Comment by kalleboo

3 years ago

And all because Apple refused to play ball and just adopt USB-C like the rest of the industry. They're too used to US regulators that just roll over and don't follow through with their threats.

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.

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kalleboo

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CharlesW  3 years ago

> And all because Apple refused to play ball and just adopt USB-C like the rest of the industry.

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.

  • Hamuko  3 years ago

    >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.

    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.

    • kennend3  3 years ago

      This is a pretty decent list but is missing two core components

      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?

    • CharlesW  3 years ago

      That's a pretty good list, but you're forgetting SCSI cables (and terminators), AppleTalk cables, and ADB cables. What else?

  • kennend3  3 years ago

    > 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.

    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...

renewiltord  3 years ago

Thank fuck they didn't because otherwise we would have ended up with the shitty mini USB crap.

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.

  • jyrkesh  3 years ago

    I'd say the one exception here is removing the headphone jack. I'm still really salty about that one. Even as a Pixel owner...the downstream ecosystem effect was everyone removing the headphone jack. And most Android phones didn't even get the waterproofing benefits!

    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!

    • mrtranscendence  3 years ago

      Anecdotally, I haven't had any problems of the problems you describe on the latest AirPods Pro. And I like the ability to wander the house without dragging my MacBook Pro around -- I can get surprisingly far away before it starts to cut out. It's not perfect, mind you; on rare occasions they won't connect to my phone at all, requiring a restart, but once connected they're fine. And one time the left and right AirPods became veerryy slightly desynced, which was a bit trippy ...

      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.

  • 8note  3 years ago

    No flash was and continues to be a monopoly play, ensuring to competition to the app store