BasicAppleGuyIf you're left with piles of Lightning cables after tomorrow, consider donating those you don't need to a nearby shelter - they're a hotly sought-after item for people there. 🔌
Rich Aesthetic@BasicAppleGuy I thought the EU was trying to reduce ewaste, I don't think forcing companies to use the same port changes that problem. Instead they should not allow companies to give cables and phone cases in the box for free. I mean, seriously. I'm still using the same lightning cable to charge my iPhone 14 Pro Max as I did charge my 11 Pro Max... It's in great condition, obviously a bit dirty but not frayed or kinked in anyway. meanwhile I have the iPhone 12, 13, and 14 cable in my cable box
r҉ustic cyÍ be̸rpu̵nk🤠🤖@richaesthetic @BasicAppleGuy None of what you said negates the immediate need for lightning cables in shelters
Hisham@cypnk @richaesthetic @BasicAppleGuy Living in Brazil, the thought of people living in shelters AND using Apple products at the same time is extremely wild.
(To be clear, I totally believe it's a realistic scenario in the US, as I am aware both that Apple's market share there is much higher than the world average and that the US has a growing inequality problem causing people to move down the social ladder rather quickly.)
DDR@hisham_hm @cypnk @richaesthetic @BasicAppleGuy Yeah. If you run into trouble, the last thing you shed is generally your phone. Plus... it's not much money compared to rent in many places.
winter@ddr @hisham_hm @cypnk @richaesthetic @BasicAppleGuy A new phone is way less than a month's rent where i live. Even Apple.
Alan Miller 
🇺🇦@hisham_hm @cypnk @richaesthetic @BasicAppleGuy longevity for Apple products is overall higher than for almost anything Android. I think the oldest hardware still getting updates is the iPhone 6s from 2015, but even the 2014 6 models received updates this past January.
Siderea, Sibylla BostoniensisIt's true! I worked for years in a very impoverished community in the Boston area, and the iPhone was the phone of choice. It's the only computer most people there ever have, and it's much more reliable and much higher quality than Android.
Also, for a sense of scale, you can get an older iPhone from a local chain store, right now, for $250, while RentCafe.com reports the average monthly apartment rent in that very neighborhood is more than 10 times that.
@siderea @cypnk @richaesthetic @BasicAppleGuy I don't doubt that at all! I'm just observing how the situation regarding Apple products specifically is so different here: https://mastodon.social/@hisham_hm/111063626042021403
Mark Stosberg@richaesthetic @BasicAppleGuy For any Android user switching to Apple, it reduces e-waste.
And for Apple users with USB-C chargers for a Mac and their iPad, they may not need yet another for their iPhone.
@markstos I have been using the same cable that I got with my iPhone 12 a few years ago. I’m on the iPhone 14 now. I have two spare lightning cables from the 14 and the 13 sitting in my drawer. I think the waste is going to come from the fact that I get a new cable with every device. if I only get a cable when I click a checkmark to optionally, include the cable or buy it separately, I would only be throwing away one lightning cable now after I buy the 15. Instead, I’ll be throwing away three.
Sluether 
@richaesthetic Android user here, but these are my thoughts exactly. Many people seem to think it's a money grab to sell the charger separately, and maybe it is, but the charger and cable that came with my new tablet are still in the box. The charger and cable that came with my current phone have been used less than a dozen times. Any charger or cable I get with my next phone or tablet will likely never be used.
@SuperSluether thank you! This is my point exactly! Hopefully others can see this isn’t an Android vs iOS thing!
By the way, what’s your take on interoperability (whether forced or not) between platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp?
@richaesthetic I love interoperability, and I think the fediverse is a great example of it. We all interact on a standard protocol, while some implementations have their own features or interface.
The parts I'm less sure on are how to maintain security, and deciding who gets to develop and use their own protocol. WhatsApp and iMessage are end-to-end encrypted. iMessage is proprietary while WhatsApp is based on the Signal protocol. I'm not sure how you interop between protocols. Without being forced, would it be like iMessage/SMS on the iPhone now (if it happens at all)? If it does get forced, where would the line get drawn? (Thinking Snapchat, Discord, Teams, or any other messaging app)
Signal and WhatsApp use the same protocol, but they are still built very differently and Signal makes very deliberate choices to avoid collecting user data on the server.
Maybe none of this even matters since Matrix already had interoperable E2E messaging.
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@richaesthetic TL;DR, it sounds good on paper, but I also wouldn't want my data shared with WhatsApp just because the app I use can interop with them. Maybe that's a non-issue; I don't know enough about it to say for sure.
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@SuperSluether yeah that’s kind of what my thoughts are as well. It seems like a massive undertaking and I’m not sure if governments would even know just how difficult that would be. And most importantly, like you said, screw, WhatsApp. And Facebook messenger I don’t want my data over there interoperable or not.
@richaesthetic It could be worth pre-emptively rotating to a newer cable, as an older cable could cause more wear on the phone’s charging port, and cables are a lot cheaper to replace than the charging port. I learned that the hard way after replacing a micro-USB port on a phone.
To Apple’s credit, the simplicity of a Lightning port seems more durable than micro-USB ports and possible USB-C ports as well.
@markstos yeah, like I said, I got no issue with the switch. I have an issue with the direction that the EU went with tackling this e waste problem. I don’t think the issue was that Apple used a different cable, instead the issue stems from the fact that all phone manufactures ship free accessories, such as cables and cases. which inevitably lead people to have way too many of them
luvadergolder@richaesthetic @markstos You only use 1? How is this possible? I have one at my desk, one at my office, one in the living room, and 1 extra in case one breaks. Oh and that’s just for the phone. I have a couple dedicated to the iPads too.
@luvadergolder @markstos I charge at home in the morning and have 1 magsafe battery pack in my backpack. Which if I used it the previous day (I usually don’t need to) I'll charge that in the morning too. I use a laptop for my work, so I don't need to use my phone much at work. But I do use it heavily on the 1 hour subway ride to and from work, studying Duolingo and watching TV/Movie. Then when I'm home I use it and my laptop for my hobby (videos for youtube).
@luvadergolder @richaesthetic In my house we may have fewer lightning chargers than devices because they don’t all need to charge at the same time.
I don’t like keeping my phone at 100% for too long so I don’t use a bedside charger, for example. I charge in the morning or at work.
cwicseolfor (has moved!)@richaesthetic @markstos I like the idea of having an opt-in on purchase. But as a tech reviewer your consumption of phones generally is going to be higher than need-based usage. The bigger issue is just how many phones we go through, period. Mine is from 2016, nearing end of life; I have had to purchase additional charging cables for my tablet because of that regrettable period when OEM cables had a tendency to melt (they've been better since.)
Donate, gift, freecycle, don't trash.
~robby@richaesthetic @BasicAppleGuy What happened to your iPhone 11 that caused you to buy a 12? And what subsequently happened to your iPhone 12 that caused you to buy a 13? And what subsequently happened to your iPhone 13 that caused you to buy a 14? I’m just curious given your perspective on e-waste.
Morgan Peyre@richaesthetic @BasicAppleGuy looks like you've fallen for Apple's marketing bullshit. The environmental impact of a charging cable is minimal. Buying a brand new phone every year however...
@peyremorgan ... lol Buying a new phone every year in my household means both my partner and I are technically upgrading every 2 years as we only buy 1 and the other gets the “old one”. Anyways, the amount of people doing so is minimal, and whereas I buy a new phone every year, I don't have many shoes, house trinkets, clothes, leather goods, etc. Everyone creates a footprint a different way, I'm not worried about mine in comparison to others. Thank you for such an intelligent comment.