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It WAS a good cable about 6 years ago when even flagship phones still used micro USB. I would have killed for lightning on my old android phone. However, usb c just takes the cake, every cake. It has its own problems but the tradeoffs are miniscule compared to lightning.
Prefacing this question with the fact I’m an Android user and have never owned an iPhone. Saying this in the hopes people won’t think I’m an Apple fanboi trying to make a point…
I haven’t been that interested in the EU legislation around this until now; I’m curious what happens when something comes out that is better than USB-C? Are companies stuck until new legislation is passed or is there some sort of auto update to the standard written in?
The same thing that is happening now. EU mandated micro USB on all phones and Apple pleaded exceptionalism. Industry has moved on to USB C and EU is updating mandate. Apple is not being allowed to plead exceptionalism again.
It’s kinda been agreed that it’s the best connector right now, with a lot of future-proofing built in (you can already see it f.e. with Thunderbolt, the same cable, massively different capabilities over ther years OR, from the power distribution side, it going all the way up to 200(ish?) watts lately
The law is ready for that. If and when the USB association agrees on a new standard thats not USB-C, then the new standard will be required after a transitional period. Right now it doesnt seem likely that this will happen in the near future, but in 10 years? Maybe
It is expected that the industry will continue the work already carried out on the standardised interface under the auspices of the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) with a view to developing new interoperable, open and uncontroversial solutions.
Kinda how the web industry comes together in the W3C to set standards for the web, so websites work the same on all devices and browsers and there’s been LOTS of improvements.
I think the apple connector was a good one. Nothing wrong with it except that it was apple licensed. Whereas USB-C is a standard. Also, because of Power Delivery over USB-C I think that should make USB a standard connector on way more devices. It’s a one-stop shop for data and power needs.
I can also see PD becoming the power system used for all small devices, especially once there’s (if not already) some very low cost single chip (or very simple reference circuit) solutions for handling the negotiation. Also it will need more of the available PD chargers/supplies to support more voltages.
My work laptop already uses PD, and that was useful when I forgot to take the supply once. Just used my 45W PD charger that I DID pack, and it worked fine (it should have 65W, but it seemed not to discharge).
Who knows, maybe houses in the future will be built with some PD wiring too alongside the standard mains power.
Wall outlets exist with USB C ports built into them. It’s pretty neat, I’ve got one in my kitchen
Yeah, I’m thinking more a whole wiring solution for power delivery. Although you’d probably still need a chip per outlet to do the negotiation. So still pretty expensive I’d bet.
Android wins again.
Open protocol wins.
Closed, narrowinded protocol lost.
Remember when Apple was on the design committee for usb c and was the first to put it in all its MacBooks and everyone bitched and whined about dongles? How the turntables.
Remember when Apple didn’t even use the plug until the EU forced them? Get the fuck out of here with the, “they invented it” BS. Fucking pathetic cope.
I bet if Apple didn’t take the leap to a USB-C only laptop design most laptops from other manufacturers would still be USB-A only.
Most peripherals still use USB-A though, so I’ve never seen the advantage of having a USB-C port on my laptop. I never use it. I guess I could connect my phone, but that seems rather pointless. (Most of the charging bricks I own still have USB-A too, and I have way too many to go buy another one. It was cheaper just to buy a new cable for me phone.)
USB-C is great for external monitor connections from laptops.
Is it better than HDMI? That’s what I typically use now. (Display port on my desktop PC.)
It’s nicer for laptops because you can have power, display, and internet in one cable going to a dock. TBH I don’t see many benefits for desktops. You could daisy chain monitors and have less cables I guess.
Oh, I see now. Yes, I can see how that would be a nice benefit for using it on a laptop. I’m not even sure my monitors have USB-C inputs, but I’m probably behind the times
Intel also had them in their higher end consumer gear (eg. their high-end NUCs etc)
And? You’re actually just accidentally pointing out how fucked up it is that they chose not to implement it on phones.
All that means is that they think certain ports have certain purposes. I don’t think that’s the win you think it is. Why not just have everything be an rj45 port then? Clearly lightning has an advantage in phone ports, as numerous others have listed.
