It seems to me that, in its portable products like iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple is getting away from ports as much as possible.
The Apple Watch has only a single port that is only used by centralized Apple repair facilities (not even Genius Bars) for diagnostics.
And, the iPhone at this point could technically eliminate its lightening port connector completely and still remain completely functional: charging and audio connections no longer have to depend on the lightening port. (But CarPlay and iTunes still need some work).
I expect that, at some point, we will see an iPhone without either ports or buttons. Just a slab of glass wrapped in a continuous, seamless band of 7000 series alloy "Aluuminium"
The one button I would hate to see go though is the quiet button where I can silence the phone without turning it on. That's nice.
multiple problems with getting rid of the lightning port.
First (and this is one of the biggest,) CarPlay requires a wired connection. I know they have developed a wifi protocol for it, but I've only heard of one aftermarket stereo that supports it, so for all intents and purposes it's a wired protocol. Beyond that, even if some manufacturers start adopting the wifi protocol, eliminating the port would make the phones incompatible with every existing CarPlay car out there.
Many cars don't have a stable flat place to place a phone, either. With a cable, I can have my phone in a cup holder, in my lap, on the dashboard - wherever. It still works fine.
Second, having a wired port is critical for recovery purposes. Granted, this is a rare occurrence, but look at the situation last week where WatchOS bricked people's watches and they were forced to send them in.
Charging via a cable is faster and more efficient than wireless. Currently, Qi charging mats are roughly 65% efficient - That's a ton of wasted energy. All the people who carry a battery pack or a battery case around to charge their phone would suddenly be getting 35% less charge out of them. Because signal strength falls of exponentially, cases have a significant effect on both efficiency and speed of charging, and if you have one of those pop holders on the back of your phone you can forget about it.
Finally, a direct financial reason for Apple not to eliminate the port is cost. Charging pads are significantly more expensive than cables. If Apple were to skip the lightning port, they would have to include a charging mat with every phone. Given the fact that they are too cheap to include a better USB power adapter or a 3.5mm headphone adapter, it's hard to see them including a charging mat.
All the merrier for a switch to everything USB C, with Apple there's no telling though. They are liable to ignore the other factors and simply include an extremely cheap wireless charger that they invent.
I will point out that this shift would also make them shift to airpods, which is currently very expensive, and I don't see being competive with the wired earpods for years on the price scale.
but in 2020 or 2021 the iPhone will probably go USB C.
more likely no ports at all in favor of faster wireless charging
You can’t beat physics. A wired connection will always beat wireless for powering a device.
Yes, and wired networks are faster than wireless ones. But when was the last time you saw anyone plug in a network cable?
I use wired connections whenever I can. Faster and more reliable. A wired connection virtually always trumps a wireless in every way except convenience. Even the convenience trumps wireless sometimes.
It seems to me that, in its portable products like iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple is getting away from ports as much as possible.
The Apple Watch has only a single port that is only used by centralized Apple repair facilities (not even Genius Bars) for diagnostics.
And, the iPhone at this point could technically eliminate its lightening port connector completely and still remain completely functional: charging and audio connections no longer have to depend on the lightening port. (But CarPlay and iTunes still need some work).
I expect that, at some point, we will see an iPhone without either ports or buttons. Just a slab of glass wrapped in a continuous, seamless band of 7000 series alloy "Aluuminium"
The one button I would hate to see go though is the quiet button where I can silence the phone without turning it on. That's nice.
multiple problems with getting rid of the lightning port.
First (and this is one of the biggest,) CarPlay requires a wired connection. I know they have developed a wifi protocol for it, but I've only heard of one aftermarket stereo that supports it, so for all intents and purposes it's a wired protocol. Beyond that, even if some manufacturers start adopting the wifi protocol, eliminating the port would make the phones incompatible with every existing CarPlay car out there.
Many cars don't have a stable flat place to place a phone, either. With a cable, I can have my phone in a cup holder, in my lap, on the dashboard - wherever. It still works fine.
Second, having a wired port is critical for recovery purposes. Granted, this is a rare occurrence, but look at the situation last week where WatchOS bricked people's watches and they were forced to send them in.
Charging via a cable is faster and more efficient than wireless. Currently, Qi charging mats are roughly 65% efficient - That's a ton of wasted energy. All the people who carry a battery pack or a battery case around to charge their phone would suddenly be getting 35% less charge out of them. Because signal strength falls of exponentially, cases have a significant effect on both efficiency and speed of charging, and if you have one of those pop holders on the back of your phone you can forget about it.
