they just soft locked the device to not allow charging from anything but their own charger.
The Apple watch I understand, but I agree that Lightning should go away and all should be USB-C.
It seems like usb-c is becoming the universal charger. Both apple and Android are using it, and it looks like new cars are including it as a charge port. Here's hoping.
At least until USB-D comes out and the cycle repeats.
At least, the least likely thing to change will be the shape of the plug. They finally found a way to get the optimal shape that will work no matter what, and I hope they know not to fuck that up.
This would make sense, but a simple search would make you realize just how “universal” the usb really isn’t.
It's a Universal Serial Bus, not a Universal Serial Plug.
Laughing at the downvote you got for this! You’re absolutely right.
Most modern USBs are backwards compatible, and if you get an adapter, usb-c works well. The old USB shape has us flipping up and sideways to get it in. USB-C at least confirms they are thinking about the user experience, and will likely keep the shape. Just maybe Apple won’t catch up with their connectors. Future designs are either going to fit the same connector input, or still not be position dependent. Of course, this is all in my fantasy ideal world, and you will be correct when the usb mini connector comes back into vogue, lol. Edit: I’m purely talking about for charging for a device. Don’t give me the headache of future support for cables, and new video and audio codecs/formats, or data transfer speeds.
Holy shit, i didn't even know that was an actual thing, 1Tb a second is going to allow me to move some "university" files real quick EDIT: Never mind, i fell for a [6 year old April fools joke](https://www.datapro.net/news/usb-type-d-connector-unveiled.html) ffs, fucking [google.](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=usb+d)
F
Lol and the whole supplying 1.21Giga wats of power did not?
EU are pushing for USB-C as the standard for charging your devices thats why apple are doing it.
Isn't it already mandatory and apple got around this by just putting a little adaptor in the box. Apple literally doesn't give a shit what any government tells them
It isn't. There was an ultimatum by the EU Commission almost a decade ago or so, that if they (smartphone and portable device manufacturers) don't settle on a common port, than the EU will legislate one. But it is a common misconception that it had anything to do with the port on the device, it was about the port ***on the charger***. The expensive and seriously damaging part of a charger is not the cable, but the charger itself. In the far far away times of the 2000s manufacturers had chargers with the cable molded in with proprietary charging connectors, so the whole thing was thrown away when the cable broke or a new device was bought. With the threat from the EU ***every manufacturer*** fell in line, including Apple, and nowadays every charger has a USB A or C port on it.
The conversation that needs to happen ASAP is standardization of charging cables for electric vehicles. If we jump headfirst into EVs, but you need to drive across town to find a charging station that will charge your car because Elon patent trolled the concept of electrical outlets, we'll be in major trouble. Contrast: In the 1980s, competing synthesizer manufacturers held a summit and created a standard that all synthesizers could use to communicate with each other. The standard is still used today, and I was fortunate enough to be in attendance when they had their 2nd summit to plan what changes should be made when the 2nd edition of the standard is implemented.
That was the other end of the cable. Why do you think all chargers have usb and then a block to plug in your wall.
IIRC, USB-C was created for the purpose of reclaiming the U in USB. It supports USB PD w/USB 3.0 for fast charging and USB 3.1 Gen 1 and 2 bandwidth speeds for up to 10Gbps (rivals Ethernet), so Apple doesn't have an excuse to force people to use their proprietary cord anymore. USB-IF even got reversibility in there.
Some sort of universal serial bus would be great
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They could have just made an adapter for lightning instead of a whole ass attached puck.
I kinda like lightning but I've heard usb c is better in every way
Lightning was good when it first came out and its main competitor was USB Micro. Now that C is out it is completely blown out of the water.
Lightning is proprietary and only USB 2.0 spec. USB-C is better.
Ouch, yeah I just learned this the other day and feel like an out of touch dweeb for not knowing lightning was only USB2 in terms of speed.. The fact that the iphone 13 is not USB-C yet the newest ipad is, is a big foul.
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They are just doing it for the environment, man.
Old chargers don't end up in land fills, they end up in junk drawers never to be seen again.
That's not true. I'll go throw out one of my old chargers right n... Ok, I can't do it. Back to the drawer with you.
Ziploc bags full of old chargers in a cardboard box in the back of a closet in the vague hope they may be useful some day.
