Apple forced to ditch iPhone lightning charger::Apple confirms new iPhone 15 will have a common USB-C charging port after EU forces it into the change.

    • @Petter1@lemm.ee
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      792 years ago

      😏next will be replaceable batteries, alternative App Stores and messengers who have to use a open protocol for chat (open in a sense that different chat apps can Talk to each other, but the privacy is still protected. Like eMail but with end to end encryption)

        • @rmuk@feddit.uk
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          42 years ago

          It’s not, really. They’re not being forced to interoperate or adopt a standard intermediary protocol, just to publish APIs. WhatsApp and iMessage will still be totally separate services if they want to be.

        • @Petter1@lemm.ee
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          122 years ago

          I hope that the protocol is open source and approved by trusted privacy protection peoples everywhere in the world. But yea, better everyone would have their own matrix servers, I agree.

        • @Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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          2 years ago

          Which government? There isn’t just one in the EU.

          Or are you talking about the US government?

          • @PR_freak@programming.dev
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            12 years ago

            I live in the EU so yes I know

            I was talking about an abstract entity government not any government in particular

  • Track_Shovel
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    1102 years ago

    Thank fuck, the lightning charger is hot dogshit, IMO. Th lack of compatibility of iphone is annoying, particularly around how 3rd party charging cords won’t work with their products sometimes.

    I had an iphone for over a decade, and finally switched to android. It suits me better. I spend a lot less time thinking ‘i should be able to do this’ and looking for a workaround

          • @Graphine@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            I’ll say this. For how much shit Steve Jobs gets, regardless of his personal life, he would never allow this shit to happen. That crazy bastard is responsible for getting rid of the floppy drive and pushing the industry towards USB 1.0 because he believed enough in it. That we would benefit.

            You can find old forum posts of the original iMac launch and see how surprised and somewhat upset people are at this revelation. Now look where we are.

            • asudox
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              2 years ago

              Pushed the industry towards USB before inevitably abandoning it for their proprietary lightning charger.

              • @Graphine@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                You do realize lightning was conceptualized AFTER his death?

                Not only that, but the industry standard at the time was Micro USB. So either a really good, reversible charger for the time, or a piece of shit cable that dies after 4 months. Take your pick.

      • Ocelot
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        12 years ago

        The base 15 has the processor from the 14 pro, which does not have the USB 3.0 controller on it.

        Just like the base 14 had the processor from the 13 pro …and the base 13 had the processor from the 12 pro

        you get the idea.

        • @Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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          12 years ago

          The Pro version does have it.

          Everything to push people into buying even more expensive shit, right?

    • sebinspace
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      92 years ago

      Only good thing about Lightning was the connector itself, but USB-C is a much needed improvement. The speed thing though, that gets me, especially when non-flagship devices aren’t limited to 2.x speeds.

    • @Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz
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      12 years ago

      Charger compatibility is a big thing. Back in the ancient days, sales men used to tell me to buy a Nokia phone because everyone had a Nokia charger at home. If you bought an Ericsson or Siemens, nobody could help you if you ran out of battery.

      Well that didn’t last forever, since Nokia eventually decided to switch to a slim connection, but before that the compatibility was really good.

    • @MrWafflesNBacon@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Yeah the lightning charger in my experience immediately breaks when I put it in any position it just doesn’t like.

      Edit: should clarify I use an Android now

      • @killeronthecorner@lemmy.world
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        142 years ago

        You’ll feel right at home with usb-c then. I use both every day and, honestly, they both suck.

        But with Usb-c you get Power Delivery which kicks the shit out of old 5v 2a nonsense

        • Track_Shovel
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          142 years ago

          I find usb-c generally better. faster charging, as you’ve pointed out. I find the connections usually a lot more secure too. I have one cord in my car for android auto that’s a finicky little bitch, though, and I’m about to yeet that thing, if I ever remember to replace it. All of my other cords have held up well, and it’s really nice to have the ability to charge all of my devices with one cord.

        • @lustrum@sh.itjust.works
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          72 years ago

          Just curious why you think USB C sucks? I think it’s gotten to a mature point now with PD 3.0 or 3.1. I have 1 cable next to my bed that will charge my phone, headphones, laptop, tablet etc. No worrying at all.

          • @PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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            22 years ago

            Part of the issue is exactly what you just mentioned: There are a lot of different standards with varying degrees of compatibility, and none of them are visibly different from one another. There isn’t a good way to immediately identify which cables are “good” and which will just outright refuse to charge your devices. So some of my USB-C cables will charge low power devices, but not bigger things like a laptop or iPad.

