The Switch to USB-C: A Necessary Step Forward?

Apple's decision to ship the iPhone 12 Pro with USB-C instead of Lightning has raised an eyebrow among consumers and professionals alike. This move is part of Apple's strategy to differentiate its products into pro and consumer brands, much like Steve Jobs did years ago. With this shift, Apple is embracing a more practical approach to connectivity, one that will benefit professionals who require faster data transfer and charging speeds.

The benefits of USB-C are clear, especially for professional devices that require high-speed data transfer and charging. By ditching the Lightning port, Apple is aligning its product line with the industry standard, making it easier for professionals to work with their devices without the hassle of dongles and adapters. This move will also reduce points of potential hardware failure, as there are fewer components to consider.

But what about the consumer market? Will this shift affect users who have invested in Lightning accessories and cables? The answer is no. Apple has always prioritized user convenience, and with USB-C on the pro models, most people won't need to worry about replacing their existing cables or accessories. Instead, they can stick with the familiar Lightning port on their consumer devices.

However, this shift towards USB-C on the pro end also raises questions about the future of connectivity. As companies continue to move away from traditional ports and buttons, we're seeing a new generation of products that prioritize wireless functionality and ease of use. From EarPods to AirDrop, Apple has been virtualizing its home button starting with the iPhone 7, and it's clear that this trend will continue.

The irony is that if we had gone with USB-C from the start, we might not be having these conversations today. But as we move forward, it's essential to consider the implications of our design choices. By removing buttons and ports, Apple has reduced points of potential hardware failure, but also created new challenges for user support and repair.

The latest Apple TV is a prime example of this. With USB-C ports buried behind Ethernet jacks, users are left with limited options for restoring or recovering their devices in the event of an issue. This is a classic problem that plagues wireless products – how do we ensure seamless functionality without sacrificing reliability?

Rumors of smart connectors emerging on future iPhones offer a potential solution to this problem. Originally introduced with the iPad Pro back in 2015, smart connectors have already proven themselves useful for attaching accessories and devices. With three pins for power, data, and ground, they provide a convenient way to charge devices without the need for cables.

But even if Apple decides to stick with USB-C on the pro models, the shift towards wireless functionality is undeniable. As companies like Brilliant continue to innovate in education, it's clear that the next generation of professionals will require new skills and knowledge to keep up with technology. Their complete math course library is just one example of how complex concepts can be broken down into manageable pieces.

Ultimately, Apple must navigate this changing landscape carefully. By embracing USB-C on the pro models and exploring smart connectors for future iPhones, they're taking a step towards a more sustainable and user-friendly future. Whether or not it's enough to appease those who hate Lightning remains to be seen, but one thing is certain – the world of technology will continue to evolve, and we must adapt to stay ahead of the curve.