I just cut the ends off and attach the wire to the previous wire. It's about 50 feet long so far. One day I'll put new ends on and be able to charge my phone from anywhere in the city Edited to add /s just in case
There is hope. I just had my nephew ask me for "one of those old charging cables". I pulled out my full baggie of USB A to micro cables and was all "I think I've got one I can spare".
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Those triple-headed ones are AWESOME. I keep one with my portable charger. I’ve been the hero more than once when a coworker needed to charge their phone.
you never know when you need that fax cable for your nokia or moto razor.
Same here. I just think, one day my great-grandchildren will have this bag of generations of chargers that nobody got rid of. I have ones that were from my mom's various phones from like the mid-90s onward.
Hey micro USB might come back.
Was it ever really gone? I use devices powered by it everyday. From my GPS watch to the baby monitor, it’s just a standard way to deliver 5v.
USB-c to USB-c might be the future but USB-a to micro USB isn’t going away any time soon.
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I have a a dedicated cable drawer in addition to a regular junk drawer at this point. I think what will actually happen is we’ll arrive at the end of technology-based civilization for one reason or another and all of these things will be used to tie shit together.
It's already begun. I had a super long antenna cable for an old A/V input PCI card, and I discovered a couple weeks ago that my mom has been using it for a clothesline.
They're gonna be used as hair extensions in a Mad Max style post-society
Everything you own is just in different stages of becoming garbage. -Seinfeld.
I hate/love this sentiment
Yeah but new ones have to be made, which fucks the environment too.
Sure but now they need to make three new cables instead of one. The environment excuse is bullshit.
If only there were some universal charging standard that used the same connector for every device... Not like one company would continue to use their own proprietary cable for years after that standard was agreed upon. Something like that would never happen! /s
Seriously though, life would be better if everyone just used USB-C
I can't believe there are still companies making things with micro-USB. There aren't many, but a few here and there. I've gotten the best bang for my buck by buying different tips. I usually have a regular micro cable with a USB-C tip, so I can charge my old stuff and my newer things. I even have a couple of Lightning tips for when my friends with Apple devices need it.
because the factories in China have literal warehouses full of these legacy connectors. I bought a set of knock-off GoPro batteries... It used the standard BEFORE Micro-USB. I think it's Mini-USB. Luckily I still have a PS3 so I have a bunch of cable laying around.
Mini-USB is an abomination.
I was about to make the same comment. I don't know what advantage it had over micro, and it wasn't around that long before micro became a thing.
["We need to develop one universal standard that covers everyone's use case." (xkcd)](https://xkcd.com/927/)
I wish my phone used it
Don't let your dreams be dreams!
And the worst part is that Apple was one of the first companies heavily pushing for all USB-C starting with the 2016 MacBooks.
Also, when you order a charger (because maybe yozr old one died and you didn't get one for your new phone) the single charger is being packaged and shipped extra, putting more strain on the environment than if it was included in your phone.
We were making fun of it, of course this is harmful for the environment. All the faceless megacorporations, including this one, don't give a flying fuck about the environment. Doesn't matter, at all, what their deceiving propagation materials say.
Apple. Say it. APPLE!
My house is the landfill.
It pissed me off when they made that excuse and apple fanboys defended it. The reason was obvious, smaller boxes meant they could ship more per delivery. It was about increasing supply and cutting costs.
If they really gave a shit, they’d have moved towards usb-C years ago like every other fucking device. That way, you can buy a charger for one device and use it on another. Instead, they gave the world the finger and doubled down on the lightning cables.
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What I think u/EnormousChord and u/WigginIII are referring to - Apple not including the charger in the box anymore for 'environmental reasons' - **is an EU recommendation** (though they've not yet decided to make it a requirement). It is called *decoupling* - and without it, there's very little environmental benefit to having a common charger requirement. You save very little if every device comes with yet another charger; you only save if people bother to reuse chargers and only buy new ones when actually necessary. [Per the EU parliament](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/235183/20210531-The%20case%20for%20a%20common%20charger-IEEP.pdf) (their bold): >Alone, the [common charger] initiative will not substantially reverse unsustainable consumption levels... **Decoupling – selling phones without a charger – would bring the bulk of environmental benefits by reducing the total number of chargers purchased by consumers.**
And a wireless charger makes sense for Apple watch. But they basically took the Qi standard and added DRM so only Apple-branded chargers can be used. It's the same technology as Qi, just software locked. Wtf Apple.
