WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.520 Back in 2012, Apple released the iPhone 5, which was a big deal, not just for giving us more screen 00:00:05.520 --> 00:00:10.720 real estate than previous models, but also for introducing the Lightning connector. 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:15.280 And while it was a welcome change from the previous big fat 30-pin cable, 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:19.840 we're still stuck with it eight years later and it hasn't exactly aged well. 00:00:19.840 --> 00:00:24.000 Of course, there is that old saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:29.680 But the Lightning connector has the obvious problem that the rest of the phone world has moved on 00:00:29.680 --> 00:00:33.520 to USB Type-C, which is faster and more versatile. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.920 So why is Apple stubbornly holding on to such an old connector, 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:42.160 other than keeping a proprietary standard around to make more money? 00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:46.960 It might surprise you to know that Apple is actually part of the USB implementers forum, 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:50.720 the original group of companies that worked on USB Type-C. 00:00:50.720 --> 00:00:54.720 However, Apple really wanted to go ahead and start getting thinner, 00:00:54.720 --> 00:00:58.800 sleeker devices to market, and given their timetable for the iPhone 5, 00:00:58.800 --> 00:01:02.640 they didn't want to wait around for the USB-C standard to get finalized, 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:06.240 so they slapped their own miniaturized port onto the phone instead. 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:10.880 And given that USB-C didn't start appearing in smartphones until 2015, 00:01:10.880 --> 00:01:14.320 that initial decision does look like it made some sense. 00:01:14.320 --> 00:01:18.960 Open standards in the tech industry take a notoriously long time to get approved 00:01:18.960 --> 00:01:22.720 and make their way onto gadgets, and even the lengthy approval process 00:01:22.720 --> 00:01:29.360 does not mean that they will end up working perfectly. In fact, the public release of USB-C didn't go very well, 00:01:29.360 --> 00:01:33.200 with lots of poor quality cables and accessories hitting the market. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:36.800 This meant Apple was quite happy to stick with their proprietary connector, 00:01:36.800 --> 00:01:40.880 which gave them much more control over what consumers were actually getting. 00:01:41.440 --> 00:01:47.760 Apple either produces Lightning devices itself, or licenses out the spec to third parties of its own choosing, 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:53.360 and while that approach drives up costs, it admittedly does make quality control a bit easier. 00:01:53.360 --> 00:01:57.120 But Apple had another reason not to make the switch to USB-C. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.720 It already caught a lot of heat for switching to Lightning in the first place. 00:02:00.720 --> 00:02:04.240 Do you know how many Apple accessories you see in your average big box store 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:11.680 that use Lightning connectors? Well, back in 2012, there were tons of similar accessories that used the 30-pin dock, 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:16.080 and switching to Lightning rendered all those older accessories obsolete 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:19.920 as they would only work with iPhone models that were quickly becoming outdated. 00:02:19.920 --> 00:02:22.640 I mean, before us didn't even have LTE. 00:02:23.760 --> 00:02:27.680 So, Apple didn't really want to alienate its consumers yet again, 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:32.400 by pulling the rug out from an even larger accessories install base. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:35.680 And in fact, the company has directly said this more recently 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:41.840 in statements regarding the European Union's push to get standard connectors on most wireless consumer electronics. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:46.560 Apple would also face logistical issues in switching its supply chain over to USB-C 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:50.800 when it's been set up for so long to crank out Lightning products on mass. 00:02:51.440 --> 00:02:55.840 And although it's definitely inconvenient that iPhones don't use USB-C, 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:01.680 they also don't really need to. It's true that Lightning is a relatively slow connector, 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:05.600 as its speed seems to be somewhere in between USB-2 and USB-3. 00:03:05.600 --> 00:03:12.000 But data transfer over a wired connection is quickly becoming less and less important for smartphones. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:15.600 Contrast this with the fact that Apple has put USB Type-C 00:03:15.600 --> 00:03:19.040 on Macs and iPads, which makes more sense 00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:25.600 since these are full-fledged computers and need to be compatible with a wider universe of PC peripherals. 00:03:25.600 --> 00:03:31.200 And then you go, oh yeah, okay. So does this mean that we're going to have the Lightning connector for a long time to come? 00:03:31.200 --> 00:03:38.400 Well, perhaps not. As plenty of rumors have been flying, that Apple will come out with a portless iPhone in the next few years. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:43.920 Because there's no reason Apple couldn't do that now that they use wireless charging across their entire lineup. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:48.080 Of course, that might still really mess up the iPhone accessory market, 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:52.800 but do I really need that Circa 2013 iHome Alarm Clock anyway? 00:03:53.440 --> 00:03:57.200 So thanks for watching, guys. Like, dislike, check out our other videos, 00:03:57.200 --> 00:04:00.400 leave a comment with a video suggestion, and don't forget to subscribe, 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:06.000 because if you do, I'm going to replace all of our black shirts with purple ones like this. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.480 This is actually a sample we're working on of our own purple shirt.