Apple forced to ditch iPhone lightning charger

Regulations work. Suck it, predatory businesses. Literally, eat shit.

Everyday just makes me love the EU more and more.

So funny seeing Apple fans eat up their PR. Ooh it was Apple's plan all along? They did it because it's more environmentally friendly? Yeah right and it only coincides the very same year EU is enforcing every manufacturer to go USB-C route. No one ever stopped to think if Apple is so environmentally friendly why were they fighting right to repair act.

And don't give me that "iPad had USB-C" speech. If lightning port could handle higher currents, iPad would have gone that route as well. USB has been standard for many years now but they have pushed so many different ports instead of going USB route. They don't care about anything else other than milking a bit more money from their users.

Thank fuck, the lightning charger is hot dogshit, IMO. Th lack of compatibility of iphone is annoying, particularly around how 3rd party charging cords won't work with their products sometimes.

I had an iphone for over a decade, and finally switched to android. It suits me better. I spend a lot less time thinking 'i should be able to do this' and looking for a workaround

Three cheers for the EU! 🇪🇺

Good job EU, screw you Apple

Honestly, Apple still are being assholes assholes and - either via firmware or software - are limiting transfer speeds of the standard non-Pro iPhone 15's USB-C connector down from 10gb/s to 480mb/s (Lightning cable speeds) (scroll down to the "Charging and Expansion" section to see for yourselves).

The EU should hit them with a fine or ban EU sales of the 15 non-Pro model for skirting the law.

I find it odd that this is the only noteworthy feature in the new phone.

NOOOOOOO! This goes against their narrative that they chose to do it! How dare you!

The only thing Apple chose themselves was placing an artificial limit on the port.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Apple has confirmed its new iPhone will not feature its proprietary lightning charging port, after the EU forced it into the change.

The tech giant said that the iPhone 15, unveiled at its annual event on Wednesday, would use a USB-C cable as the "universally accepted standard".

The EU had told the tech giant to ditch its proprietary charging ports to make life easier for consumers, save them money, and help reduce e-waste by encouraging re-use of chargers.

But some experts questioned whether consumers would be prepared to pay the high price tags given the devices are not hugely different to their predecessors.

"Convincing users to fork out for these new devices will not be easy during a cost-of-living crisis," said Paolo Pescatore, analyst and founder of PP Foresight.

"Some will see the new features as incremental, [although] collectively they enhance the overall experience which is priceless among Apple's core user base."

The original article contains 457 words, the summary contains 152 words. Saved 67%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Literally the only 'new' thing with the 15

No one will ever miss you

Now, I'm waiting how they will use marketing and communication on ditching the magsafe and going back to only USB-C.

It's cold in here.

Has hell frozen over?!?

They're just going to try to make one that's ever so slightly better, and then patent it again

Apple lightning cable it means. The charger still works fine

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In apple's defense, lightning pre-dates USB-C by a few years. There are a ton of lightning accessories in the wild that have been made useless e-waste by this forced change. I'm glad we're all on an agreed-upon standard, though. It had to happen at some point.

As long as it still refuses to charge because of fluff in the port - take my money!

This is epic.

Actually, Apple supports the right to repair law now: https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/23/23843506/apple-california-right-to-repair-sb-244

Good. Fucking lightning with it's fucking USB 2.0-ass interface.

good headline, apple was "forced"

they could have also opened up lighting and had other develop for it. That was always an option.

I commented on a similar sentiment in a different thread, but I think this (Apple being forced) is the wrong take.

There really hasn’t been a question of whether or not they were moving to USB-C for at least 6 months. The only question was whether it would be thunderbolt or not, and it isn’t. The narrative was always that they’d keep lightning for 10 years and then move to something new, Schiller even called it “a modern connector for the next decade” when it was announced, and at the time it was better than anything else on the market.

Now USB-C is the standard and superior, and it’s cheaper to bring the iPhone in line with that standard than to keep lightning or develop a new port/connector. As soon as the iPads went USB-C (5 years ago and well before EU regs) it was a foregone conclusion that the iPhone would follow suit, and anyone who was paying attention should have known it would happen this year, 10 years after lightning was introduced as a 10 year plan.

Regulations didn’t make Apple change. A viable standard that met their requirements did. And, Apple doesn’t need to develop this which saves them money, and they’ll still sell cables at a premium just like they do now. Apple doesn’t need a proprietary cable, they only need their brand which has massive loyalty.