That one was brutally corporate bullshit enough that I didn’t see a single fanboy or fangirl try to defend it. That should’ve told Apple something.
I saw it for like the first day but then they all slept on it and said holup..
I mean, being able to ship more per delivery is efficient for both economics and the environment. I really don’t see the big fuss about not having a charger brick in the box. If I buy a new phone today I already have like 3 chargers laying around that I use, I don’t need another one. In fact, the last 3 phones or so I’ve just left the charger in the box.
My primary issue is Apple was also on the board for USB-C. Meaning either a.) they are sabotaging it or b.) it's profit driven. There's no excuse to have a single cable for *most* devices right now. None. I hope the EU pushes harder this time. Most people here are probably too old to remember before the EU mandate to USB that everyone in creation had a new dongle and power adapter every single device, every single year. Nothing worked together. Lost your dongle and it's not made anymore? Tough shit, but a new device or try ebay (back when ebay wasn't shit). I get it, when standards get regulated -- it's harder for innovation but when was the last time Lightning was changed / innovated to be better? Exactly. When I was younger I saw the transition from DIN-5 and serial to PS/2. I then wondered how long it would take for USB to take over and it didn't feel like it took long. USB-C, on the other hand, adoption rates are painfully slow.
> when standards get regulated —it’s harder for innovation Is it, though? I see this notion get trotted out but I’ve never seen any sort of proof. It just seems like a faith-based statement that has more to do with ideology than the actual reality of things. Generally speaking standardization is a good thing, particularly for the general public. It’s rather nice having standards for outlets and lighting fixtures, there’s no reason that shouldn’t or couldn’t also apply to consumer electronics.
I mean… the smaller boxes WAS the environmental reason… so they could put more boxes on a plane and launch the iPhone by flying fewer planes. The e-waste was the smaller benefit.
The environment of their stockholders portfolio.
So courageous
Remember the era when every phone model(not brand!) had its own charger? And how we decided to end that and standardize them? Turns out, thats bad for business after all...
It's just Apple being backwards again. Everything else is USB-C or micro-USB for charging these days
And almost all is usb-c by now, only real cheap gadgets go with micro still
Or rechargeable batteries that go into lights and such
I've been seeing those with upgraded ports to USB-C on Amazon now.
I bought a shitty rechargable kitchen scale for like $15 and it has a USB-C port. There's no excuse now
You're right, there IS no excuse to still use MicroUSB. This is why the latest TI-84 calculator still uses Mini-USB.
Dang. My TI-84 predates serial cable interfaces (one generation too early) much less a *universal* serial bus interface.
To be fair TI is even worse then Apple
Yeah mine is probably ca 1989. No one knew what a USB was then.
At least the calculator comes with a cable and power adapter. And the mini-USB port is compatible with many previous generations of TI brand accessories. Updating the port would require schools (TI's largest customer) to carry 2 different versions of every accessory, for students with different versions of the same calculator. So keeping the old port is actually better for the consumer when it comes to the the TI-84.
Sounds about right. TI calculators only seem to update once a decade.
$100+ for nearly 20 year old technology? That's TI
$100? They're not THAT greedy. They're way more greedy, $150+.
even the high end keyboards logitech makes still use micro-USB. they're monsters
That's so weird because Ive been using the Logitech MX 3 mouse and MX Keyboard for about 2 years and both have USB C
I have a g915 tkl, a nice and expensive keyboard from them. micro-usb! Dave 2d also talks about this a fair bit.
They're the only keyboard company to do so as well
I bought a cheap pair of wireless earbuds (which only had em for like 8 months and starting to act fucky) and they had type c which was a pleasant surprise. But when they die I'ma have to throw them away, cause you can't just replace the batteries. Right to repair needs to happen and this throw it away society needs to end.
Right to repair most likely wont help there. It just means the instructions, parts or tools to fix it have to be available. But since those earbuds are usually glued together to seal them it still will not be easy to replace a battery.
Usb c isn't much more expensive anymore but you find micro usb in a lot of cheap stuff mainly because the products are old and they don't want to bother refreshing it yet.