            Meanwhile, the lightning charger was really really good at enforcing uniformity across different cables. Because you knew you could plug any lighting cable into any lightning port, and it would charge just fine. Yes, this inevitably caused issues with speed as tech progressed and Apple refused to upgrade to new standards. But that refusal also helped them maintain uniformity. Apple also shifted away from hardline data transfers years ago; 99.9% of iPhone users will have iCloud backups happen automatically via wifi, and iCloud means you’re not doing full phone backups every time. You only do the initial backup, then it simply pushes daily changes as you go whenever you connect to wifi. So the actual amount of data that gets transferred is relatively low with day-to-day usage, and it doesn’t eat into your limited call phone data plan. The regular user rarely (if ever) needs to transfer anything via the lightning port, because wireless sync takes care of things as long as they’re on wifi.

            The rapid development of USB-C has been great for the tech. But it also means that (as someone who has an iPhone and has very little need for USB-C cables) I’ve bought more USB-C cables in the past two or three years than I have lightning cables. Because my five year old lightning cables are still working fine, while all of my USB-C cables from before the pandemic had to be replaced; Not because they were broken, but simply because newer devices would refuse to charge with them.

            • @lustrum@sh.itjust.works
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              32 years ago

              Yeah I get that there are some teething issues but for an iphone geezer now it should be pretty ubiquitous. USB C to USB C cables will do 60w. Then if they have the special chip they can do 100W + (5A).

              It’s even less of an issue for an iphone 15 that will likely top out at 25w.

        • @GamingChairModel@lemmy.world
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          22 years ago

          But with Usb-c you get Power Delivery

          iPhones have supported the PD spec since 2017 (iPhone 8 and iPhone X), assuming the cable supports it (requiring USB-C to Lightning). Their big mistake was not shipping a PD-compatible charger and cable in the box, so very few users actually got one.

        • @garretble@lemmy.world
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          02 years ago

          I always feel like usbc could just flip out at any moment. I like the lightning connector better in that regard at least. Usbc just seems looser.

          • @gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            112 years ago

            Use a product with less shit USB-C ports then?

            Literally never had a C port that wasn’t as tight as a classic USB

            Nowhere near the loosening issues micro and mini had in their times

            • @Fubar91@lemmy.world
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              12 years ago

              In that reasoning they made confuses me.

              I’ve also never had a usb-c just fallout/ feel non-secure. You’d think with the increased surface area with the usb-c ring fitting between the port wall and the center peg of the port would increases gripyness logically. Vs The single peg insert of a lightning cable.

              But eh, im no physics doctor.

              • @reallynotnick@lemmy.world
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                42 years ago

                Lightning has the divots in the sides of the cable and then two idk spring loaded bits that press in there on the phone side. It’s insanely secure, one could argue possibly too much, but I can hang my phone from the cord and it won’t fall out.

                Now that’s not to say USB-C is bad like it falls out or anything, just that it takes more force to disconnect a lightning cable than USB-C.

                • @Fubar91@lemmy.world
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                  2 years ago

                  Ah yes the clips! I stand corrected haha.

                  I haven’t owned an Apple product since the ipod nano, so the only lightning cables im used too, are user owned devices, which are normally chewed up without the little side clips functioning.

                  Ty, for the reminder!

              • @PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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                12 years ago

                Nah, lightning connectors have spring clips that hold the connector secure inside the port. Apple does a lot of things wrong, but the lightning port was at least very secure. It has a good solid snap into place, and is more than strong enough to hang the phone from the cord.

                Plus the actual lightning connector is damned near indestructible because it’s basically solid metal. I’ve had cables fail before, but always because of the actual cable. The jacket will come unbraided, or the copper wires will fray. But that’s up to the individual manufacturer, not Apple specifically; Any USB cable will be prone to those same issues, because they’re using the exact same cable. The connector has never been broken or deformed. Hell, the one I’m using on my bedside table has literally been run over by a car, and it still works just fine.

      • @Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        32 years ago

        I’ve only ever had one lightning charger break. Been using iPhones for a decade.

        …I do electrical tape and heat shrink the ends, though. So they probably helps a little.

    • Ocelot
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      322 years ago

      pretty much all smartphones past few years have been incremental upgrades. Sometimes theres some gimmick but it really feels like we’ve reached a peak

      • ඞmir
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        212 years ago

        The Fold/Flip were pretty big jumps in tech.

        • @jivandabeast@lemmy.browntown.dev
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          152 years ago

          Idk why you’re being downvoted, its true. Folding screen technology has been pretty much the only major innovation in the phone space for a while now.

