Putting USBc in iOS devices.
Someone made a good point on Reddit when I mentioned the female port of USBc is almost twice as tall as the female Lightning port—Lightning has and needs that ring around the port so it must be counted for a port height argument. I'm paraphrasing to make the point clearer, but it's a compelling point. If you include the entire height of the Lightning port it takes up a much more height than I originally thought. It looks awfully similar in height to USBc. Perhaps the Lightning ring could be thinner to shrink the port, but I'm thinking probably not by a lot.
Here's the visual:
Here's the visual:
Comments
I've always thought this was a bit of a blind spot for those arguing that Lightning is smaller than USBc.
http://www.technocrats.com.my/mac_family/macbook.html
"To create a notebook as thin and light as the new MacBook, we had to strive for efficiency in every detail, right down to how it connects to peripherals and power. So we contributed to a new universal connectivity standard that combines the essential functions you need every day in one dynamic port. The amazing USB-C port offers..."
They contributed to this back in 2012 along with other companies listed here:
https://www.docdroid.net/uf3z/typec.pdf.html
The reason they announced Lightning in 2012 is that standards take much longer to come to market. USB C was only ratified late 2014 by which time Apple was on their 3rd phone model using Lightning (iPhone 6).
It makes sense that given they had such a major part in designing it that they'd have the foresight to design it in a way that would work with their future products. However, they don't have to use the port itself to be compatible with USB C products. Apple has complete control over Lightning and they can make it as compatible with USB C products as they want so you'd just need a Lightning to USB C cable.
The ring round the port helps reinforce it. While it's missing on computers like here:
The Google Pixel phone with USB C has an extra ring round the outside:
There's some benefit to using USB C instead of Lightning if audio manufacturers start switching headphones to USB C but as I say, they can have a cable that connects to those. If they do decide to switch, I'd expect it with the iPhone 8 in 2018.
And lol, actually, Magic Keyboard is "magic" because it has a battery. Should be nemed Apple Keyboard.