It has the advantage of making them millions on cables and licenses. Stop pretending that USB wasn’t designed to be an all purpose bus with additionally this exact use case in mind. Which apple helped develop.
Simp harder
Not fair. It was a great cable. It came out when everyone else was using mini and mico usb which both sucked hard ass. They weren’t reversible, and they broke easily.
Yeah, I still think it’s a great mechanical interface, if not the best. Would’ve been great if rather than killing it, regulatory bodies had forced USB to adopt the lightning design for the C type.
I don’t think this design could have work for USB 3.1 and more, even apple put USB -c as PD on there MacBook because it can deliver more watt (I think)
but yeah it was much better design than micro usb
Lightning doesn’t have near the capabilities of USB C. Lightning had its time but it’s pretty clear that USB C is superior.
Lightning doesn’t have near the capabilities of USB C. … pretty clear that USB C is superior.
Are you talking about the capabilities of the USB protocol 3.x, or the mechanical design like I was? I don’t know a single property where the mechanical design of USB is superior to Lightning, but I’m ready to be enlightened.
The mechanical design was patented by apple, THEY decided that others were not allowed to use it (unless they pay).
For example having 3x the pins is a big plus. I don’t know why you are so focused on not including the protocols a port can use. Apple will most likely use USB to make connections between PCs and their Phones possible. And you have to have connectors capable of carrying the signals for those protocols.
The huge speeds of USB 3.0 (USB 3.2 Gen 1x1) and up are because of added twisted pairs carrying the signals in duplex (Plus a new USB A connector). Anything above USB 3.2 (USB 3.2 Gen 1x2 and USB 3.2 Gen 3 2x2) needs to use USB-C because the older USB-A Connector doesn’t have enough pins to allow a connection to a cable with 4 twisted pairs (plus one for backwards compatibility).
I think the lighting connector is enough to allow for a USB 3.0 connection, but you would have to switch the signals after it comes out of the port somehow, as the 3rd pair is not used during FullSpeed (I think there’s an adapter that does this)
Even if they don’t use USB and develope their own protocol, it’s gonna benefit from more parralel connections
One area where that is the case is the clamping mechanism. With USB-C, the moving parts/springs, which are the part of a connector that is most prone to failute are in the cable, which is both easier and significantly cheaper to replace than the charging port/device.
It was a piece of shit, always. Doesn’t matter if it was technically better, it was not standardized so fuck lightning cables forever. Good riddance to seriously awful bullshit rubbish
Doesn’t matter if it was technically better
Do you approach your life with such black and white emotional reactions? Fuck nuance, details, and critical evaluations, amirite? Bad guy good guy hurrdurr.
I’m not going to argue why standards are good, that’s self evident. Sorry you’re blind to this.
How’s this for nuance? Apple made billions of dollars by just choosing to be dicks. That’s the honest truth here. Simp all you want.
Standards can be good, it’s not black and white, and dismissing the technical merit outright is batshit insane. You lack critical thinking. It has nothing to do with any other meaningless term you want to throw around.
Right the person looking to advance society with standards can’t think critically but the person who sucks off apple against logic is a brain master.
sucks off apple against logic
Your lack of assessment is even more evident. I never one mentioned the company. You did.
Lol yeah that’s how it works
As someone who has had 2 small fires started in their cup holder with that so called “technically better” cable I will never understand how apple was ever able to market an exposed contact charging cable in the first place.
Wow, hadn’t heard about that but it makes sense. Yeah this thread is way weird. So many people simping for a cable.
It was a good cable when it came out, but as soon as USB-C became common it was obsolete. It was limited to USB2 speeds and did not support fast charging.
Which, seeing how Apple is still hellbent on continuing to only have USB2 speeds even with USB-C, plus lockout chips, their new connector is obsolete as well.
I still don’t understand the reason for the speed limit tbh. It just makes their product look like shit.
