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Apple was going to move the entire lineup to USB-C anyway, the most this legislation could do is accelerate their timeline. I am not sure I agree with the nature of this legislation, but I promised myself last year already that I won't buy another lighting-based Apple product. Apple's rhetorics around it is laughable.
Agreed. It has the same sort of logic as when they claimed that not shipping the iPhone 12 with charging plugs and headphones was helping to save the planet.

Nothing much to do with saving Apple money on airfreight and packaging costs (and manufacturing said accessories), oh no.

In the same way, I'm sure that Apple is less worried in actuality about greater e-waste from people having to ditch their lightning cables than the loss of revenue from lightning products enrolled in the MFI program.
 
Well, we have confirmation the iPhone's going to switch to USB-C. Apple even saying they have no choice.

So, where's the "Apple should pull out of Europe" comments now? All that energy from months ago is gone.
One of the great ironies here is that Apple designed USB-C. They had more engineers on the project than any other company involved.
 
So, the good news is that we'll be getting USB C ports on iPhones but the bad news is that Apple handed the design and implementation to their peripherals team in retaliation:

FgBWsfNWYAA3YD6
 
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Probably the best thing to do about people who say stupid things like "Apple should pull out of Europe" is to ignore them, in the same way you would ignore someone on the street randomly screaming about how squirrels are stealing their thoughts and sending them to the government. One statement is not less ridiculous than the other.
 
Apple should pull out of Europe!

USB-C was coming to Apple products anyway. Pretty obvious with past and recent product releases.

EU whining about it to make headlines and to be viewed as the saviors that made it a “standard” is laughable.

No, we aren’t quiet. 👊😙👍
The next excuse will be, sideloading and alternative AppStores were coming to Apple products anyway? 🤣
 
The next excuse will be, sideloading and alternative AppStores were coming to Apple products anyway? 🤣
No, prices will just keep rising in the EU to where folks just stop buying Apple products, thus rendering Apple no longer a Gatekeeper! :D (wait… are citizens in the EU paying for the switch to USB-C a few dollars at a time? Just asking questions.)

Actually, I forgot. Apple could be 1% marketshare and the EU’s definition of “Gatekeeper” would still apply because it’s not based on any numerical value.
 
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And that is the sound of 2 billion Lightning cords being thrown into landfills in the next few years…. The European government really didn’t think this through. What a waste.
 
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I wouldn’t be surprised if they sold USB C models in Europe and Lightning model’s elsewhere. They already have three different variants when it comes to physical and eSIMs around the world. If they can do that they could also offer both USB C in Europe and Lightning models elsewhere.

I can see that happening. Just look at Tesla. The EU mandated the J1772 & combo standards for EVs and Tesla had to change all their euro spec’d cars to meet them. But they’re still using their own proprietary plugs in North America(1).

It’s already confirmed that Apple will switch iPhones to usb-c, but I can see them making some other devices with lightening for NA & usb-c in Europe(2).

1. I don’t know much about how Tesla works in Asia, Australia or other countries in the global south, so I didn’t speak to that.

2. Similar to point (1), don’t know if Apple will keep lightening or switch to usb-c in the rest of the world.
 
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I’m sure you’d love to be paying even more for your Apple products to make up all billions lost by Apple ditching over a quarter of their revenue then . Absolutely nonsensical comments like yours are amusing in the extreme. Apple isn’t bigger than a continent it trades in and I don’t think the EU need publicity for its rules.

It seems to me that many people in North America are ignorant as to just how big the EU is. Were it not for the shear geographic size of Alaska, the EU would be larger than the US by both size AND population (not including Scandinavian countries).
 
I can see that happening. Just look at Tesla. The EU mandated the J1772 & combo standards for EVs and Tesla had to change all their euro spec’d cars to meet them. But they’re still using their own proprietary plugs in North America(1).

It’s already confirmed that Apple will switch iPhones to usb-c, but I can see them making some other devices with lightening for NA & usb-c in Europe(2).

1. I don’t know much about how Tesla works in Asia, Australia or other countries in the global south, so I didn’t speak to that.

2. Similar to point (1), don’t know if Apple will keep lightening or switch to usb-c in the rest of the world.
Wishful thinking. Apple will never diverge the connector capabilities of new iPhones in that way— how can you market an iPhone with Lightning in North America when it has a much faster data transfer speed with USB-C in Europe. Plus, as others have pointed out, it would result in two many SKUs. Not going to happen for any new iPhones released starting in fall ‘23.

However, I can see them simply dropping older models that don’t have USB-C from the European market (an iPhone SE or last year’s phones, for instance). That means Europe will only get next year’s new phones, making them more expensive for the continent.
 
Apple was always going to switch iPhone to USB-C. All their other lines had made or were midway through the transition.

Apple just played a good PR game. This way, under the illusion they were forced to do it, they get to deflect all the negative attention they’ll get through sending billions worth of perfectly fine accessories to landfill.
 
Transferring data at 480Mbps (60MB) in 2022 stifles innovation.

Apple started this when they made their 2016-2019 laptops USB-C only. Apart from the HDMI and SD port, the current laptops are still USB-C.

Current lineup.
iMac: 2/4 USB-C ports.
Mac Pro: 10 USB-C ports.
Mac mini: 2 USB-C/2 USB A ports.
Mac Studio: 6 USB-C/2 USB A ports.
MBP: 3 USB-C ports
MBA: 2 USB-C ports.

The whole line up is USB-C.
2015.
 
1. Before EU legislation people were moaning about slow data transfer with lightning connectors and demanding USB-C. Now people are moaning that the faster USB-C is being imposed upon them. 🐑 🐑 🐑
2. iPhone won’t remove (lightning/USB-C) connector until wireless CarPlay is mainstream, and that is still a few years away.
 
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It seems to me that many people in North America are ignorant as to just how big the EU is. Were it not for the shear geographic size of Alaska, the EU would be larger than the US by both size AND population (not including Scandinavian countries).

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there. Maybe there is a lack of understanding of just how big Europe as a whole is, not just the EU countries as regs still pass to the UK despite being European but out of EU. As a whole it’s over double the population of the US, so a much larger potential market. Flippant comments like ‘Apple should pull out of Europe’ simply shows how naive that person is to how that would affect the products they currently enjoy. It’s not a drop in the ocean by any stretch.
 
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there. Maybe there is a lack of understanding of just how big Europe as a whole is, not just the EU countries as regs still pass to the UK despite being European but out of EU. As a whole it’s over double the population of the US, so a much larger potential market. Flippant comments like ‘Apple should pull out of Europe’ simply shows how naive that person is to how that would affect the products they currently enjoy. It’s not a drop in the ocean by any stretch.
It almost seems like a certain side of the pond has a bit of a feeling of being overimportant...compared to the rest of the big world. Not surprising...

(BTW hope the liverpool season picks up.)
 
And also, if they should have a port in any device, let's have a single universal type. Be it lightning or be it type c or whatever everyone agrees upon.

...Long back, by the time I started using computers, serial and parallel ports were almost dead and USBA port was universal. It was a remarkable era, I never had to think about buying any damn hardware. I know if I plug it in, it would work. Now I have devices with micro USB, Lightning and Type C. It's nuts managing all of them.

Anyway, I'm replacing them 1 by 1 to typeC. First, goes DualShock Controller > Dual Sense Controller. Then iPads. My damn soldering iron charges via type C :D
 
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