I believe that Apple is going to start to make the case for a "Pro" line of iPhones as they did with the iPad. This will allow them to address two markets, consumer and professional. In marketing terms, that will allow them to broaden their audience using lower cost/higher quantities (consumer) while maintaining their premium pricing and image in the professional line.
One differentiator of this transition will be USB-C. They've already started the transition with the 2016 MacBook Pro. I expect the new iPads and iPhones will follow suit. This will allow those devices to drive larger displays at higher resolutions and have massive I/O. Another advantage will be charging speeds.
One advantage of this in the near term will be that it will slow adoption. If Apple is looking to make a premium device with new technology (large OLED screen, integrated touch sensor, super-fast CPU, desktop replacement)... then they will want to limit initial production runs while maintaining volume on the rest of the iPhone line. We all know that switching ports tends to have that effect. Apple can then lower the price on the rest of the iPhone line (or maintain price and increase storage) to drive the volumes they need.
Then again, I also think it would be overkill of a port and I think Lightning is great... but I do think a port switch would slow adoption on a premium device if that's what they need to do.
This is being approached both by the media and by commenters here as a change to a hole or a plug -- almost as if it were cosmetic.
They are asking the wrong question.. The correct question lies in the technical abilities of each: ... What can Lightening do vs What can USB-C do? As for Lightening, I suspect on Apple knows for sure...
Apple should use standards. Like USB and Thunderbolt.
Lighting is a defacto standard by any measure, especially devices in use, and has USB 3.0 performance so little would be gained moving to USB Type C.
There's every reason to believe that a combination of wireless power and wireless data connection will obviate the need for physical connections in the future, so why change today?
Yes. As the article mentioned, I'd believe that the part that plugs into the charger will migrate to USBc.
Apple produced 5 phones with the legacy port, 5 phones with the Lightning port, so the pattern points to a change this time around. I doubt it will happen as Apple has invested heavily in Lightning and with the headphone change on the 7, a change this year would cause all kinds of uproar. One day maybe... Besides, they want to control what is lugged into their phones for "quality" purposes and with USB-C they would loose that.
Focusing only on the iPhone models your scope. if you use that same rationale on the iPad you get this:
And if you apply that to the iPod models you get this:
Then you have a single generation of accessory items out of decades of accessories that now have Lightning:
The whole purpose of Lightning over the 30pin connector was to create a more advanced port interface that kept the necessary functionality of the 30-pin connector but was also small enough to be future forward. While it's not much larger, USB-C is still larger than Lightning, but that's all beside the point. If you want to argue that Lighting is on its way out in favour of USB-C, or just going to be replaced by a completely different Apple designed connector, you need to figure out how this benefits Apple's bottom line.
I see no avenue for changing Lighting right now, except for making a smaller and smarter logic board, and making the pins double-sided so that USB 3.x speeds can be had with the appropriate cables and devices.
Apple produced 5 phones with the legacy port, 5 phones with the Lightning port, so the pattern points to a change this time around. I doubt it will happen as Apple has invested heavily in Lightning and with the headphone change on the 7, a change this year would cause all kinds of uproar. One day maybe... Besides, they want to control what is lugged into their phones for "quality" purposes and with USB-C they would loose that.
Focusing only on the iPhone models your scope. if you use that same rationale on the iPad you get this: ... And if you apply that to the iPod models you get this: ... Then you have a single generation of accessory items out of decades of accessories that now have Lightning: ... The whole purpose of Lightning over the 30pin connector was to create a more advanced port interface that kept the necessary functionality of the 30-pin connector but was also small enough to be future forward. While it's not much larger, USB-C is still larger than Lightning, but that's all beside the point. If you want to argue that Lighting is on its way out in favour of USB-C, or just going to be replaced by a completely different Apple designed connector, you need to figure out how this benefits Apple's bottom line.
I see no avenue for changing Lighting, except for making a smaller and smarter logic board, and making the pins double-sided so that USB 3.x speeds can be had with the appropriate cables and devices.
Apple produced 5 phones with the legacy port, 5 phones with the Lightning port, so the pattern points to a change this time around. I doubt it will happen as Apple has invested heavily in Lightning and with the headphone change on the 7, a change this year would cause all kinds of uproar. One day maybe... Besides, they want to control what is lugged into their phones for "quality" purposes and with USB-C they would loose that.
