Glenn FleishmanI, for one, welcome our new USB-C overlords
Epiphanic Synchronicity@glennf Yep. I’m glad the EU finally made them do the right thing, which Apple should have done on its own six years ago when the iPhone X was introduced
@EpiphanicSynchronicity I don’t think the EU made them do anything—they could have shipped an adapter starting next year and been in compliance…but I think it’s the right evolution. Six years ago was way too earlier for USB-C infrastructure and acceptance.
@glennf Why? There was already infrastructure and acceptance from years of USB-C use on flagship Android devices, and it had already taken over on MacBooks. There were rumors that the iPhone X would have it and a lot of people were disappointed when in didn’t happen.
I think you can make a case that the X would perhaps have been *a bit* early for Apple (which is sometimes a leader and sometimes a follower in adopting new technology), but not *way too* early.
Benson Leung@glennf I think this will be the start of a new wired connectivity Golden Age, as we finally have all major consumer electronics on the same connector system.
I was lamenting not being able to get pictures I'd taken from my Sony mirrorless camera to my iPhone easily because the camera and the phone had different connectors, and I didn't have the right lightning to SD card dongle. Now, with USB-C on both sides, I can just directly connect.
@bensonleung I am so excited. I think my Kindle and my iPhone are the last non-USB-C devices I own. Even inexpensive noise-canceling headphones (<$60) I bought a year ago were USB-C! And I hear you on adapters. What wasted time!
Joel Bernstein@bensonleung @glennf I am looking forward to this shining new era where all of our connection incompatibilities are cable or protocol based
I'm honestly hopeful on that front too, because I understand the standards well enough to know that the devices' Operating Systems should have enough information to guide the user to the right cable and products to use.
If you plug in a cable to your phone, your phone should tell you what that cable can do based on its identifier information. The same if you plug into a docking station or some other USB device.
@castirony @glennf I've actually built features in an operating system that tell the user that the cable they're using isn't compatible with the mode their dock or monitor needs to operate.
Yeah, the standards have built a system that hides so much of the details from the user that confusion can and will happen, but software can and will be built to help the user figure this all out.
@bensonleung @castirony I would love that. Also, the maturity of the cable market and the improvement in quality should mean that early frustrations will continue to abate. Among readers who write me, Thunderbolt/USB and cable issues have decreased a lot over the last two years—it used to be a relatively frequent problem.
@glennf @castirony You might expect a bit of an uptick now that the iPhone has switched to USB-C... 😅
I checked, and all of the new iPhone 15 models come with a USB-C cable (USB 2.0 3A only). This means millions of more basic USB-C cables are going to hit the market bundled with new iPhones, and the average iPhone user might not read the fine print that a (sold separately) cable is needed for USB3 and DP Alt Mode function.