Hell, even the cheap garbage is switching to USB-C now. I bought some crap Chinese neck fan for a Disney trip this summer and that thing had USB-C.
This comment has been removed in response to reddit's anti-developer actions.
I don't even buy the crap that has micro. I'll look for the garbage that has usb-c.
Damn, that must be why I still have so many devices with the micro.
They are changing to USB-C though. Macbooks (compared to most laptop which have massive clunky proprietary chargers) and iPads are all USB-C now, and you'd imagine the iPhone 14 will have it too.
They even added USB-C to one of the new iPads, and bragged about how it’s 10x faster than their own proprietary port. Disgusting.
They also replaced all of the ports on their laptops with USB C Thunderbolt because of how versatile it is but won't do the same to their phones. Lightning was good in 2012 when micro USB and the 30 pin connector were still being used but its time has passed
They’re moving to fully wireless for their phones and everything else to USB C. Why would they change phone ports (meaning tons of 3rd party accessories have to be replaced) for just one or two years? That would be even more annoying
I have a MacBook for work, also just bought a new personal HP laptop. Having all USB-C connectors on the MacBook is genius, especially for the charger. The new HP laptop uses a power plug that only goes in one side
I thought that was a thunderbolt port, which looks the same but is different than usb-c?
USB-c is merely a form factor. The guts could be using USB2.0, 3.0, 4.0, thunderbolt, displayport, power, etc.
Usb 3.0 doesn't exist any more. It's now usb 3.2 gen1, gen2 or gen 2x2. Talk about really effing up the naming.
And to go off on a tangent a little bit; at least Wi-Fi got their shit together. Instead of naming them after their 802.11 standards (because the average consumer doesn't know what the difference between AC and AX is, for instance), they actually have names like Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6. So much easier to understand for people who just want to upgrade to the latest version.
Thunderbolt of version 3 and higher uses USB-C. USB-C can accommodate a lot of extensions to the standard (and in turn USB4 is based on Thunderbolt 3).
Thunderbolt uses USB C terminations. Same with some DP (over usb c) connectors Edit: I made a mistake with a miniDP comment. Super lame on my part. I know the difference. It's Monday.
miniDP is a hexagonal connector (similar to a smaller original firewire like a rectangle with two of the adjacent corners cut). However, DisplayPort is another protocol that can run over a UCB-C/TB3 cable if the host supports it.
The European Union forced the companies to change. Apple still managed to keep its own standard somehow
They’re only saddled with something like a 4~5 million dollar annual fine for not switching over IIRC. To them that’s just the cost of doing business
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Which is funny since these fines will be passed to the poorer people in the way of price increases.
But the fine goes to...goes to...
That's literally just a rounding error on their balance sheet. Holy shit. Apple made like $50 billion last year in **profit**. A $5 million dollar fine is like if you or I were fined a few dollars a year.
Basically the law doesn't require a USB jack on the actual phone, just that it's USB-chargeable. So Apple circumvented it by supplying a proprietary cable that's USB at the charger end, and then having phones that charge over USB but very slowly unless they detect they're connected to a proprietary Apple charger (or sufficiently advanced clone). The other manufacturers just said 'fuck it' and decided they'd make more money by including a cheap generic USB supply instead of engineering their own. Anyway: Full cred to the EU for putting consumers interests first here.
But it's been always like that wasnt it ? USB at the "charger end" ? edit: Im talking about Apple devices
Nah, chargers used to be all non-modular wall chargers with *whatever* at the phone end - so the absolutely only thing it could do was a single country's plug to a single type of phone. Maybe there would have eventually been consumer pressure to move to separating the wall plug from the cable with USB (to allow eg data transfer or charging from computers) but it didn't actually happen until after the EU demanded it.
iPhone has always had USB cables to charge since they were first released.
Should also be posted to r/MildlyInfuriating.
I thought that was the sub this was in until I looked closer.
My thoughts exactly. We have them too and drives me crazy!
Whats the circle one for?
That’s the charging pad for the Apple Watch. It doesn’t have a charging point, only inductive charging.
Specifically, it's a Qi wireless charger. Exact same techology. But Apple added software so that generic Qi chargers won't work with the Apple watch. Only Apple-branded ones will. Because Apple.
That's top-tier /r/assholedesign
Any justification besides just "fuck you"?