Focusing only on the iPhone models your scope. if you use that same rationale on the iPad you get this: ... And if you apply that to the iPod models you get this: ... Then you have a single generation of accessory items out of decades of accessories that now have Lightning: ... The whole purpose of Lightning over the 30pin connector was to create a more advanced port interface that kept the necessary functionality of the 30-pin connector but was also small enough to be future forward. While it's not much larger, USB-C is still larger than Lightning, but that's all beside the point. If you want to argue that Lighting is on its way out in favour of USB-C, or just going to be replaced by a completely different Apple designed connector, you need to figure out how this benefits Apple's bottom line.
I see no avenue for changing Lighting, except for making a smaller and smarter logic board, and making the pins double-sided so that USB 3.x speeds can be had with the appropriate cables and devices.
When Lighting is replaced it will likely be replaced by the Smart Connector from the iPad. This won't happen until most data application are wireless. The Smart Connector will be more for charging than data (though it does transmit data). Part of apple's plan to slowly remove all holes and potential water ingress points.
I'm really hoping any new iPads from here on out have the smart connector on them. From an educational standpoint the current setup with iPads and keyboard is an absolute pain in the ass! Bluetooth keyboards for iPads in a cart situation simply does not work! If Apple wants schools to implement more iPads in their districts then simple things like this needs to be standard on all new iPads, not just iPad Pros.
You do know there exist lightning equipped keyboards which are probably cheaper than their smart connector counterparts.
You know there are Acers that are cheaper than MacBooks as well.
While Im thinking of it, aren't there all kinds of 2nd tier Android phones that can be had for a bargain?
And I'm pretty sure other companies make cheap iPads, ahem, Tablets, as well.
It's not about the race to the bottom in price. We are Apple users. We want elegant design. The commenter was referring to difficulty with the design of the bluetooth keyboards and your rebuttal is to mention the lightning devices are cheaper? His complaint wasn't the price. It was the design.
That makes even less sense. USB-A charging is ubiquitous. There is ZERO incentive for Apple to change USB-A to USB-C on the iPhone until USB-C starts to take over USB-A in the real world.
The Mac is a completely different story, that shouldn't even require explanation.
What do you mean it doesn't make sense? The other end of the iPhone cable is the old USB that is not even supported on the new MacBooks. It's cleaning the Apple ecosystem of the old USB connection.
Apple produced 5 phones with the legacy port, 5 phones with the Lightning port, so the pattern points to a change this time around. I doubt it will happen as Apple has invested heavily in Lightning and with the headphone change on the 7, a change this year would cause all kinds of uproar. One day maybe... Besides, they want to control what is lugged into their phones for "quality" purposes and with USB-C they would loose that.
This is the type of selective misuse of data that leads to
conspiracy theories. It completely ignores that the dock connector was around
long before the first iPhone was released, so to suggest that the dock
connector only had a lifespan of 5 iPhone iterations is absurd. In fact, the
dock connector was introduced in 2003 (first iPhone was 2007) and not phased
out until the Lightning connector was released in 2012. A healthy 9-year run.
It’s bad enough to suggest a pattern based on a single data point…even worse
when that data point is not representative of the full truth.
I see no reason for Apple to switch to USB-C anytime soon other then maybe getting the EU off their back for now using the Industry standard which is Mini USB, or is it Micro USB. I know they have some law requiring this. Not sure how Apple is getting around it. I haven't heard of it being changed to USB-C, as that defeats the whole purpose of the law, which is everyone throwing away their cables for something new. Which the dumb law was dumb to began with because of reasons exactly like this.
USB-C also can't be made quite as thin as lightning. So if you're into THIN phones, Lightning is the one to go with. There is no way Apple would make one phone USB-C and the others Lightning. That's beyond dumb.
That makes even less sense. USB-A charging is ubiquitous. There is ZERO incentive for Apple to change USB-A to USB-C on the iPhone until USB-C starts to take over USB-A in the real world.
The Mac is a completely different story, that shouldn't even require explanation.
What do you mean it doesn't make sense? The other end of the iPhone cable is the old USB that is not even supported on the new MacBooks. It's cleaning the Apple ecosystem of the old USB connection.