Faster USB chipset is more expensive and potentially also physically larger with more traces on the circuit board to deal with I imagine. And faster data speeds require more attention to how the traces are routed to prevent interference. I very much doubt this is anything other than to save a relatively small amount on materials and engineering costs, on an already overpriced phone, and/or to try and “encourage” you to use iCloud by making offline sync and backup painfully slow.
As someone involved in engineering boards with both USB 2.0 and 3.0 the costs are negligible. You’re not wrong about more traces or about it requiring more attention but per phone this cost less then a few cents.
I think it’s more about the upsell to the Pro line or as you suggested encouraging use of iCloud.
As I remember it the USB 3.0 chips can cause interference in 2.4GHz range unless shielding is used and the USB chipset is kept far away from the 2.4Ghz antennas. Probably just “juice not worth the squeeze” on the smaller non-pro model, if there’s a significant chance it could interfere with Bluetooth and wifi.
USB-C is still not “common”. There are now all kinds of different cables with nothing in common except a form factor. Also, USB-C came out 2.5 years after lightning and didn’t match feature parity until the Thunderbolt spec and that was 5 years later. At that point, accessories and cables that used the Lightning port numbered in the millions, if not billions.
Also, what do you mean? The new phones support USB3…
Only the Pro models, I believe. Funnily enough, typical Apple too, since they are bundling only a usb2.0 cable in the box for the Pro as well.
How is USB-C not common? It’s the default for every remotely modern android phone I’ve seen, all the modern game consoles I’ve seen (eg, the Switch and PS5 controllers), and many other random electronics use it (I even had a covid tester that was plugged into USB-C). All my laptops these days use it (including two Chromebooks, a high end MacBook, and a Windows laptop) and of those, only the Windows laptop even had USB-A ports (ie, the other laptops only had USB-C).
I won’t pretend it’s perfectly ubiquitous. There’s lots of older electronics still using micro or mini USB (there’s been no reason for manufacturers to update older devices). But it’s definitely common in my book.
It’s not “common” in the sense that a USB-C connector can be all kinds of different implementations of the USB2/3 standards. To use your example, using a USB-C charger other than the default Nintendo one can short out a Switch completely and kill it. Compared to products that use Lightning, the number out there dwarves the current USB-C landscape. There are tons of devices that still use USB-A and USB-B and USB-C hubs don’t really exist.
In that case either the charger or the Switch was faulty, no matter the protocol in use, the devices should negotiate which charging profile to use. You can’t blame a non-spec implementation on the protocol, that’s on the manufacturer.
From what I’ve been able to see, that specific issue stems from a combination of cheap chargers/docking stations and Nintendo changing the USB-C port tolerances to allow smooth sliding in and out of the dock. Again, don’t blame the standard if the manufacturer decided to implement their own crappy version of it.
deleted by creator
And technically the connector itself is way beter by clicking into place.
No, if the clamp-mechanism breaks, you habe to replace the connector on the phone while with UsbC you only have to use a different cable.
I like USB type C, it’s a great connector and lightyears better than micro-b, or even micro-b 3.0 but the biggest issue I’ve come across is that it’s so easy to get dirt in the phone connector.
In fact a couple months back I had to sit there with a super thin safety pin and clean all the compacted shmutz that had gotten in my phone connector, bexause it was so bad the clamp wasn’t engaging at all, and cables were getting more and more unreliable. Once I got it cleaned every cable I’ve ever bought worked perfectly.
Ive never seen the dirt issue or the clamp mechanism breaking on a lightning connector before - neither on my parents phones, or on the spare phone we keep as one of those old backup phones if someone’s phone gets smashed or drowned. But it’s not really saying much as I never kept the backup phone for long, as I hate apple and iPhones, so it’s entirely possible that under longer term use with me specifically that it could’ve got broken or dirty due to my uniquely rough way of handling things .
my current pixel 3a has a thick protective case, which has kept it mostly undamaged over the years I’ve had it, despite many drop events. The only thing that has stopped working on it was the NFC reader, and so far I’ve managed to avoid breaking the screen. I’ll probably keep using it till it stops functioning at this rate, as options for new phones don’t really fit my needs or wants.
