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Comment by riantogo | Hacker News Reader

I feel we need to talk about the charger. It is not included in the box. The reasoning is that we have our chargers from previous iPhones. But those white boxes all take USB-A. The included cable is USB-C. Never mind, I will just use the USB-C charger from other devices. But wait... the cable that comes in the box is USB-C male and those adapters from other devices don't take USB-C (either fixed cable, or USB-A, or non-standard female port).

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So there are only two possibilities here: you have a USB-C charger, or you don't.

If you do, like I do, then you don't buy one. If you don't, then you buy one: Apple sells them, everyone else sells them.

There's nothing to talk about: I've thrown my last two included chargers in a box, where they languish next to my Lightning-cable-equipped EarPods. I'm unlikely to get a new phone in this cycle, but if I did, the difference would be two gizmos which I won't use, won't be included.

Then why include the cable? Apple sells them, everyone else sells them. You are missing the point here. A better solution is to put something like this in the box: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B079LYHNSR/

Cables work harden and eventually fail. I've never had a cable last as long as a device, or even up to the next upgrade.

But if they took them out in the next iteration, I'd shrug, I have plenty at home.

This is Apple we're talking about. They'll sell you dongles all day, but include one? Not a chance. Apple said it's USB-C time at least four years ago, end of. I don't expect them to ever release a new product with a USB-A port on it.

That would be another accessory I don't need because I have plenty, and also, because I barely use them anymore.

Get a braided cable then, they last much longer (Anker seems to be good brand).

>Cables work harden and eventually fail. I've never had a cable last as long as a device, or even up to the next upgrade.

The USB cable that came with my Moto Defy+ only just died. It was a sad day. The charger is still going strong though.

> But those white boxes all take USB-A.

Yeah, and the USB A to lightning cables they came with still work fine on the new phones. Just because it comes with a USB C cable doesn’t mean you have to use it.

Seems especially frustrating for folks who are upgrading from a non-iPhone with a non-USB-C wall wart. If you're unfortunate to end up in that situation and you don't have a laptop with USB-C... you literally won't be able to charge your new iPhone.

Especially worrying because I don't have a personal laptop with USB-C or any USB-C wall warts. I have a lot of friends who don't have any USB-C gadgets at all. Kids who finally get old enough for a phone will be in for a rude awakening.

Not just non-iPhone users. I have been on iPhone since it first came out. Last upgrade was 2.3 yrs ago. All the wall warts I have from past iPhones are USB-A.

To be honest this doesn't seem like that large of an issue. The primary market for this device is people who already own an iphone. They already have lightning charging capabilities in their bedroom, in their car. A new charger is pretty optional for the "main" market.

There is a minority of people, like myself, who are basically entirely on USB-C and can charge my laptop, ipad and android phone all on the same cable. Including lightning to USB-C is... well, honestly, it's not that stupid because most of my charging ecosystem now is USB-C, so this very slightly lessens the blow. Slightly.

Who am I kidding, I really wish it was just USB-C.

"They already have lightning charging capabilities in their bedroom, in their car": The issue is not about the lightning end of things. It is the other end. I'm an iPhone user since 2007. Not having a USB-A_to_lightning solution in the box is super inconvenient. It would have cost Apple $2 to either include a split USB-C/USB-A cable or a small USB-A_to_USB-C adapter.

How is it inconvenient if, as you point out, you already have lightning infrastructure from the last 10 years of ownership? If anything, including usb-C to lightning is better for future proofing as it allows you to connect your phone to a new macbook for instance, which is capability you probably don't already have but may eventually need.

Then people will but the USB-C adapter but in 2-3 years Apple will be removing the charging port altogether and introduce wireless charging only!

I actually don't like that they removed the accessories from the box, unless they can prove that they reduced the cost of the phone's overall price.

I sell my accessories to other people which reduces the phones overall cost by a non-insignificant amount. People will happily pay $5 less for a 2nd hand (but brand new and unused) Apple accessory like earpods/adapter if it's genuine since there are so many fakes out there.

Seems like those who need it will just pick up some of these: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B079LYHNSR/

I was wondering about those while watching the keynote, but now that I see the price of 10$ I think most people would rather buy a cheap USBC charger at 10$ instead of an adapter?

That is how you dent the "premium" perception you have built over several decades. You don't want your users buying $1500 phones and then having to search the web for solutions and pick up $5 converters off Amazon. You could have easily included one in the box.

Apple is basically saying;

You will likely already have a charger and a USB-A to Lightning Cable. Use those.

If you dont, the package comes with USB-C to Lightning, now you can get a USB-C 18W Fast Charger at a reduced price of $19.

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