“USB-C was pitched years ago as the one connector to rule them all. Paired with the USB 3.1 standard, it can transfer data quickly, up to 10 gigabits per second,” Christina Bonnington writes for Slate. “It can deliver a lot of power—up to 100W, which is enough to charge most laptops without a hefty power brick. One of its biggest benefits is its shape: Unlike previous USB designs, USB-C, a thin oval-shaped connector that plugs into the pins in a device’s port, can go in right-side up or upside-down.”
“Apple used it in place of one of its traditional proprietary chargers on the super slim MacBook in 2015 and later added the MacBook Pro to the club,” Bonnington writes. “Slowly, it would seem, hardware makers are coming around to the USB-C way of life, but there’s still one glaring exception: the iPhone.”
“Apple actually made the switch to an omnidirectional cable in 2012, two years before the USB-C standard was finalized. In 2014, the company abandoned the 30-pin connector it had used to power iPods and iPhones for the previous nine years in favor of the Lightning connector. The Lightning connector was slimmer, more durable, handled more functions, and couldn’t be plugged in the ‘wrong’ way,” Bonnington writes. “Apple is rumored to have been one of a number of tech companies originally working on the USB-C standard. Impatient with the pace of progress, it opted to go with its own proprietary connector. Six years later, Apple’s iPhones and iPads still charge via Lightning.”
Bonnington writes, “It’s time for Apple to make the switch.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote just yesterday:
The future is not wired.