Not to mention that one could probably argue that there are enough USB A to Lightning cables on the planet already to fulfill the need until the last USB A port is banished. And they are readily available at the corner drug store. So if Apple switched to USB C on the computer/charger end of the cable, then if anyone still needed a USB A version they likely either already have several of those cables in a drawer someplace or can very easily obtain one for only a few bucks.
Apple produced 5 phones with the legacy port, 5 phones with the Lightning port, so the pattern points to a change this time around. I doubt it will happen as Apple has invested heavily in Lightning and with the headphone change on the 7, a change this year would cause all kinds of uproar. One day maybe... Besides, they want to control what is lugged into their phones for "quality" purposes and with USB-C they would loose that.
I see no avenue for changing Lighting right now, except for making a smaller and smarter logic board, and making the pins double-sided so that USB 3.x speeds can be had with the appropriate cables and devices.
And that itself is in weak demand, seeing how so much is done wirelessly. I can't remember the last time I "synced" content over a USB cable, or made a data transfer so large that I sat there wishing for USB 3.x speed. That would never a be motivator in the move to USB-C. So really, there is no motivation at all.
That makes even less sense. USB-A charging is ubiquitous. There is ZERO incentive for Apple to change USB-A to USB-C on the iPhone until USB-C starts to take over USB-A in the real world.
The Mac is a completely different story, that shouldn't even require explanation.
Since when did the decision to completely leave USB-A off the MacBook's make sense? It was a decision made to force people to the (likely) future standard at the expense of making things more inconvenient in the present. Yes, lightning is fairly entrenched, but then so was the 30 pin dock connector. Apple has never viewed a large existing base as an obstacle to change.
Realistically there these cables are nothing but charging cables in the vast majority of the cases. For the BT mouse/keyboard, that is all they are. For iPhones they do serve as data connections when necessary, but that's getting more and more infrequent. Either way, there is nothing that the lightning cable does that a USB C cable can't do, so there is no technical reason to go with one over the other.
Personally, I don't think they will change the connector, but I wish they would. It would be consistent with Phil Schiller's statement about USB C being the future and greatly simply things.
Before the iPhone 5 was released, the Verge had a leak of what Apple's next phone would look like. It would get rid of the home button and be almost bezel free while the former home button being a gesture area. http://www.theverge.com/2011/04/22/iphone-5-design
So whatever is released, it's been in development a long time. It's been in development with SJ involvement.
I also expect it be BE a teardrop design like the leak suggested. Why? Getting rid of the home button, people need a way to sense orientation easily without looking at their phone. And it would probably require getting rid of the 3.5 headphone jack. See how it all fit?
Apple produced 5 phones with the legacy port, 5 phones with the Lightning port, so the pattern points to a change this time around. I doubt it will happen as Apple has invested heavily in Lightning and with the headphone change on the 7, a change this year would cause all kinds of uproar. One day maybe... Besides, they want to control what is lugged into their phones for "quality" purposes and with USB-C they would loose that.
I see no avenue for changing Lighting right now, except for making a smaller and smarter logic board, and making the pins double-sided so that USB 3.x speeds can be had with the appropriate cables and devices.
And that itself is in weak demand, seeing how so much is done wirelessly. I can't remember the last time I "synced" content over a USB cable, or made a data transfer so large that I sat there wishing for USB 3.x speed. That would never a be motivator in the move to USB-C. So really, there is no motivation at all.
I can. Everytime I get a new device or have to restore my device. Having USB 3.x speeds would be helpful, especially now that the NAND other HW can keep up.
When Lighting is replaced it will likely be replaced by the Smart Connector from the iPad. This won't happen until most data application are wireless. The Smart Connector will be more for charging than data (though it does transmit data). Part of apple's plan to slowly remove all holes and potential water ingress points.
I'm really hoping any new iPads from here on out have the smart connector on them. From an educational standpoint the current setup with iPads and keyboard is an absolute pain in the ass! Bluetooth keyboards for iPads in a cart situation simply does not work! If Apple wants schools to implement more iPads in their districts then simple things like this needs to be standard on all new iPads, not just iPad Pros.
You do know there exist lightning equipped keyboards which are probably cheaper than their smart connector counterparts.
You know there are Acers that are cheaper than MacBooks as well.
While Im thinking of it, aren't there all kinds of 2nd tier Android phones that can be had for a bargain?