In conclusion, the shift to USB-C on the iPhone 12 Pro marks an important step forward for Apple. By differentiating its products into pro and consumer brands, they're acknowledging the needs of professionals who require faster data transfer and charging speeds. While this move may not be perfect, it's a necessary evolution in the world of technology. As we move forward, we must remain open to new ideas and innovations – even if that means embracing USB-C on the pro end while sticking with Lightning on consumer devices.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Sponsored by Brilliant.Will the upcoming iPhone 12.Finally, finally see Appleditch, the lightning connector,like it's a headphone jackand go all in on USB-C.Hit subscribe,so you don't miss any ofthe videos in this series.Then riddle me this.Apple started switching over the Macwith the 12 inch Mac book in 2015.They only gave it one port,but that one port was glorious USB-C,the way nature and nerds intended.Then the very next year, in 2016,Apple switched theentire MacBook pro lineupto USB-C as well.The entire lineup, but leftthe iPhone on lightning.And how could they,how could they have the Mac and iPhoneon different connectors?Who cares?It had been that way sincethe 30 PennDOT connectorkilled FireWire on the iPod in all three.We needed, nay, we demandeda better brighter future.In 2017, the iPhone 10 camewith an all-new, all modern design.The perfect opportunity foran even more modern connectorto go with it.But no, in 2018, the iPadpro switched to USB-C.So what if it was meant tobe a laptop alternative?We wanted the same alternativefor the iPhone as well,but still no.Then in 2019, the iPhoneitself went pro, blessed pro,which like the Mac book pro and iPad projust had to mean USBC pro too.Nope, well, turns out no, still no.Biggest troll of the decade, no.So now on the Eve of the iPhone 12and potentially the next big redesign,dare we nerds hope, dare we nerds dreamthat Apple will find finally,finally, ditch lighteningfor USB-C.Irony Richie, and this islightning versus USB-C.Back around 2010, Apple wasalready planning the iPhone fiveand it was gonna be thin.So thin that the then current connector,the good old fashioned 30 PennDOTwould just no longer fit inside.So Apple needed something new.Now their technologyteam was already workingwith Intel and others.And what would become USB-C.But because it was gonnabe an open standard,it was gonna take a long time to finalize,a really long time.And Apple decided theyjust could not wait.So Apple took many of thesame principles as USB-C,made the actual plug a little smallerby putting the pins on theoutside instead of the insideand came up with lightning,a name that neatly pairedagainst the Thunderbolt protocolthey'd been working on withIntel, for the Mac as well.By September of 2012,lightning was ready to ship.The spec for USB-C by contrast,wasn't even finalizeduntil August of 2014,almost two years later.And the first USB-C device,Apple's own 12 inch Mac bookwasn't even announced until March of 2015.Two and a half years afterlightning ship for the iPhone.Basically forever in the age of gadgets.Now, connected transitions are a big deal.Apple moved the iPod fromFireWire to doc in April of 2003.But it was such a nascentindustry back thenthat only the early adopterswere really affected.When Apple moved the iPhone, iPad and iPodtouch to lightening in the fall of 2012,almost a decade later,it was much, much more painfulfor far, far more people.Many of whom had alreadybought a bunch of dock cablesand accessories over the yearsthat suddenly no longerfit their new phones.And to make matters worse,Apple completely failed tohave adapters and cablesavailable at launch, nevermind in the box,forcing not just early adopters,but a lot of regular peopledoing regular upgradesto wait days and weeks beforethey could even plug intotheir existing chargersand their audio systems athome, at work in the car.The anger was real.Let me know if you rememberit in the comments.So the idea of makinganother connector transitionjust three years laterwith the iPhone successin the fall of 2015was just a non-starter.I mean, lightening offereda ton of advantagesover the 30 PennDOT,including shirt being smaller,but also being pure digital.So Apple wouldn't have toconstantly hack the pins anymoreand being symmetrical.So you didn't have to try and plug it in,fail, flip it over, try again,fail again, flip it overagain, and then succeed, maybe.USB-C was pretty much the same.The only difference it offered back then,being a standard was as muchadvantage as disadvantage.See while Apple couldcontrol lightening cablesand accessories to thepoint where any customercould be relatively certain,anything they boughtwould just work.The initial USB-C rollout wasa nightmare by comparison,with confusing and poor qualitycables, flooding the marketto the point that the entireinternet suckled themselvesto the Amazon reviews of asingle lone Google engineerwho bought and tested every one of themplus his nerdy heart,because for