Hacker News Reader

Comment by AlexandrB | Hacker News Reader

Saying they were forced to implement USB-C is really overstating things. Apple loooved USB-C - so much so that their ill-fated butterfly switch laptops went all-in on it. They also helped design it. It's highly likely they were planning a move to USB-C anyway and the EU just pushed it forward a year.

View on HN

This is untrue. Apple was fighting EU the entire time trying to avoid a switch to USB-C on iPhones. EU representatives were publicly critical of Apple, eventually Apple was forced to give in.

I realize a conspiracy narrative gets more clicks but … you know Apple started the development of USB-C and shipped some of the first devices in 2015, right? People whined about the MacBooks requiring new hubs, etc. for a couple of years and got over it. The same thing happened with the iPad in 2018, AirPods, etc.

When they introduced Lightning in 2012, they made a commitment to all of the third-party hardware developers that iPhones would support it for a decade. I’m sure the EU pressure helped but USB-C iPhones shipping in 2023 is right on that original timing.

Why are you so motivated to rewrite history to defend a mega corporation?

Why are you so motivated to fight the truth?

Truth is, apple didn't want to migrate their phones due to some internal decision not relevant for us, and the fact some other devices were on it doesn't change this. Users comfort was never part of the equation, its politics, sales projection, stabs at competition and similar.

Truth is, apple fought EU hard, we saw it from inside quite well. Backstabs, some cheap tricks trying to delay and evade this, even when it was clear how things will be. Not their best days to be polite.

Why giving some heartless mega corporation free moral credits if they are not well deserved?

I’m not: each thing I wrote is common knowledge—read the Wikipedia pages for the Lightning and USB-C pages if you don’t believe me—and it’s a little silly to spin this as something other than large companies not making massive supply chain changes quickly. I’m glad USB-C has won but you don’t change things deployed in the hundreds of millions in a year–I saw an original iPhone connector in the wild as recently as last year!

But why would Apple, the company that famously hates backwards compatibility, make things easier for third-party accessory manufacturers, instead of making things easier for users bought into the ecosystem who had USB-C on their iPads and Macs?

Oh right, because they collected license fees and royalties for Lightning, reportedly $4 per cable. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22209924

Sure, I’m not saying they’re altruists. I just think the most likely explanation is that they promised compatibility under the “Made For iPhone” program and kept that promise because they’ve been in business long enough to know that screwing people who supported your last product is a great way to ensure they don’t support your next one.

People can and do fight things they agree with on the principle of not wanting to do something because they were told to. You fight it just to say “you can’t tell me what to do” (for precedent) not just to actually defend a position you believe in. Even if the other side wins, they had to pay a cost that may discourage or at least raise the floor for future regulatory efforts.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com