I’ve cleaned out plenty of Lightning ports over the years. Filled with gunk. Most of the time the connector would still work, but in some cases intermittently or not at all.
Huh, I guess you’ve proved me wrong with that one. I will say though I wonder which one is easier to clean out. Can someone whose done both comment?
I used to run a repair shop. USB-C is definitely a dust magnet. Lightning is no better though. I cleaned just as many Lightning ports as I did C ports. They were slightly easier to clean though, without that fragile central post getting in the way.
I’ve also worked on literally tens of thousands of iPhones, and have never seen the clamp break on a lightning port, so idk what that dude is talking about. The actual clamp is on the cable, it just sits in a hole inside the port along either wall.
Yeah if… the rest of your comment is nonsense. If a usb-c connector breaks on the phone a new cable is just as useless.
I am on my third usb-module on my phone. Luckily it is replaceable. I would really like the concept of sticking a . in a o (as it is with lightning) than to have an . in a O and fiddling a o between both (as in USB-C). I have never lost a cable through wear and tear so far though…
And they made sure no one else could develop a design with the same characteristics by patenting the fuck out of it. Thanks apple
What’s funny to me is that the solution to long term use was in their hands. They could have licensed it cheaply to other devices until it replaced the mini USB, then charged whatever they wanted for use once it was the defacto standard. Instead they clasped too tightly onto it and now it’s being forced into retirement
With how many cheap android phones have been produced, they’d be making money even if someone wasn’t buying an apple product, essentially taking a piece of the market share that wasn’t theirs.
But they did not see themselves as a utility supplier. They preferred having the superior charging cable over licensing it to others. This way they protected their market share on Iphones.
And then bundled it with a 5W charger?
This is asinine. Apple has shown a strong commitment to supporting particular standards for extended periods. For example, the iPhone’s 30-pin connector was maintained for over 10 years. Similarly, the Lightning port, its successor, has also been around for about a decade. (And, it should be noticed, started being used two years BEFORE USB-C existed.) Additionally, Apple has supported the Thunderbolt standard throughout its life cycle.
Apple has always been judicious about the ports it adopts. The company is not known for having a plethora of ports catering to multiple generations of connector technologies. Instead, when Apple picks a standard, it tends to go all in. Take the case of USB-A: Apple was one of the early adopters of this technology and supported it for approximately 20 years before making the switch to USB-C. To put this in perspective, the time between the USB Mini to Micro switch and the Micro to USB-C transition was shorter than the lifespan of Apple’s 30-pin and Lightning connectors.
It’s unreasonable to assume that Apple would restrict the cables that can be used in a standard USB-C port. The USB-C standard is built on the principle of universal compatibility. Restricting this would not only break with the standard but also limit the very advantages that have made USB-C popular among consumers and manufacturers alike.
It only took them 10 years or so!
USB-C that basically Apple created and started pushing hard since 2016 (only ports on MacBooks at the time) ✨ damn I love Apple
“Basically Apple created” is a bit reductionist. The USB-IF also includes Microsoft, HP, Intel and Texas Instruments amongst a couple of others (can’t recall them off the top of my head).
Also Thunderbolt was created by both Intel and Apple in collaboration…
I know, but there are rumors that Apple was the biggest contributor but didn’t want this to be know. Of course we’ll never know the truth
Lmao. Typical Apple user.
🌚
Ah yes, pushed hard for by … not even using it themselves.
Get their dick out of your mouth before you speak. It’s unsightly.
It was the only port in MacBooks since 2016, what is it if not pushing hard 😂
Or you think that they should have changed port in 2016 in phones, upsetting all the people with already a lot of lightning cables and accessories since Lightning was ahead of competition when it came out. Yeah, that would have been a dumb idea. Glad they waited myself
Who is this for? Looking at the Apple Store, they sell an official USB-C cable for less ($19, but you can obviously find good quality third-party cables for much less).
People who have accessories with a lightning adapter probably. Speakers, docks, etc.
Alternatively the adapter might be a cheaper option for third party cables that aren’t usb-c or usb-a on the other side of the cable.
People who have accessories with a lightning adapter probably. Speakers, docks, etc.
