iPhone 15/Plus iPhone USB-C loose - saw this coming

[spiderman0616]

Apple designed USB C… You guys are wild

Like clockwork every year. Once all the product announcements, earnings calls, and holiday rumors have finished for the year and the product line is set for the time being, people have to start looking for things to worry and complain about. For crying out loud, USB-C has been around for years at this point. Why do we have to invent drama every year?

I'm willing to bet there's a HUGE overlap in the Venn diagram of "People who won't use MagSafe to charge because they think it's bad for their battery" and "People who want Lightning back because they're scared to use their USB port". This is a level of paranoia I do not understand.

 

[transmaster]

Like clockwork every year. Once all the product announcements, earnings calls, and holiday rumors have finished for the year and the product line is set for the time being, people have to start looking for things to worry and complain about. For crying out loud, USB-C has been around for years at this point. Why do we have to invent drama every year?

I'm willing to bet there's a HUGE overlap in the Venn diagram of "People who won't use MagSafe to charge because they think it's bad for their battery" and "People who want Lightning back because they're scared to use their USB port". This is a level of paranoia I do not understand.

I don't use MagSafe because I have not switched to a case for my iPhone that allows me to use it.

 

[Tadros]

No, use what we ham radio operators have used for decades I have both of these Caig Deoxit chemicals in my tool kit. DeoxIT® D-Series D5L in the needle applicator. This is a cleaner and lubricator for electronic connections, Potentiometers, phone plugs, etc. You place a tiny drop of Red D series in/on your USB, TB4, Lightning, XLR plugs etc etc. You insert these anointed plugs into the jack and it cleans and lubricates both sides of the contacts. Deoxit Gold is a similar formula to the Red D5L fluid but it is designed for gold contacts. It is what I use most of the time. I save the Red version for heavy duty use. Amazon has the best prices on both of these chemicals. DO NOT PURCHASE THE SPRAY VERSION!!!!!!! The spray version is more diluted and you waste most of it hosing down something. Because you are not wasting any of it these bottles last for a very long time. What happens to me is somebody borrows it and i never seen the bottle again.

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I always use contact cleaner. Works fine as well.

 

[johnmacward]

The current situation is truly a sheet show. This was supposed to reduce digital clutter? Ha. Fat chance. Now the world is stuck with trying to juggle cables in the multi-year transition to USB-C. After that, you'll see a bunch of useless Lightning cables being chucked in the trash. And after that, USB-C will be replaced with some "better" connector.

It's insane.

And if you think the EU knows anything about technology, think again. It's the EU we have to thank for all of these infernal "accept cookie" notices we see on websites everywhere. Someone there thought that harmless cookie files were dangerous. Ergo, regulation that benefits no one but lawyers. Someone else there got pissed off at Apple because it was too big and used a connector their Android phones didn't use (but one that worked well).

Meanwhile, Germany, the EU's biggest country, is all about "digitalization" now, as they try to catch up with the rest of the world by reducing paper clutter and bureaucracy in favor of easy-to-use websites. Fat chance. Two words are essential to understanding Germany: "Geht nicht." Living in Germany is like living in the U.S. in the late 90s as far as digitalization is concerned. It's effing pathetic.

I like many things about Germany, but the default response there to new tech (and technology in general) is "bah, humbug." And these fear-first scrooges are making hairbrained technology regulations that the world's best companies are forced to follow.

Are you here to just generally complain or is your problem just with the EU and EU rules, because you're drifting off into some different territory now.

The transition to a new cable type would be no different if Apple in 2 years time wanted to ditch Lightning for something better and still proprietary and it wasn't backwards compatible with Lightning (which wouldn't surprise me). You'd have a mess of Lightning, USB-C and the new cable type at home - just as annoying if not worse. However bringing virtually ALL devices to the one same standard means you can have 2 cables at home for just about ANY device - your main cable and a backup. Now that's a massive win for the environment, production AND the standard nature of the USB-C definition means that even recyclers will know how to deal with it as they have the right to the open standard (they'll know the materials and the construction and how to recycle).

Ask yourself this question - would you really want all the plug sockets in your house to be different - do you ever even question the fact that they're all the same ? Wouldn't you be pissed off that a vacuum that works downstairs needs an adapter because the plug sockets in the bedrooms are different from downstairs.

