the only explanation possible is that using Lighting is profitable for them
I gave you another possible explanation in the comment you replied to. They have a whole product line to move and the left iPhone for last, because it has the most impact, and if they leave it for last, it will have less consumer impact. Why not assume good intentions when there is a reasonable explanation?
If it was all about the money, why would they have used the Qi standard for their wireless charging? Why would they have gone all in on USB-C on MacBooks, facing a ton of backlash, to push that port when everyone else was hedging by just including 1 USB-C port at best? Sure they make money from Lightning, but it’s likely a rounding error on their bottom line.
It’s also not a bad thing to have some cable certifications. I’ve seen tear downs of cheap 3rd party charging bricks, or tests of cheap cables, and they’re all really bad and out of spec. They’re cheap for a reason. Maybe that will lead to device damage, maybe it won’t, but I’d rather not risk a $700 phone over saving $10 on a non-certified cable/charger that cuts corners. It happened to my sister, I went against my judgement and bought her a 3rd party cable she asked for instead of the Apple one I thought she should get. A few months later she called me crying because he phone wouldn’t charge anymore. I felt like shit, even though I technically just got her what she wanted.
Apple makes as much good and reasonable decisions as they make questionable ones.
But why could that be? Simple, they make what interest and benefits THEM first. And if it incidentally benefits the customers, fine. If not, people will go up in arms, but they don’t care because they know that in the end, they’re powerless and will keep buying their products.
They don’t care if customers have to change accessories (the move to Lightning is the proof), they change things, or use new standards as long as it benefits THEM in any way, or is in their interest. All those changes you mentioned benefited THEM, and in some cases, the customers too, but in others, they didn’t and then customers got upset.
And they simply don’t want to change to USB-C on the iPhone because it’s not beneficial for them, it just benefits the customers. And that’s, in my opinion, all that there’s to it. And again, I’m glad that, for a change, they’ll be forced to do something that benefits the customers and not them.
I don’t see why it’s them or us. If Apple (or any company) can make the customers happy, people will by more products and create more positive word of mouth, which is good for Apple. Generally the most successful companies aren’t the ones sacrificing their customers for a couple extra cents. That may work in the short term, but not over decades.
I agree with that. I have not been a fan of everything Cook has done, and he is clearly not a product person. That being said, there have been several long overdue features in macOS that came after Jobs was gone that customers begged for for a long time. The MacBook Pro is another example of where Apple clearly listened to the customer and not their initial vision. They brought back some ports, made it thicker, and brought back the old keyboard.
Like I said, I think the removal of lightning for the iPhone was on the roadmap, they just aren’t being given the time to see it through. I’m sure they’re planning 5 years ahead internally.
If they were planning to change it anyway, why the resistance though? Customers have been asking for years.
Heck! I’ve been delaying getting a new iPhone (I have an 11 Pro) until they change that damn port! My iPhone and the Apple TV remote (but now there’s even one with USB-C, so I can change it) are the last 2 devices at home with this connector. All other devices have USB-C or are older devices with Micro-USB. I can’t believe they need to be forced to do it.
I already gave my theory on that. For all we know Apple was going to release a USB-C iPhone this year anyway, but now if it happens it will look like it was because of the EU.
I like the mini phones, so I’m screwed no matter what they do, as I doubt they’re going to bring it back. I think that was a marketing failure on their part.
I gave you another possible explanation in the comment you replied to. They have a whole product line to move and the left iPhone for last, because it has the most impact, and if they leave it for last, it will have less consumer impact. Why not assume good intentions when there is a reasonable explanation?
If it was all about the money, why would they have used the Qi standard for their wireless charging? Why would they have gone all in on USB-C on MacBooks, facing a ton of backlash, to push that port when everyone else was hedging by just including 1 USB-C port at best? Sure they make money from Lightning, but it’s likely a rounding error on their bottom line.
It’s also not a bad thing to have some cable certifications. I’ve seen tear downs of cheap 3rd party charging bricks, or tests of cheap cables, and they’re all really bad and out of spec. They’re cheap for a reason. Maybe that will lead to device damage, maybe it won’t, but I’d rather not risk a $700 phone over saving $10 on a non-certified cable/charger that cuts corners. It happened to my sister, I went against my judgement and bought her a 3rd party cable she asked for instead of the Apple one I thought she should get. A few months later she called me crying because he phone wouldn’t charge anymore. I felt like shit, even though I technically just got her what she wanted.
Apple makes as much good and reasonable decisions as they make questionable ones.
But why could that be? Simple, they make what interest and benefits THEM first. And if it incidentally benefits the customers, fine. If not, people will go up in arms, but they don’t care because they know that in the end, they’re powerless and will keep buying their products.
They don’t care if customers have to change accessories (the move to Lightning is the proof), they change things, or use new standards as long as it benefits THEM in any way, or is in their interest. All those changes you mentioned benefited THEM, and in some cases, the customers too, but in others, they didn’t and then customers got upset.
And they simply don’t want to change to USB-C on the iPhone because it’s not beneficial for them, it just benefits the customers. And that’s, in my opinion, all that there’s to it. And again, I’m glad that, for a change, they’ll be forced to do something that benefits the customers and not them.
Hope that clears the point.
I don’t see why it’s them or us. If Apple (or any company) can make the customers happy, people will by more products and create more positive word of mouth, which is good for Apple. Generally the most successful companies aren’t the ones sacrificing their customers for a couple extra cents. That may work in the short term, but not over decades.
I think Jobs said it pretty well…
Young Jobs - https://youtu.be/48j493tfO-o
Old Jobs - https://youtu.be/XmRNIGqzuRI
This is not Job’s company anymore, and it hasn’t been for a while…
While Cook is not a bad CEO at all, he comes from manufacturing, and it shows.
I agree with that. I have not been a fan of everything Cook has done, and he is clearly not a product person. That being said, there have been several long overdue features in macOS that came after Jobs was gone that customers begged for for a long time. The MacBook Pro is another example of where Apple clearly listened to the customer and not their initial vision. They brought back some ports, made it thicker, and brought back the old keyboard.
Like I said, I think the removal of lightning for the iPhone was on the roadmap, they just aren’t being given the time to see it through. I’m sure they’re planning 5 years ahead internally.
If they were planning to change it anyway, why the resistance though? Customers have been asking for years.
Heck! I’ve been delaying getting a new iPhone (I have an 11 Pro) until they change that damn port! My iPhone and the Apple TV remote (but now there’s even one with USB-C, so I can change it) are the last 2 devices at home with this connector. All other devices have USB-C or are older devices with Micro-USB. I can’t believe they need to be forced to do it.
I already gave my theory on that. For all we know Apple was going to release a USB-C iPhone this year anyway, but now if it happens it will look like it was because of the EU.
I like the mini phones, so I’m screwed no matter what they do, as I doubt they’re going to bring it back. I think that was a marketing failure on their part.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/48j493tfO-o
https://piped.video/XmRNIGqzuRI
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.