Finally, a direct financial reason for Apple not to eliminate the port is cost. Charging pads are significantly more expensive than cables. If Apple were to skip the lightning port, they would have to include a charging mat with every phone. Given the fact that they are too cheap to include a better USB power adapter or a 3.5mm headphone adapter, it's hard to see them including a charging mat.
I know we've had this conversation before, but we're not talking about today. We're talking about a couple of years in the future. Apple's recent middle finger to the Pencil using iPad community demonstrates that they don't care about backward compatibility. So CarPlay needing a wired connection is not going to be an issue for the elimination of the port. Further, I doubt Apple wouldn't offer some sort of hard-wired port access, but in the form of the sealed SmartConnector. A simple adapter solves this problem for older CarPlay systems. Add to that, not many cars even have CarPlay now. A SmartConnector also gives Apple a recovery port. Add to that, Apple could easily build or license a wireless CarPlay adapter which converts wireless to USB.
A stable place to mount the phone won't be an issue. A simple magnetic charger that snaps onto the phone solves that problem quickly, again, an innovation that will come to market when Apple needs it to.
As far as charging speed, we've yet to see what Qi charging tech will look like in a couple of years, much less what kind of alternatives Apple comes up with in terms of a SmartConnector for those that need faster charging. For all of Apple's "green" talk, they're not going to care about how inefficient wireless charging may be, as long as it delivers the wireless dream without too much compromise. There's a whole lot of people out there who have already embraced wireless charging for their iPhones, and aren't looking back, for whom the charging efficiency and speed does not seem to be a problem.
In two years, who knows how much the bulk manufacture of chargers are going to be for all of Apple's products? They're already including one with an Apple Watch, and nobody's complaining. And for the company that's charging $1,000 for the latest iPhone now, it's not exactly like they're going to eat the cost -- they'll just raise the price and charge the customer for the magical convenience which is AirPower, and it's world of pricey accessories. They've got a couple of years to get it right, which is likely the only explanation why they didn't rush it to market. Add to that the elimination of the 3.5mm headphone adapter, and wired EarPods, and they're already well on their way to swapping out costs they've already got.
I'm super disenchanted with the Lightning connector. Two iPhone SE's in a row have had problems maintaining a charging connection. The cable is connected, but I need to wiggle around to find the exact spot where a power connection is made. I always thought the Lightning connection was a serious upgrade over the 30-pin connector but I never had this problem with that older connector over 8 years, not once. So far, two SE's in two years have given me grief to no end.
There are three likely causes:
1) Pocket lint in the port blocking full insertion and connection.
2) A worn out lightening cable (usually a 3rd party cable)
3) Missing connectors inside of the port (usually the result of improper cleaning).
Get a strong light and look inside there to see if there is any dirt build-up. If there is, clean it with compressed air and a non-metal tool like a toothpick
I find it hard to believe Apple is really focusing on developing lighting anymore. It's already 6 years old, so presumably in its later half. They also shifter the new iPads to USB C, this will already kill like a fifth of the lighting user base. I sortof don't think it will be next year, but in 2020 or 2021 the iPhone will probably go USB C.
I kind of doubt the iPhone will ever go to USB-C. I think the Lightning port will persevere a couple of more years until wireless charging can replace it. Wireless backups will handle most customers needs, while something like the SmartConnector could replace Lightning for those who need to make a physical connection for any reason.
Im just wondering why Apple would ever see the need to waterproof the inserted Lightning connection with a device. Is it in case it gets knocked off the counter into the toilet while charging? I can't say my iPhone has ever been in jeopardy of being knocked into water while a Lightning cable was plugged into it. I suppose I could have knocked my coffee cup over while it was plugged in, but how often does that happen?
I think there was a case a few years ago of a woman electrocuted in her bath because she had a mishap while trying to multitask -- charge her phone while bathing.
but in 2020 or 2021 the iPhone will probably go USB C.
more likely no ports at all in favor of faster wireless charging
You can’t beat physics. A wired connection will always beat wireless for powering a device.
Yes, and wired networks are faster than wireless ones. But when was the last time you saw anyone plug in a network cable?
I use wired connections whenever I can. Faster and more reliable. A wired connection virtually always trumps a wireless in every way except convenience. Even the convenience trumps wireless sometimes.
It seems to me that, in its portable products like iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple is getting away from ports as much as possible.
