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Comment by ubercore

8 hours ago

Didn't the Apple Faithful say the same for usb-c?

I'm not sure how they are related. USB-C was not really a technical challenge or had trade-offs. I'm not a hardware engineer but from what I've read, having an easily replaceable battery would degrade the water resistance of the phone.

  • Same type of concerns were raised about usb-c: more dust collects, worse connector design, would make the phones too thick, etc etc.

Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of people in the more toxic parts of Apple's fanbase decrying USB-C for appearing too fragile, for being forced on them, for having a confusing set of standards (that last one is a fair point).

But I think, among Apple fans, USB-C has generally been a point of 'pride' for the past decade. Designed by Apple, put in a laptop first by Apple, best $10 USB-C-to-3.5mm DAC by Apple, etc.

Whether correct or not, I think Apple fans anticipate more severe tradeoff ramifications with a replacable battery. I think they're different things. (I don't think it's impossible though- the Fairphone has IP 55, I bet Apple can improve on that).

The Apple Faithful will always defend whatever Apple does, it's not terribly useful to listen to them.

It's the Apple Faithful who criticize Apple that are worth listening to.

Lightning is a superior physical design to USB-C (can't speak to the electrical part). Much like every major tech battle in history, however [1], the worse solution won because of ubiquity. I'm not particularly thrilled because I've had a USB-C connector irretrievably break off in a port once on a laptop but I'll make that trade for being able to use a single cable for all of my devices.

- Not an "Apple Faithful"

[1] VHS vs Beta, Doom vs Marathon, Zergling vs human, etc

  • I've never had trouble with usb-c, but have had lightning connectors short out and burn one of the leads, or stop working from dust. Not sure I'd say one is better than the other, but individual experience can really vary on these kind of things. Tough to say one is clearly better imo.

    • My experience that lighting was by far the best - when everything lightning I had was made by Apple.

      As things became available in the after-market quality began to vary.

      My biggest issue with USB-C right now is I have some devices that need a really long "tongue" and I can't find a cable with such.

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