Are those common? I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a speaker with a built-in Lightning dock.
I remember these iPod docks were very common at the time of the 30-pin connector. However by the time Lightning came around wireless audio became more commonplace with Bluetooth, AirPlay and other related technologies (CarPlay, smart speakers etc.)
Not in the last couple of years, but 11 years ago when it was introduced, probably.
Airplay was already around when the 30 pin connecter was still there, and they were also popular back then. I remember using a 30 pin connecter speaker with a 30 pin to lightning connecter also because it could charge my phone at the same time.
Realistically, the market for such accessories is likely fairly limited, but that in the end also results in a higher price (no scale in the market after all).
People blindly jumping on the USB-C wagon are completely forgetting how much money people spend on accessories that still work perfectly fine…
And they can use their current phones with them, no? No one is forced to upgrade - they can easily buy another lightning-having iPhone when their current one croaks and should be safe for the next 20 years (buying used iPhones) if their stupid accessories are so gd important
This is 100% made for uninformed people in how that insurance will make money.
This was a crucial step in Apple’s journey into becoming a trillion dollar company. Dongles.
It’s probably for accessories
No, what you don’t understand here though is those wires are special and some are connected a little different and stuff
Wouldn’t that be a Lightning to USB C adapter? That naming doesn’t make sense.
The usb-c is at the top in the picture so I’ll have to disagree with you
Wait doesn’t that mean it’s a Lightning to USB C if the top is USB-C and the bottom is Lightning?
Holy fuck I thought this was a joke
I can get an usb c cable cheaper than that
We all know about monoprice it’s cool
They never would if switched if it wasn’t forced on them. I’m glad they were forced no matter how apple spins it
would if
They took it further than the incorrect “would of” just to fuck with us.
Boneappletea
There is no God
would if is the new would of
Wake up babe, new torture method just dropped
I’m all for the switch to USB C but Lightning as a connector is objectively better. It’s smaller, more durable, feels better to use and even looks better.
If it hadn’t been proprietary, it would have pretty much been the perfect connector.
Edit: hey guys instead of mindlessly downvoting without saying anything, I’d love to hear your point of view, I’m always open to changing my mind.
Lightning breakes all the time, not very durable
Does it? I’ve never seen it. I’m only talking about the connector here, not the cable (which has always been shit)
My brother has managed to snap the connecter off multiple cables. No idea how he does it, but I’m inclined to place at least some blame on the cable
We learned a while ago there is no point to discuss with appletards.
Downvoted because standards are more important than slight technical advantage locked away from other companies’ usage.
Also you’re not being “mindlessly” downvoted. There are good reasons to be annoyed by this same shit argument we’ve heard for…a decade?
The biggest issue with it, was its data transfer limitations compared to usb c standards. Though, if it weren’t proprietary, then it could have been made better in that area.
Definitely! We’ll probably never know why they decided to stay on USB 2, it’s such a weird decision. Maybe there really were hardware limitations, but that sounds weird
The lighting connector only features two differential pairs. But as I understand it, USB 2.0 can only use one of those. The next upgrade would be USB 3.0 (Officially USB 3.2 Gen 1x1, but let’s not get into that) which uses 2 differential pairs but also keeps the USB 2.0 connections untouched, so it needs 3 pairs.
Maybe you could cheat and get a non compliant USB 3.0 device connected via lighting to USB A, using one of the pairs for setup, then going into SuperSpeed mode and using the two pairs in full duplex (both ways at the same time). Maybe that’s what the Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter does.
USB-C has the capacity for 4 shielded differential pairs, the 2.0 comparability pair and two pins for alternate mode, which makes it not only capable of, but necessary for USB 3.2 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 and USB 3.2 Gen 1x2) and upwards. (Don’t ask me about USB4 (not named USB 4 for some reason))
Lightning has some other quirks like being able to carry UART, JTAG and other Debugging stuff, which is communicated with a chip inside the phone/tablet etc. But since that’s closed source, it’s only been reverse engineered
Good. Apple’s whole ecosystem can go.
