End of lightning connector..

[Arthur]

I reckon Apple would rather remove the Lightning port altogether on iPhones than switch to USB-C.

 

Source: European Parliament (via XDA, BBC News)

 

Since smartphones with USB-C started coming out in 2015, the standard has come a long way. Nowadays, it has become, well, the standard connector for almost all Android smartphones out there, from flagship phones to budget devices. With the exception of certain, really cheap phones and accessories, micro-USB is, for most intents and purposes, pretty much dead as of 2020. Even dirt-cheap smartphones like the Redmi 8A have started to come out with USB-C support. But there are still some odd ducks out there. Particularly Apple, which still clings onto their proprietary Lightning port because of revenue purposes as well as certain Android OEMs that, for some reason, are still not done with the old micro-USB port.

 

The whole point of standards is to have something that everyone uses: you should be able to plug the same cable on any phone you want to charge. And for this reason, the European Union wants to change that. This is not the first time they tried to intervene here, but previous legislation has made it so that they would strongly encourage, yet not mandate, USB-C adoption. If this law is passed, then all smartphone manufacturers, no matter how big or small, would be obligated to use USB-C on their devices if they want to sell their phones within the European economic area.

 

This would include Apple which does sell their phones in Europe. Although the upcoming iPhone 11S/12 lineup is rumoured to come with USB-C, it is still just a rumour and other rumored devices, such as the iPhone SE2, are set to carry a Lightning connector–the passing of this legislation could affect the launch of this device, and potentially even other Apple devices currently in the market.

 

An initial draft of this law has been approved by a majority of voting members, but it still needs to receive approval from the EU Council in order to become law.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Arthur

[elsiegee40]

I reckon Apple would rather remove the Lightning port altogether on iPhones than switch to USB-C.

 

Source: European Parliament (via XDA, BBC News)

 

That’s, my feeling too.

[FishCustard]

I'm not so sure - they use USB-C "family" ports elsewhere (e.g. Thunderbolt 3), and they would still need a port for diagnostics even if they did rely on wireless charging.

 

Perhaps they'll bundle a lightning->USB-C adapter and say "functionally equivalent".

[synaesthesia]

It's almost a certainty they'll do whatever makes them the most money so wireless charging (of a sort that just happens to not be able charge anything else). It's Apple after all, they want to force people to follow them and no be the followers themselves.

[bald_pig]

I think it could go the other way, they adopt USB C (they already have it in the ipad pro so not a huge amount of work would be required) and they start pumping out expensive adapters so you can use all your old lightning peripherals with the USB C devices.

[RLR]

I can't see how they can force people to use wireless to charge their devices. I can't imaging sitting on my sofa with a wireless charging unit stuck to the back of the ipad whilst trying to use it.

[LeMarchand]

I can't see how they can force people to use wireless to charge their devices. I can't imaging sitting on my sofa with a wireless charging unit stuck to the back of the ipad whilst trying to use it.

 

Apple know best.

 

You must obey.

[unixman_again]

I'd rather the EU banned the sale of mobiles with a speaker facility. There is always some idiot on the train either listening to music via a tinny speaker, or holding the phone in front of their nose, parallel to the ground, telling somebody that they are on the train.

[GREED]

I am all for this personally - but then I gave up on Apple years ago and never looked back.

 

Portless is also an interesting idea, though note the above post about charging while using.... on that note whatever happened to the idea of being able to charge when within a couple meters rather than a couple of mm - was supposed to be the next big thing - or was it decided we didn't all want to live in a microwave?

[FishCustard]

Long-range wireless charging is unfortunately incredibly inefficient (inverse-square law!) using standard inductor coils. It's got less to do with "oh god we'll all die from RF!" (we won't) and more "oh god it'll cost £20 to charge a phone!".

[GREED]

Long-range wireless charging is unfortunately incredibly inefficient (inverse-square law!) using standard inductor coils. It's got less to do with "oh god we'll all die from RF!" (we won't) and more "oh god it'll cost £20 to charge a phone!".

 

Useful to know!

