Hacker News Reader

Comment by duhi88 | Hacker News Reader

Same reason they put the charging port for their mouse on the underside. It's a wireless device, and for some reason, they think that if it supports a wired mode, it won't be as special (or whatever their idiotic reasoning is).

And, why use the lightning port?! Aside from the price, choosing to not use USB-C for a charging port killed it for me. I like being able to charge all my devices off one power brick, and I'm not spending $600 on headphones if I need a stupid lightning port for the next 6+ years.

View on HN

You know that it's only lightning on the headset side, right? That it's USB-C on the other side, though you're free to include any adapter cable you'd like.

This misses the point. EVERY device I carry with me charges via USB-C right now.

My laptop, my work laptop, my headphones, my phone, my tablet/e-reader (remarkable).

It's insanely liberating to know that I can pretty much always find a charger for everything, and I only ever need to pack a single wall-wart.

Flying? One charger. Road trip? One charger. Biking to work? One charger.

Better yet - Leave a charger at work, keep a charger at home, don't need to carry 5lbs back and forth every day.

Forgot my charger? Every person I hang out with has a usb-c charger floating around somewhere.

----

You know what I really don't want to have to carry around anymore? Fucking cable adapters. You know what no one will have if I forget my charger? Fucking cable adapters.

Honestly - I probably wouldn't have bought these headphones yet because I'm quite happy with my current headphones.

But I'm very, very close to no longer even considering devices that ship without a USB-C port. And that's a shame, because I otherwise really like the Max, and probably would have slotted it in when my current cans die.

Getting over the hump to convert to USB-C initially was fairly expensive, but my job is good and I can splurge. I don't want to go back.

If your complaint is carrying a USB to lightning cable -- though you keep jumping to wall warts/chargers and not a 17 gram cable -- yeah, I guess that's a big burden.

But your comment seems like it might be contrived to begin with. This headset only really makes sense for iPhone users. That is the target. Those people are already carrying using lightning cables in their life. Pretty much anyone in the Apple ecosystem has to charge a multitude of things with lightning still.

IPads pro and the new iPads all charge with usb-c. And for the last two years my iPhones shipped with a usb-c to lightning cable.

I just yesterday picked up a few more usb-c wall adapters and some 6 feet usb-c to lightning cables to get most of my day to day charging off of usb-a

They make plenty of sense for users of newer MacBooks and iPad Pros, too. Those people will be carrying USB-C to USB-C cables because that's what their MacBook and/or iPad Pro uses.

I'm not really what's contrived about the other poster's comment. If these headphones look good and sound good and have good noise cancelling, why would I only want to use them with my iPhone? I'm sure they'll sound great whether I use them with my MacBook, or iPhone, or my Dell XPS, or my Windows desktop, or my smart TV.

The lightning port isn't a deal breaker, but it can be an ergonomic annoyance. I've recently been favoring on Galaxy S9 over my newer iPhone because all of my other devices charge via USB-C and the iPhone is the odd duck that requires extra work. I have a USB-C to lighting cable so it's not that bad, but it's still extra annoyance I would rather not deal with.

"I'm not really what's contrived about the other poster's comment."

The guy I replied to 20 days ago here on HN, talking about Apple: "Don't buy their shit. Period."

No, they were never going to buy this headset. They are not the target market. What they demand would actually be detrimental to the target market.

Of the actual target market, the majority will have no problem with it needing a lightning cable. Their iPhones use lightning. Any iPad but the newest use lightning. The AppleTV remote uses lightning. The Magic Keyboard and the Magic Mouse use lightning. It just seems to be something that a person who would have no interest in this device would see as a problem (in the same way that people who don't use the Magic Mouse are absolute certain that the charger port on the bottom is an egregious deadly fault, while actual users just enjoy a fantastic mouse and it's an utter non-issue. It's why Apple should never listen to these people).

I have a work macbook. I have a personal XPS. I have an Android phone (because I can flash my own roms).

The chargers that ship with modern devices tend to be USB-C to USB-C (including Apple's own macbook charger).

I have absolutely no desire to fit a lightning cable into my life, and I'm hardly the only person I know who has a macbook and an android phone (about half of my company of 300 falls into the exact same bucket).

I don't typically buy Apple devices because I think they're oppressively locked down, but that's not really something I care that much about for headphones.

Plus, given the whole market for decent bluetooth headphones is ridiculously price inflated anyways, Apple's price here doesn't dissuade me nearly as much as normal.

Basically - I would absolutely consider picking up a Max, but lightning is a serious knock against the product.

The promo for this headset outright state that significant functionality require an iPhone or iPad (you know, oppressively locked down and all). It is over double the price of comparable headsets.

No, there was no chance you were ever buying this headset. You may see it as legitimizing your grievances, but I don't think any reasonable person actually buys that.

You, 20 days ago, regarding Apple - "Don't buy their shit. Period."

Of the actual people who would buy this, I'd wager that 99%+ have iPhones. Being able to charge the headset with the same cable you use to charge your phone seems pretty obvious.

They may have a usb-c charger they want to use eg for a laptop. By making it lightning on the headset side they just reinvented a corded headset.

How does not having one specific standard of charging port (you know -- the one that came when everyone was rolling with the junkpile that was micro-USB) "reinvent a corded headset"?

Regardless, this complaint is pretty spurious. The device is clearly marketed to iPhone/iPad users, who carry a USB to Lightning cable with them as a matter of normative standards.

People just like bitching sometimes.

Many people charge their iPhone wirelessly these days. I’m not among them, but I can see why they’d be frustrated by this.

I personally think it’s pretty silly that it has neither usb-c nor wireless charging, given the price point and when it’s being launched.

Well, as someone who doesn't own a lightening cable, it means that I would need a specific cable for these ones. Which kind of negates the point of a wireless headset if I need a specific cable to charge it.

I get I'm not the target market but that doesn't make my point valid. Please don't negate it as bitching.

I have an iPad that doesn't have a lightning port.

I have a battery pack that doesn't charge with a lightning port, and can charge my phone without a lighting port (wireless).

When I'm traveling light, I don't need a lightning port for anything.

When I'm at my office, I can top off my headphones/iPad/etc off with the same cable I use to connect my laptop to my screen. I never have to worry about bringing an extra cable with me to work.

---

It's just too bad, that's all. Apple seemed like they were ready to phase out the lightning port in favor of USB-C and wireless charging. They've done such a great job with all their other audio accessories that a lot of tech-minded people like myself were looking forward to these.

A Lightning to USB-C cable is included in the box, not USB-A.

My mistake. I guess they have even less of a complaint then.

No, it's still stupid that you have to use a different cable.

I have a C cable on my desk, the charger is hidden under it, I don't want to replace the cable ever. This one cable can charge my phone, laptop, power bank, earbuds, gaming headset, Nintendo Switch, heck, it powers my soldering iron – of course I don't ever want to buy anything with a different port!

Again, the iPhones have lightning ports. Almost everyone who buys this is going to be an iPhone users.

This is like complaining that the microwave at Best Buy doesn't have a Europlug because you're in Italy and that's what you use. Great, but not important to the actual buyer of the microwave in Milwaukee.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com