USB-C regulation - the BIG problem 

While I agree, this strikes me as a bit of "take what you can get" moment. Let's be real: The most common use, by far, for the USB-C connector is just power delivery. While the connector is aging (and IMO not as nice as Lightning), an iPhone with USB-C would instantly mean that I could plug my MacBook Pro's brick, or my Nintendo Switch brick into my phone in a pinch and juice it up. The Lightning connector has increasingly become the odd-connector-out among my devices, and it's getting correspondingly increasingly annoying to accommodate.

The main reason I don't buy the "what about new connectors" thing, mostly because for the past decade it doesn't look like anyone's actually been working on it. Apple argued that this might mean that they can't put a better connector on in future, but if there's some supposed replacement for Lightning that Apple would be prevented from producing by this new regulation, where has it been for the past decade? The Lightning form factor dates from 2012.

Every USB-C cable and charger are compatible with each other, even if not at the fastest speeds. There are hundreds of millions of people in the world who cannot afford the highest spec phones with highest speed chargers etc. At least it all works.

While I agree with the sentiment, the vast majority of users only use their connectors to charge their devices and, once in a blue moon, transfer some photos. USBC is not perfect but it is the standard everyone agreed to.

Agree that Apple should have done this a long time ago. I hate having to having to have a Lightning cable.

I do not agree with Rene's conflation of the web standard consortium's mis-adoption of HTML rendering engines with the EU's adoption of the engineering spec for USB-C. They're different animals. Further, has anyone mentioned that USB-C systems have their spring portion inside the cable, not the device. It is much easier and cheaper to replace a cable when the spring fails.

The USB-C standard includes PD, so any brick with USB PD compliance will charge any device, up to 65W currently and going forward 100W and above. There is also provision for the decision to be reviewed every 5 years, to ensure that USB-C is still the best way to go forward, if there is a better standard out there, it can replace USB-C after a certain date (E.g. USB-C is the standard now, but in 2028, they might review and say, from 2030 on it will be SuperConnector(tm)... I use a single, smalll 65W GAN charger with 3 USB-C and 1 USB-A port. I have a USB-C Lighting, USB-C Apple Watch Puck and an USB-C cable, plus a USB-A - microUSB for my torch and camera. The Lightning is for my iPhone and AirPods, the puck is for the watch, the USB-C is for everything else I have, apart from my torch and my 2016 camera. The other thing is, the EU told the industry in 2010 to sort their own house out, sort out a standard and stick with it, that didn't happen, so they did it for them.

I’m not a big fan of the EU, but this is one of the moments I agree with its actions. Apple has had Lightning for a decade. If they wanted to make it the new standard, they could have. They instead made it proprietary and then essentially stopped developing it beyond 3.0 to accommodate faster charging and data speeds, resulting in iPads to necessarily switch to USB-C. Then they start to introduce all these amazing ProRes video stuff on the iPhone, but stubbornly refuse to switch to a faster port. At this point, Apple is insufferable regarding Lightning, which is why I’ve been committed since 2020 to not invest in anything with a Lightning port. The Lightning port must die, even if some future USB-D will look like it. Who knows how long that will take.

5:00 - No, that does *NOT* mean you only have to travel with one type of plug. What you just said here can easily be missunderstood as one individual cable, which is not true as wire gage can be thiner than required to carry power like 100W, some USB-C plugs are missing data lanes, some are only wired for audio. The shape of the connector does not mean the same type of plug. As soon as just one contact is changed, that's a completely different plug.

You know, the irony here is that the USB-D plug will probably look just like the lightning plug.

EU law only mandates charging form factor of charging plugs and it will change if technology advances. It is a small step forward IMO. Think how convenient it will be if all countries use one type of power plug.

The power delivery and transfer speeds could be solved by simply printing the standard tier on the actual cable. Most cables for industry work do. Apple could do what they did with Thunderbolt 3 and simply used the USB-C port for a Lightning 2, thereby establishing two different tiers and data transfer speed and power delivery. Then consumers are more likely to adopt awareness of the branded tiers.

i havent used a cable to charge my iphone since i got it. wirelss charging works fine for my usecase.

This is all under the assumption that Apple will ship it's devices with type C outside of Europe. They are already shipping iPhone 14s with physical Sims outside of N. America while only we get the eSIM iPhones. They might do the same in the Americas to keep that lightening money rolling in.

MagSafe be like: bro I am also there some one recognise me😂

I think given the larger files they may will have a USB-C BUT I suspect it will be USB4/thunderbolt.

