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Comment by jl6 | Hacker News Reader

I want to like this, but I charge my iPhone with a cable that has lightning on one end and USB-C on the other, and I know from extensive direct experience that the lightning end is the better physical design.

Supporting this is tantamount to believing that there will never need to be a USB-D that improves upon USB-C, and I just can’t believe that.

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The problem with lightning is that the springs that fix the plug in place are on the port, not the cable.

This is the part that wears out, and when it does, the port will need to be replaced, not the cable.

How often does this happen in practice, though?

My 6 year-old iPhone that I plug and unplug a bunch of times a day still keeps the plugs in very snuggly. They basically don't move. And I've pulled on the connector many, many times, by stepping on the cord and pulling the phone up.

Contrast this with my 2 month-old laptop in which the usb-c cables move around, even though it spends 90% on the time plugged in.

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Edit: I did have connection issues at one point, but it was due to pocket lint that had accumulated inside the port. It was easily removable with a toothpick, and the connector went back to working like new.

I had the same issue with the same toothpick solution, then 1 year later the spring really did fail and I essentially had to buy a new phone.

From https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/QANDA_...

Any technological developments in wired charging can be reflected in a timely adjustment of technical requirements/ specific standards under the Radio Equipment Directive. This would ensure that the technology used is not outdated.

At the same time, the implementation of any new standards in further revisions of Radio Equipment Directive would need to be developed in a harmonised manner, respecting the objectives of full interoperability. Industry is therefore expected to continue the work already undertaken on the standardised interface, led by the USB-IF organisation, in view of developing new interoperable, open and non-controversial solutions.

To counter, I've had around five lightning cables and 10 usb c cables and not once has a usb c cables failed me. It does not accumulate dust.

Same, I used about 10 type c wire. The only two wire I used that failed so far are caused by

1. I stepped on it. 2. The junction between wire and head broken.

I have more that probably 5 micro b wire failed on the head since I use cellphone. But for type c, it's literally 0.

If there's a better standard in the future the law can be changed, they didn't put this in the constitution.

I've never had a phone with USB-C to compare, but I've had rotten luck with Lightning. I always get that one power pin that blackens and makes the cable unreliable.

Yeah, me too. Or even though the cable is supposed to be reversible and yet my phone will only charge if the cable is inserted one way, but not the other. I've had that happen a lot too!

I'm just glad USB-C has come along so we didn't do something foolish like standardize on Micro USB - I hate those ports! I recently bought two brand-new BT speakers and guess how they're charged? Micro USB! Grrrrrrr!!!

> the law can be changed

Basically there will never be a usb-d.

The only way I see there being a need to evolve from USB-C is if we see some major developments in optical (cost/size)

The EU seems perfectly willing to adopt new standards if you look at what has been happening in mobile standards (e.g. despite 3G being standardized we got 4G, despite 4G being standardized we got 5G)

3G/4G/5G isn't a good example. Standards evolve, but the issue many people have is that this isn't a standard, but a mandate to use said standard. So people are concerned that the USB Consortium will come up with a USB-D, but new devices won't be able to use it until the EU updates their law.

There's already Thunderbolt 4. And the requirement will expire in 2030. It's fine, stop with the drama.

> If there's a better standard in the future the law can be changed, they didn't put this in the constitution.

Who will build the spec and research and then lobby Europe to change the law when no device uses it? The marketing of saying “this new spec is better… throw out EVERYTHING” won’t happen.

What will happen is that the hot mess of a market that is the Asian market will grow and change and develop… and throw out cables. And it’ll get better over time while the availability in Europe stagnates.

PS you can clean the blackened pin so it works again.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-why-your-iphone-lightnin...

>Who will build the spec and research and then lobby Europe to change the law when no device uses it? The marketing of saying “this new spec is better… throw out EVERYTHING” won’t happen.

Except that's basically what happened with USB-C. Micro-B was the standard for the EU, USB-C was developed and got approved, and now it's replacing micro-b as the standard.

USB-C was developed partly because lightning should how much better a reversible multipurpose cable could be. The argument is that without the ability for one player to innovate with a new port we not have the same quality of USB-C port we have now.

The previous standard was Micro-USB (that's why you still see it on dashcams, standalone GPSes, drawing tablets and other devices) and yet, USB-C came to exist.

> I know from extensive direct experience that the lightning end is the better physical design.

What's so great about it? USB-C is just as easy to plug in and these cables usually last longer. The only difference for me is that Lightning eventually ends up with black pins and I have to buy another cable.

Also, is it really worth the few technical advantages if the alternative is a good-enough plug that works with absolutely everything?

It's probably worth noting that iPads and Macbooks charge with USB-C, and that seems generally fine.

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