And I guess that means we won't get any more cable interface innovation for a while. Are we really that certain that micro USB -- I mean, USB-C -- is the format to standardize on for the foreseeable future?
For over a decade the EU has tried to get the industry to adopt a common standard without mandating it in law (we got microUSB on all phones instead of the previous proprietary ports thanks to the 2009 voluntary EU memorandum of understanding that had no problem with manufacturers upgrading to USB-C when it came out), and only Apple kept on refusing to do it.
Apple has been the one company making progress on stuff:
- no floppy
- no optical
- no shitty as mini or micro USB
- no Flash
Each time people whined about the fact that they "didn't use what everyone else does" and each time they were right.
Bluetooth just STILL isn't there from a reliability perspective. Even with the latest Gen 2 AirPods, I talk to friends who continue have sporadic stuff where a single bud cuts out, or you have to reconnect to get the mic working, or etc. etc... Just give me a damn analog plug and let me hear/talk!
The main problem I have with bluetooth is that some devices make it kind of a pain to connect. It's not a huge deal, but it's not as simple or as quick as simply plugging in a cable.
- usb C headphones
- Lightning headphones
- lightning to Audio adapters
Except in the case of USB-C headphones, but I like to be able to use my headphones with _any_ device, and not just a USB-C device. Plus, it turns out that headphones like my bluetooth Sony...XM3 or whatever...they _have_ USB-C for charging, but you can't actually use that interface for anything but charging. In fact, they don't even support BT while plugged in.
Plus, given I like to use analog headphones for my PC and home receiver, it's frustrating the way that the ecosystem has been bifurcated according to all these lines. E.g. if the headphones I want to buy are USB-C only, now I need a USB-C -> analog adapter as well in order to plug them into my stereo.
History lesson: Apple worked with the USB-IF to create USB-C, to make sure it met their needs for both USB and Thunderbolt. They were the first to put USB-C on a laptop, the 12" MacBook in the spring of 2015 — an amazing feat considering that the spec was just finalized in the fall of 2014. They were also the first company to release a laptop with just one USB-C port for power/expansion.
Lightning was pre-USB-C. When it was introduced, Apple committed to support for 10 years.
If you want to invent a conspiracy theory that makes Apple look bad, here it is: If Apple would've switched to USB-C without an EU mandate, they would've received mountains of bad press about the unprecedented amount of e-waste and confusion that will result because of this switch. So they pressured the EU to mandate the change to a standard that Apple helped pioneer so that Apple's environmentally-friendly record would remain unblemished.
https://www.engadget.com/2012-09-12-apple-details-new-dock-c...
Remember when they made us trade our 30-pin cables to Lightning cables?
Remember when they made us trade our headphones with 3.5mm jacks to wireless ones or get a dongle?
Remember when they made us trade our Lightning cables to USB-C cables?
Remember when they made us trade our MagSafe chargers for MagSafe 2 chargers?
Remember when they made us trade our MagSafe 2 chargers for USB-C cables?
(At least we can still use those USB-C cables alongside MagSafe 3 cables)
Remember when they made us trade our first-generation Apple Pencils to second-generation Apple Pencils?
If switching support for one type of hardware for another type of hardware is an environmental blemish by creating e-waste, then Apple's record surely is not spotless.
1) Firewire
2) All the assorted dongles over the years.
If you go back far enough, apple was known as the dongle company. You just needed one more dongle to get things to work correctly.
They have changed things up, but still come up with wonders like this:
https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MQLU3AM/A/usb-c-to-app...
Ipad uses USB-C but the pencil uses lightening.. no problem, just use a dongle?
Is this why apple's repairability index is always so low? Because by allowing their devices to be repaired they avoid being put in the landfills?
They totally don't use proprietary screws, and glue to help you repairing your device.
And again, they are changing thanks to.. legislation...
So if something better comes along, it can replace USB-C at that point.
It might be worth the lost innovation, but to pretend that this won’t impact new development is just fantasyland.
Of course, Mini USB is largely deprecated and not used these days.
If they had forced Apple into Mini USB, would we have gotten adoption of Micro USB, and eventually Type-C connectors?
What cable innovations has the iPhone had thus far?
Actually, the 30-pin connector had a bunch of functionality that was lost when Apple moved to Lightning. The 30-pin connector could for example carry analog audio. The Lightning to 3.5 mm headphone jack adapter needs to have a tiny DAC inside it to actually convert to analog signal.
So if the suggested premise is that we are not going to be seeing "any more cable interface innovation", I'd argue that we weren't seeing much from Apple anyways.
Of course, there's still fragmentation among different continents/countries, but that was inevitable given the time periods these things were standardised. It's unfortunate that the world didn't decide on one standard, but at least almost all countries are internally consistent. There's no need to make the same mistake with USB.