Wanna know how I know you’re poor
What’s the logic here?
Saving money doesn’t make you poor, it makes you smart.
The most expensive iPhone is $1600, and the Galaxy Fold 5 with the same storage option is $2160, disliking Apple has nothing to do with poverty.
Even if I were a billionaire, I wouldn’t want an iPhone. You can’t sideload apps, that’s an automatic disqualifier in my mind for a smartphone.
Imagine feeling like your phone’s brand defines if you’re poor or not lol
It sometimes does. But not in this case.
Wanna know how I know you’re insufferable
Would dismissing someone’s preference in favor of your own do that?
Lol you fucking loser
I dislike the Apple ecosystem a lot and the laptop I have on order is more expensive than a MacBook Pro 14 with M2 Pro
Lightning is/was actually pretty great. Also remember that it was introduced before USB-C even existed.
Fun fact: Apple was part of the group that designed USB-C
That was really weird, actually. Apple was frustrated that the USB consortium wasn’t making progress. So they developed Lightning. Then sent people there to help develop USB-C, when they already had a competing connector…
They should’ve been more patient, and sent people there directly, before developing a competitor, and adopted USB-C from the start.
With that move, they isolated themselves and their customers. It’s this arrogant “we’re smarter than anybody else” attitude they show sometimes, that irks a lot of people and end up being detrimental for their image. (And I say this as a long time Apple customer).
Nah it was a great move, earned them a couple billions in licensing fees
To the disadvantage of literally everyone
Except Apple
Also why is it awesome on iPad Pros since years but no good on iPhones? The marketing was always contradicting itself.
The reason is money.
It’s more complicated than that. There are lots of people that will be very annoyed when they unbox their iPhone and their plug that they don’t think about at all doesn’t work in the 7 places they’ve left them.
Just wait.
Oh well
I already did this moving from micro to USB-C and it wasn’t that bad. Plus if they’re apple people and have MacBooks/iPads they already got a few.
I’d wager part of it was because of the outrage when they switched from the 30 pin was significant
Yeah alternative was MicroUSB which is dogshit.
I’m using my wife’s old android for YouTube. It has a microusb port and I really hate it.
Lighting was leaps better than that, but usb-c is really the king of ports at the moment.
It’s the king of ports at the moment but I have concerns about the fact there’s that “prong” in the middle of the female connector. It seems like it could be something to break. I did like the fact there wasn’t anything in the middle of the lightning port, made it seem more durable to me over time (at least the port side, but that’s what you want with these things…)
Nevermind that the same connector could be USB 3.1 Gen X fuckton-gigabit, USB4, Thunderbolt 3 or 4… USB needs to learn from the WiFi groups recent rename scheme…
Lightening cables have easy to clean contacts and a hard to break jack, I have broken many many usb-c cables just stepping on them or rolling over them with an office chair or getting filled with lint on the inside of the jack.
This is the only valid opinion.
Perhaps one day we get a magnetic replacement for USB-C.
Why a replacement? You can already buy usb c cables with detachable magnetic heads if you fancy that
Fair enough, an officially sanctioned extension would also be fine!
We can call it the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Magnets, How Do They Work Edition
Would be a nice thing to have in the spec for the cable, as those ones aren’t compliant with the spec, and can in some cases cause problems, like on disconnect it might be possible for one of the PD pins to short against one of the data pins before the side delivering power has had time to process the disconnect.
It’s a pretty specific edge case and I’m sure not a problem most people have had or will run into, but would be nice if it could be part of the spec.
No hate, but I cannot fathom feeling the way you do about Micro USB and not spending $200 on some of the very solid Android phones that have come out in the 9 years since USB C has been the standard.
I only started using it like a month ago and I’m already looking at a used galaxy s10e. They are like $140 where I live. But I will get a new iPhone first.
I like the ATP discussion (First discussion - replacing Lightning with USB-C; and second discussion - usb rumour; and third discussion - “shameful” data speeds) on lightning vs USB-C (recorded a few days before the event). Broadly, they say lightning was a great connector (and I agree) but its time has come and it’s time to move on, and USB has welcome upgrades.
