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Comment by cmckn | Hacker News Reader

I kind of understand this from an e-waste angle, but why (as a consumer) do I care if different phones use the same cable? I only have one phone. Even if I get a new phone every year, unless I’m switching back and forth between iPhones and Androids, I’m not having to buy new cables. If I go to a public place, and need to plug my phone in, I can already do that regardless of the connector on the phone end. If a friend is over and they need a phone charger, there’s only two possible needs, and I’ve already filled them. Apple charges license fees on Lightning, but I can already buy a nice third party cable for like $10.

Why is this so important as to require a large scale device maker to redesign their entire product line, and make millions of existing cables obsolete? Genuinely interested in the reasoning behind this, what problems is it solving?

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Do you own a tablet and a laptop, by chance? Maybe have 3 other family members, each with some combination of said three devices? That can quickly become a lot of household chargers if they are all different.

But the problem will still be exactly the same, because not all USB-C cables are created equal.

We've basically set in stone a standard that is so varied that the standardization means nothing. And that's before you get into any component actually wearing out and giving you degraded performance on the device or cable.

But you can get an USB-C power supply and cable which can charge all of your USB-C devices.

That hasn't been my experience. I have a bunch of 30w USB-C chargers that charge everything in my house. They are built in to my wall outlets and support (at least) 5v, 9v and 15v. I don't know where you're getting this idea that the standard is "so varied that the standardization means nothing". Those three profiles are enough for me. If I buy a 100W laptop, I may need one more charger, but that's just because I chose not to pay to have 100W available everywhere. It seems reasonable that a tiny phone charger won't work so great on a gaming laptop.

EDIT: Guess I'm not allowed to reply to sagarm? That's annoying. But yeah, it's the Leviton one. I love it. Cleans up so many ugly wall warts.

Which USB wall outlets are you using? The only one I've found that supports PD and 30W is from Leviton.

Practically it's not. We have probably a dozen USB-C devices in our home and many more chargers of varying wattage scattered about, and the only time I've had to think about the cable was for my TB3 dock. In fact, I worry more about cable lengths to minimize clutter.

As others have pointed out, even if all these devices have a USB-C hole on them, the likelihood that you could actually use their charger with another device (especially of a different class) is at best a coin toss.

The devices still have to ship with chargers, you still have to find the “right” charger, but now you can’t tell them apart?

My main thought is just that the problem of different chargers is not one I think requires sweeping regulatory intervention; but I’m not an EU voter. :)

> the likelihood that you could actually use their charger with another device (especially of a different class) is at best a coin toss.

I've been able to use all my USB-C chargers for all my USB-C devices. That's 4 chargers and 4 devices.

That's at best twelve coin tosses!

What? I use the same USB-C cable and charger with my android phone, 2020 Macbook Pro, Ipad, SO's android phone of a different brand and way older MBP that's on its last legs.

That's the whole point of USB-C. I don't own a single device that I can't charge with the same 2 cables, to the point where the magnetic cable of the 2020 MBP is stored in its box.

Agreed. I could probably be fairly called an Apple critic on most things, but I don't think Lightning is a problem in need of solving. It was great all phones migrated to USB on the brick, but the other end of the cable is less important as long as there are such a small number.

> unless I’m switching back and forth between iPhones and Androids, I’m not having to buy new cables.

Even if you did. Lightning's been around since 2012. It superseded the Dock connector every iPod and iPhone had since 2003. At this point they are pretty ubiquitous.

> Apple charges license fees on Lightning

This also prevents the mess that is USB-C where vendors don't implement the spec correctly (and brick unsuspecting devices in the process, see Nintendo). Apple can just refuse to license devices from vendors that don't implement the spec correctly.

In a home where almost everyone uses Android (along with laptops, all of which charge over USBC) and just one person uses an iPhone, looking for a Lightning cable just for that one person can be a huge hassle.

I also wonder about this. Every device I've ever bought that needs either a charger or an AC adapter has come with its own power/charging cable. I've never had the desire for them to all have the same connector. I just keep the charger with the device. When I buy a new device, I expect it to come with the cable necessary to power or charge it.

Because it makes officious bureaucrats feel good and justifies their existence.

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