 

Though i could foresee a time when we do have such tech, and then we have the scaremongering like we had about 10 years ago when everyone thought that wireless APs were melting our brains, so my school didn't then stick them up around the school...

[Sheridan]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51137069

 

I'm no apple or samsung or whatever fanboy but this seems utterly pointless to me, its not like there's dozens of cables types out there anyway (its either USB or Apple!) and wireless is becoming more popular

 

In fact over the years I've found lightning connectors to be the most robust by a mile, especially in education where the motto 'if it doesn't fit you need to push harder' seems to apply, although USB C has addressed that more recently.

[pooley]

Good, make everything usb-c

[bald_pig]

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/news/212779-eu-will-vote-force-all-smartphones-adopt-usb-c.html

[Sheridan]

I prefer lightning myself! If you had a race to plug 30 devices in a trolley, and ones USB C and ones Lightning, I bet the lightning connector wins!

[bald_pig]

Long-range wireless charging is unfortunately incredibly inefficient (inverse-square law!) using standard inductor coils. It's got less to do with "oh god we'll all die from RF!" (we won't) and more "oh god it'll cost £20 to charge a phone!".

 

I mean, the other method of wireless power transmission is microwaves so not the best thing to be beaming about in a house!

 

As for distance charging, there is a company claiming they have developed wireless car charging, but are currently light on details so who knows if actually works or is horribly inefficient.

[bald_pig]

I prefer lightning myself! If you had a race to plug 30 devices in a trolley, and ones USB C and ones Lightning, I bet the lightning connector wins!

 

Trick question, it's a trolley, all 30 devices will never get plugged in!

[elsiegee40]

Threads merged

[Garacesh]

I dunno, I mean I'm all for utilising open standards where possible, but I do understand why some companies say that stifles innovation..

 

If you're tied to an open standard, you have to release the improvements you spent money researching to everyone and gain nothing from it. Conversely, you benefit from everyone else's research, too, so it's supposed to be quid-pro-quo for the benefit of the consumer. But what actually happens is companies just stop innovating.

 

That being said I'm not entirely sure Lightning has any benefits over USB type C. I'm not saying it doesn't, 'cause I tend not to pay attention to Apple gear, but Apple's history of brand-tax and making proprietary kit for no good reason makes me suspect it might not. I guess it would be up to Apple to make their case to the EU that there's a good reason they're not using USB-C other than "'s'more dosh, innit?"

[pooley]

I prefer lightning myself! If you had a race to plug 30 devices in a trolley, and ones USB C and ones Lightning, I bet the lightning connector wins!

 

Seen so many snapped lightning connectors i'd have to disagree.

[localzuk]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51137069

I'm no apple or samsung or whatever fanboy but this seems utterly pointless to me, its not like there's dozens of cables types out there anyway (its either USB or Apple!) and wireless is becoming more popular

In fact over the years I've found lightning connectors to be the most robust by a mile, especially in education where the motto 'if it doesn't fit you need to push harder' seems to apply, although USB C has addressed that more recently.

This is just an update to an earlier law which as introduced because there WERE lots of different types of cables. I've still got a bunch of different Samsung, Nokia and Sony chargers in a drawer here.

[Jamman960]

I'm not sure why they need to get involved, before micro usb every manufacturer had their own connectors, it was a nightmare

 

Everyone adopted micro usb pretty quickly and have started migrating to usbc at a good speed, Apple introduced lightening before usbc became mainstream leaving us with 3 general connectors, one of which is dissapearing rapidly

 

No doubt at some point a new connector will be created, I assume manufacturers would need to fight with the European Union in order to implement it and could in theory be forced to stick with USBC or go wireless

[hardtailstar]

Damn, im going to have to lend my USB-C cable to iphone users now....

[unixman_again]

All devices should have a C14 inlet. Simples!

[Arthur]

No doubt at some point a new connector will be created, I assume manufacturers would need to fight with the European Union in order to implement it

As long as all manufacturers collectively agreed on the new connector to use, they shouldn't need to fight the EU.