Not really a surprise. Apple has the responsibility to make sure it’s products are safe. Of all the stupid thing that Apple does this isn’t one of them.
BTW - Does anyone else think it looks like the phone in the picture is melting?
Before reading the article, just looking at the picture I really thought it was an iPhone that had caught fire and that Apple was capping the power to avoid this!
In 10 years of owning iPhones I have had the port fail exactly 0 times. My wife had an iPhone 4s that was 5 years old when it finally just quit working. The port worked as good as the day we bought it. In one week of using a wireless charger I had my phone fail to charge twice. Qi is typically only 60-70% efficient at transmitting power and is slower than wired charging.
You tell me which one's better.
It Depends
I have wireless charging and wireless CarPlay built-in to my car. If I'm going to be on the road for a little bit, it's very nice to just place my phone in the tray and control it via CarPlay while it charges. It's even better when I travel longer distances: no wires getting in the way, nothing blocking my air vents/dash/whatever.
The fact that Apple may have just increased the time it takes to charge my phone in my car by 50%, with no notice, is truly irritating. If there is a reason for the change, thank you Apple, BUT YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US.
I so prefer charging my iPhone the old fashioned way: wired.
For me I wore out my iPhone 7 Plus enough (admittedly I did not use best practices for having it plugged in/not using it) that the lighting port was starting to get fairly loose. I'm happy to have my newer iPhone sit on a 5W charger overnight to have 365 less port insertions a year (particularly with phones lasting longer than ever).
In 10 years of owning iPhones I have had the port fail exactly 0 times. My wife had an iPhone 4s that was 5 years old when it finally just quit working. The port worked as good as the day we bought it. In one week of using a wireless charger I had my phone fail to charge twice. Qi is typically only 60-70% efficient at transmitting power and is slower than wired charging.
You tell me which one's better.
It has nothing to do with "better", I was just sharing my personal anecdote on why I'm happy to mix in wireless charging. I've had different iPhones since the 3g, and never had the port fail either, but I'd also never kept one as long as I had kept my 7 plus (which also didn't fail, but was getting weak, an inadvertent light tug would detach it from every lightning cable I have). With the new 11 Pro Max I 5w wirelessly charge overnight (which removes any chance of me yoinking the cord out when my phone with the cord plugged in) and use the USB-C fast charging if I need an actual charge during the day (which has been all of once).
I so prefer charging my iPhone the old fashioned way: wired.
For me I wore out my iPhone 7 Plus enough (admittedly I did not use best practices for having it plugged in/not using it) that the lighting port was starting to get fairly loose. I'm happy to have my newer iPhone sit on a 5W charger overnight to have 365 less port insertions a year (particularly with phones lasting longer than ever).
In 10 years of owning iPhones I have had the port fail exactly 0 times. My wife had an iPhone 4s that was 5 years old when it finally just quit working. The port worked as good as the day we bought it. In one week of using a wireless charger I had my phone fail to charge twice. Qi is typically only 60-70% efficient at transmitting power and is slower than wired charging.
You tell me which one's better.
It has nothing to do with "better", I was just sharing my personal anecdote on why I'm happy to mix in wireless charging. I've had different iPhones since the 3g, and never had the port fail either, but I'd also never kept one as long as I had kept my 7 plus (which also didn't fail, but was getting weak, an inadvertent light tug would detach it from every lightning cable I have). With the new 11 Pro Max I 5w wirelessly charge overnight (which removes any chance of me yoinking the cord out when my phone with the cord plugged in) and use the USB-C fast charging if I need an actual charge during the day (which has been all of once).
The one issue I've had with the lightning port is that you can get some lint built up that prevents the cord from completely seating in the socket. (I had to do it once with both my wife's and my family 6s after about 3 years, but I suppose it depends on how much lint you have in your pockets.) At first I thought it was the cord failing, but after pulling a bit of lint out it worked as good a new. If your 7 plus was several years old, that may well have been what happened.
It seemed like you were espousing wireless charging as a better alternative to wired charging, so my apologies if I took it wrong. I'd actually be more worried about knocking the phone off th recharging pad than accidentally unplugging it. LIke I said, my son gave me his old Belkin charging mat when he got a new one and in the first week I had it shift enough on the night stand so my phone wasn't charged the next morning. Some of the better, more expensive stands actually have a cradle that will hold your phone in place and should reduce/eliminate that.
Wireless CarPlay seems really nice - I recently upgraded the stereo in our Odyssey and checked into it, but it amounted to paying an extra $3-400 for a stereo that had wifi CarPlay capability. I decided we could plug our phones in for $400. My wife still has a 6s, so she has to plug her phone in regardless.
I've seen several people here touting wireless charging as the penultimate solution for charging phones, even saying we should eliminate the lightning port which I can't understand when wireless is inferior in virtually every way.
In 10 years of owning iPhones I have had the port fail exactly 0 times. My wife had an iPhone 4s that was 5 years old when it finally just quit working. The port worked as good as the day we bought it. In one week of using a wireless charger I had my phone fail to charge twice. Qi is typically only 60-70% efficient at transmitting power and is slower than wired charging.
You tell me which one's better.
It Depends
I have wireless charging and wireless CarPlay built-in to my car. If I'm going to be on the road for a little bit, it's very nice to just place my phone in the tray and control it via CarPlay while it charges. It's even better when I travel longer distances: no wires getting in the way, nothing blocking my air vents/dash/whatever.
The fact that Apple may have just increased the time it takes to charge my phone in my car by 50%, with no notice, is truly irritating. If there is a reason for the change, thank you Apple, BUT YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US.
How would they tell you exactly? It might be detailed in the notes for the latest release, but does anyone read that?
Are you expecting them to put a banner on their home page or issue a press release?
Comments
Before reading the article, just looking at the picture I really thought it was an iPhone that had caught fire and that Apple was capping the power to avoid this!
It seemed like you were espousing wireless charging as a better alternative to wired charging, so my apologies if I took it wrong. I'd actually be more worried about knocking the phone off th recharging pad than accidentally unplugging it. LIke I said, my son gave me his old Belkin charging mat when he got a new one and in the first week I had it shift enough on the night stand so my phone wasn't charged the next morning. Some of the better, more expensive stands actually have a cradle that will hold your phone in place and should reduce/eliminate that.
Wireless CarPlay seems really nice - I recently upgraded the stereo in our Odyssey and checked into it, but it amounted to paying an extra $3-400 for a stereo that had wifi CarPlay capability. I decided we could plug our phones in for $400. My wife still has a 6s, so she has to plug her phone in regardless.
I've seen several people here touting wireless charging as the penultimate solution for charging phones, even saying we should eliminate the lightning port which I can't understand when wireless is inferior in virtually every way.
Are you expecting them to put a banner on their home page or issue a press release?