How the hell are cookie banners a truly negative thing when their sole purpose is to protect our privacy and force the ENDING of behaviour tracking by internet means (which is immoral beyond belief). Yes they can be annoying but funnily enough its the companies that choose their outlandishly dark patterned overly complex banner, not the EU. They are purposely designed so that you're encouraged to click "Accept Cookies" before you find the options for "Reject" regardless of the fact that the EU legal text is incredibly clear in saying "A user must find it equally easy to reject cookies as they find it to accept them". However they use legal loopholes for the moment to skirt this ("legitimate interest" selection, placing of "Reject button" on the main window but making it less visible or in a non standard area of the banner etc.) - the EU in this case looks after your basic right to not be stalked and the right to a private life, the companies inconvenience you by enforcing tracking cookies - they're not obliged to, they just can't say no the simple income stream and data it provides. They could ENTIRELY stop tracking cookies tomorrow if they wanted to. Notice that Apple has no tracking cookies. In summary: Know your real enemy, always.

 

[johnmacward]

Typical EU. Just look at the electric car charger they are forcing us to use vs. the Tesla one the Us will be using going forward.

If you don’t live in the EU, don’t comment on it. It takes a few years of living in Europe to see how this organization literally governs every single aspect of our lives.

It is not fun. It is killing innovation.

Stop this ridiculousness. Do you feel oppressed by the fact that all plug sockets are the same in your house and all devices work just about everywhere ? Is freedom for you when a coffee machine works in the garage BUT not in the kitchen because you need an expensive adapter to plug it in, BUT you feel that the adapter is innovative and you have the right to innovation. Don't you realise that USB-C is a major innovation ?

Stop using capitalistic talking points ("killing innovation") to talk about very sensible legislation to standardise device charging and data transfer so that we can drastically reduce e-waste and make the lives of a great majority an awful lot better - the same cable everywhere for the vast majority of our devices. The argument in this thread is "I think lightning has a nicer click than USB-C, and is a touch better hence the EU want to oppress me and control how often I breathe". STOP IT, that's about as logical as someone enjoying someone else's fart.

I vote for my MEP's, its not a dictatorship anymore than the US congress is. And just like the US congress, its not perfect either.

 

[johnmacward]

Wait until he finds out that USB C was codeveloped by Apple.

And the truth shall set you free. Most people here don't realise that Apple use USB-C on a majority of their devices now and that Lightning is inevitably going to say goodbye regardless of EU law.

And here's the proof that they're on the working group for USB (and have been for a long time):

 

[spiderman0616]

And the truth shall set you free. Most people here don't realise that Apple use USB-C on a majority of their devices now and that Lightning is inevitably going to say goodbye regardless of EU law.

And here's the proof that they're on the working group for USB (and have been for a long time):

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This is the most frustrating part to me--people refuse to admit that Apple was not only one of the first companies to ever implement USB-C, they were also part of the group that freaking INVENTED it. I just had this exact same argument with someone the other day when they claimed that Apple only switched the iPhone to USB-C to sell more cables and accessories. He wouldn't even believe me when I told him that iPads have had it for years. The intentional obtuseness people choose to have in order to troll Apple is so annoying.

 

[digitalcuriosity]

I had to deal with the weak poorly designed "lighting" power plug that Apple used to replace a very good older but more costly power plug.
I had three iPhones have power plug ports, fail rendering my phones unable to be charged.
The USB-C and the new stronger cord is a great improvement.

 

[Dust-by-Monday]

I had to deal with the weak poorly designed "lighting" power plug that Apple used to replace a very good older but more costly power plug.
I had three iPhones have power plug ports, fail rendering my phones unable to be charged.
The USB-C and the new stronger cord is a great improvement.

Did you get the lint out of the port? For the past 2 years I’ve been using the lightning port for wired headphones constantly with my iPhone 12 mini and haven’t had a single issue. I realize it’s only one sample but what are people doing to their poor ports?

 

[AlastorKatriona]

Good thoughts but a couple of points on yours:

1. Apple can and does make changes to hardware though they may start planning models 3 years in advance. Case in point, the rumors we've heard about haptic volume buttons in iPhone 15 Pros.