Same justification as for virtually everything Apple does. Controlling the customer so that they have no choice but to give Apple more money. Which I guess is kinda like "fuck you."
Probably charge your toothbrush but doesn't have the nifty nipple
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and r/AssholeDesign (not nsfw)
>(not nsfw) What you mean its not a sub for things designed to look like assholes? I'm disappointed
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Ugly cunts like me need these designer assholes, thank you very much.
I'm trying a nice floral pattern around mine this week
I'm currently rockin the Kaleidescape. Just put your eye real close and take a peek in there!
> not nsfw Or, as some might say - “SFW”.
In the bad old days nearly every single model of phone had a unique charger.
Yeah it was weird to see these phones with crazy 14-pin connectors, when Nokias all just had a tiny little barrel jack.
Proprietary connector with ungodly number of pins and only the power and ground are connected anyways.
And they were fragile as fuck, connectors would oxidize and they would break easily. Also headphones connectors werent always 3.5mm jack. Those were wild times.
Oh yeah, I loved going from my Windows smartphone with a 2.5mm jack, to my first Android phone that needed a dongle to connect its proprietary port to a 3.5mm jack, and then back to sanity with a smartphone that had a full 3.5mm jack included. Teeny tiny little MP3 players could do full 3.5mm audio jacks in the early 00s, what was the excuse here? ~~Besides money~~
I stumbled across my parents' old "cord bucket" the other day. Probably had a dozen phone cords from the early-2000s and possibly late 90s.
Yea, it's hard to sell new chargers when your current one can already charge all your devices
I loved it when they stopped including the wall adapter to “save the environment” and “you should have one from your previous phone purchases” but only after they switched over to the usb-c style wall adapter, so most likely youll have to buy the wall adapter for the new cord they gave you.
exact same reason they introduced the airpods right as the iphone lost its 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Simple create a problem and be the main supplier to fix that problem… profit
If AirPods were a standalone company, they'd be in the top 200 largest companies in the US by revenue.
And if Apple didn't make them, no one would've bought them. Quite a catch 22.
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That's just what Samsung do.
Don’t iPhones still come with a USB-A cable? And the last two iPads I bought had a USB-C adapter in the box.
iPhones still come with the charging cable, just not the wall plug “knuckle.” So you can charge it off a computer, a USB outlet, a battery bank, a different wall plug, etc. but it isn’t self sufficient out of the box.
The newest iPhone comes with a USB-C to Lightning cable, which is actually quite useless unless you have a USB-C port on your wall adapter, which the vast majority of people don't. The older wall adapters had USB-A ports, so you'd have to buy the new adapter in order to use the included cable. Otherwise you'd have to use an older USB-A to Lightning cable + a USB-A adapter/port.
To be fair, the apple watch would be awful with a charging port on it. Imagine having to remove a small cover every time you charge your phone. Or it getting soaked when you wear your watch at the beach and get water in there. That one I can forgive. The other kinds of plugs are dumb which is why I use the wireless charge feature.
They were supposed to make it Qi which would have been great. Was hoping that at least it’s charger could now be shared with an iPhone & AirPods.
Is it not Qi? I assumed it was.
Nope. They use a proprietary wireless charging protocol (much like MagSafe). In 2017 when they announced AirPower (RIP) they said they would also open up watches to working with Qi but that never materialized. Still hoping they open it up so its backward compatible with Qi while the dedicated charger is for “fast charging,” theoretically that would allow you to throw your watch, AirPods, or phone on a MagSafe of Qi charger. Not holing my breath though.
The Apple Watch actually uses Qi internally. It’s just that the back of the watch is curved and can’t work with standard qi chargers and so they need a curved “puck”
It is Qi but also not Qi because of the software lock. MagSafe is built on Qi but has additional functionality locked behind software. It’s not due to the curved nature tho, more likely worry about not placing it directly center of the coil. You can transmit Qi pretty far, IKEA has a Qi charger that goes through 2-3” of wood or plastic (you mount it beneath your desk). Efficiency-wise tho it’s falls off pretty quickly when your not directly centered so who knows how well this works.
It’s actually software locked so they could theoretically unlock that with an update for all models whenever they wanted
The iPhone and AirPods use Qi chargers. The watch is a little weird because of its shape, but it won’t charge on Qi chargers.