The Apple Watch has only a single port that is only used by centralized Apple repair facilities (not even Genius Bars) for diagnostics.
And, the iPhone at this point could technically eliminate its lightening port connector completely and still remain completely functional: charging and audio connections no longer have to depend on the lightening port. (But CarPlay and iTunes still need some work).
I expect that, at some point, we will see an iPhone without either ports or buttons. Just a slab of glass wrapped in a continuous, seamless band of 7000 series alloy "Aluuminium"
The one button I would hate to see go though is the quiet button where I can silence the phone without turning it on. That's nice.
multiple problems with getting rid of the lightning port.
First (and this is one of the biggest,) CarPlay requires a wired connection. I know they have developed a wifi protocol for it, but I've only heard of one aftermarket stereo that supports it, so for all intents and purposes it's a wired protocol. Beyond that, even if some manufacturers start adopting the wifi protocol, eliminating the port would make the phones incompatible with every existing CarPlay car out there.
Many cars don't have a stable flat place to place a phone, either. With a cable, I can have my phone in a cup holder, in my lap, on the dashboard - wherever. It still works fine.
Second, having a wired port is critical for recovery purposes. Granted, this is a rare occurrence, but look at the situation last week where WatchOS bricked people's watches and they were forced to send them in.
Charging via a cable is faster and more efficient than wireless. Currently, Qi charging mats are roughly 65% efficient - That's a ton of wasted energy. All the people who carry a battery pack or a battery case around to charge their phone would suddenly be getting 35% less charge out of them. Because signal strength falls of exponentially, cases have a significant effect on both efficiency and speed of charging, and if you have one of those pop holders on the back of your phone you can forget about it.
Finally, a direct financial reason for Apple not to eliminate the port is cost. Charging pads are significantly more expensive than cables. If Apple were to skip the lightning port, they would have to include a charging mat with every phone. Given the fact that they are too cheap to include a better USB power adapter or a 3.5mm headphone adapter, it's hard to see them including a charging mat.
CarPlay has to be wired? Apple has never been shy about walking away from obsolete technology.
You need a wire to stabilize your phone?
I don't even take mine out of my pocket. I don't have CarPlay, but instead I simply press "Play" on my Apple Watch and the car stereo picks up where it left off on my Apple Music tunes.
Wired charging is more efficient and cheaper than wireless?
You could make that same statement comparing ethernet cables to WiFi. While people still use them, its mostly only because they're there...
No, "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Holes In Our iPhones!"
but in 2020 or 2021 the iPhone will probably go USB C.
more likely no ports at all in favor of faster wireless charging
You can’t beat physics. A wired connection will always beat wireless for powering a device.
Yes, and wired networks are faster than wireless ones. But when was the last time you saw anyone plug in a network cable?
I use wired connections whenever I can. Faster and more reliable. A wired connection virtually always trumps a wireless in every way except convenience. Even the convenience trumps wireless sometimes.
It seems to me that, in its portable products like iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple is getting away from ports as much as possible.
The Apple Watch has only a single port that is only used by centralized Apple repair facilities (not even Genius Bars) for diagnostics.
And, the iPhone at this point could technically eliminate its lightening port connector completely and still remain completely functional: charging and audio connections no longer have to depend on the lightening port. (But CarPlay and iTunes still need some work).
I expect that, at some point, we will see an iPhone without either ports or buttons. Just a slab of glass wrapped in a continuous, seamless band of 7000 series alloy "Aluuminium"
The one button I would hate to see go though is the quiet button where I can silence the phone without turning it on. That's nice.
multiple problems with getting rid of the lightning port.
First (and this is one of the biggest,) CarPlay requires a wired connection. I know they have developed a wifi protocol for it, but I've only heard of one aftermarket stereo that supports it, so for all intents and purposes it's a wired protocol. Beyond that, even if some manufacturers start adopting the wifi protocol, eliminating the port would make the phones incompatible with every existing CarPlay car out there.
Many cars don't have a stable flat place to place a phone, either. With a cable, I can have my phone in a cup holder, in my lap, on the dashboard - wherever. It still works fine.
Second, having a wired port is critical for recovery purposes. Granted, this is a rare occurrence, but look at the situation last week where WatchOS bricked people's watches and they were forced to send them in.