          • @scarabic@lemmy.world
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            62 years ago

            Folding is high on the “neato” scale but isn’t considered a major milestone because it’s really sort of a gimmick and in smartphone terms, is a small niche feature. Most people don’t want a thicker phone that can become a too-small tablet by slowly forming a damage crease down its screen.

              • @scarabic@lemmy.world
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                32 years ago

                You can say that about literally every feature. But folding has been around 5 years and isn’t becoming integral to every device. Front facing cameras were within 5 years.

            • @jivandabeast@lemmy.browntown.dev
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              12 years ago

              Disagree, the technology is improving and the shapes of the phone are becoming more usable.

              Anecdotally, i know a good amount of people who switched/want to switch off iphone to android specifically for folding phones. The form factor of the zflip/razr is a lot more usable for people who have small pockets or people who just think it’s plain cool.

              The “damage crease” isnt a huge deal, and most people upgrade after 3ish years anyway so as long as it can make it that far it won’t matter to them.

    • @AA5B@lemmy.world
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      12 years ago

      I’m excited about the Thread Network Protocol in the Pro version. I have no idea what will be implemented yet and Matter/Theead are rolling out way too slowly but it will be interesting to find out

  • @HRDS_654@lemmy.world
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    282 years ago

    NOOOOOOO! This goes against their narrative that they chose to do it! How dare you!

    The only thing Apple chose themselves was placing an artificial limit on the port.

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    162 years ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Apple has confirmed its new iPhone will not feature its proprietary lightning charging port, after the EU forced it into the change.

    The tech giant said that the iPhone 15, unveiled at its annual event on Wednesday, would use a USB-C cable as the “universally accepted standard”.

    The EU had told the tech giant to ditch its proprietary charging ports to make life easier for consumers, save them money, and help reduce e-waste by encouraging re-use of chargers.

    But some experts questioned whether consumers would be prepared to pay the high price tags given the devices are not hugely different to their predecessors.

    “Convincing users to fork out for these new devices will not be easy during a cost-of-living crisis,” said Paolo Pescatore, analyst and founder of PP Foresight.

    “Some will see the new features as incremental, [although] collectively they enhance the overall experience which is priceless among Apple’s core user base.”


    The original article contains 457 words, the summary contains 152 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • @moitoi@feddit.de
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    92 years ago

    Now, I’m waiting how they will use marketing and communication on ditching the magsafe and going back to only USB-C.

    • Estebiu
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      42 years ago

      Magsafe it’s pretty cool tho. Plus they open sourced it so next Qi standard is probably gonna have it. I don’t know what I’m talking about btw.

      • @moitoi@feddit.de
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        42 years ago

        We are not speaking about the same magsafe. EU requires in the near future USB-C for laptops too. Apple must include USB-C by default and ditching the magsafe.

        • @boonhet@lemm.ee
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          2 years ago

          Are they going to ditch it though? As I understand, they don’t need to ditch it as long as USB-C charging remains an option.

          For charging alone, Magsafe is objectively the better choice because it snaps in and out of place, so it’s both easier to insert and won’t pull your laptop off the living room table if your kid or dog runs into the cable. For docking in your dedicated workspace, you’ll still use USB-C attached to your monitor of course, it’s excellent for that and Magsafe doesn’t do data.

          • @notepass@feddit.de
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            32 years ago

            Yeah, I think it says that you have to support USB-C charging. But you can add whatever else you want. And if I remember correctly, macbooks can be charged via C and magsafe already. So all up to snuff

          • @moitoi@feddit.de
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            22 years ago

            The regulation is the same as for smartphones. In the EU, laptops must charge with USB-C by default. Apple can still include on the laptop a magsafe port which will be useless for the consumer in this area. The easiest to comply for Apple is to put a USB-C to USB-C cable instead of the USB-C to magsafe for Europe.

        • @AA5B@lemmy.world
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          32 years ago

          My laptop can already charge over USB-C from my docking station, or with a MagSafe cable. It’s an older M1 laptop but that ought to cover any such requirement

          • @moitoi@feddit.de
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            -32 years ago

            It’s the single charger regulation. In the EU, Apple must use USB-C instead of magsafe for the laptops. It’s the same as for smartphones.

            • Estebiu
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              12 years ago

              No. Magsafe and usb c can both be present.

  • BornVolcano
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    62 years ago

    They’re just going to try to make one that’s ever so slightly better, and then patent it again

    • XIIIesq
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      12 years ago

      Wireless charging is a thing, but I’d say it’s less practical than just cleaning your port out every now and again.