And I'm pretty sure other companies make cheap iPads, ahem, Tablets, as well.
It's not about the race to the bottom in price. We are Apple users. We want elegant design. The commenter was referring to difficulty with the design of the bluetooth keyboards and your rebuttal is to mention the lightning devices are cheaper? His complaint wasn't the price. It was the design.
He specifically said it was for education (and that he wanted non PRO i.e. cheaper iPads) and getting two for the price of one for the same functionality is not "a race to the bottom" they are all MFI, there is no major difference except maybe being a cover at the same time. I was not referring to cheaply made but less expensive for an equivalent solution.
When Lighting is replaced it will likely be replaced by the Smart Connector from the iPad. This won't happen until most data application are wireless. The Smart Connector will be more for charging than data (though it does transmit data). Part of apple's plan to slowly remove all holes and potential water ingress points.
I'm really hoping any new iPads from here on out have the smart connector on them. From an educational standpoint the current setup with iPads and keyboard is an absolute pain in the ass! Bluetooth keyboards for iPads in a cart situation simply does not work! If Apple wants schools to implement more iPads in their districts then simple things like this needs to be standard on all new iPads, not just iPad Pros.
You do know there exist lightning equipped keyboards which are probably cheaper than their smart connector counterparts.
You know there are Acers that are cheaper than MacBooks as well.
While Im thinking of it, aren't there all kinds of 2nd tier Android phones that can be had for a bargain?
And I'm pretty sure other companies make cheap iPads, ahem, Tablets, as well.
It's not about the race to the bottom in price. We are Apple users. We want elegant design. The commenter was referring to difficulty with the design of the bluetooth keyboards and your rebuttal is to mention the lightning devices are cheaper? His complaint wasn't the price. It was the design.
He specifically said it was for education (and that he wanted non PRO i.e. cheaper iPads) and getting two for the price of one for the same functionality is not "a race to the bottom" they are all MFI, there is no major difference except maybe being a cover at the same time. I was not referring to cheaply made but less expensive for an equivalent solution.
You are putting your own editorial on what he specifically asked for. Your parenthetical statement puts words in his mouth. Fake commenting! He asked for the Smart connector VERY specifically. He said nothing about budget, that was your interjection/assumption.
When Lighting is replaced it will likely be replaced by the Smart Connector from the iPad. This won't happen until most data application are wireless. The Smart Connector will be more for charging than data (though it does transmit data). Part of apple's plan to slowly remove all holes and potential water ingress points.
I'm really hoping any new iPads from here on out have the smart connector on them. From an educational standpoint the current setup with iPads and keyboard is an absolute pain in the ass! Bluetooth keyboards for iPads in a cart situation simply does not work! If Apple wants schools to implement more iPads in their districts then simple things like this needs to be standard on all new iPads, not just iPad Pros.
You do know there exist lightning equipped keyboards which are probably cheaper than their smart connector counterparts.
You know there are Acers that are cheaper than MacBooks as well.
While Im thinking of it, aren't there all kinds of 2nd tier Android phones that can be had for a bargain?
And I'm pretty sure other companies make cheap iPads, ahem, Tablets, as well.
It's not about the race to the bottom in price. We are Apple users. We want elegant design. The commenter was referring to difficulty with the design of the bluetooth keyboards and your rebuttal is to mention the lightning devices are cheaper? His complaint wasn't the price. It was the design.
He specifically said it was for education (and that he wanted non PRO i.e. cheaper iPads) and getting two for the price of one for the same functionality is not "a race to the bottom" they are all MFI, there is no major difference except maybe being a cover at the same time. I was not referring to cheaply made but less expensive for an equivalent solution.
You are putting your own editorial on what he specifically asked for. Your parenthetical statement puts words in his mouth. Fake commenting! He asked for the Smart connector VERY specifically. He said nothing about budget, that was your interjection/assumption.
I'm happy to take him at his word.
Why are you not?
What are you talking about. I did not put words in his mouth.
I was simply showing him an actual solution to his problem (which could be cheaper as a side effect), he's complaining about APPLE not yet having the smart connector on all their non PRO iPads and having major problems on his trolleys with bluetooth keyboards when there is a simple current solution
Why are you being so aggressive for someone else. Your cheaper comments seem to be putting your own editorial on my comments.
