I'll say what I said last time this came up. They will most likely ship a USB-C charger and a C to Lightning cable with iPhones (and iPads) this year. They may include a USB-A to Lightning cable as well for people who still need it to connect to a computer. They will upgrade the chipset to allow faster charging and data transfer (either the same as in the 12.9" iPad Pro, or an upgraded version to allow for full 3.1 Gen 2 speeds).
Of course, my predictions are worth no more or less than anyone else's - I have no insight or connection to Apple's supply chain, I'm just going with what I think they'll do. If they don't do what I think, that's my problem, not theirs (I'm not going to claim they tried to do it, but the tech wasn't ready/the chips weren't available/the connector was the wrong shade of puce...)
Of course, my other prediction, about the Personal Defence Field that will shield the device and user from impact damage, is definitely going to happen, and if it doesn't it's just because they couldn't get the field colour in Rose Gold.
Why not take the opportunity presented by this mixed need to drop the cables and power brick out of the box and replace them with eVouchers on the device themselves that can be claimed anytime from any Apple reseller. For the customer:- - If i'm going overseas I might save an eVoucher to pick up a local plug charger. - If away from my usual locations and need a cable it's not sitting in a random box at home. - Headphone voucher could even be used to get a discount off other compatible headphones or free lightening pods. For Apple:- - All devices leave the factory in the same thin box with more in each shipping box that can be shipped anywhere in the world. - They can claim this as an Eco measure.
Because Apple want people to be able to start using any product out of the box. You've got your new phone, but you don't have a way to charge it or connect it to your computer? Cue anger at Apple trying to get extra money out of people for essential components. And yes, I realise you said "include an e-voucher", but that's not much use to someone who doesn't already have an iPhone, and can't get to the Apple Store (and doesn't want to wait the minimum day delivery for a web order).
Having too many cables or power bricks is not the problem Apple are concerned with, they are concerned with providing a good user experience for everyone, especially new users. That means having everything they need to start using the phone straight away in the box.
Yes, Apple would need to make sure anyway you buy a new device you are asked directly if you need accessories now or later. That includes web sales or non-Apple store sales. Also that the vouchers can work at any store selling Apple gear not just Apple Stores. I don't think that technically impossible. They should be able to make it work from box ID not just the phone so customer is still the first to touch device.
If they updated iPod Touch and Nano (Siri Pod) well before and kicked off the system. This would especially make sense given both of these would in part be sold to turn existing speaker docks into Siri hubs making accessories more redundant than with the phone.
To me it's a chance for some good customer service. It provides a good reason for the sales people to engage the customer. Find out more about why they are buying without it seeming like a sales upsell pitch.
For now I can't see any upside for Apple or myself in dumping lightning for USB-C. But if eliminating Lightning will be cheaper in the long run, I'd expect Apple to go for it. No more MFL income of course.
BTW, is the USB-C chassis part thinner than the Lightning chassis part? That may be a factor.
Lightning is smaller than USB-C. There's no way Apple will ever put USB-C in any iOS device, especially the iPhone, where internal space is very constrained. I see Lightning being around until the day comes that iOS devices (and Apple TV remote) have no port for a wired connection.
My 12" MacBook has USB-C, and it's cumbersome compared to Lightning. I'll take Lightning ay day.
The chassis part for Lightning is literally a hairs-breadth thinner than the same for USB-C.
What are the other dimensions, as compared to lightning?
Next year's iPhone 8 probably wont have a cable at all if it has wireless charging and includes Air Pods. The 7s probably will still have lightning though rather than a change to USB-C for one model.
So, the only place you'll ever need to charge your new phone is wherever you keep your wireless charging set up (whatever that may be)?! It will be many years, if ever, before wireless charging is ubiquitous and practical. We will still need a way to charge phones away from home.
I'll say what I said last time this came up. They will most likely ship a USB-C charger and a C to Lightning cable with iPhones (and iPads) this year. They may include a USB-A to Lightning cable as well for people who still need it to connect to a computer. They will upgrade the chipset to allow faster charging and data transfer (either the same as in the 12.9" iPad Pro, or an upgraded version to allow for full 3.1 Gen 2 speeds).