way too long, a time,it was the only way ofknowing what was safe to buyand what might just burn it all down.So back then, if you evenasked mainstream customersto go through yet another transition,and buy yet another set of new adapters,especially ones as potentiallyproblematic as USB-C wasat the time,they'd cut you and no court inthe world would convict them.By the time lightning came along,Apple really wasn't thinkingabout unifying connectorslike at all.They were thinking about optimizing them.See lightning really wasmeant for mobile devices.It wasn't fast toppingout at USB 2.0 speedsand only ever going to USB3.0 for special use caseslike the camera kit.It didn't drive a lot of power, eitherjust five Watts with the iPhone adopterand 13 Watts with the iPad adapter,which was fine for small deviceswith limited file accessoriesand relatively tiny batteriesthat if subjected tothe heat of high watt,high-speed charging wouldjust hemorrhage battery healthbecause yeah, there is no magic.Power management is waybetter now than it was then.But with the various kindsof high-speed charging,you are literally tradingcurrent conveniencefor future capacity.That focus on charging small devicesis why Apple eventuallydid expand lighteningto everything from theterrific magic track padto the still ever so awkward magic mouseto the Apple watch dock,almost nobody uses,the Siri remote for AppleTV, almost nobody likes.The EarPods, pretty much, everyone likes.The EarPods included in the box, for nowand most everything beats.The Mac though with atraditional file systemof vast array of peripherals,including mass storage deviceswith power requirements,much bigger batteries,much higher power draw,and a tendency to beplugged in more often.And for longer periods of timesimply needed more thanlightening could provide.And while yeah, sure,proprietary connectors aregreat for quality control.They're terrible for interoperability.And when you're not iPhonescale, but max scale,you need to work with everythingthe PC market has to offer.From printers to those external drives,which is why Apple alsokept working on USB-C.With the standards committeeand Thunderbolt with Intel,because that was a connectorthat would let the Mac growto support the currentlyfastest USB 3.1 gen twoand Thunderbolt three speedsand 96 watt 16 inchMacBook pro power adapter.Even if yes, beyond theearly quality control issues,it's still a made USB-C likefour times more confusingwhen it came out,figuring out which cablesonly supported USB-C,which ones supported PD or power deliveryfor high level chargingand which supported Thunderbolt threefor faster data speeds.Because what good wouldit be to finally haveone plug to rule them alland less all the cablesbehind them were different.The original iPad Pro andnow since September of 2015had a lightening connector,just like every iPad since 2012.In October of 2018, thoughApple gave the iPad proa modern redesignthat included changingthe lightning connectorto say it with me, USBC.It was part of a much greaterchange with an Apple though.The conceptual and philosophical changethat took the iPad pro frombeing more of an alternativeto laptops, to being moreof a laptop alternative.In other words, something todo a few of the same jobs,better to something todo most of the same jobsjust differently.And it included other changeslike having its operatingsystem, renamed, iPad, iOS,getting a files app, and most recentlyfull on track pad support.Basically all of the finalistsfor all the traditional laptop usersand all of that required amore laptop style connector.In other words, itrequired a USB-C connector.To now, if you includethe charging only porton the brand new magic keyboard.Now, personally,I wish Apple had done thesame thing with the iPhone,but I'm a nerd.For all the reasons I just went overfrom not wanting to forceanother big connector changeon the massive mainstream customer base.Not just after dock lightening,but after losing the 3.5millimeter headphone jackto lightening, to keeping things simple.For that massive mainstream customer baseto not believing the iPhoneneeds, max dial throughput,or power delivery.Sure.Apple gets a trickle of additional revenuefrom licensing lightening through the MFIor made for iPhone program.And all money is good money,but it's not like theylicense it to anything big,like other phone companiesor appliance companies.So it ends up being a drop in the bucketcompared to the umpteenbillions of dollars.The iPhone brings in justquarter after quarter.I mean, Apple probably blowsmore than the mi-fi profitson chamfering edges, jet blacking finishesor making glossy versus mattecamera bumps every year.But it does give Applesomething they valueeven more than money control.Now, again, I'd love itif the iPhone 12 pro shipped with USBCinstead of lightening,just like the iPad pro does.Apple has pro and consumer brandsfor almost every product now.Now just like Steve jobs, hisoriginal four quadrant gridset up low those many years ago.So stick with lightningon the consumer end.So most