Charging via a cable is faster and more efficient than wireless. Currently, Qi charging mats are roughly 65% efficient - That's a ton of wasted energy. All the people who carry a battery pack or a battery case around to charge their phone would suddenly be getting 35% less charge out of them. Because signal strength falls of exponentially, cases have a significant effect on both efficiency and speed of charging, and if you have one of those pop holders on the back of your phone you can forget about it.
Finally, a direct financial reason for Apple not to eliminate the port is cost. Charging pads are significantly more expensive than cables. If Apple were to skip the lightning port, they would have to include a charging mat with every phone. Given the fact that they are too cheap to include a better USB power adapter or a 3.5mm headphone adapter, it's hard to see them including a charging mat.
CarPlay has to be wired? Apple has never been shy about walking away from obsolete technology.
You need a wire to stabilize your phone?
I don't even take mine out of my pocket. I don't have CarPlay, but instead I simply press "Play" on my Apple Watch and the car stereo picks up where it left off on my Apple Music tunes.
Wired charging is more efficient and cheaper than wireless?
You could make that same statement comparing ethernet cables to WiFi. While people still use them, its mostly only because they're there...
No, "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Holes In Our iPhones!"
ok - I'm pretty sure you are deliberately ignoring relevant information that doesn't match your point, but I never said CarPlay as a standard has to be wired, what I did say is that virtually every car that has it requires a wired connection. If Apple were to eliminate a wired connection, that would instantly make the new phones incompatible with every one of these cars. There was some angst when Apple changed from the 30 pin connector, but a $30 dock is a far cry from a $30-50k car that is designed to last 10-15 years.
Likewise I did not say you need a wire to stabilize the phone - I said you need a stable surface for wireless charging to work. If I make a turn and the phone slides around, the wire stays with it. If it's on a charging mat, its slides off and quits charging. This is not a theoretical concern - My brother in law has a Prius with a wireless charger built in. It works - most of the time, but if the phone slides a bit, it gets confused and stops charging.
Like I said, it appears you'd rather ignore or twist facts to make your point, but if you really don't want a stinkin' hole in your phone, you can certainly take some epoxy and fill up the lightning port. (and the speaker holes and microphone, too.) For the rest of us, there are many legitimate reasons to keep a connector.
but in 2020 or 2021 the iPhone will probably go USB C.
more likely no ports at all in favor of faster wireless charging
You can’t beat physics. A wired connection will always beat wireless for powering a device.
Yes, and wired networks are faster than wireless ones. But when was the last time you saw anyone plug in a network cable?
I use wired connections whenever I can. Faster and more reliable. A wired connection virtually always trumps a wireless in every way except convenience. Even the convenience trumps wireless sometimes.
It seems to me that, in its portable products like iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple is getting away from ports as much as possible.
The Apple Watch has only a single port that is only used by centralized Apple repair facilities (not even Genius Bars) for diagnostics.
And, the iPhone at this point could technically eliminate its lightening port connector completely and still remain completely functional: charging and audio connections no longer have to depend on the lightening port. (But CarPlay and iTunes still need some work).
I expect that, at some point, we will see an iPhone without either ports or buttons. Just a slab of glass wrapped in a continuous, seamless band of 7000 series alloy "Aluuminium"
The one button I would hate to see go though is the quiet button where I can silence the phone without turning it on. That's nice.
multiple problems with getting rid of the lightning port.
First (and this is one of the biggest,) CarPlay requires a wired connection. I know they have developed a wifi protocol for it, but I've only heard of one aftermarket stereo that supports it, so for all intents and purposes it's a wired protocol. Beyond that, even if some manufacturers start adopting the wifi protocol, eliminating the port would make the phones incompatible with every existing CarPlay car out there.
Many cars don't have a stable flat place to place a phone, either. With a cable, I can have my phone in a cup holder, in my lap, on the dashboard - wherever. It still works fine.
Second, having a wired port is critical for recovery purposes. Granted, this is a rare occurrence, but look at the situation last week where WatchOS bricked people's watches and they were forced to send them in.
Charging via a cable is faster and more efficient than wireless. Currently, Qi charging mats are roughly 65% efficient - That's a ton of wasted energy. All the people who carry a battery pack or a battery case around to charge their phone would suddenly be getting 35% less charge out of them. Because signal strength falls of exponentially, cases have a significant effect on both efficiency and speed of charging, and if you have one of those pop holders on the back of your phone you can forget about it.
