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

[Kingcoherent]

My USB-C charger falls out from the port from time to time from random wiggles when using while charging. I cleaned out some lint that was in the port and it’s a little bit better now, but it will still fall out of its connectors from time to time. The charger will still be in the port but I will notice my phone isn’t charging anymore so I have to push it back in. It can get pretty annoying.

My lightning ports were always a nightmare for lint. I’ve never, ever had a problem with a usb c port. The difference is that my iPhone goes in a pocket.

We‘ll see how it hold up long time, but for now I could be happier with my iphone 15. Thank god Apple finally ditched a cable I only had on one Apple device.

 

[Kingcoherent]

Nope. USB-C has always been a less stable connection than Lightning. USB-C connections get looser over time. And it certainly is the EU’s fault. Now there will be hundreds of tons of Lightning cables dumped into landfills because of them.

My (Apple branded) lightning cables have always broken far quicker than any other cable. In fact, I haven’t had a single usb c cable break, or port become unusable.

 

[unchecked]

i am looking forward to the point where the EU will finally overstep the boundaries so we can revist this comment. There was literally no harm in lighting and i still miss it

Lightning was fine until it started being inadequate. I used to plug in a variety of dongles to get my iPhone and iPad to read my XQD and now CFexpress card reader because Lightning doesn't supply enough power to read the card readers. To begin, you need the Lightning to USB 3 dongle. The one with the USB and Lightning female out. But because the reader's USB port blocks the Lightning port, I had to get a USB B female to male adapter to move my USB connection up, so I can fit the Lightning cable into the female port which has to go to a power bank to power the adapter and card readers.

With USB-C, you just plug the card reader in (tested on the iPad 11") and it works.

Also why I still refuse to forgive Apple for gimping the iPad 10's USB-C port. They could have done great things with it, but they decided to nerf it. The problem with USB-C isn't the port/standard, but how Apple decides to intentionally make it not great.

 

[transmaster]

Apple could have opened up lightning and allowed other OEM’s to improve on it, then that would be the standard, not this inferior USB-C nonsense.

In the very beginning Apple tried to do just that but the the USB controlling mafia ended that. Apple actually wanted to have quality standards that USB.org did not want.

 

[transmaster]

My (Apple branded) lightning cables have always broken far quicker than any other cable. In fact, I haven’t had a single usb c cable break, or port become unusable.

Exactly I don't have a Lightning cable that has lasted much beyond 2 years, The are almost all Ankers some are Amazonbasics, these cables do not go anywhere they stay plugged into Anker Chargers. I have USB cables the are almost 10 years old. The USB cables get retired because they get so rotten looking I can't stand to look at them. I like the "C" cable because I have a cable with the same connector on both sides.

 

[transpo1]

My (Apple branded) lightning cables have always broken far quicker than any other cable. In fact, I haven’t had a single usb c cable break, or port become unusable.

I’ve had the cables themselves fray after 2-3 years of use but I’ve never seen a Lightning connector itself break. Maybe that’s what you mean?

One USB port on my two year old MBP M1 Max is already loosed resulting in unstable, lost connections when using hard drives.

 

[transpo1]

In the very beginning Apple tried to do just that but the the USB controlling mafia ended that. Apple actually wanted to have quality standards that USB.org did not want.

I’m sure they did and that was the problem.

 

[Dade Murphy]

In the very beginning Apple tried to do just that but the the USB controlling mafia ended that. Apple actually wanted to have quality standards that USB.org did not want.

That’s a shame, because, from a design standpoint, lightning is clearly superior.

I suppose that explains why Apple wanted in on the development of USB-C? If you can’t beat them, join them, kind of thing

 

[transpo1]

That’s a shame, because, from a design standpoint, lightning is clearly superior.

I suppose that explains why Apple wanted in on the development of USB-C? If you can’t beat them, join them, kind of thing

Totally. They got the speed they wanted but likely had to compromise on design.

 

[AlastorKatriona]

it's good that EU forced Apple to move to a modern port.

It's good that Apple moved to USB-C.
It's not good that they were forced to (or would have been forced to in another year).

There is a difference, and its completely possible to understand the difference.

 

[Dust-by-Monday]

It's good that Apple moved to USB-C.
It's not good that they were forced to (or would have been forced to in another year).

There is a difference, and it’s completely possible to understand the difference.

In my opinion, Apple would’ve switched to USB C anyway, regardless of the EU ruling. It was inevitable.

 

[transpo1]

In my opinion, Apple would’ve switched to USB C anyway, regardless of the EU ruling. It was inevitable.

We will never know that for sure now that they've been forced to.

 

[Ethosik]

My iPhone has this issue. I just use wireless charging now due to it.

 

[Dust-by-Monday]

We will never know that for sure now that they've been forced to.

True. Only Apple knows what their plans were prior to the EU law.

 

[AlastorKatriona]

We will never know that for sure now that they've been forced to.

Except they haven't been. Not yet.

In my opinion, Apple would’ve switched to USB C anyway, regardless of the EU ruling. It was inevitable.

There is zero reason to think the EU's ruling has any impact on it. Zero. People just love touting it as some "people's success" over the big bad Apple, but there is no truth to it at all.

