• MrGeekman@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    They didn’t switch to USB-C out of the goodness of their hearts. They switched because the EU passed a new law that requires that new smartphones have USB-C ports.

    • Chozo@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      And they actively fought against it for as long as they could, tooth and nail.

      • dunestorm@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s an uphill battle, why would Apple bother when just using USB-C makes sense and saves them their lawyers sanity?

        • docmox@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Money.

          Now that USB-C is the required cable, people can go out and buy any cheap cable they want. The law turned a proprietary cash cow into a low return commodity item.

          • Redcedar@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            This argument always cracks me up. I have been able to buy cheap lightning cables effectively since they started making lightning cables lol. It’s not like Apple somehow locks the phone from charging, physics is still a real thing and electricity can still flow through them, even without the MFi aspects.

            If you wanna hate Apple for being a massively bloated and money-hungry corporate nightmare, that’s fine, I’m with it, but do we really all think they made it to $3 trillion valuation on… fucking cables??? 😂

            • TheBlue22@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              1 year ago

              No, they made it to 3 trillion with cables, overpriced PCs, overpriced notebooks, overpriced Phones, overpriced watches, and locking software of all these so the easiest way to use different devices together, is to use another apple product.

              Oh, and cultivating a fan base of people who uncritically buy anything they make with the notion that it’s “better than anything else” when in reality that could not be further from the truth.

              • Redcedar@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Ok, so you listed basically all of their business strategies, which is exactly my point. It’s not a business built SOLELY on proprietary ports and cables, yet that aspect is what gets the most attention and criticism.

                • TheBlue22@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                  1 year ago

                  I wouldn’t say that’s really accurate. It is true that it is the aspect that is getting the most attention now, but thats only because its recent, in the news and EU forced their hand upon it.

                  Apple among regular consumers has been criticised for years, if not decades for its overpriced hardware and among more technical crowd has always been criticised for its closed source and incompatible software.

                  Of course, people who say their entire empire is built upon a bunch of cables are wrong lol

                  • Redcedar@lemm.ee
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                    1 year ago

                    Correct! For me, the closed source “walled garden” approach is the most frustrating.

                    But, dude, dude, dude… remember the 30-pin transition debacle? I’m having bad flashbacks lol

            • jaybone@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Yeah but there has to be some reason they were so opposed to this. I don’t get it either though.

      • MrSpArkle@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        If they were really fighting it that hard they could’ve stalled till 2025 when the EU law actually takes effect.

          • June@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            So wait…. Are you suggesting they were already planing to switch before the EU law was passed?

        • M500@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          They could have, but I think they saw the demand and speculation of a usb-c phone. Maybe they realized that the bad image it would give them if they held out.

          I’ve been waiting for a usb-c phone to upgrade. I’m at a point now that I really can’t wait any longer for a new phone. If they did not release a usb-c phone this year, I would have just bought the cheapest phone they offered.

            • gr522x@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              If the choice is paying unreasonable prices for Apple’s overpriced proprietary nonsense or reducing my yield as another data cow in Alphabet’s surveillance capitalism human farming machine, I begrudgingly pick the former.

              I think it’s safe to assume all corporations publicly traded are equally greedy, regardless of how much their marketing department assures us that they exist for altruism.

              Shareholders don’t by stock to make the world a better place, they invest in the companies sending the largest dividend checks. Apple and Alphabet are equally covetous of our money (money and data for Alphabet), but I trust the old business model of selling hardware more than giving up my data forever to be used for anything in the future.

              GrapheneOS is my true preference currently for personal use and it feels good to leave a corporation in favor of a community, much like my switch from Reddit to Lemmy. As the techie in my family and friend group I’m still going to have to recommend iOS to most people since using GrapheneOS as a daily driver is a big ask for my grandmother.

                • pips@lemmy.film
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                  1 year ago

                  If you’re a power user there’s a minor learning curve to prevent shit from breaking and some mild inconveniences like being unable to use NFC. Location can also just not work at times. Overall, I’m glad I made the switch.

    • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      Apple will never do anything for any other reasons besides: regulation and profit. They try and foster this image of humanitarianism and ethics, but meanwhile they build everything in sweatshops and make their own “standards” so that their loyal customers can only use the functions they need by purchasing additional dongles.

      I’m happy that they were forced into an actual standard, but I’ve already heard at least two apple users IRL claiming that USB-C is inferior for [insert random reasoning here]. Apple has cultivated the idea that they are above standards for a long time and it will take a long time to break.

      • Kodemystic@lemmy.kodemystic.dev
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        1 year ago

        The only reason they pass on an image of ethical environmentaly friendly company is because its good for business. People like that shit the products are good people buy. Its that simple. Companies give no shit about people or the planet.

      • MrGeekman@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I know. That’s my point. A great example of this is when they used to brag about how eco-friendly their product were. I remember them bragging about their displays being mercury-free, BFR free, etc and their laptops having totally recyclable aluminum and glass enclosures - only to later deliberately make their laptops nearly impossible to repair and upgrade.

      • M500@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Apple fanboys are the most frustrating people to talk to.

        They find any illogical reason to justify what apple does.