Also helped sometimes by poking with a toothpick to remove the buildup of fluff
Yes, you sometimes get dirt collecting in the socket but that would be the case with USB too. I can honestly say that I have replaced more defective lightning cables that all other cables put together.
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Or include a lightning to USB-C adaptor? Or is that not allowed under the rules?
Appleās bog standard cables are pretty poor in terms of longevity and the plastic sheathing often breaks at the lightning end I find. Not good enough for a āpremium brandā. It was the same with the 30 pin connectors.
Interestingly I bought new āMagicā keyboards/trackpads for my M1 Mini - they charge via lightning and the USB>lightning cable is braided and seems far more sturdy - time will tell.
Sonās iPad is USB C to USB C and the long USB C cable is also breaking down at the iPad end, I suspect due to the way he stresses it, but he did point out it was four years old.
I generally buy non-Apple replacement cables, from reputable brands such as Griffin or Anker. Canāt say any of them have been particularly durable.
Some braided Amazon basics I got several years ago have been excellent. Some more recent mi-fi certified cheaper ones have been hit and miss, though in some instances I think they may be affected by non-optimal USB chargers.
I suspect that this means that whatever becomes the defacto, better, faster, replacement for USB C will not be developed by a European company. That doesnāt mean that the EU mandated replacement for USB C in that region wonāt be a European development. Probably by Siemens or some other incumbent, whoever can stuff the most Euros into a brown envelope.
Willy.
I expect the successor will be from a consortium of global consumer manufacturers possibly spear headed by Samsung. European consumer mobility technology manufacturers such as from Siemens, Alcatel, Philips and Nokia have really fallen by the way sideā¦ itās a shameā¦ but there you are.
My first GSM phone was an Ericsson 337 circa 1995
I think it would be simpler to just not sell devices with any charger or cable and let the user figure if they need/want another set of both or just one.
I notice that USB-A is becoming a standard for stepped down mains on new build homes too. Most mains outlets I see these days in new homes have 2 regular āfull fatā mains sockets and several USB-A power outlets rated at 5A. Indeed I recently went out and bought a new desk lamp. Took it home. Plonked it on my desk and went to plug it inā¦ aaaargh! The plug was USB-A. Went back to the shop and found most of the lamps only run off USB power.
Iām certainly not opposed to it. But I donāt like having those little nasty transformers hugging the mains inside all the wall sockets. But it seems to be the way things are moving. Ideally if this is to become a standard for outlets, a single low power DC transformer for a USB power circuit would live next to the CU rather than having all this done at each outlet but I asked our builder and that just isnāt a thing yet.
USB type C is the best of all USB connectors ergonomically, so the EU standard is definitely a step in the right direction.
The EU are proposing it to be the standard for mobile devices, not fixed.
However for fixed wiring you should ensure the USB power source is USB PD or QC 4 compliant, otherwise these usb power sources will be of limited usefulness in the future. (As power sources)
USB A connector maximum power delivery is 4.6 amps at 20 volts, USB C is 5 amps at 20 volts. (Using QC 4 and PD respectively which are power protocols that allow the device to negotiate these higher power rates from the power source)
I agree it would be useful to have a domestic standard for low voltage distribution, in addition to the high voltage mains distribution to stop such problems in the futureā¦
This thread is getting spread into areas outside the subject.
This is simply about the standardisation to USB Type C for the connection plug into mobile devices, e.g. phones, tablets etc. These are 5vDC.
When USB-C becomes the EU standard, I doubt the mnfts will be persuaded to make different phones for different regions, so I suspect it will become global. The phone will be shipped with the USB-C cable, most will probably not notice or care, eventually as the various different old stuff dies out, we will have USB-C on everything.
Makes sense to me.
or get to the point unfortunately that there will be charging socket (USB C) and a higher performant socket for data or other throughput reasons as and when they become available - which will be a backwards step - as their EU legislation would stop a more efficient combined non USB C socket for the devices aimed at EU consumersā¦ but from what I read some are banking that future high performance connectivity will rely on wireless/wifi rather than fixed connection on mobile devices
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Iām not sure this is a good standard. Just think where weād be if the EU decided years back to standardise micro USB. This is an area best left to innovators and market forces.
