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Comment by gadders | Hacker News Reader

I don't have an apple phone, but my daughter does, and I've always thought that mechanically at least the Apple connector was better because it had less bits to go wrong.

USB C, like micro USB has that "tongue" piece that has to fit inside the end of the cable which always looks like it could snap off. The Apple connector is just a solid piece that goes in the end of the phone. No fiddly interlock pieces.

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In all the discussions I've seen where people complain about USB-C, not once have I read about that tab snapping off, so it does not seem to be a problem in practice.

The reason USB-C has the tab on the device is to have the springs, which are the bits which can go wrong the most, on the cable instead of the device. When they start to become loose, you only have to replace an inexpensive cable, instead of having to replace or repair the device. It also better protects the contacts on both the cable and the device (the contacts on Apple's lightning cable are exposed).

It happened to me once. It was a cheap no-name hub so I don't really blame type c for it. I also haven't heard it happen to anyone else and most of my friends and family have an android.

It happened to me on a micro-usb phone, which is probably what makes me a bit warey of them.

The socket half of the lightning connector is actually pretty delicate inside: there are little tiny fingers that contact the strips on the plug. It's quite easy to damage those fingers and ruin the port when cleaning it out after exposure to dust or sand.

Mind you my 7 year old broke the USB C connector on his Switch in much the same way. There's only so strong you can make something that small and dense with contacts.

The lightning connection does seem to have interlocking pieces, but the moving parts are in the socket rather than on the plug. The plug has grooves on the side to lock into the sprung clips in the socket.

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