As much as I might like some of these features, I don’t thing legislating them is the right thing to do. Politicians are not technologists, nor do they have any insight into future product roadmaps. Not to mention, this is going to create an insane amount of e-waste when everyone’s old chargers become useless with their new phone.

“Everything must have USB-C” sounds great right now, but what about when it gets old and slow or something better comes a long that is worth the switch… we have to wait for the EU to tell everyone it’s ok and make a transition plan for the whole industry?

If we had to wait for governments to produce all new technology, we’d still be living in 1960.

Apple has clearly been in the middle of a USB-C transition for a while now. The MacBook Pro going all-in on USB-C probably did more for mass adoption than any other single company. I’m sure they had a plan for the iPhone as well. The EU didn’t need to try and force their hand here.

Maybe you should try reading what’s proposed…

The EU is not saying “companies should use USB-C”, they are saying “the industry should agree on a connector, and all should use that”.

They went to the companies that are key players in the market and asked “what connectors do you think should be used right now?”, and the companies said “USB-C”, so that’s what it’s used.

If in the future a better connector appears and the industry wants to change to it, they have to tell the EU “Now we want to use connector XYZ”, and that will be what everybody use. The standard is set by the industry, not the EU.

The EU knows what it’s doing. They don’t claim to know better than the industry. They just want the industry to do things that favor the consumer, not screw them to favor themselves…

How is making me throw away all my old charging cables and buy a bunch of new ones better for the environment?

Because if it’s done right, a single USB-C charger and cable is all you’ll need, instead of 2 or three different chargers. You buy less things, less trash out there polluting the environment. And it’s not like Apple hasn’t made you throw charging cables before… remember the 30-pin connector?

I do remember the 30-pin connector and how up in arms people were about the change. As it’s not just the cables, it was also all the accessories. When they went from 30-pin to lightning they said they designed it to last a long time and it wasn’t going to be something they changed frequently, because they understood the impact. The EU is now trying to force their hand on that. 30-pin was made for the iPod. The iPhone does a lot more and has different needs. I’m not saying we never need change, just that it shouldn’t be up to the government of 1 little part of the world to dictate what that change is.

Also, not needing to buy any new stuff means less trash than forcing people to buy new stuff. I assume that’s why the iPhone seems to be going last in Apple’s move to USB-C. If they move their lower volume stuff over and give it some time, a good number of people will already have other USB-C stuff they can use the new iPhone with, rather than leading with their highest volume product and forcing everyone to buy new instead of reusing other stuff they may have gotten along the way from other stuff they were already buying. I still know people who don’t have any USB-C stuff.

But you’re aware that most new Apple products come with USB-C, right? The fact that you need to buy a special cable to connect an iPhone to a MacBook (for example) should be a motivation enough for the change.

Apple has moved most of their products to USB-C, except the iPhone, and the only explanation possible is that using Lighting is profitable for them, even if it’s not convenient for users.

On my part, I’m glad they’re being forced to do it. They seem more worried on incrementing their pile on money than doing something that may benefit their customers, in this case. So, good riddance lightning cables! You won’t be missed.

The other explanation for lightning on the phone is that it’s a better connector for a phone.

It’s simpler, easier to clean, more durable and is designed to break the cable instead of the phone when twisted or bent.

Lightning was better that the 30-pin one. Or maybe the first iterations of USB-C. These days, USB-C is way more capable, technically, than Lightning, and that’s why the industry use it so massively (even Apple for other products).

They don’t charge it because it will only benefit consumers, but not the company. And they only care for things that benefit them, irregardless of it benefiting the customers.