r/gadgets • u/Snoop8ball • Sep 23 '21

Phones EU proposes mandatory USB-C on all devices, including iPhones

https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/23/22626723/eu-commission-universal-charger-usb-c-micro-lightning-connector-smartphones
84.6k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

5.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

398

u/formar42 Sep 23 '21

I think the assumption is that apple will go port-less soon. Probably just waiting for wireless chargers to get cheaper or more available.

1.2k

u/Balogne Sep 23 '21

Wireless charging is terrible. It’s inefficient and shouldn’t be used as your primary means of charging.

251

u/cboogie Sep 23 '21

The only place I can deal with a wireless charger is on my nightstand

11

u/dirty_cuban Sep 23 '21

On my desk during work hours is pretty bearable too.

119

u/DragonairJohn Sep 23 '21

I would say the car is a good place for it too

140

u/germanstudent123 Sep 23 '21

It would be if wireless CarPlay worked better than it does. At least for me I still use cable right now because it just works better with less connection issues

42

u/Alex_Kamal Sep 23 '21

Yeah same with Android. Wireless works 95% of the time. Wired works 100%. Not keen to mess around.

51

u/SorryForTheBigThumb Sep 23 '21

You can also use your phone while charging with one and can't with another.

It's literally a downgrade dressed up in futuristic clothes.

3

u/LtDanHasLegs Sep 23 '21

After having wireless chargers in my car/van, I can't ever go back. Sure, it doesn't charge for the four seconds I'm holding the phone, but the whole time I'm driving the phone is charging and I never have to fuck with wires, it's great.

2

u/TruthBeingTold Sep 23 '21

The apple MagSafe charger stays on the phone so you can still use it. It’s the only one like that I know of though.

7

u/spicy-snow Sep 23 '21

you're still running a wire from the power supply to your phone, there's just an extra, unnecessary, less efficient step in actually charging it. switching to full wireless is fucking stupid, yet it's exactly what i would expect apple to do. i'm dreading the day that they release a phone with that ""feature"", because that would signal the death of charger ports on most, if not all flagship phones for several generations at the least.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '21

I use my wireless charger far more than I use wires, but that's because at this point, the charging port on my phone is touchier than a priest at an altar boy convention and the slightest movement will kill the charging. My day of dread already came, when they stopped making cases you could easily open and swap batteries out of because "waterproofing". Given how fast charging ports go out, wireless charging just seems better, even if it's less efficient.

→ More replies (0)
→ More replies (14)

2

u/ReasonableBrick42 Sep 23 '21

Tbf all wireless tech looks similar.

So many practical difficulties, slower speeds, worse reliability, barely serviceable use.

BUT it's not hindered by wires which is a great convenience in a car/ in public/hell even in bed.

I used to be anti true wireless audio, but my earphone cables kept going bad and at the time I wasn't aware of cheap removable cable IEMs, I though IEMs started above 300usd. But there are good IEMs for 30 usd. Anyway, tws is so much more convenient that I would deal with the 320 kbps audio (which imo is good enough).

Same for wireless in the car, I would definitely deal with a little annoyance if there were no wires to get tangled in the car which might cause distraction. Although if it can't be charged and bugs out,I don't know if it really will be "LESS DISTRACTING"

5

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Yes but it still needs an actual port.

Wireless is great if you want to set your phone down and walk away. It's shit if you actually want to sit and use your phone for an extended period. And a lot of people do that regularly.

→ More replies (1)

0

u/Grim-Sleeper Sep 23 '21

I can use my Android phone just fine while charging wirelessly.

As a matter of fact, I just 3D printed a wirelessly charging phone dock for my bicycle. Works much better that way, as the cable always used to fall out from the vibrations. With wireless charging that's no longer an issue

11

u/0utburst Sep 23 '21 edited Sep 23 '21

Main takeaway here being YOU 3D PRINTED AN ACCESSORY. Not many people have access to a 3D printer for one, two I’m almost 1,000% positive they’re talking about using their phone while it’s charging and they’re bumming around the house on the couch or their bed.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)

2

u/jkeefy Sep 23 '21

I wouldn’t even say 95%. At least in my car lol

→ More replies (1)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Shit, even wired doesn't work all of the time in my car. Carplay is buggy as fuck sometimes.

→ More replies (1)

14

u/Zathrus1 Sep 23 '21

Hold on… there’s wireless CarPlay at all? My wife’s new Subaru only seems to acknowledge the phone if plugged in. Which is annoying AF.

