Apple forced to ditch iPhone lightning charger

Regulations work. Suck it, predatory businesses. Literally, eat shit.

- They first started using USB c on the macbooks in 2015. There's no way that it took 8 years to get it ready for the iPhone. In that time they've also released several other devices and accessories which have used lightning.
  To me this doesn't point to a planned gradual shift over to USB c but one that was forced by neccesity on the macbook then by regulation on the iPhone.
- This law is more than a decade in the making, the only reason it was on Apples roadmap is because of this law.
  The EU doesn't have to mandate a new connector when something new comes up, it just has to be an open standard, ANY open standard. This is miles better for everyone. And the EU doesn't force the whole world to adapt their standard, it's just not economical to produce different versions for different markets, but they are very much allowed to sell whatever to their non EU customers.
  If you really want the lightning adapter back, you can ask one of the many people who soldered a usb-c connector in an iphone 12/13/14. If one person can do it, I'm pretty sure Apple can, too.
- Give over. They were passive aggressive as fuck in their statements after the EU mandated it.
- Eh, I don't know Apple's intentions but this specific design change isn't that complicated. The lightning port still uses the USB protocol so the firmware will be the same or very similar. The supporting electronics also wouldn't change much, but at most they'd omit/add a few small passives and slightly reroute that part of the circuit to make things fit together. They'd also have to lock down a large production run of USB ports, but any manufacturer would accommodate a customer as large as Apple. They'd need to test fit it with the new phone chassis but that's relatively simple as well. Regulatory certification would also be smooth sailing for a change this simple, since most of what's changing is simply the form factor.
  I figure it would take two years before customers would see this design change from the moment engineering was assigned it.
  I'm an electrical engineer who works in production if that matters.
- Oh man you have not followed all of this progress have you? the EU has been pushing for this for a long time now, if this was their planall along Apple could have stated that they planned to do this in the future but that they were waiting for closure of their original connector, but they didn't, all their communications until this decission was made have been that lightning was not going away. Suddenly, it was their plan all along. It's... so much like apple to do this and so in line for their fans to eat it up.
- Are people astroturfing here? Seriously? It may be one of the worst place for that, and it looks like a very bad troll.
- If they were going to switch anyway, they wouldn't have struggled until the EU had to make regulations around it.
  Regulations means the market can't regulate itself. The market in this case being Apple.
- I'm sure the push for non proprietary standards before the latest EU rules had some part to play as well
- They had until the beginning of 2024, that is by 2024 USB C had to be the standard, leaving Apple no choice with Iphones introduced in 2023's fall.
- I think they wanted to go to usb-c (as that's what all their other products use) but they didn't want to face the backlash from customers when "all their cables and docks had to be changed again". Luckily for apple the EU gave them a fall guy.

Everyday just makes me love the EU more and more.

😏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)
- The word you’re looking for is “federated”.
- And a hefty backdoor for the government to put it's dirty little naily fingers in
For real, babe.

So funny seeing Apple fans eat up their PR. Ooh it was Apple's plan all along? They did it because it's more environmentally friendly? Yeah right and it only coincides the very same year EU is enforcing every manufacturer to go USB-C route. No one ever stopped to think if Apple is so environmentally friendly why were they fighting right to repair act.

And don't give me that "iPad had USB-C" speech. If lightning port could handle higher currents, iPad would have gone that route as well. USB has been standard for many years now but they have pushed so many different ports instead of going USB route. They don't care about anything else other than milking a bit more money from their users.