Finally, a direct financial reason for Apple not to eliminate the port is cost. Charging pads are significantly more expensive than cables. If Apple were to skip the lightning port, they would have to include a charging mat with every phone. Given the fact that they are too cheap to include a better USB power adapter or a 3.5mm headphone adapter, it's hard to see them including a charging mat.
CarPlay has to be wired? Apple has never been shy about walking away from obsolete technology.
You need a wire to stabilize your phone?
I don't even take mine out of my pocket. I don't have CarPlay, but instead I simply press "Play" on my Apple Watch and the car stereo picks up where it left off on my Apple Music tunes.
Wired charging is more efficient and cheaper than wireless?
You could make that same statement comparing ethernet cables to WiFi. While people still use them, its mostly only because they're there...
No, "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Holes In Our iPhones!"
ok - I'm pretty sure you are deliberately ignoring relevant information that doesn't match your point, but I never said CarPlay as a standard has to be wired, what I did say is that virtually every car that has it requires a wired connection. If Apple were to eliminate a wired connection, that would instantly make the new phones incompatible with every one of these cars. There was some angst when Apple changed from the 30 pin connector, but a $30 dock is a far cry from a $30-50k car that is designed to last 10-15 years.
Likewise I did not say you need a wire to stabilize the phone - I said you need a stable surface for wireless charging to work. If I make a turn and the phone slides around, the wire stays with it. If it's on a charging mat, its slides off and quits charging. This is not a theoretical concern - My brother in law has a Prius with a wireless charger built in. It works - most of the time, but if the phone slides a bit, it gets confused and stops charging.
Like I said, it appears you'd rather ignore or twist facts to make your point, but if you really don't want a stinkin' hole in your phone, you can certainly take some epoxy and fill up the lightning port. (and the speaker holes and microphone, too.) For the rest of us, there are many legitimate reasons to keep a connector.
No, you just need to write more clearly. And too, as I said, Apple has never been shy about abandoning obsolete technology. I haven't heard a single apology from them after dumping the 30 pin or the 3.5mm. And, when it frees up space and makes the product more reliable, they have all the reason they need to move on.
Would rather Apple engineer a cable that outlasted the original device. When you need to recycle 3 or 4 cables in that time, all the pvc free jackets don’t outweigh that mess.
Comments
I will point out that this shift would also make them shift to airpods, which is currently very expensive, and I don't see being competive with the wired earpods for years on the price scale.
A stable place to mount the phone won't be an issue. A simple magnetic charger that snaps onto the phone solves that problem quickly, again, an innovation that will come to market when Apple needs it to.
As far as charging speed, we've yet to see what Qi charging tech will look like in a couple of years, much less what kind of alternatives Apple comes up with in terms of a SmartConnector for those that need faster charging. For all of Apple's "green" talk, they're not going to care about how inefficient wireless charging may be, as long as it delivers the wireless dream without too much compromise. There's a whole lot of people out there who have already embraced wireless charging for their iPhones, and aren't looking back, for whom the charging efficiency and speed does not seem to be a problem.
In two years, who knows how much the bulk manufacture of chargers are going to be for all of Apple's products? They're already including one with an Apple Watch, and nobody's complaining. And for the company that's charging $1,000 for the latest iPhone now, it's not exactly like they're going to eat the cost -- they'll just raise the price and charge the customer for the magical convenience which is AirPower, and it's world of pricey accessories. They've got a couple of years to get it right, which is likely the only explanation why they didn't rush it to market. Add to that the elimination of the 3.5mm headphone adapter, and wired EarPods, and they're already well on their way to swapping out costs they've already got.
Apple has never been shy about walking away from obsolete technology.
You need a wire to stabilize your phone?
Likewise I did not say you need a wire to stabilize the phone - I said you need a stable surface for wireless charging to work. If I make a turn and the phone slides around, the wire stays with it. If it's on a charging mat, its slides off and quits charging. This is not a theoretical concern - My brother in law has a Prius with a wireless charger built in. It works - most of the time, but if the phone slides a bit, it gets confused and stops charging.
Like I said, it appears you'd rather ignore or twist facts to make your point, but if you really don't want a stinkin' hole in your phone, you can certainly take some epoxy and fill up the lightning port. (and the speaker holes and microphone, too.) For the rest of us, there are many legitimate reasons to keep a connector.
And too, as I said, Apple has never been shy about abandoning obsolete technology. I haven't heard a single apology from them after dumping the 30 pin or the 3.5mm. And, when it frees up space and makes the product more reliable, they have all the reason they need to move on.