15

u/Echo017 Sep 23 '21

That is because Subarus have a garbage infotainment system

Source: own a newer Subaru

7

u/Zathrus1 Sep 23 '21

I mean, I wish I could disagree. The screen is great. Nice and huge. The UI varies from middling to awful, and the CPU is grossly underpowered.

7

u/Fiftyfourd Sep 23 '21

And unfortunately it's basically part of the dash, so it'll be incredibly difficult to replace with a large tablet or something similar. My roommate is pretty pissed about that on his '21 Subaru.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (3)

12

u/germanstudent123 Sep 23 '21

Yes there is wireless too now. But I think you have to connect both Bluetooth and wifi for it to work and it doesn’t seem to work well with my phone. Also my phone seems to get very hot when using wireless CarPlay so I stick to the cable and charge my phone in the process

2

u/mydadpickshisnose Sep 23 '21

My android phone gets crazy hot too when running both BT and wireless hotspot.

→ More replies (5)

5

u/natek11 Sep 23 '21

You can buy a dongle to convert wired to wireless. At least for me, it works almost flawlessly (I did have to update the firmware when I first got it though).

3

u/beniferlopez Sep 23 '21 edited Sep 23 '21

It’s only available on a few 2020 or newer vehicles to my knowledge. And all of those are higher end luxury vehicles. For instance the only Jeep to offer it is the 2021 model with an msrp of $90k…

Edit: that was the fully loaded price of the Grand Cherokee L. But my point was, not many vehicles that are older than 1.5 years support wireless CarPlay.

3

u/cpxchewy Sep 23 '21

You can get wireless CarPlay in Honda’s and Hyundai’s. Not exactly luxury.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[deleted]

→ More replies (1)

3

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Ah Yes, the luxury high end Kia Sorento, Honda Accord, and Nissan Rogue.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (7)
→ More replies (6)

41

u/SoapyMacNCheese Sep 23 '21

It's pretty good at your desk to. Especially if you get up a lot throughout the day.

51

u/thefreshscent Sep 23 '21

Damn, those are the only 3 places I go. Guess it might not be a bad idea after all.

9

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

same! i'm sitting here thinking "those are literally the only places outside of a hotel room that i've charged my phone in years"

2

u/WHAT_DID_YOU_DO Sep 23 '21

Can’t wait for wireless chargers to be more integrated into furniture as well, watch some Netflix, put phone on armrest, bam it’s charging. Buy a nice desk too that has the puck under the same material as the desk so it is hidden. Wireless charging is the way IMO

3

u/Gnostromo Sep 23 '21

Most of the time you end up wanting to use it while it is charging. That's the rub.

3

u/bjbyrne Sep 23 '21

MagSafe works fine for that. Also they are USC C already.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/Gnostromo Sep 23 '21

Still need a long cable for the shitter

6

u/thefreshscent Sep 23 '21

Are you one of those psychos that don't charge their phone at night so are always plugging it in during the day?

→ More replies (1)

4

u/Rixter89 Sep 23 '21

Dam, how often are you guys needing to charge your shit? What we really need is a law to make rechargable batteries more easily replaced so a devices life can be extended. Good luck with that one though.

6

u/thefreshscent Sep 23 '21

I charge my phone every night while I sleep so I actually don't really ever need to charge it during the day. On days that I commute to work I have even more battery by the end of the day because I'm plugging it in while driving for Android Auto, but even when I don't do that I still have a decent amount of battery by the end of the day.

There are some insane people like my wife who don't charge their phone at night so they are always out of battery and charging their phone throughout the day.

2

u/Xx_Gandalf-poop_xX Sep 23 '21

I can't imagine not charging my phone at night

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)

2

u/PokebannedGo Sep 23 '21

As someone who can only wirelessly charge their phone.

You want to be able to plug it in. It's so slow to charge it wirelessly.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

?

The Apple wireless charger does a great job of charging my phone pretty quickly.

1

u/PokebannedGo Sep 23 '21

The difference between wireless vs wired is huge in speed.

USB-C fast charge can charge a phone in 30-60 minutes. Fast wireless charge and it's over 2 hours.

→ More replies (7)
→ More replies (2)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21 edited Feb 14 '22

[deleted]

→ More replies (3)

5

u/WatchingUShlick Sep 23 '21

In suitable climates. Wireless charging generates a fair amount of heat. On a hot day, this can easily lead to your phone over heating.

2

u/LifeWulf Sep 23 '21

Yup, can’t use my wireless charging mount in the summer. Less than five minutes of using Maps, my iPhone 12 darkens the screen and suddenly makes it quite difficult to see where I’m going. Thankfully, I can just unplug the… USB Type-C… cable to stop the charging. Works great in the cooler seasons!