Who are you to talk about fake commenting ? What does the even mean ?
Comments
One differentiator of this transition will be USB-C. They've already started the transition with the 2016 MacBook Pro. I expect the new iPads and iPhones will follow suit. This will allow those devices to drive larger displays at higher resolutions and have massive I/O. Another advantage will be charging speeds.
One advantage of this in the near term will be that it will slow adoption. If Apple is looking to make a premium device with new technology (large OLED screen, integrated touch sensor, super-fast CPU, desktop replacement)... then they will want to limit initial production runs while maintaining volume on the rest of the iPhone line. We all know that switching ports tends to have that effect. Apple can then lower the price on the rest of the iPhone line (or maintain price and increase storage) to drive the volumes they need.
Then again, I also think it would be overkill of a port and I think Lightning is great... but I do think a port switch would slow adoption on a premium device if that's what they need to do.
They are asking the wrong question.. The correct question lies in the technical abilities of each:
... What can Lightening do vs What can USB-C do? As for Lightening, I suspect on Apple knows for sure...
Focusing only on the iPhone models your scope. if you use that same rationale on the iPad you get this:
And if you apply that to the iPod models you get this:
Then you have a single generation of accessory items out of decades of accessories that now have Lightning:
The whole purpose of Lightning over the 30pin connector was to create a more advanced port interface that kept the necessary functionality of the 30-pin connector but was also small enough to be future forward. While it's not much larger, USB-C is still larger than Lightning, but that's all beside the point. If you want to argue that Lighting is on its way out in favour of USB-C, or just going to be replaced by a completely different Apple designed connector, you need to figure out how this benefits Apple's bottom line.
I see no avenue for changing Lighting right now, except for making a smaller and smarter logic board, and making the pins double-sided so that USB 3.x speeds can be had with the appropriate cables and devices.
While Im thinking of it, aren't there all kinds of 2nd tier Android phones that can be had for a bargain?
And I'm pretty sure other companies make cheap iPads, ahem, Tablets, as well.
It's not about the race to the bottom in price. We are Apple users. We want elegant design. The commenter was referring to difficulty with the design of the bluetooth keyboards and your rebuttal is to mention the lightning devices are cheaper? His complaint wasn't the price. It was the design.
This is the type of selective misuse of data that leads to conspiracy theories. It completely ignores that the dock connector was around long before the first iPhone was released, so to suggest that the dock connector only had a lifespan of 5 iPhone iterations is absurd. In fact, the dock connector was introduced in 2003 (first iPhone was 2007) and not phased out until the Lightning connector was released in 2012. A healthy 9-year run. It’s bad enough to suggest a pattern based on a single data point…even worse when that data point is not representative of the full truth.
That said, I agree with the rest of the post.
Realistically there these cables are nothing but charging cables in the vast majority of the cases. For the BT mouse/keyboard, that is all they are. For iPhones they do serve as data connections when necessary, but that's getting more and more infrequent. Either way, there is nothing that the lightning cable does that a USB C cable can't do, so there is no technical reason to go with one over the other.
Personally, I don't think they will change the connector, but I wish they would. It would be consistent with Phil Schiller's statement about USB C being the future and greatly simply things.
USB 3 came out a year after the iPhone in 2008.
What makes you think that they'll suddenly move to it 9+ generations later?
It would get rid of the home button and be almost bezel free while the former home button being a gesture area.
http://www.theverge.com/2011/04/22/iphone-5-design
So whatever is released, it's been in development a long time. It's been in development with SJ involvement.
I also expect it be BE a teardrop design like the leak suggested.
Why?
Getting rid of the home button, people need a way to sense orientation easily without looking at their phone.
And it would probably require getting rid of the 3.5 headphone jack.
See how it all fit?
I was not referring to cheaply made but less expensive for an equivalent solution.
I'm happy to take him at his word.
Why are you not?
I was simply showing him an actual solution to his problem (which could be cheaper as a side effect), he's complaining about APPLE not yet having the smart connector on all their non PRO iPads and having major problems on his trolleys with bluetooth keyboards when there is a simple current solution
Why are you being so aggressive for someone else. Your cheaper comments seem to be putting your own editorial on my comments.
Who are you to talk about fake commenting ? What does the even mean ?