Of course, my predictions are worth no more or less than anyone else's - I have no insight or connection to Apple's supply chain, I'm just going with what I think they'll do. If they don't do what I think, that's my problem, not theirs (I'm not going to claim they tried to do it, but the tech wasn't ready/the chips weren't available/the connector was the wrong shade of puce...)
Of course, my other prediction, about the Personal Defence Field that will shield the device and user from impact damage, is definitely going to happen, and if it doesn't it's just because they couldn't get the field colour in Rose Gold.
Why not take the opportunity presented by this mixed need to drop the cables and power brick out of the box and replace them with eVouchers on the device themselves that can be claimed anytime from any Apple reseller. For the customer:- - If i'm going overseas I might save an eVoucher to pick up a local plug charger. - If away from my usual locations and need a cable it's not sitting in a random box at home. - Headphone voucher could even be used to get a discount off other compatible headphones or free lightening pods. For Apple:- - All devices leave the factory in the same thin box with more in each shipping box that can be shipped anywhere in the world. - They can claim this as an Eco measure.
Because Apple want people to be able to start using any product out of the box. You've got your new phone, but you don't have a way to charge it or connect it to your computer? Cue anger at Apple trying to get extra money out of people for essential components. And yes, I realise you said "include an e-voucher", but that's not much use to someone who doesn't already have an iPhone, and can't get to the Apple Store (and doesn't want to wait the minimum day delivery for a web order).
Having too many cables or power bricks is not the problem Apple are concerned with, they are concerned with providing a good user experience for everyone, especially new users. That means having everything they need to start using the phone straight away in the box.
Yes, Apple would need to make sure anyway you buy a new device you are asked directly if you need accessories now or later. That includes web sales or non-Apple store sales. Also that the vouchers can work at any store selling Apple gear not just Apple Stores. I don't think that technically impossible. They should be able to make it work from box ID not just the phone so customer is still the first to touch device.
If they updated iPod Touch and Nano (Siri Pod) well before and kicked off the system. This would especially make sense given both of these would in part be sold to turn existing speaker docks into Siri hubs making accessories more redundant than with the phone.
To me it's a chance for some good customer service. It provides a good reason for the sales people to engage the customer. Find out more about why they are buying without it seeming like a sales upsell pitch.
A chance for good customer service? Seriously? It sounds like a good chance to confuse and frustrate purchasers with a potentially confusing choice that may cause them to just postpone the purchase. Remember, a significant proportion of Apple devices are bought as gifts, and Apple makes it very simple.
Lightning connector on the iPhone end of the cable and USB-C on the other end. New power adaptor 'brick' will have USB-C.
Faster charging and the ability to connect to your newer Macs with USB-C. Lightning so all your EXISTING cables, chargers and docks will still work.
I will be surprised if this isn't the case. Apple stuff needs to "just work" together, and requiring an adaptor to charge a new iPhone from a new MacBook is awkward. And besides Apple has to give the media something to whine about. "Why you might have trouble charging your new iPhone! News at 11:00!"
This, of course, is mostly irrelevant if Apple has practical wireless charging worked out. And, if that's the case, sheer inertia of the Lightning connector will carry the older connector through to 2017's iPhones.
This is really all that needed to be said.
There are something like 1.2 billion Lightning devices in use. 10s of billions of Lightning-USB-A cables in use.
No shift to USB-C, on either end of the cable, is happening any time soon. There is just NO reason for it.
"the Fresco Logic FL1100SX host controller allows for Apple's 29W USB-C adapter that ships with the 12-inch MacBook to charge the hefty iPad nearly three times faster than the standard iPad adapter."
No. It does not.
It charges the 12.9" iPad Pro about two times as quickly.
You need to frame your statement differently because the 29W USB-C MacBook charger can not only charge the 13" iPad Pro 3x as fast, it also far exceed it.
• It'd take 1 hour and 33 minutes for the 29W adapter to charge an iPad Pro from 0% to 80%; the 12W model would need 3.5 hours.
• In 10 minutes with the screen turned off, the 29W adapter charged the iPad Pro by 9.7%; the 12W adapter charged it by 2.9%.