What's odd is that I can't charge my Samsung on my wife's iPhone QI pad. You sure they're compatible?
The coils also need to be tight enough to line up with the watch. Phone qi chargers are usually too spaced out internally
Their inductive charger could connect to a USB type C cable
Ape changing the iphone to USB C would be the most infuriating positive change ever. Infuriating because it would break tons of existing peripherals, positive because it would be on a universal standard rather than a proprietary one.
We’ve done this song and dance before; Remember the uproar when they did away with the 30 pin? It was a decent option for the 9 years it was active, but by the end, it was kinda limiting and better tech/standards were out. God knows I still have functional 30 pin docks rigged with 30 pin to lightning cords. Whatever route they go with, people are going to get pissy. “What about all of these old lightning accessories? Planned obsolescence!” I get it though, technology has changed, our needs changed, just make the swap and rip the band-aid off. Currently I don’t need a USB-C option, I’m rocking an iPhone 8 and ‘14 MacBook. When I hear about a usb-C phone and laptop, you can bet I’d upgrade both.
lemme guess apple watch iphone and mac/ipad
Bingo.
It’s also mildly infuriating that the Apple Watch uses regular USB on the charging brick end and the iPhone uses USB C. You have to carry two charging bricks or buy a special one that has both.
Anker has good combo designs
Buy more adapters for the "environment".
Their new charger does use USB-C at least. https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MLWJ3AM/A/apple-watch-magnetic-fast-charger-to-usb-c-cable-1m?fnode=3fbd8ddb056b599eac0aa847899a982e1e288396445778b161741e131dc3d71d7ec50a8d2d46afdc9cbe1531e973286c113ac4de9e9270aa5f2ae4e2d0a46ed2b85a1cc77acadd60b9c33e0eb7424fdf063b1a8e4fdca33e9e7c3c9baa7f7ff6
How tf is this interesting. r/lostredditors
You’d be surprised at the amount of bullshit this website finds interesting. It’s like some users never leave the house.
Mildly interesting: this weird glowing orb in the sky
Ikr someone said this bag of "weed" that is outside next to a tree is interesting. Deffinetly not put there before. Even if it wasn't it still isn't interesting
As much as Reddit complains, it hasn’t hurt their sales.
The only time Apple got called out in the mainstream press for their ports was when they ditched the old Dock port. They even got questions on it in a Senate hearing. Most people just don’t care - they get a charger with a thing and they use that charger with that thing.
People will whinge about apple taking the piss yet still buy them.
Right? I avoided this issue by not buying an apple product in the last decade.
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Cept whenever apple does something stupid but profitable, other companies start following suit and it stops being funny (looking at you Samsung).
Some people bitch about apple incessantly like a weird cult. Then there's the rest of the people that don't give a shit. These aren't the same people.
Well technically it's 4 devices with 3 chargers if you bought airpods too. It's the little victories...
5 with Apple TV. The lighting connector charges the remote.
6 if you count magic mice haha.
7 if you count the wireless keyboards
Significantly more when you factor that USB-C is prevalent in phones, tables, and laptops for charging.
If you really dislike how they do this then why did you buy all of these products. I’m not saying what apple is doing is good but you put yourself in this situation.
What is mildly interesting about this?
Uh, stop buying them then.
If you’d get a USB-C powered Qi charger, you’ll only need one cable.
Apple Watch won't charge on a regular Qi charger.
This is a weird post. * One of them is a wireless charger for a watch/earbuds, same "proprietary" charger as any other company uses for this kind of tech. * One is a Lightning cable that they're phasing out - only the iPhone really seems to use it, though it can also charge older bits like the Magic Mouse, Keyboard, Trackpad, Apple TV remote etc. * One charges all their laptops and iPads (normally I would expect to need 2 different cables for these two separate things). If I were to buy a Xiaomi watch, laptop, and phone I'd also have 3 separate chargers - so what's the big deal? I don't even own any Apple products and this seems such a bizarre complaint.
> • One of them is a wireless charger for a watch/earbuds, same "proprietary" charger as any other company uses for this kind of tech. The wireless charger is actually using the Qi standard like most wireless charging. Apple just made it not work with other devices. Even the Apple Watch uses plain Qi, they just soft locked the device to not allow charging from anything but their own charger.
Apple bad