Quote:
Originally Posted by glennQNYC
USB-C would potentially be nice, but there is a significant downside for me. I have tons of lightning cables. I'd have to buy like 6-8 new cables! I use 2 in my car alone, plus 2 in my backpack, 2 at my desk, 1 in my (cart) golf bag and one by my sofa. Then there's the issue of my AirPods and iPad still using Lightning cables! I'm in no rush fir USB-C. What's the appeal anyway?
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This is the same situation as the 30 pin to Lightning transition, and the 3.5mm jack to wireless transition. Apple customers, of all people, are no strangers to changing to adapt to the new standards Apple enforces. Case in point: The Macbook Pro is all USB-C now, as well as the new iPad Pro.
Both Apple and non-Apple customers were up in arms over the MacBook Pro transition, citing the need for endless dongles. But once the water settled, most went through with the transition because their desire for a MacBook outweighed their displeasure to buy the dongles/adapters.
I'm making the case for USB-C because for one, it consolidates Apple's product lineup to 1 cable, from power to connectivity. USB-C isn't going anywhere, but Lightning's days are numbered, and Apple themselves know this. Otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to put them on the MBP and iPad Pro.
If Apple had put USB-C on the iPhone X from the start, it would have been ready for the updated MacBook Pro out of the box. Then nobody would have complained about the need for a USB-C to Lightning adapter. It shows a vision, and USB-C would have been very well received on the X in particular, since it was supposed to be the breakthrough device that paved the way for the future of iPhones. I can understand the frustration of transitioning from USB-A to USB-C. But with this mindset, let me ask you, why transition
twice (Lightning/USB-A -> L/USB-C, then again from L/USB-C -> USB-C/USB-C) when you can do it once and get it over with? Do it once, do it right.
Another reason is data transfer speeds. According to this somewhat outdated article:
https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/m...tning-3666439/
iPhones are getting 480 Mb/s on data transfer, and the iPad Pro is 5 Gb/s. If USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 is utilized, you can read 10 Gb/s,
20x faster on iPhone and 2x faster on iPad Pro. I need to double check the spec of the latest iPad Pro, but I'd guess it's 3.1 Gen 2.
In addition, if the USB-C ports are Thunderbolt ports, you can use the iPhone to drive high resolution/refresh rate displays while charging the device, just like the new iPad Pro, effectively making the iPhone your one and only computer you need to accomplish absolutely everything, as long as the right application is there for it, and is developed for desktop experience. This would also make the iPhone's larger storage capacity a much bigger deal, since you could effectively replace all your computers with just the phone. The really computation-intensive tasks will still need more horsepower, but for your average white collar worker who uses MS office and web apps, this could be huge.
TL;DR: With one switch to USB-C/Thunderbolt, you can increase data transfer speeds, charge all your Apple and non-Apple devices with the same charger, drive external displays and use your iPhone as your only necessary computer in the average use case. If that doesn't convince you or at least make you appreciate the benefit of USB-C, then I don't know what can. If Apple makes the switch and can think a little bigger, given the market share already, the iPhone could be a freaking powerhouse of a device if Apple wants it to be. They've already done it with the newest iPad Pro - just need to follow up with the iPhone.