The first sentence is 2.26x as fast, and the second sentence shows a percentage increase of 3.34x as fast for the comparable duration. I'm assuming you're wanting to go from 0 to 100% with the screen off and the iPad otherwise not in use. If so, the first set of results in the, above, image would indicate that 2x is undercutting a bit as to 80% it's 2.29x as fast, but that 3x would really wrong way to go if rounding to a whole number since by the time you reach 80% you're no longer benefiting from fast charging.
The article says "almost three times faster. "This is not even close to being true.
My "two times as fast" statement is based on my experience (20% to 100%) multiple times.
My "almost three times faster" is based on my experience, and that of a local school's facility, over hundreds of charges.
No port (lightning or USB-C) == easier to waterproof.
Instead wireless charging. The stationary wireless charging puck will have a USB-C port that will connect to a USB-C/USB-C cable and the other end of the cable will connect to a USB-C wall charger, ala MacBook. Part of the reason for the increase in price.
Syncing == wireless.
What if they could make MacBook trackpad (or wrist rest) wirelessly charge the iPhone!
USB-C tip broke, the iPhone too would be broken in 4/7 cases. No way. [..] sake of universality
Could Apple have pushed the USB consortium to adapt the Lightning's "inner male tip only" design philosophy for USB-C in the first place? I'd think (maybe wrongly) that that would also have made the USB-C tip "safer" for a USB-C-as-power cable application - stepping on the cable and pulling it out doesn't do quite as much damage to the computer (unless of course the computer is so light that it pulls the computer off the table entirely..)
Next year's iPhone 8 probably wont have a cable at all if it has wireless charging and includes Air Pods. The 7s probably will still have lightning though rather than a change to USB-C for one model.
So, the only place you'll ever need to charge your new phone is wherever you keep your wireless charging set up (whatever that may be)?! It will be many years, if ever, before wireless charging is ubiquitous and practical. We will still need a way to charge phones away from home.
Wireless charging doesn't seem to be default in any near future. A wired connection is still needed to record iOS screen via Quicktime Player X. This feature is mostly used by gamers who record and publish their gameplay to YouTube. Nice way to collect advertising revenue...
> Having too many cables or power bricks is not the problem Apple are concerned with
What they need to do is have a "cable/adapter recycling program", and then figure out how to recycle the things and recover ALL the metal/plastic/etc out of the adapters. Is it physically possible to separate a molten/completely liquid mixture ("melt down the adapters") into it's components on the atomic level (meaning "how do you recover the gallium, arsenic, and indium out of recycled chips")? Then Apple sells the technology as a turnkey e-recycling solution..
> Having too many cables or power bricks is not the problem Apple are concerned with
What they need to do is have a "cable/adapter recycling program", and then figure out how to recycle the things and recover ALL the metal/plastic/etc out of the adapters. Is it physically possible to separate a molten/completely liquid mixture ("melt down the adapters") into it's components on the atomic level (meaning "how do you recover the gallium, arsenic, and indium out of recycled chips")? Then Apple sells the technology as a turnkey e-recycling solution..
They don't need to melt them down, they can probably take them apart fairly easily with specialised machinery. The power bricks all have a seam in the other casing, and once you've got that open, it's relatively simple to disassemble the rest. The cables are a bit trickier, but not impossible. Just need to slice open the cable to get the wires out, and again the end pieces should be relatively simple to dismantle.
Certainly a recycling program for bricks and cables makes more sense than not including new ones in the box with your device. For a start it lets you get rid of your older ones that might be starting to show signs of wear, or that don't actually power any of your current devices.
I have not yet touched a USB-C plug. Is there an up & down side to it? I love the either/or ability of the Lightening plug- one less thing my aging eyes have to struggle with.
Both Lightening and USB-C has necessary data speed and smaller size but no one talks about Lightening vs USB-C connector's durability of daily multiple time insertions and over years of usage ?
The one big potential advantage I can see to switching to USB C is that if it does become a de facto standard for device charging then one could imagine the situation where USB C cables were available but not lightning. Yes, you could use a dongle, but if you don't have your cable, you probably don't have a dongle either, and dongles suck.
For the present, there's not a whole lot of advantage to switching the iPhone over, and some potential downsides to doing so, so I see them switching the plug end to USB C, but keeping lightning on the other end.