Despite the issues with USB-C, it still is a pretty solid standard and literally every device I have other than my iPhone uses it. All of the new EVs have USB-C ports. When I remodeled my house this past year, I had USB-C in the wall outlets. Future proofing here. Overall, it works well, and it's not nearly as painful as having to bring along lightning ports. Granted, I charge my iPhone 95% of the time with a MagSafe charger on my nightstand, or the clamshell duo Apple charger when I travel, but there are a few times when I have a rental car or I'm on a plane when a cable still makes sense. I actually wish TVs would move to USB-C and we could ditch HDMI!

I'm very much for it because it's a pain to have to remember to bring special cables (and spares) for the iPads and iPhones in the family, each one being unnecessarily expensive and not very reliable to start with. There's no technical reason for Lightning, I think we can all agree. I'm sure Apple will try to somehow proprietize USB-C now to extract money from its users via periphery manufacturers, but your point about having to bring "the" power brick is moot. You need to bring "a" power brick, and you can choose any of the thousand available ones. You can have a charging brick with 6 ports. You can have one with wireless charging for your iWatch. You can have one that's light and expensive for travel, or one that's heavier and cheaper for home. You can have a charger that's also a power bank. You can borrow any charger and have it charge any of your devices. That's the point, _not_ having to bring _the_ charger. It's not much different from when EU forced phone manufacturers to use USB instead of proprietary plugs back in the dumbphone era. It wasn't perfect, MicroUSB is still very bad, but it was certainly an improvement.

Let's face it: _Apple is _*_NOT_*_ going to implement on the iPhone 15 the multiple standard USB Type C port found on its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops_ . It's far more likely the USB Type C port will be the same as the one found on the current iPad Air and iPad Mini models: up to circa 40 watts initial charging rate per USB-IF Power Delivery 3.0 standard and Thunderbolt 3/USB Certified 10 Gbps data transfer speeds.

One thing - compare prices of USB C and Lightning. Now look which functionality USB C you can buy for the same price. You may see plug allowing to charge AND stream - not like that 3$ you mentioned (whilst lightning costs 20...)

true, the cables itself still have a lot of work to be done, but at least the connecter type was standardized. not ideal, sure, but in the right direction.

Thanks for sharing . I appreciate your perspective. I look forward to USB-C on the iPhone. Blessings on your day!

Your point is very valid. USB C cables are confusing, to the point where I have to look up a manufacturer’s specs before I truly know what power/data speeds it can handle. I just want a USB C iPhone and AirPods 😅

Apple’s iPhone lightning implementation is stuck on usb2.0 speeds. Apple adopted usb-c on its macs and iPads so it’s unclear why iPhone is still lightning. I for one will be happy when I no longer need to bring two cables on vacation, a usb-c for almost everything, and lightning only for iPhone/AirPods. It’s time to abandon lightning and to move on.

I'm sorry what is your problem exactly? I watched the entire video and all I heard was whining and rambling about easily fixable issues. And a few seconds of "but all my Lightning stuff!" I guess it's about that in the end. Don't worry, Apple will come up with a dongle. It's what they do.

So glad you’re back and looking so healthy post Covid. Love the haircut too Rene. Looking awesome as always. ❤❤

Apple doesn't even use lightning on all of its devices so apple ecosystem users don't just have to use lightning but have to use USB as well, that's just silly imo

USB C regulation is only for smartphones and not laptop. As laptops from HP and ASUS might use propriety based chargers not USB C. So EU rules doesn't make sense as they say they will reduce cables but we will still have laptop charger, magsafe charger and USB C and one more thing making USB C for every laptop is not possible.

Why don't they regulate cable specs instead? such as HDMI's horrible and frequently misleading nomenclature. The lightning port is a standard of it's own, it makes no sense to force them to change.

You imagine they pull regional iPhone type. USB-C in EU and Lightning in US. For the people that say this will not happen. They already have different hardware in China

Understatement. Thanks

I have my iPad Mini and iPhone on my bedside table. I have to have 2 different cables to charge them both. I have several Apple devices and all but the iPhone and wireless charger use USB-C. It's absurd to me that my iPhone is the only Apple device that needs the Lightning connector.

The transitions to the ads be having me dyinnng😂

You cables won’t become useless… they’ll still work

I've missed your rants, Rene. Nice job as always.

