EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C

Finally! If USB C is so bad, as many single source pundits and consumers keep parroting, why is Apple already using USB C for their iPads (All? Most? I haven't tracked every model release last couple years...) and portable Macs? Seems a no brainer at this point, why would you want iPhones to be one thing, iPads to be another thing? For those twitter comments saying we will be stuck with USB C for 40 or 50 years, why? The EU already transitioned from micro USB to USB C, after a number of years to be fair, but pretty close to the sweet spot. Not too soon, but not too long either.

Besides being reversible, I'm not sure Lightning brought much to the table even over micro USB B. Micro USB could use external devices, provide video output, and charge. Just depended on what features were integrated into the device. So if Apple had made the change during the last attempt at universal enforcement, they could have rode the wave of standardization for the last two revisions.

Fighting USB C was even stranger because the downside seems to be the usual USB branding confusion but the actual functionality is pretty swell. Yes, I know the real reason was ecosystem control and licensing, but when even Nintendo decided USB C is the right move, you know you are being extra stubborn not to move over. Nintendo loves their branding revenue too. They locked their component output under a chipped DRM interface on the GameCube for crying out loud. 😃

This is funny, I don't see a single article talking about the negative impact of changing iDevice port.
It means people will have to change hundred of millions of devices that will be incompatible with future iPhones and iPads…

People have a really short memory if they don't remember the reaction when Apple switched from the 30 pin port.

> or those twitter comments saying we will be stuck with USB C for 40 or 50 years, why? The EU already transitioned from micro USB to USB C,

This will no longer be possible, as they would never be new port to switch on, as introducing a new port would be illegal.

@Jean-Daniel if you mean hundreds of millions of cables (rather than devices), then yes, those will have to be changed. Chances are that they already have USB-C cables lying around though.

I find Benedict Evans' tweet deliciously ironic since "unpredictable bureaucratic approval process" so perfectly describes Apple's own App Store submission process.

@Doodpants: was thinking the same thing.

Since Apple doesn't like ports anyway, they should use this as an opportunity to accelerate their move to the first no-port device. Expect the Solar Charged iPhone and the Body Heat Charged iPhone any day now. /s (somewhat)

I bet they rather create energy wasting "wireless charging only" phones than add USBC

@Jean-Daniel
This is the potential FUD I was actually referring to in my first post. I think it's been spread enough, even the informed people on this very site have been inundated with such purposeful confusion. Where does it say USB C is the only cable standard that will ever be allowed? In fact, this is round two for the EU, the first time around they mandated micro USB.

And just to clarify MicroUSB predates the Lightning port, so does MHL (mobile video output protocol) which could run over microUSB, and finally USB OTG was around pretty much from the first days of USB 2.0 I believe. Again, besides reversible input (which is really handy mind you), what did Lightning bring to the table over five years (four if you count MHL) that was worth waiting that long when transitioning from the 30pin? Kind of crazy really, by the time Apple had a better port, it only enjoyed less than three years of market space before USB C was shipping (April 2015). Had they changed over in say 2007 with the first iPhone to microUSB, Apple would have benefited for at least 8 years of standardization before the next change over to the new standard. Yes, yes, I know the real reason was to keep the stupid Apple ecosystem licensing bonanza going instead of making it better for consumers, but it is still frustrating every time I have to buy a special cable for each manufacturer's devices.

USB C is a bit of a mess but with a smarter labeling and branding system there was no reason for it to not really be the one stop shop for all connections.

Why even throw out your Lightning cables? Why not buy a few $6-$8 USB C to Lightning adapters and call it a day? For syncing and charging, you can keep reusing your existing cables… and you can even go the other way by using an adapter for existing iPhones/iPads with Lightning ports to use modern USB C cables on those devices. It really doesn't have to be the waste apocalypse people are claiming.

@Nathan I don’t understand the waste apocalypse argument, anyway, because unless you think Lightning is never going away, the longer Apple uses it the more dead-end cables will be produced.

We can't see a counter-factual in the other direction, either: all of the hair that's been torn out, worldwide, over not having the right phone charger available, simply because one company still uses a proprietary design in 2022 (and not even the same design as their own tablets and laptops). I see this all the time among my friends and coworkers. Each instance is only a minor inconvenience, but it's multiplied by a billion. This is the perfect case for government intervention, as it's the people (rather than the company) who bear the cost of the company's (in)actions.

I wonder: are these pro-Lightning nerds also upset that their national electrical code requires a specific physical form for the receptacles in their house? Do they think there's some great innovation left to be found in power connectors that USB-C is going to prevent? This is a solved problem now. Once technology has solved a problem, we make it code. That's how these things work.

NEMA 5-15R/P is objectively one of the worst power connectors, but we're far better off having it as a standard in this country than letting every company invent their own. Or like the UK only a few years ago, making everybody learn how to permanently wire their appliances to their house.

Strangely, nobody has mentioned even a pie-in-the-sky imaginary Star Trek technology that future cables might bring, which couldn't be implemented over USB-C. Sure, cables could be better. But there's already a computer on both ends of it. What more do we need?

Android vendors label an entire smartphone unsupported after two years. Apple provides seven years of support, five years of updates and cables lasting as much as a minimum. With a connector innovative enough to be copied and then the copy being forced into law. This legislation is Google’s marketing masterpiece.

They could have mandated a magnetic connector at least. And pushed the game up instead of down.

@WuMing
The issue with support on Android is largely caused by manufacturers, who license the chipsets and the OS, not actually spending time keeping things up to date. Then again, even my old Android devices supports most apps and if using Google Play, consistent Google Play services updates as well. If you offer an unlocked bootloader, it is a whole lot easier to use custom roms with newer versions of Android. When it comes to OS updates, many companies do actually offer 2, 3, or even 4 years of updates, so it is not universal laziness on the Android side.

I have no idea why you think this is a coup for Google when they sell very few device overall in the Android ecosystem. USB has been around so long, it predates Google's existence as a company. The first Android phone used a proprietary port, extUSB (compatible with USB but was not an actual standard). I remember some Nooks's using an extra long micro USB port and other's using weird 30pin style adapters. The point being, Android the OS never really cared how you charged the device. The adoption of USB C really is the result of industry cooperation converging on a single standard. And just to clarify for the umpteenth time, even Apple supports USB C on most of their iPads and all of their laptops, right? So is Apple in on this conspiracy too?

@Nathan
You can access as root and transform Android to look like iOS. Not that nobody does that. At the contrary modding is very popular. But even though we tend to believe in a future painted for us, hard reality is different. Is not mainstream, i.e. for at least 50% of Android users, to patch old distributions and reverse Android fragmentation. Otherwise stats would look different. On a more profound level one of Goog main efforts in latest years was to have Linux kernel in the most recent distribution from being three years behind the latest to two.

EU officials conveniently forgot that most electronic waste and emissions come from the smartphones themselves. By far. Then from chargers. Then from tiny cables. Instead of amending laws and render mandatory seven years of support - for everyone - or non-bundled chargers they spent time debating about a connector. Note that replacing a cable and keep using your existing, non-bundled Apple charger is already common. This because Apple does lead in standardisation. Considering the lead Apple also has in ESG maybe this distortion was inevitable. Not much else Google could afford to lobby for. But still is disappointing.

I don’t get Fadell‘s argument about monopolistic behavior, though. Apple‘s marketshare in Europe is much lower, maybe 30%.

And arguably, not only Apple is the problem. So many portable electronics besides phones still ship with micro USB cables, which is also a dead end now. Probably these outnumber Lightning cables in Europe.