Good article on an interesting topic, Mike. Another point worth mentioning is the nature of Lightning being mobile/low power optimized. Like the video implementation being h.264 encoded and decoded at the end of the the dongle to reduce the power consumption that would be needed to power a high bandwidth bus. The audio receiver/decoder/dac/amplification chipsets being so small and energy efficient they can be encased in an extremely low profile dongle with no heat issues, that seems unlikely if it had a USB hardware stack.
USB-C is 60% thicker than Lightning - arguably the most critical dimension. Because USC-C is 28% longer, additional reinforcement is needed to deal with the increased leverage caused by a side loaded cable. 23% wider as well - it's significantly larger. And for what benefit? Apple would lose the ability to certify MFi components, which makes for a more consistent user experience. USB 3.0 and possibly faster can already run over Lightning.
Lighting vs. USB-C is analogous to iOS vs. Android. It is more refined and well suited for the task at hand.
Comments
If they updated iPod Touch and Nano (Siri Pod) well before and kicked off the system. This would especially make sense given both of these would in part be sold to turn existing speaker docks into Siri hubs making accessories more redundant than with the phone.
To me it's a chance for some good customer service. It provides a good reason for the sales people to engage the customer. Find out more about why they are buying without it seeming like a sales upsell pitch.
A chance for good customer service? Seriously? It sounds like a good chance to confuse and frustrate purchasers with a potentially confusing choice that may cause them to just postpone the purchase. Remember, a significant proportion of Apple devices are bought as gifts, and Apple makes it very simple.
I will be surprised if this isn't the case. Apple stuff needs to "just work" together, and requiring an adaptor to charge a new iPhone from a new MacBook is awkward. And besides Apple has to give the media something to whine about. "Why you might have trouble charging your new iPhone! News at 11:00!"
This is really all that needed to be said.
There are something like 1.2 billion Lightning devices in use. 10s of billions of Lightning-USB-A cables in use.
No shift to USB-C, on either end of the cable, is happening any time soon. There is just NO reason for it.
Instead wireless charging. The stationary wireless charging puck will have a USB-C port that will connect to a USB-C/USB-C cable and the other end of the cable will connect to a USB-C wall charger, ala MacBook. Part of the reason for the increase in price.
Syncing == wireless.
What if they could make MacBook trackpad (or wrist rest) wirelessly charge the iPhone!
Could Apple have pushed the USB consortium to adapt the Lightning's "inner male tip only" design philosophy for USB-C in the first place? I'd think (maybe wrongly) that that would also have made the USB-C tip "safer" for a USB-C-as-power cable application - stepping on the cable and pulling it out doesn't do quite as much damage to the computer (unless of course the computer is so light that it pulls the computer off the table entirely..)
What they need to do is have a "cable/adapter recycling program", and then figure out how to recycle the things and recover ALL the metal/plastic/etc out of the adapters. Is it physically possible to separate a molten/completely liquid mixture ("melt down the adapters") into it's components on the atomic level (meaning "how do you recover the gallium, arsenic, and indium out of recycled chips")? Then Apple sells the technology as a turnkey e-recycling solution..
They don't need to melt them down, they can probably take them apart fairly easily with specialised machinery. The power bricks all have a seam in the other casing, and once you've got that open, it's relatively simple to disassemble the rest. The cables are a bit trickier, but not impossible. Just need to slice open the cable to get the wires out, and again the end pieces should be relatively simple to dismantle.
Certainly a recycling program for bricks and cables makes more sense than not including new ones in the box with your device. For a start it lets you get rid of your older ones that might be starting to show signs of wear, or that don't actually power any of your current devices.
Is there an up & down side to it? I love the either/or ability of the Lightening plug- one less thing my aging eyes have to struggle with.
For the present, there's not a whole lot of advantage to switching the iPhone over, and some potential downsides to doing so, so I see them switching the plug end to USB C, but keeping lightning on the other end.
USB-C is 60% thicker than Lightning - arguably the most critical dimension. Because USC-C is 28% longer, additional reinforcement is needed to deal with the increased leverage caused by a side loaded cable. 23% wider as well - it's significantly larger. And for what benefit? Apple would lose the ability to certify MFi components, which makes for a more consistent user experience. USB 3.0 and possibly faster can already run over Lightning.
Lighting vs. USB-C is analogous to iOS vs. Android. It is more refined and well suited for the task at hand.
Rob