3/4. They may have always planned to switch to USB-C at some stage but may have bumped it up because they saw the writing on the wall with the EU 2024 deadline and didn't want to keep selling products with outdated Lightning connectors next year even though they could, as it would produce more cables and waste that would eventually have to be junked. It would also be bad marketing and bad for their brand, making the company look like they were slow moving and only begrudgingly complying. So, they had to do it this year. This way, they save face and paint the company as forward looking.

I'm no engineer, but I would think USB-C is too big a change to the architecture of the phone to separate Lightning/USB-C models based on geography. It would cut down on the economies of scale that Apple are so famous for.

I don't care what the EU thinks either but unfortunately, they are starting to dictate what technology we are allowed to use.

All fair points. I think the data overwhelming states that Apple planned to switch to USB-C this year and nothing about the EU's mandate influenced the timeline.

And yeah, I'd love to know the EU's thoughts on how USB-C's successor is ever established. Apparently zero thought was given to how USB-C became their choice in the first place...they chose USB-C because it had become ubiquitous...but how did it become ubiquitous in the first place? Certainly not by a governing body forcing it upon anyone. It proved itself in the marketplace, with manufacturers choosing to adopt it for its performance, consistency, size, ease of integration, etc. Because so many of them chose this over time, it turned into a universally adopted connector. How is that ever supposed to happen again? Even if someone develops something new that might be great, there is no way of proving it. The EU's own provisions for this are a travesty: basically if something new gets developed, the EU can look at it, and mandate it as the next best thing...all without it ever being proven in the marketplace. Would mandating USB-C the day it was first published have made sense? No, of course not. Only made sense after the market (businesses and consumers together) said this is the one.

I don’t think the EU mandate had anything to do with it at all. Apple simply wanted to keep a promise they made to not change the connector sooner than 10 years.

They were under pressure to change it for a while now by the market. They ignored those pressures to keep their timeline.

Some people are sad the lightening connector has been retired, but Apple has been making steady progress in the film and photography fronts for a long time now. That’s a major customer segment for professional use of iPhones, including in Apple’s own media productions. Lightening was a serious problem for those workflows since it was limited to USB 2 speeds. Apple saw no reason to improve on lightening even under that pressure as they decided long ago it was a dead end connector.

This is the result of that.

Them adding high speeds to the iPhone 15 Pro were not an accident.

Lightening needed to die. Let it go and don’t blame the EU.

I agree with you. But their "timeline" as you put it is more about not frustrating the overwhelming majority of iPhone owners who care more about their cable not changing than they do about USB-C. By waiting for people to have USB-C come in to their lives from many other angles, it made the switch a welcome one to all rather than a hated move.

 

[digitalcuriosity]

Did you get the lint out of the port? For the past 2 years I’ve been using the lightning port for wired headphones constantly with my iPhone 12 mini and haven’t had a single issue. I realize it’s only one sample but what are people doing to their poor ports?

Material in the port had nothing to do with my problem, my problem is the female port wore out and the male power plug would not stay in contact for charging then it would not make any contact this was the first iPhone then it's replacement a iPhone 11 after three years started having the same problem.

When the new i Phone 15 came out and i found the new USB-C being used, i thought before my 11 fully fails i will trade it in on the iPhone 15 Pro.

And so far so far i am impressed with both the new faster charger cord and the USB-C Porting.

 

[Dust-by-Monday]

Material in the port had nothing to do with my problem, my problem is the female post wore out and the male power plug would not stay in contact for charging then it would not make any contact this was the first iPhone then it's replacement a iPhone 11 after three years started having the same problem.

When the new i Phone 11 came out and i found the new USB-C being used, i thought before my 11 fully fails i will trade it in on the iPhone 11 Pro.

And so far so far i am impressed with both the new faster charger cord and the USB-C Porting.

There might've been something in your port preventing the locking mechanism from working. Make sure you clean it out really well. I've had a couple people come up to me saying their port was completely busted but just needed to be cleaned out and it worked perfectly after.

Edit: I'm not saying that was definitely your issue, but I've been using lightning for literally 10 years and have never had a port go bad.

 

[digitalcuriosity]

There might've been something in your port preventing the locking mechanism from working. Make sure you clean it out really well. I've had a couple people come up to me saying their port was completely busted but just needed to be cleaned out and it worked perfectly after.

Edit: I'm not saying that was definitely your issue, but I've been using lightning for literally 10 years and have never had a port go bad.