Watching this on my new Pixel 7 Pro. I thought about getting an iPhone 14 but I really being able to charge my phone, my Kindle, and my iPad with a single cable. Maybe by the time I am on the market again Apple will have upgraded.

I hope the EU doesn’t decide to standardize on a single phone OS. Mandating Android would simplify everything. Right?

It was mentioned that AirPods may not be covered, in fact they are part of one of the main groups already defined, see list below. The way EU regulations work (having dealt with them for 30+ years) is not related to key issues such as the technical aspects of 'nerds' or even the educated consumer, in this case the main issue was environmental savings. So your points are interesting but from a EU perspective not really that relevant to them (sorry about that), many people in my profession are not so keen on what the EU is doing as it will mean no innovation any time soon and the environmental savings will in fact not be as large as the EU commission is predicting, it will also lead to issues over cheap cables that may comply with the regulations but indirectly (due to quality) may result in quality issues to the main item (phone, tablet) . My aim with this comment was really to clarify you uncertainty over AirPods being included, so I hope this helps. The new requirement will cover a range of portable electronics, according to the EU, including: - mobile phones - tablets - e-readers - mice and keyboards - GPS (global positioning system) devices - - digital cameras - handheld videogame consoles - portable speakers

I hate the EU. They constantly got to dictate and people wonder why the U.K. voted to leave this bloc. It should have remained solely a trading bloc but it grew into a political monster.

I use 3 in 1 MagSafe charger and I have never been happier….. my phone , Watch and AirPods all at the same time

Excellent Stallone impression

Why are you so sure EU didn't consult the major players before taking this decision? Do you have any proof to sustain this?

No, they shouldn’t of switched to USB C earlier. It’s not as water resistant as the lighting port. Who the heck would want that trade off?

I think it’s kinda sad that USB-C is not the ideal form factor. I would love all USB-protocols but with the lightning form factor

Get a high power charging brick with 2 cables attached, one usb c one lighting. Problem solved, for now

As long as I won’t have to feel around in the dark, accidentally grab my iPad charger and try to plug it in my iPhone anymore I’m happy.

One of the main reasons I don't own an Apple is because all my devices use type C cable. And that phone cost more then 20 000. And comes with no charger. That's daylight robbery.

Hey Rene, I love your videos there just different even a refresh if you will!

Just take out the charging port and use that extra real estate for battery. I hope they take away the SIM tray for international iPhones so they can put that real estate to use too.

I’m really sad that Edge got dumped. It was after Firefox my favorite browser.

Usb-C need to be reglated as a tech....on power delivery, transfer speed etc....Amazon is a perfect example to many options to confuse customers .. if it's usb 3 or 4 or what ever it need sot be the same....

Came for the cogent tech discussion. Passable Sly Stalone impression thrown in free!

The only thing I charge with a USBC cable is my MacBook air. Everything else I use either magsafe or wireless. So at this point I'm much more interested in the overall design of the iPhone 15. I hope it is much more than just a USBC connection. I would like to see a narrower phone for the max, like how Samsung does it. Because I feel like the s22 ultra is much easier to use in one hand than the pro maxs. And I rarely transfer data using a cable.

Apple probs just make their phones MagSafe only and give everyone a free MagSafe charger just to piddle off the EU 😂

I want to buy a rolan spd sx battery it is true that you sell it

I don't know much about cables and MFi, but I wonder what the special chips like the C94 and C91m found on lightning connectors have to do with this new regulation.

Usb-c ports are problematic. They break easily. I never had problem on iphones lightning ports to break, the female port on the phone. But on android phones they break after a year or two. Especially if you use wired headphones daily.

This is going to backfire the second USB C becomes outdated-and it will.

with so many devices out there people will be using lighting for years to come (mouse, keyboard, airpods etc)

On a tangential point: I do so wish tech reporters would actually read the EU legislation before commenting. There's been so much fud going about. I also think it's very sad to see, particularly American, tech pundits, declare as fact, that EU officials /Parliamentarians haven't any sort of technical background or knowledge on what they're legislating on. In reality, as is almost always the case, they've had plenty of technical advice and endless discussions with groups - industry and consumers - over the years. It's just dumb ignorance to say we don't know what people in the various committees, panels etc, have been legislating. This decision hasn't been taken without understanding the issues. I say this as somebody who used to work in the European Parliament.