people don't have to replacetheir existing cables or accessories,but switch to USB-C on the pro end,where after decades ofserial and parallel and USB,and FireWire 400 and 800 VGADVI display port Thunderboltsup to three.Pros are just so used tosucking up just exactlythat kind of painand living with basicallyall the dongles forever.Especially for pro devices,being able to transfer datafaster and charge fasterover a wirejust makes absolutely thekindness sense that does.Which is also probably, poetically,I will just never see it.I mean, never say never, but neverStep-by-step, year by year,Apple seems to beintentionally, inextricablymoving us all towards a wireless world.Remote CD on the original Macbook air way back in 2008,since then Earplay EarDrop, EarPods,basically all the ear thingsand all the continuity features.In general, removing buttons and portswhile reducing some portionof the customer baseto a burning fury of malice and hatealso reduces points ofpotential hardware failure.It's why HTC ditch the headphone jackin the original Android phonelong before courage was evena glimmer on Apple's eye.And why most companieshave dished it long since.Also why most of thoseexact same companiesare working on ditchingother buttons and ports tousing things like squeezable sidesand capacitive buttons instead.Just like Applevirtualized the home buttonstarting with the iPhone seven.Sure, you can make ports, water resistant,but you can't force people to dry them offbefore plugging electricalthings into them,which can still cause corrosionshorts and other problems.It's why the Apple watchhas many lightning portis sealed away andhidden in the band group.And the latest Apple TV is USB-C portis buried behind the ethernet jack.Of course, that justcreates other huge problems.For example, how arewe supposed to restoreor recover our devicesif something goes wrongand we can't just plugthem into a computer.Having to take or sendyour watch or TV boxin for a technician to do itis hell inconvenient and annoying.Having to take or send somethingas critical as your phonein, well, that's justhell not gonna happen.And internet restoreor recovery for devicesis just really, really hard.So hard, it doesn't seemlike Apple or Googlecan even ship it as a feature yet.So going completely portlessprobably isn't an option.At least not yet.And not even by the timelightenings decade is up in 2020.And that's why there arerumors of smart connectorscoming to the iPhone.Originally introduced withthe iPad pro back in 2015and updated with the redesign in 2018.It's flat mounted and has just three pins,power, data and ground.Sure, it can't do everything,alightning connector can do.Much less a USB-C connector.But in a world where themajority of functionality,including everydaycharging and data transferare increasingly being handed overto induction and wireless.The smart connectorcan be there in a pinchfor physical charging forpeople who want or need itrestoring recovery andattaching to adaptersfor existing accessories, including audioat home in the office and in carsbecause yeah, take away allthe wired CarPlay connectorsin existing cars.And we're right back to the,all the people cutting you.But assuming everything goes right,everyone who hates lightningand wants to kill itjust to watch it die,might well get their wish.Maybe as soon as next yearor the decade versary of the year after.But irony of all ironieswithout getting USBC instead.Hey, you know what theysay about being careful,what you wish for.Even though I personallywould prefer smart connectorson the regular I-phonesand USB-C on the pro modelsbecause pro models.So hopefully Apple cando the math and all thisand come up with thebest answer for everyone.If not, Brilliant can help.They've got this newcomplete math course librarywhere you can learn or brushup on all the fundamentals,probability, algebra,calculus, trigonometry,differential, equations, geometry,for school, for work, for funfor figuring out USB-C for everyone.Seriously, see Brilliantis taking complex conceptsand breaking them up into bitesized, understandable chunks.You start by having fun withtheir interactive puzzles,but over time, what you can accomplishis just absolutely amazing.To learn more, go to\"brilliant.org/donateRichie\"and sign up for free, absolutely free.Be one of the first 200 people.And you can also level up with20% off the annual premium subscription.Thanks Brilliant, thanks toall of you for your support.That's my guess as tohow lightening will end.Last, not to fire and USB-C,but to the smart connectorand the eventual true wireless future.So hit like, hit subscribeif you haven't already.And if you have hitshare and send this videoto a couple or a dozen people, you love.It really helps out the channel.Then hit the comments and let me knowwhat ports do you wanna seeon the iPhone 12 and future iphones?Lightning, USB-C, smartor just none at all.Thanks for watching.And for more videos explainingjust everything about Apple,check out this playlist right here or hereand see you next video.\n"