Now i do have the lighting plug on my older iPad but i never remove the plug and it's always charged 100%, so not removing it i feel it does not wear out.

Anyway today it's a non issue as i have the new USB-C on the iPhone15 Pro. am just in hopes it will not have the problems i had with the lighting system.
Another good item am keeping the new iPhone in an Otter Defender Pro XT case, and it has a small cover that protects the iPhones female port you just open it when ready to plug in charger cord.

 

[johnmacward]

This is the most frustrating part to me--people refuse to admit that Apple was not only one of the first companies to ever implement USB-C, they were also part of the group that freaking INVENTED it. I just had this exact same argument with someone the other day when they claimed that Apple only switched the iPhone to USB-C to sell more cables and accessories. He wouldn't even believe me when I told him that iPads have had it for years. The intentional obtuseness people choose to have in order to troll Apple is so annoying.

It's ironic because they'll sell less really considering its on open standard and you can buy just about any charger and cable you want for your phone. OR realise that dur to other devices you have at home, you already have everything you need - that's the beauty of it really.

 

[LogicalApex]

And yeah, I'd love to know the EU's thoughts on how USB-C's successor is ever established. Apparently zero thought was given to how USB-C became their choice in the first place...they chose USB-C because it had become ubiquitous...but how did it become ubiquitous in the first place? Certainly not by a governing body forcing it upon anyone. It proved itself in the marketplace, with manufacturers choosing to adopt it for its performance, consistency, size, ease of integration, etc. Because so many of them chose this over time, it turned into a universally adopted connector. How is that ever supposed to happen again? Even if someone develops something new that might be great, there is no way of proving it. The EU's own provisions for this are a travesty: basically if something new gets developed, the EU can look at it, and mandate it as the next best thing...all without it ever being proven in the marketplace. Would mandating USB-C the day it was first published have made sense? No, of course not. Only made sense after the market (businesses and consumers together) said this is the one

USB was aimed at being a universal standard since Intel created it in the 90s. The U in USB stands for Universal.

USB did achieve universal status by the early 00‘s with almost everything using USB. The problem USB ran into was the physical connector being tied to the USB standard and the shift in computing adjusting device sizing.

Now the USB-IF has separated the USB physical interface from the USB standard. As a result, USB-C supports a large number of Alt Modes that enable the physical connector standard to be modular and upgradable. USB-C is already being upgraded to support 80Gbps and more without changing the connector.

I’m sure in the future, it will come down to what the USB-IF suggests. With USB still serving the purpose it was intended to serve.

 

[hex_Edinburgh]

Like most here I'll also defend the Type C port. We fix Apple devices daily including with port issues too. Majority repairs are a result of user damage. We also noticed that lot of loose connections are due to build up of fluff/pocket lint, which over time once compressed can cause cables to be loose and disconnect. All needed is to carefully clean it / dug out.

 

[johnmacward]

Even if someone develops something new that might be great, there is no way of proving it. The EU's own provisions for this are a travesty: basically if something new gets developed, the EU can look at it, and mandate it as the next best thing...all without it ever being proven in the marketplace. Would mandating USB-C the day it was first published have made sense? No, of course not. Only made sense after the market (businesses and consumers together) said this is the one.

Out of curiosity what evidence do you have of the EU process for this? Nothing loaded, just an honest question.

In many ways the EU decision is anything but a travesty - USB-C is finally a good standard (USB-A and B certainly were not) and it's open which is undoubtedly a criteria for them. Where is the basis for fear of future EU decisions ? Wouldn't a continued raft of proprietary connections from different producers induce just as much fear and frustration ?

 

[AlastorKatriona]

Out of curiosity what evidence do you have of the EU process for this? Nothing loaded, just an honest question.

In many ways the EU decision is anything but a travesty - USB-C is finally a good standard (USB-A and B certainly were not) and it's open which is undoubtedly a criteria for them. Where is the basis for fear of future EU decisions ? Wouldn't a continued raft of proprietary connections from different producers induce just as much fear and frustration ?