No, we don't need usb D. We already have a bunch of devices with usb c

Very interesting perspective

I am rocking an iPhone 8, I better start collecting lighting cables

earbuds are covered. the law states “all small to medium sized electronics”

I don’t mind the lightning connector itself, I just hate the USB 2.0 speeds. In my opinion, Apple should’ve made the Lightning connector run at usb 3.0 when the iPhone X came out in 2017 and 3.1/3.2 speeds when the iPhone 13 came out.

The EU has always dictated its own rules. Why do the rest of us have to follow in the same time?

Better names for the USB types: USB-C --> Serial Bus type C USB-A --> Universal Serial Bus

I dunno even tho usb c is technically a old design company’s are still slowly adapting it like Xbox controllers and headphones etc that were still using micro b for decades flashlights and other stuff also still haven’t all adopted usb c

Once again I still need a cable for each device no matter the connection plug because all my devices need to be charged. So guess what my one plug is to a triple wireless charger that uses a three plug wall plug.

The eu is out of Touch and really do not have the right to tell other companies what they should be putting on their iPhones.

We in Europe take standardization very seriously And you have to start from something, this time it's usb c, that's how we do it in Europe, it doesn't bother us... I fully support the EU directives banning 8K due to excessive consumption and the standardization of phone charging cables

Yeah, I’ve been burned on the USB-C cables multiple times, luckily not physically, though from what I understand that was a major issue during the early days of it. As someone who likes having all USB-C only devices, I don’t care for it being government mandated at all. Especially under the guise of reducing e-waste. I’ve thrown out so many USB-C cables just because they were garbage. It’s gonna continue to be a problem because as mentioned in the video, the standards only affect the plug/port and not the wires. And in my experience when buying cheaper cables on Amazon, you get way more duds on USB-C than on lightning.

what issues are there with the physical connector of usb c you said it yourself that that is just the connector not the cable. it also doesnt stop OEMs from putting alterntive charging methords on to a device so for example dell laptops can still have a barrel plug charger as long as they can charge by usb c too. iphones and macbooks can still charge by magsafe as long as they have usb c too its not about limiting options its about making sure theres at least one common connection even if its just wired for power and nothing else. on top of this 9 years is nothing for a usb connection standard while usb C is encroaching on dominance in the usb connection market share usb A is still the king connector and that is a 26 year old connection still used on the lionshare of PCs laptops and even consols like xbox and playstation. this doesnt impose limits but rather common ground you may have decades of lighting cables but someone wanting to buy an iphone for the first time might have almost a decade of usb c cables cables they use for everything from laptop to controller to phone in the car at work and at home that they now also have to go and buy lighting cables to sit along side them in their work back and on their nightstand because apple is too stubborn for whatever reason with the iphone and only the iphone. considering they have moved every other product to usb c at this phone even the apple watch ships with a usb c cable now i have to thing the only reason the 14 series is still on lighting is out of spite there is no reason why a 1tb $1600 iphone 14 pro max should have to transfer footage at usb 2.0 speed. even the ipad mini a device that costs less than 1/3 of the highest end iphone uas at least usb 3.1 5gbps.

How come you have “only” 329k subscribers with such a great contents?

I am not living in the U.S. So, I do not understand what seems to be the big issue here. In the States they can continue with the lightning port, or adapt the USB-C as they did with the iPad, and nobody complained about it, or they can push up the wireless charging, ditching up the charging port, and sell everyone a portless iPhone. What is this fuss about it? For someone like me, an European having a general port to charge everything is quite alright, no need to take chargers for your tablet, earbuds, smartwatch, camera, and so on. Iphone customers should wake up a little bit and try to see other alternatives, and avoid taking everything as granted.

so, can you get to the actual issue?

I wasn't aware there's different USB-C cables, they all just seem to to charge my phone just fine, until they don't then they go to recycle land.

Apple will have to certify a standard for differing USB C cables..... The USB C Pro The USB C Max and the USB C Ultra. 😆

I just use the lightning cable to charge the phone and it comes with one in the box. I think that’s how the majority of people use it. I can 100% understand wanting higher transfer speeds and increased performance for transferring high resolution photos/videos. But the added weight one additional cable adds to my bag while traveling seems a little dramatic to me. I don’t go to the gym as often as I should, but I still don’t notice the weight difference in my bag at all.

Really it's a case educating consumers, which is the intent of this video, to ensure they're purchasing quality cable and if possible a Thunderbolt 4 cable which are meant to cover all needs for many years.

I still prefer USB type C. no matter what.

the minimum transfer rate could be standardized for usb c.