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point well made
As I understand the EU regulatory legislation proposal, it relates specifically to the connector (USB C type) and charger functionality (pins, voltage, negotiated current for slow / fast charging) only. It doesnāt impose any limit on the data protocol carried vis that connection (USB-C, Thunderbolt 3 or 4, or anything that might be standardized in future, like optical data and wired charging). Itās not quite as restrictive on future data communication protocol and implementation standardization as some might fearā¦ and as with other voluntary standards developments done through IEC or ISO, updated regulations should expect to keep pace since we are usually talking multi-year or even decade cycles. The AC plug and socket standards and regulations have been steadily updated to improve safety and quality of materials, insulation, etc., without much evolution in the physical format (the addition of the polarized prong on the neutral / live wires for North American type being a notable exception). New generation PCI standards are evolving to incorporate optical and electrical signals with at least some form-factor compatibility (noting of course that charging / powering such things is not separate from data operations as it is conceptually for stand alone mobile devices). The new Apple 2-port USB chargers (shown this week at WWDC) are not, in fact, data docking ports or data hubs ā¦ they are charge only.
That said, Iām not convinced that, say, Apple should be required / forced / compelled by regulations to switch from a Lightning to a USB C connection on iPhones rather than including an appropriate adapter or cable: itās supposed to reduce waste and increase consumer convenience for the charger and there is (already) more than one way to skin that cat.
Edit to add: I just got some new Ubiquiti switches (not portableā¦) and market forces have already intervened: they ship with a USB C power connection and a tiny wall wart with a captive USB C cable). Similarly, I bought a MOTU digital interface a year or two ago that ships with a USB C socket but actually only implements USB-2 (the normal protocol for USB A connectors) and indeed the only supplied cable was a USB C-to-A cable. Adoption of the connector and power standard is happening already.
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IIRC China already made it to this point some years back. I read some time ago (years) that they had mandated that all mobile devices, short of laptops, must not ship with a charger as standard and that all devices must support charging over USB. The last is crucial here. Charging over USB (general), not charging over USB-C.
Now, Apple quit happily sell their products there as they have for a few years since I read about this legislation so how this is implemented in practice, I really donāt know.
But it makes sense if generalised to not be type C. I have, like most people, drawers full of USB chargers and all manner of USB-A to USBm, USB-B, and USB-C leads. Occasionally, due to lack of thought, I pair a charger from pre-USB-C days with a device that requires higher current USB-C and wonder, āwhy isnāt this darn thing charging?ā But in general, I have enough of these things to not need anything bundled with a set for the immediate future.
I expect the EU legislation is an earnest attempt to solve a real problem that was perhaps cooked up by those who mean well but donāt grasp the nuances of the technology, itās past, and possible futures.
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āMobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, rechargeable via a wired cable, would have to be equipped with a USB Type-C portā ā¦ they are also looking to add laptops.
The new M2 Macbook charges via magsafe but you can also do it via the USB-C ports. I owned one of the USB-C charging MacBooks and I hated it. Magsafe is just an elegant and safe solution.
Now Apple still must change the Lightning. They have all their devices ready for 4K/8K video with prores-codecs in firmware, Final Cut, the Apple Silicon CPU:s ā¦ the only blocker is the need for fast data-transfers from the iPhone to the outside - right now I am seeing almost an hour for 45 min. of prores-video.
I think this is already built in to the draft EU legislation, but with a 40 month delay period on implementation.
As you say, however, itās not exactly clear that āonlyā USB-C connectors can be used for charging; MagSafe isnāt prohibited, even if USB-C is required. The higher power in the latest PD standard opens the door to working with bigger devices and/or faster-charging batteries in future, I suppose. The connector doesnāt change , hence the regulation would be transparent to such implementation advances.
It was a bit of a surprise that they didnāt do it for the iPhone 13 (edit: having done so for iPad). Speculated reasons may have been production supply chains and covidā¦ Will they include it for model 14 later this year, or wait a little longer? Who knows. I agree that market and technology reasons are appropriate drivers for such a design decision, though; better than legislation perhaps, but who knowsā¦
Well in the early years of mains electricity, there were different voltages and plugs depending on which local generator you bought from. Leaving that to market forces was untenable. Legislation made everyoneās lives easier even if it is debatable whether the best technology won.
Trying to be glass half full here (my reservations on the legislation implementation are already noted), If USB-C becomes an antiquated but ubiquitous power connection for low current DC appliances that, like mains standards, stays with us for a century (long after itās use for data has been abandoned), that might be very useful indeed. Who knows, in 30 years, as appliances get more efficient, USB-C may be the common electriical distrubtion in the home with high current AC outlets in the minority.
This change on mobile devices could potentially lead to far larger changes than anyone can imagine right now.