Apple Lightning USB-C Switch

This cluster centers on debates about Apple's continued use of the Lightning connector versus switching to USB-C for iPhones and other devices, including historical context, user inconvenience from cable obsolescence, and pressures from regulations like EU mandates.

📉 Falling 0.2x Hardware
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Comments
19
Years Active
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Top Authors
#1043
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Keywords

MacBooks PC USB3 WinTel HN DVI en.m HDMI FireWire IEEE usb lightning apple cables connector cable iphone thunderbolt switch standard

Sample Comments

avcdsuia Sep 16, 2018 View on HN

Will Apple ditch Lightning and switch to USB Type-C solve your problem?

earthboundkid Oct 13, 2020 View on HN

Lightning predates USB C. If they switched now, everyone who has had an iPhone for years would moan about how they just obsoleted all the existing cables. It's a no-win scenario. I think they're just waiting for contactless charging to take over at this point.

orev Jun 29, 2020 View on HN

Most Apple customers have USB-A chargers, and the phone side is Lightning, not USB, so lack of USB-C is irrelevant.

monerozcash Nov 16, 2025 View on HN

If this is about lightning, what connector do you think apple should have used? USB-C came out long after lightning.

thefz Oct 4, 2022 View on HN

How about not stubbornly staying with lightning when Apple had the option to switch to usb-c? They did that with malicious compliance to upsell their damn adapter.

mitchty Nov 22, 2016 View on HN

Also amusing to me, this is the same thing people were talking about when Apple moved from the 30 pin connector to lightning.And Firewire to USB, and VGA to DVI to Displayport to HDMI, and...I'm just surprised that apple did the thing everyone wanted: switch to a standard. And now bam, nope this is horrible. Its time for usb c, sucks now but it'll pass. Be more worried about usb c incompatibility more than usb c.

_xivi Sep 23, 2023 View on HN

Related discussion: Apple ditches the Lightning connector in favor of USB-C after 11 years (11 days ago - 134 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37484897

giancarlostoro Sep 12, 2023 View on HN

I'm confused about the USB-IF remark considering Apple is a member of USB-IF. Didn't they promise they wouldn't change connectors again for at least a decade? They basically would have alienated and annoyed a large portion of their customer base if they made Lightning and switched to USB-C under 5 years after pushing lightning.

smoldesu Oct 25, 2022 View on HN

USB-C cables are an investment in the future. Apple helped design the USB-C (and associated Thunderbolt spec) and knew that they would inevitably be forced to switch to USB-C. The iPad came first (to make it "Pro"), but the writing has been on the wall since Macbooks started charging over USB-C. There were legitimately no benefits to using Lightning besides the licensing fees that they charged when people made Lightning-based peripherals.Maybe for you, Lightning cables don't se

Tagbert Jul 13, 2021 View on HN

No greed here. Apple is making this so the argument that they get money for lightning cables is irrelevant. The phone uses lightning. It would be weird if the battery pack used something else.You can make an argument that Apple should switch their phones to USB-C but they seem to be heading toward a cable-less solution instead. If they were to change to USB-C tons of people would scream that Apple were doing this just to sell new cables. That is exactly what happened when they switched from t