What Apple products released in 2022 uses USB C and doesn’t at least use usb 3? Honest question, I have no idea. It’s possible, but I doubt they’ll go under Thunderbolt 2.

The fact that Apple added USB-C to the iPad Air 4 in 2020 (a non-pro device) but are still clinging to lightning plus on the 2022 standard and pro iPhones is just idiotic.

I'm not opposed to connector innovation but the lightning connector is really getting frustrating. Apple should have come up with something better at this point or switched to USB. I also think that rendering diversity for the web is overrated. Diversity in web development software makes the job of developers needlessly harder.

True, cable needs the be better too.

Apple will remove the lightning for iPhones next year

This dude has Apple so far up all his holes. No excuse for USB 2.0 speeds in 2022.

The original reason for this was because the old dumb phones all had different power plugs with difference sized holes and power that didn't work from one phone to another even the same brand. Now its all USB, even Apple. I can charge my iPhone with a Samsung USB brick. Its the cable that matters and as all the power bricks are USB with a port I don't see why it even matters any more. In addition, I still need a lightening to USB A or the future USB C to USB A so I can plug into my car which is going to be stuck with its USB A port for many years to come as I am not replacing the car any time soon. Having a BRICK + Cable works and what that is doesn't matter, not any more.

Actually EU DID try to work with manufacturers first, but market didn’t deliver at all. But on the one hand you moan about the existing of the USB-C standard while on the other hand you complain the standardisation doesn’t go far enough.

Apple could have 2 ports on newer iDevices, USB C for charging, and the other lightning for syncing.

Apple already made a dongle for the iPad + Pencil Gen 1... So what prevents them from just changing the connector and forcing you to purchase the $9 dongle to use your existing lightning cable for those who still have older chargers...

There's no reason for lightning to exist in 2022

Hey Rene, allow me to prelude by saying I wasn't your biggest fan back in your iMore days. So much so that if I saw you as the author I would move on to another article. I felt as though your work was predictable in nature and extremely subjective. Those days are gone. I now appreciate your professional approach to journalism and well thought out, objective take to subjects in the day and age of spelling mistakes, poor grammar and copouts. Well done and much respect.

“The thing that I love about standards is that there are so many to choose from.” - Erik Spiekermann

USB D is just an april fools joke. Not far from the arguments you've put down here. They made it mandatory, because making it optional did not help to cover all the companies. Standardization is a way forward. Imagine you would have a different pump nozzle for every car brand and they would randomly change it after 10 or so years. What about wheels, tires, what about an electrical outlet and appliances. 99% of the market chose USB C as their standard, until we get something better (and it isn't USB D as of now). Furthermore, all small electronics should be covered by the regulation, including headphones. I agree, they should keep closer eye on the real implementation, like with the cookies, this is however already implemented and used. it has quite broad compatibility, at least for charging, that this is targeted to. Of course even charging is not as universal as it cold be, I expect that the manufacturers will step up their game and not make device like my thinkpad 2021 that can't charge itself using samsung's 45W brick.

With all the dissertations about the pros and cons of this new law as well as what and when Apple should do or should have done, there’s only one thing that’s certain… there is a cost (design, tooling, mfg, etc.) associated with meeting this mandate and the consumers will foot the bill that will be buried with higher iPhone prices. It’s quite naïvely of anyone that believes the EU regulators are actually saving their constituents money in the long run.

Relax Rene, everything is going to be fine. I promise.

The lightning cable is fundamentally indefensible at this point. It’s inferior performance, power delivery, compatibility, etc. zero pros, all the cons. Shame on Apple for not just doing this years ago

As a reminder; Apple designed and holds the patent on the USB-C connector. Clearly there’s reasons they aren’t using it on the iPhone. Also this law isn’t stopping the use of multiple chargers. All USB chargers are the same. This is about cables. And look at USB cables… I have a drawer filled with A-B, B-B, B to mini, B to micro, B to C. Is this law eliminating those? My tablet used a mini connector, not C. So I need one of those cables, etc. All my audio devices use A or B connectors. So I need those cables. Is this law really changing all of that? Apple was the driving force behind USB with the original iMac. Before that PCs had USB but there were no peripherals that used it. They also had USB-C on a produce before anyone else… just a couple of months after the standard was finalized (since they designed it). Then everyone else followed suit. So the iPhone needs a different cable? I always have several Lightning to USB cables laying around. And then which flavor of USB? B or C? Some people had to buy new cables anyway. This law isn’t going to eliminate extra cables one tiny bit.