Comment by dwaite

I suspect that Apple has been in progress of moving things over to USB-C for a while (see the recent Apple TV and iPad changes). They have already moved off of USB-A chargers completely, moving onto USB-C chargers.

My understanding is they are also pushing the upper limits of what lightning charging cables are rated for, my suspicion is that it can't support PPS, so the lightning port is now limiting them both in charging speed/flexibility and in data transfer.

But in some markets (like the US) you have more lightning-charged iPhones than android phones. It is a lot big cost for their customers to bear, throwing away a decade of chargers and cables when Apple is not really going to be able to express it as an improvement to them - for instance, most phone users don't use the data channel at all, getting updates and backing up data with the cloud.

I find it odd people think their reluctance has been to defend profits on some sort of lightning cable ecosystem. Their margin on phones is likely $100+. Their margin on the licensing for a third-party cable is likely below $0.50.

I'd argue this regulation is great for Apple, because it gives them a scapegoat. Apple then claims didn't necessarily _want_ to cost their customers a bunch of money, but the EU mandated it. So Apple is going to go ahead and make the change worldwide.

But hey, look, at the same time we improved phone charging speeds and look how fast we can transfer ProRes media you captured with your phone now to your computer? Feel free to tack those new official charging cables and data transfer cables along with any chargers you need at purchase, if you don't have any already.