In my opinion, Apple's choice to reduce the number and variety of ports on their devices in order to sell more dongles was where mobile device enshitification began in earnest. Now my phone just spys on me and vomits ads constantly and I can't even plug in my fucking headphones.
- They take ages to adopt great features that have existed on Android devices for years, and yet are THE leader of what corners to cut in the industry.
- That too!
For me, nothing could ever possibly top Apple's rejection of strain relievers on their cables. It's absolutely the perfect blend of their overrated design sense with their unerring corporate instinct for planned obsolescence.
- Also let us not forget Apple is the only laptop manufacturer whose laptops have failing SATA cables. I am yet to run into any laptop with drive cables failing.
Actually, Apple supports the right to repair law now: https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/23/23843506/apple-california-right-to-repair-sb-244
- They saw the the writing on the wall, and turned colours as soon as they saw they were fighiting a loosing battle.
- Like any populist leader, they have just seen which way the crowd is moving, ran to the front and pretended that's what they were going to do all along.
  I want to say that people like you falling for this is mind blowing, but it actually just seems to be a rather depressing part of human nature. I'll never understand why people show such loyalty to a company that only cares about how much money they can extract from your pockets.
- Only when they can find a way to make money from it.
- Ye no, i will only say they support it the moment their devices isnt made to not be repaired and have dark patterns all over them
- No, they were forced to.
  If you actually look closer to their setup, it is extremely difficult and costs tons of money. Just to make their Genius bars seem reasonable.

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

Base model 15 will still only have usb 2.0 speeds.
- Reminder:
  \ usb 2 is a 2001 standard
- ok now im really curious, what are you plugging into your CELL PHONE that requires 10 gigabit?
- 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.
- It's because apple hasn't released usb3.0 specs as a new invention yet.
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.
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
- 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
- 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.
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.

Three cheers for the EU! 🇪🇺

Good job EU, screw you Apple

Are you sure it's firmware or software limited?
I assumed they just kept the lightning controller, which as you said had USB 2.0 speeds, and then hardwired a USB-C adapter into the phone/circuit board. So it's a hardware limit.
The non-pro iphone 15 uses a different processor (A16 vs A17) which doesn't have the controller for 10gbps speeds. Its the processor from the iphone 14 pro.
- The Pixel 2, which is 5 (almost 6!) years old, had better transfer speeds than this brand new $799 phone.
  It's not even close, it's the Pixel 2 with 1.5Gbps vs the iPhone with ~0.5Gbps.
  Apple's software is good but they are an absolute trash company that routinely screws their blind customers.
- The question isn’t if the chip is there, but whether the regulations require it to be there.
That’s disgusting. Knowing for some that would be a dealbreaker to upgrade to the pro.
- And thus they get extra money for the sale of the more expensive one. That's the plan for why the cheaper model exists anyway
- Honestly I can’t imagine anyone that would care enough about hardwire transfer speeds more than raw performance. Imo, anyone that cares about those raw transfer speeds will already want the A17 Pro and wouldn’t settle for the A16 Bionic.
The 15 uses an older chip that was designed for iPhones with lighting cables limited to USB 2. So it's unlikely the hardware is there for USB 3/4 speeds. But it's not unfeasible to add a dedicated chip for faster USB speeds.
Where as the pro model uses a new chipset. Designed for the 15 pro and likely the 16 non-pro. This has on due USB 3. It would be short sighted to not include it here.
Both phones would have very fast WiFi, I imagine that's the use case for 90%+ of users.
Nah, let Apple cripple their own products out of spite...

I find it odd that this is the only noteworthy feature in the new phone.

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
- The Fold/Flip were pretty big jumps in tech.
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

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.

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!

Good bot

No one will ever miss you

Literally the only 'new' thing with the 15

But, but... it's .3% faster!!!1!!
- Hey hey they said "10% faster" .... In certain cases... Sometimes.

In apple's defense, lightning pre-dates USB-C by a few years. There are a ton of lightning accessories in the wild that have been made useless e-waste by this forced change. I'm glad we're all on an agreed-upon standard, though. It had to happen at some point.