I think the problem is that between lightning cables and USB-C, one is made by an asshole company who wants you to use it for your phone and literally nothing else, and one is useful for your phone and literally everything else.
USB-C wasn’t really useful for anything when Lightning was introduced, on account of it not even existing as a spec, let alone actual hardware, until 2 years later.
Funnily enough, Apple co-developed USB, introduced it in their laptops and everyone complained.
Because they ONLY did it to the laptops, you fuck. People complain about change just to complain it changed.
No need to insult me. Are you a teenager?
No need to simp for a trillion dollar company, are you a paid troll?
I’m not simping. Is that your alt?
Dafuq, also yes you are
They complained because they literally stripped away most or all the usb-a’s in that process, forcing people to have to use hubs.
Apple does this shit all the time, and people always hate it.
Appledrone
No
You can always tell the Apple fans, can’t you? This cable was hated by everyone when it came out because it broke everyones docks.
It also wasnt much faster, in fact, I’m almost positive the first phones were throttled, not unlike the new iPhone’s with type c.
Yeah, it’s amazing what people will stand up for. It’s quite odd.
At the time it came out, definitely, considering its main competitors for a standardised connector were Mini USB and Micro USB, which were serviceable but not that great…
Could be worse though, you could’ve been stuck with “superspeed” Micro USB like some folks were, those were just plain awful to use.
pretty sure my samsung Note had that
The problem with mini and micro was that they were asymmetrical and very small, imo. at least you could tell which side the indent was on without looking with superspeed. Good luck getting it in the hole without looking, though.
I’m pretty sure Samsung released a couple phones with it. The Note 3, S5, and I think the active that year had it. I worked in retail then and everyone in awhile people would come in looking for the specific cable and had no idea it would charge with standard micro USB.
Inb4 apple places a chip in the cable that only handshakes with apple devices?
It’s the ports, they force USB2.0 speeds (same as lightning) unless you get the Pro (this is unverified)
Wait so if it’s not apple’s cable you’re throttled to usb 2.0 speeds?
The bad SOC is the limit.
Nothing to do with the cable, the port on the device is a USB-C port that is limited to USB2.0 speeds. Whereas the iPhone Pro has one that can do USB3.0 speeds. This seems to have been recently verified by the tech specs on Apple website btw
Didn’t some early 2000s Mac USB cables have a bit sticking out and a notch on the computer so they could only be used with Macs?
Compliance reasons. USB spec at the time didn’t really allow for extension cables because it added an unknown amount of resistance.
The notch was a workaround; they were within spec for the intended device both with and without that cable.
Oh interesting! I guess I should stop blaming apple then.
The EU said they would ban Apple out of EU if they even attempt.
i am happy the standard has won but tbh, i prefer the lightning type of connector (male). if only Apple standardized this instead of USB-C which is far more fragile.
but as I am not going to buy an iphone anytime soon , this is a non-news to me. :)
It’s good if you don’t need speed.
USB C cables are more fragile, but it’s designed that way so the ports are more durable. And I think having more durable ports is the right call.
No, the USB-C ports are more fragile. I owned and operated a repair shop for multiple years. USB ports, all of them except for A, are among the most fragile ports in use on electronics. Lightning ports are significantly less prone to damage. The cables snap off in the port easily, but all you need is tweezers to pull the tip out. On USB C devices the central tongue breaks off rather frequently. C is miles ahead of Micro-B though, seriously probably the worst port in use today, including proprietary ones.
Actually, I have more issues with the ports than the cable itself. that’s why I prefer type male connector like the lightning. The lightning has issue though, one of the PIN could corrode.
anyway, hope the USB type C cable is there to stay and with the new intel progress on bandwidth , it might be the case.
What’s the problem with the port? It’s considerably less prone to accumulate debris in my experience.
I used to clean at least 2-3 USB-C ports a day, 5 days a week, at my shop. I cleaned plenty of Lightning ports too, neither really is less prone than the other to dust ingress. Lightning is easier to clean though, since you don’t have to worry about accidentally snapping the center post like you do in USB-C.