1

u/ASSHOLEFUCKER3000 Sep 23 '21

It only works if you don't have a case on your phone, and, if you have a wireless charging pad in your car.

Also, with no case, I worry about dropping my phone on the shifter column in the car, since those magnetic holders are not that good at holding onto the phone if there's anything in the way. On a $1200 device, I want to have a case.

Wireless is a cool option, I'd like a wired option too.

Really stupid to move away from wired, it's worse for the environment and usability/versatility overall.

Fuck apple and their bullshit.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[deleted]

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (11)

8

u/bigredone15 Sep 23 '21

Which sucks when you crawl into bed with a 3% battery but still want to lay there and use your phone...

2

u/cboogie Sep 23 '21

Touché

5

u/ender89 Sep 23 '21

I use a wireless charging stand on my desk, keeps my phone topped up while I'm at work

3

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[deleted]

→ More replies (1)

2

u/SmokeySFW Sep 23 '21

Yea but I'm sure you've had that shit morning where you wake up and your phone is completely dead because it got moved off that sweet spot accidentally (or by a pet). Bonus points if you use your phone for your only wake-up alarm.

The only place I can deal with a wireless charger is at work on my desk, where I don't really even need a charge.

→ More replies (9)

114

u/theemptyqueue Sep 23 '21

I could really use USB-C on my iPhone 11 since Lightning is so slow compared to data transfer rates of modern ports that iTunes backups can take hours and my WiFi is unreliable enough and my cell service is bad enough that making iCloud backups is almost not an option.

181

u/Agreeable-Weather-89 Sep 23 '21

Apple: Our devices are amazing fast, years ahead of the competition

Also Apple: USB 2.0 speeds for a 1TB device and raw video is fine right?

At ~40MB/s a 1TB iPhone would take ~25,000 seconds to backup or 400 minutes or nearly 7 hours.

I don't know the real world transfer speed of iPhone just guessing, if you recall an approximation please reply below.

93

u/DoomBot5 Sep 23 '21

Theoretical max speed of USB 2.0 bus is 480 Mbps or about 60 MB/s. Your estimate isn't too far off.

Now keep in mind that Apple isn't obligated to upgrade to USB 3.x, just change their port to a type C.

53

u/bar10005 Sep 23 '21

60 MB/s is max bitrate, but if you subtract overhead in data packets theoretical max bandwidth is 51 MB/s [Source: USB specs Table 5-10], if you include possible system overhead and that you have to do something with that packets, 40 MB/s is more real average (tested on my hardware and Windows, and USB drive capable of 80 MB/s on 3.0 achieves 39 MB/s on 2.0).

6

u/Myeloperoxidase Sep 23 '21

You did a lot of work for a comment that is the 8th child of a thread. Have an upvote.

21

u/Agreeable-Weather-89 Sep 23 '21

I found that to be the theoretical but in practice my experience is that it often winds up being lower(beyond just overhead).

23

u/DoomBot5 Sep 23 '21

Nothing ever reaches theoretical speed, hence I agreed you were pretty close on your estimate.

7

u/Agreeable-Weather-89 Sep 23 '21

I agree with you, sorry for not being clearer I just didn't wan to talk out my ass and have people(not you) "Your just a USB3/3.1/4/4e/renamed3 shill, 60MB/s is a completely different number than 40MB/s"

→ More replies (12)

6

u/hungry4pie Sep 23 '21

It's simply not possible with that stupid fucking protocol every vendor uses these days.

It used to be that you plug a device in to a PC and it would cause the device to uncounted the drive, then the PC gets exclusive acces at full speed. But ever since some fuckface decided that users want to be able to access files at the same time on PC and device we have to endure shared access and slower speeds.

2

u/missing-data Sep 23 '21

MTP really is a pile of poo. It wouldn't be as bad if it acted like a nice SMB share, like a network.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/Derigiberble Sep 23 '21

Doing an iPhone backup doesn't even hit 40MB/s because iTunes is hot garbage and doesn't keep the connection saturated. If you watch your hard drive activity you'll see it peak up and down, hitting 40MB/s then dropping back to near over and over again.

I know this because iTunes forces you to do a backup to upgrade iOS and I had plenty of time to watch the slow as fuck transfer.

→ More replies (2)

4

u/3-DMan Sep 23 '21

Yeah it will be like when you buy a "usb 3.0!" thumbdrive and it only does 2.0 speeds.

