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Comment by IvanK_net | Hacker News Reader

This is not about what connector is better. It is about everyone using the same connector. I believe if Apple allowed others to use their connector for free, they could "beat" USBs and become the only existing standard.

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The lightning connector only supports usb 2.0 so even apple binned it on the iPads now.

The lightning connector is perfectly capable of supporting USB3.0, ( and they did at one point in time ), but it just doesn't make sense when iPad's ecosystem are more general purpose and requires interaction with USB-C, from display port to memory sticks.

If we're only allowed to use one connector, it had better be the "better one".

If the better one is expensive (e.g. the creator asks for license fees), we should choose the cheaper one. Just like the VHS has beaten the Betamax.

I'd rather pay for the nice one to be honest. So I guess we can't just have one connector.

We have one type of electric sockets (at least within each country). But there certainly can exist better kinds of sockets than those used in your our my country. But I am glad that we all have same sockets in our houses, even though they are not perfect.

Fair enough. :)

The parent comment asked:

>What's Apple reasoning for not abandoning Lightning for USB-C on their phones?

I would think that "what connector is better" definitely plays an important part in Apple's reasoning.

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