Before lightning and USB-C every manufacturer had their own connector. Then the EU told the manufacturers toneither come up with a common connector or they would regulate. Then, Apple started with lighting and other manufacturers joined under micro USB B. The EU was still not happy because Apple went their own way and, after USB C came out and was good (micro USB was quite bad TBF) they forced everyone to use USB C
They knew USB C was coming, they still didn't give a fuck.
- They were the first/earliest to release a consumer a consumer device with USB C. They were also part of the consortium that developed USB C.
  I think they were scared of the backlash they got the first time they switched from the iPod connector the lighting cable. This made them promise not to change the connector for 10 years.
  If they changed earlier they would have broken their promise.
  Apple should have had the foresight to see USB C was on the way. It was released two years after lighting.
  It's possible apple was convinced the connector should work either way unlike USB micro. But the USB consortium preferred a simpler design that was not reversible. Releasing the lighting connector forced the USB consortium to accept a reversible connector.

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

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.
- 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.

It's cold in here.

Has hell frozen over?!?

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

Apple lightning cable it means. The charger still works fine

As long as it still refuses to charge because of fluff in the port - take my money!

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

good headline, apple was "forced"

Good. Fucking lightning with it's fucking USB 2.0-ass interface.

And they still managed to cripple it with only 10 Gbps. Not even the "Pro" has USB4.
- what on earth are you doing on your phone…. hell… what is ANYONE doing on their phone that even comes close to using 10gbps?!

Why? What can lightening do that USB can't? Is there anything even slightly better about the way lightening connectors are manufactured or used?
USB has been the world's standard for connectivity and powering for decades and lightening was nothing more than an attempt to keep customers in the "ecosystem".
The amount of lightening connectors I've seen taped up is shocking, you never see that with USB.
Lightning is fucking outdated and very slow.
But they didn't, because it would cut into their profits.
That is the only reason proprietary ports are created.

I commented on a similar sentiment in a different thread, but I think this (Apple being forced) is the wrong take.

There really hasn’t been a question of whether or not they were moving to USB-C for at least 6 months. The only question was whether it would be thunderbolt or not, and it isn’t. The narrative was always that they’d keep lightning for 10 years and then move to something new, Schiller even called it “a modern connector for the next decade” when it was announced, and at the time it was better than anything else on the market.

Now USB-C is the standard and superior, and it’s cheaper to bring the iPhone in line with that standard than to keep lightning or develop a new port/connector. As soon as the iPads went USB-C (5 years ago and well before EU regs) it was a foregone conclusion that the iPhone would follow suit, and anyone who was paying attention should have known it would happen this year, 10 years after lightning was introduced as a 10 year plan.

Regulations didn’t make Apple change. A viable standard that met their requirements did. And, Apple doesn’t need to develop this which saves them money, and they’ll still sell cables at a premium just like they do now. Apple doesn’t need a proprietary cable, they only need their brand which has massive loyalty.

Regulations didn’t make Apple change. A viable standard that met their requirements did.
I call bullshit.
USB-C has been around and better than Lightning for a long time, they didn't switch the iPhone to it until they were under pressure by regulators to do so.
If your theory were valid they would have switched many years ago.
- If you’re right, why did they switch iPad to USBC 5 years ago?
  If they were SO invested in lighting and against USBC, they would have kept iPad on lighting as well.
Apple absolutely changed because of regulation. Just like how they were forced to provide 2 year warranty in EU because of consumer protection laws, a decision they tried to fight until the very end because then they couldn't sell you extended warranty easily. Apple will always do the absolute minimum of effort for the maximum of income. ALWAYS!
Just like how they instead of fixing the issue with nVidia GPUs back in the day and using a correct solder compound, they instead glued a piece of rubber on top of the chip so laptop case pushes on the chip to make the contact. Far cheaper than reworking the board.
Or how they removed a single drop of adhesive from the touchscreen chip on one of their iPhone Max series to save money which resulted in chip getting torn off of board because of cheaper aluminum as well. Pennies worth of saving money at the cost of quality user's got for their money.
I mean I could go on pretty much year by year. Oh and also iPad went USB-C route because of USB PD which can push more than 3A current while charging, something lightning can't do but is needed for bigger battery, same reason laptops have it. It's just with lightning port they can up-sell overly expensive cables and you don't have a choice. With Apple it's all about money. ALWAYS!
If Apple was going to change on their own, the regulation wouldn't have been made in the first place.