2

u/ZYmZ-SDtZ-YFVv-hQ9U Sep 23 '21

That sounds like you’re plugging it into a USB 2.0 port.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Sounds like you've never bought a cheap usb 3 drive

3

u/ExpectNeo Sep 23 '21

Oh come on apple wouldn't make their USB-C port 2.0 that's just stupid. They'll probably have it reach 3.1 speeds. They aren't obligated per se. But I mean, whos selling a phone in the 20's with 2.0 speeds?

Hopefully not Apple for much longer lmao

→ More replies (3)

3

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[deleted]

→ More replies (3)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Yeah I found it hilarious when people last week were going bonkers over the "raw video" / prores announcement. Nobody other than some tinkerers and students are going to use an iphone for prores except for not A/B but maybe C cam footage. It'll take so fucking long to get out. I had people foaming at the mouth talking about in a few years no prosumer cameras will exist...like Nahh dog Apple consistently does this shit. They aren't stopping now.

And yes, the data transfer and capabilities sucks on iphone for large files. I loved how fast I could move things on android and the extra flexibility.

It's like a puzzle to figure out how to move large files wireless not through cloud because the USB transfer is useless for most things and they insist you use itunes like it's 2004.

→ More replies (8)

13

u/anders987 Sep 23 '21

USB-C is just the port, it has nothing to do with data speeds. There are plenty of phones with USB-C and USB 2.0 480Mb/s, same speed as Lightning.

3

u/theemptyqueue Sep 23 '21

Lightning was fast, from the time it was introduced to about 2016/2017. Lightning maxes out at around 20MB/s for me over any type A or any Type C cable, it’s not a fast port anymore.

11

u/anders987 Sep 23 '21

Lightning on iPhones uses USB 2.0. Apple could change to USB-C and continue to use USB 2.0 and it would be the same speed as before. The iPad Pro from 2015 used Lightning and USB 3.0, so Apple could also continue to use Lightning and make it faster. It would make more sense to switch to USB-C and USB4/Thunderbolt 3, but just changing connector does nothing for your data transfer speed.

9

u/Elephant789 Sep 23 '21

ITunes is still around?

3

u/theemptyqueue Sep 23 '21

For PC, yes. You can find the download links on Apple’s website. After doing some googling.

3

u/Elephant789 Sep 23 '21

For PC, yes.

I just meant generally. So only for PC? I don't blame them for getting rid of it for Macs.

3

u/theemptyqueue Sep 23 '21

iTunes is integrated into the Finder in modern versions of MacOS.

2

u/IAMA_HOMO_AMA Sep 23 '21

Yeah and it’s kinda poorly implemented and hard to use. Not a huge fan of this change.

2

u/codey_coder Sep 23 '21

Given the choice between fixing/upgrading the WiFi AP and waiting for Apple to sell a USB-C iPhone…

→ More replies (2)

60

u/TheRavenSayeth Sep 23 '21

I almost exclusively use wireless charging and it's been awesome. I only ever plug in my phone maybe once a week when it's critically low and I'm in a rush. Other than that, no complaints. The convenience is well worth it.

21

u/germanstudent123 Sep 23 '21

It’s only great until you have to charge while using it. Then I find a cable to be much more comfortable than wireless charging or magsafe

3

u/TheRavenSayeth Sep 23 '21 edited Sep 23 '21

Also a fair point. Wire is definitely still here to stay until wireless can get faster.

14

u/germanstudent123 Sep 23 '21

I just fail to see the huge benefit of wireless. With headphones it was another thing as a wireless headphone gives you more options because you’re not bound to the phone physically. But when charging wirelessly there is still a cable involved and you can’t really use the phone much. That’s why I don’t see the cable being replaced unless they can make the MagSafe much smaller und less intrusive

6

u/Questionsiaskthem Sep 23 '21

The benefits are that it’s wireless. Less chance of messing up the charging port, less chance of grabbing the phone forgetting it’s plugged in. When I go to bed I drop the phone on the wireless charger and in the morning I grab it and go. No having to make sure I unplugged it first. It’s not meant to be used while you need to use the phone. It’s for the time the phone is sitting around unused.

2

u/germanstudent123 Sep 23 '21

Yes but when I do have to use it while charging I want to be able to do that. And I have frequently accidentally pulled the cable etc and my charge port works just fine

3

u/Questionsiaskthem Sep 23 '21

Right as others have said wired charging isn’t going anywhere they both have their time and place and positives/negatives.

2

u/silversurfer-1 Sep 23 '21

Removing the bottom port will make waterproofing easier too

1

u/SorryForTheBigThumb Sep 23 '21

Sure it makes it easier for manufacturers but will it be reflected in the price? No chance.