1. Apple's hardware models are planned minimum 3 years in advance. The iPhone 15 was designed with USB-C long before this was even a topic of discussion in the EU.
2. Apple has steadily embraced USB-C in many other products, including Mac and iPad, when it was appropriate for those products.
3. Switching the connector on one of the most widely-used devices in the world with over 1 billion Lightning devices in existence is no small, casual decision. The majority of the iPhone market cares more about the charging cable NOT changing every other year like it used to back in the early cellphone days. For Apple, it was more prudent to wait until USB-C had grown up around iPhone and become so ubiquitous that it would be a welcome change to users, instead of an irritating one.
4. If Apple's chief concern was to be compliant, they could be compliant only on hardware sold in the EU (albeit unlikely) and they certainly could have waited until iPhone 17. Based on release cycles they could have released iPhone 15 and even 16 with Lightning and still been compliant. But of course, it was never about compliance.
5. Last but not least, Apple promised Lightning for 10 years from 2012 to 2022 and kept that promise to the letter.

No one cares what the EU thinks the hole on the bottom of luxury technology products should look like...least of all Apple.

 

[tex210]

Had a Logitech keyboard with this problem. It turned out to be the usb-c cable they shipped it with.

 

[thecautioners]

I charge overnight with MagSafe but use usbc in my living room. Haven’t noticed any issues. Using an Amazonbasics cable.

 

[transpo1]

Except they haven't been. Not yet.

There is zero reason to think the EU's ruling has any impact on it. Zero. People just love touting it as some "people's success" over the big bad Apple, but there is no truth to it at all.

1. Apple's hardware models are planned minimum 3 years in advance. The iPhone 15 was designed with USB-C long before this was even a topic of discussion in the EU.
2. Apple has steadily embraced USB-C in many other products, including Mac and iPad, when it was appropriate for those products.
3. Switching the connector on one of the widely-used devices in the world with over 1 billion Lightning devices in existence is no small, casual decision. The majority of the iPhone market cares more about the charging cable NOT changing every other year like it used to back in the early cellphone days. For Apple, it was more prudent to wait until USB-C had grown up around iPhone and become so ubiquitous that it would be a welcome change to users, instead of an irritating one.
4. If Apple's chief concern was to be compliant, they could be compliant only on hardware sold in the EU (albeit unlikely) and they certainly could have waited until iPhone 17. Based on release cycles they could have released iPhone 15 and even 16 with Lightning and still been compliant. But of course, it was never about compliance.
5. Last but not least, Apple promised Lightning for 10 years from 2012 to 2022 and kept that promise to the letter.

No one cares what the EU thinks the hole on the bottom of luxury technology products should look like...least of all Apple.

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.

 

[Kingcoherent]

I’ve had the cables themselves fray after 2-3 years of use but I’ve never seen a Lightning connector itself break. Maybe that’s what you mean?

One USB port on my two year old MBP M1 Max is already loosed resulting in unstable, lost connections when using hard drives.

I'm not counting fraying (which seems to be worse on lightning cables than the usb cables I've owned). The actual connector has broken.

I guess everyone's experience varies - I'd prefer to see some proper quantitative results over time.

The OP started with a strong bias (which they freely admitted) and wasn't surprised to see their bias confirmed. That's not a scientific way to assess evidence.

 

[Dust-by-Monday]

I'm not counting fraying (which seems to be worse on lightning cables than the usb cables I've owned). The actual connector has broken.

I guess everyone's experience varies - I'd prefer to see some proper quantitative results over time.

The OP started with a strong bias (which they freely admitted) and wasn't surprised to see their bias confirmed. That's not a scientific way to assess evidence.

I'm not the OP but given my 10 years of experience with lightning, I've never once had a loose connection and now with my iPhone 15 Pro, it has significant wiggle to the point where if I shake it, I can hear it rattling. It doesn't seem to stop charging or playing music through my headphones or anything, but I've never in my years seen lightning be loose like this.

 

[transmaster]

I’ve had the cables themselves fray after 2-3 years of use but I’ve never seen a Lightning connector itself break. Maybe that’s what you mean?

One USB port on my two year old MBP M1 Max is already loosed resulting in unstable, lost connections when using hard drives.

In my case it is never the lightning plug but the strain relief behind the plug that fails. This failure is partially my fault. One of the irritations I have always had about the lighting cable is how short the plug body is. If you don't case your iPhone or iPad, or you have one of the thin protective cases this isn't a problem But I have alway used Otterbox Defender cases. The plug fit rather deep in the case which does not give you much to grab on to, so if you are not real careful you can start pulling it out by the cable and not the plug.

 

[transmaster]

Apple is going to be the winner in the end. As has been said Apple has been transitioning to the USB-C form factor plug for several years. What we will end up with is generic USB-C cables certified by USB-IF, and "C" form factor TB3, 4, and 5 cables certified by Apple, and Intel. They will all be interchangeable but in order to get the higher transfer speeds you will need to get the higher end cables. The Thunderbolt cable will take the place of the HDMI, and Displayport video cables. There is going to be the usual counterfeit trash out of China but Apple, and others using the TB version they can do what Apple did with the the lightning plug it will sense a fake chip set and disable the cable from working.

 

[LogicalApex]

It's good that Apple moved to USB-C.
It's not good that they were forced to (or would have been forced to in another year).

There is a difference, and it’s completely possible to understand the difference.

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.

 

[transpo1]

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 “Lightning needed to die” (or rather: we needed USB-C speeds and compatibility. But we can still blame the EU. 😀

 

[transmaster]

What I resent is the historical contempt that European politicians have have for the United States. It has always been this way. Not so much the UK as we share the same historical roots. But in Europe there has been the looking down their noses at those "cowboy yanks".

This is an mental image of an Apple executive in the European parliament. 😂