[gumby]

> Of course lightning was better still but alas Apple wasn't going to share that with the world so we have USB C.

Apple was a major contributor to the Type C design, and learning from the limitations of lighting were reflected in its design.

Like you I really like the small profile of lightning, but the design of the Type C connector does have two important advantages thanks to its shell/shroud design:

1 - The "springy" piece that deforms is the cable not the receptacle. That means when the connection becomes flimsy this is more likely to be the replaceable cables (though some of the cables can be pricy, it's likely still cheaper than replacing the device)

2 - the shroud is ground and is longer than the pins, thus you have a ground connection before you get to any signal or power (like the longer ground pin in UK and Schuko connectors. This doesn't matter much for a USB2 cable but is a safety issue when you have 100W on the cable.

And back to Apple: much as lightning is good for them, it isn't really an instrument of MFI enforcement; they can enforce that just as well with type C. They already have type C iPads so I expect they'll gradually abandon lightning. The iPod 30-pin connector lasted about 9 years and lightning is 7 years old so this isn't unreasonable. And I believe it would make the EU happy.

[DannyBee]

"Apple was a major contributor to the Type C design"

Citation?

As far as i know, it was created almost entirely by a team at Google, and the agreement to get Apple on board was to not publicize this fact. Which is really sad, because then John Gruber then went off and credited their work to Apple without bothering to fact check it.

IIRC, Apple was not even at the USB meeting where it was first presented.

I'm sure post coming on board Apple contributed, but yeah.

(Various xooglers and others have confirmed all this publicly now, AFAIK)

[bigdubs]

One interesting data point (though I really don't care where this all leads):

18 of the 79 named engineers worked for Apple.

https://www.docdroid.net/uf3z/typec.pdf

My sense is the spec was designed by a consortium and no one company owns it, but I would bet Apple did contribute lessons from lightning to it.

[jacobolus]

What I remember reading was that Apple’s engineers did most of the design work on the physical connector itself, and were the ones pushing for it to be reversible, be usable as a laptop charging port, etc.

[jasonhansel]

I suspect that Apple is planning to move to wireless charging; instead of replacing Lightning with USB-C, it will just ship a phone with no physical ports whatsoever.

[uxcolumbo]

Wireless charging is highly inefficient and wastes energy, so I hope it won’t become a widely adopted standard.

Otherwise imagine that waste multiplied by millions.

And if that is the only way to charge then I’d have to carry the base station wherever I go, it’s quite bulky.

And you’d still need a data port so I doubt apple will remove the ability to charge via a cable.

[IshKebab]

Phones consume a miniscule amount of power compared to other things you probably use. Even if it is 20% efficient if is still a drop in the ocean compared to air conditioners, tumble driers, fridges, ovens, kettles, toasters, hair driers, etc.

Small changes are still small when you "multiply them by millions" because all the big things get multiplied too.

[mjlee]

It is a bigger deal in the developing world where these phones will end up in 5 years.

[Fnoord]

> Wireless charging is highly inefficient and wastes energy, so I hope it won’t become a widely adopted standard.

I find it rather useful with my toothbrush. While I'm very much pro environment it is not like we're talking about huge batteries here.

[ksec]

>While I'm very much pro environment it is not like we're talking about huge batteries here.

There are 900M iPhone users and expected 1B user by end of 2020. If you Multiple that by 10% - 20% Energy loss from Wireless Charging compare to Wired, that is a lot of wasted energy going forward.

[reitzensteinm]

An iPhone holds 7.45 Watt hours, so if you fully charge it every day it's ~2.8kWh / year. 20% power loss is 560 Wh/year. US electricity use is ~13 MWh per capita per year (let alone total energy use).

I know it sounds wasteful, but it's very important to triage ways to conserve energy, otherwise you end up with things like the awful "unplug your phone chargers" campaign.

[Fnoord]

I use it for my wireless headphones. It yields convenience. For small batteries, wireless isn't much of a waste. There are other ways to be mindful for the environment. Ways which have bigger impact. Not opting for a wireless charging for environmental reasons is in this case more a matter of "feel good". I get free electricity from the sun as well, and I would save more on electricity by getting a new washing machine (current is 7 years old).

[gumby]

data could be wireless so a waterproof dustproof design is possible (look at the watch)

But you’re right: wireless charging is too inefficient and thus slow, so I also doubt they’ll really go there.

[latchkey]

https://www.wired.com/story/apple-kills-airpower/

[macintux]

Killing one attempt to make a simpler wireless charger doesn’t mean killing the idea of universal wireless charging.

[ksec]

Agree on the MFi, Apple could just enforce MFi for USB-C as well. ( People don't like this idea and I often get called out for even mentioning it )

But I don't think Type C is heading towards iPhone for a few reason.

1. The iPad needed 10Gbps connection and possibly more in the future with USB 3.2 2x2 ( Or what ever it is I cant remember ), that is something lightning will not provide. ( Technically I don't see Lightning missing out any pins to do it, assuming they use pin from both sides, but my guess is Apple don't want to complicate things )

2. The USB 3.2 2x2 Controller is way larger, I doubt Apple is going to put 10Gbps on iPhone.

3. They want you on iCloud, not backing up on your Mac / iTunes. ( It is sad I wish they could at least give me the option of iOS Time Capsule )

4. What is the point of replacing Lightning if they are going to enforce MFi on USB-C?

If anything I really wish they make lightning 2.0 spec that is more durable.

[dragonwriter]

> The USB 3.2 2x2 Controller is way larger, I doubt Apple is going to put 10Gbps on iPhone.

10GBps is Gen 2×1 (or Gen 1×2); 2×2 is 20Gbps.