The answers to your question are right there in the comment you responded to, but this is something that goes over a lot of people's heads, so I will explain again. The EU did not pick USB-C simply because its an open standard. They picked it because it is SHIPPING. Shipping on nearly every major and minor electronic device in the world. It's already dominant. It's already ubiquitous. That's what makes it their choice. And the entire point is: it didn't become that because of the EU making laws....it happened because of the absence of such laws. The mere existence of this type of law prevents that from ever happening again. The EU's law has provisions for one day replacing or updating the mandate, but in typical clueless government fashion those provisions are near worthless as they don't take any of the realities of the technology or the marketplace into consideration. I hope this helps you better understand. This law is not forward thinking, at all. It gives people a very short term appearance of a benefit, which is why everyone champions it and ignores the repercussions and future implications.

 

[LogicalApex]

The answers to your question are right there in the comment you responded to, but this is something that goes over a lot of people's heads, so I will explain again. The EU did not pick USB-C simply because its an open standard. They picked it because it is SHIPPING. Shipping on nearly every major and minor electronic device in the world. It's already dominant. It's already ubiquitous. That's what makes it their choice. And the entire point is: it didn't become that because of the EU making laws....it happened because of the absence of such laws. The mere existence of this type of law prevents that from ever happening again. The EU's law has provisions for one day replacing or updating the mandate, but in typical clueless government fashion those provisions are near worthless as they don't take any of the realities of the technology or the marketplace into consideration. I hope this helps you better understand. This law is not forward thinking, at all. It gives people a very short term appearance of a benefit, which is why everyone champions it and ignores the repercussions and future implications.

The tech industry already decided long ago that they wanted a universal standard. Again, this is exactly why USB was created!

USB has improved a lot over the last two decades. So you have it being leveraged again by the industry to live up to its goals. Which isn’t a small feat.

There are very few electronics not using USB today. Apple was the largest exception. Everyone else was already using some variation of USB for the reason I keep reminding you.

There is no need to be upset about the EU rule. The tech world settled in USB in the 90s!

This is a good thing as it not only reduces waste. It also increases interoperability. Which is a welcome thing.

 

[transmaster]

If you will recall in the beginning long before the "C" connector Apple objected to the lack of security the USB Mini, and Micro had. A certified USB-C plug has a channel configuration chipset which communicates to the device it is plugged into the plugs pedigree. Depending on the security requirements for the device if it detects a bogus chipset it can block any data transfer. As I have said above the Thunderbolt 4, and the soon to be released TB5 have made the HDMI, HDMI mini, Displayport. etc obsolete. I was thinking about the Apple 30 pin connector, the only redeeming feature is had was the positive latch it had on iPod Touches I had it on this meant that I could pick it up by the cable if it fell into the footwell of the truck I had at the time.

 

[transmaster]

I was looking at my cable stash. It is ridiculous the data cables I have. I have multiple examples of each of these cables. I find myself looking for a cable, not finding it I order a couple, only to find the cable I was looking for hours later when I cannot cancel the order.

 

[janeauburn]

To add insult to the USB-C transition, Apple is not offering replacement USB-C cases for its millions of AirPods users. You have to buy new AirPods with the USB-C cases. Lovely--not!

 

[LogicalApex]

To add insult to the USB-C transition, Apple is not offering replacement USB-C cases for its millions of AirPods users. You have to buy new AirPods with the USB-C cases. Lovely--not!

Why would they need to?

I can still charge my AirPods the same way as I did before the iPhone 15.

 

[I7guy]

The answers to your question are right there in the comment you responded to, but this is something that goes over a lot of people's heads, so I will explain again. The EU did not pick USB-C simply because its an open standard. They picked it because it is SHIPPING. Shipping on nearly every major and minor electronic device in the world. It's already dominant. It's already ubiquitous. That's what makes it their choice. And the entire point is: it didn't become that because of the EU making laws....it happened because of the absence of such laws. The mere existence of this type of law prevents that from ever happening again. The EU's law has provisions for one day replacing or updating the mandate, but in typical clueless government fashion those provisions are near worthless as they don't take any of the realities of the technology or the marketplace into consideration. I hope this helps you better understand. This law is not forward thinking, at all. It gives people a very short term appearance of a benefit, which is why everyone champions it and ignores the repercussions and future implications.

In other words sacrificing innovation for a short term standard. Sounds about right.

 

[spiderman0616]

To add insult to the USB-C transition, Apple is not offering replacement USB-C cases for its millions of AirPods users. You have to buy new AirPods with the USB-C cases. Lovely--not!

This can’t possibly be serious.