> iMac features a color-matched keyboard and mouse or trackpad... These accessories now come with USB-C ports, so users can charge all of their favorite devices with just a single cable
WOW!
WOW!
I doubt Europe had anything to do with the timing.
Apple switched exactly when Europe mandated it and criticized the mandate.
Timing probably matters: when most of the market already agrees you can't wait for the last group, you have to strike before everyone defuses again.
And while I can imagine that apple had a plan here, the part that doesn't fit is that they protested the mandate. If this had no effect on their plans, why bother?
Who are the folks that only have one device, anyway? Surely almost everyone who owns a smartphone has at least one USB-C cable kicking around for something else?
My iPhone today is rather aged (and uses Lightning) so I’m switching to an iPhone 16 later this year, and I’m confident all of my Lightning accessories will continue to work do long as the apps are available on iTunes.
Related question: now that desktop iTunes is useless for iPhone app management - how the heck do I save and load the iOS I’ve purchased after they’ve been pulled from the store?
I think the lifetime of the lightning connector has been very reasonable. If they switched much earlier they would’ve really screwed over those who invested in lightning peripherals. I think it’s reasonable to expect the peripherals to last at least one phone upgrade.
Yeah maybe it still sucks for people who bought such peripherals in the last few years. But more and more stuff is done over Bluetooth now and we’ve had years where everyone should know that there wasn’t a future for lightning
For a second I thought that's what Apple meant here. But they just mean you can plug in the device itself.