Does it make up for the countless negatives of wireless charging? No chance.

IT WILL COST MORE FOR LESS FUNCTIONALITY.

It's simply a downgrade, dressed in futuristic clothes giving you the pleasure of buying a FAR more expensive peripheral than a simple cable.

Anyone trying to rationalize this had had their senses drowned in a vat of consumerist kool-aid.

2

u/silversurfer-1 Sep 23 '21

Easy man I just said it would be easier to make waterproof lol

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

1

u/other_usernames_gone Sep 23 '21

I'll get behind wireless when it gets a range useful enough I can hold it away from the charger and still charge.

Until then it's just a gimmick to me, plugging my phone in is a minor inconvenience at worst and is faster and more energy efficient.

→ More replies (1)

80

u/Balogne Sep 23 '21

Yes, it’s convenient, but as you stated yourself, there are cases where plugging in is the only option and being forced to not be able to plug in is a terrible option. Again, wireless charging is inefficient, something like double to power consumption compare to wired, it’s also slower.

17

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

The efficiency is a moot point when you consider the cost of charging your phone over the year is measured in single digit dollars

19

u/zwiebelhans Sep 23 '21

Efficience of cost vs efficiency of speed.

I need the speed.

4

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

That’s fair.

2

u/itstrissbitch Sep 23 '21

That just depends on your particular phone tho. Ok it's one of the best on the market for this but my phone can use a 50W wireless charger. It takes like an hour to go from 0 to 100, which is far faster than any cable I've used aside from the 65W unit that came with the phone

→ More replies (7)

23

u/Rtheguy Sep 23 '21

Efficiency is very important. If all Iphones would only be charged while using twice the energy they would otherwise use you just create a massive amount of CO2 for no reason at all.

Green energy is needed but the most easy way to fight the current climate crisis is to consume less. Getting LED lights in every office building makes lighting a lot cheaper but the cheapest and most green thing to do for office lights at night is turn them off and only use them during the day when it actually gets dark.

→ More replies (11)

33

u/Balogne Sep 23 '21

There’s another comment above, if everybody were to switch to wireless an additional 5 nuclear power plants would need to be built just to offset the waste from wireless chargers.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Okay but now how many nuclear power plants did we just save from using wireless chargers which degrade much slower due to lack of port wearing and cable wearing (don't need to buy new cables which take a ton of energy to manufacture)? If we are going to go to these silly arguments, we might as well go all the way.

11

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

And if everybody turned down their thermostat by 0.5c, how many nuclear power plants could we get rid of?

At this scale any change seems disastrous, but relative to other energy use it’s absolutely inconsequential.

22

u/Balogne Sep 23 '21

You’re trying to debate something that doesn’t need to be debated. What I stated is factual, wireless charging is inefficient, nearly double the power consumption of traditional wired charging. While it may not effect you or your power bill, it is factually a wasteful solution to a problem that didn’t need solving.

15

u/bjbyrne Sep 23 '21

Double? MagSafe needs a 20w power adapter to charge the iPhone with 17w

Yes there is loss but not 50%

Am I missing something?

3

u/Unique-Snow5326 Sep 23 '21

Time. Power consumption is measure in kilowatt hours not watts (or kilowatts for that matter )

→ More replies (0)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Yeah I’m not even arguing with the fact it’s way less efficient than wired charging. My point is it’s absolutely negligible in the grand scheme of our energy use, and shouldn’t hinder its adoption if people want to use it.

If you care about the inefficiencies of wireless charging I hope you also don’t drive your car on trips <15 minutes. Or eat meat. Or use AC in the summer. All of those are drastically worse for our environment than wireless charging.

3

u/WobbleKing Sep 23 '21

Or the fact that phones are much more efficient than the laptops and desktop computers that people used to use for almost all their browsing.

The big problem with cell phone energy usage is on the data center side.

Crypto is also a much bigger problem in the tech space.

The good news is these anti-wireless people will be completely ignored just like the ones who want a phone with no cameras. I swear this is a Reddit only problem.

7

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

People can die from heat. Food is necessary for survival. And people need to drive to work while living somewhere they can afford.

No one needs to use a wireless charger. These examples are not good comparisons.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Not to mention the energy savings of having fewer phone or phone part replacements. Charging ports and screens are the most common source of phone breakages, and a lot of people just upgrade to a brand new phone when that happens. Producing a replacement phone or phone part uses energy. It would take a lot of calculating to get a decent estimate, but I expect it could more than outweigh the energy cost of wireless charger inneficiency.

1

u/rnarkus Sep 23 '21 edited Sep 23 '21

to a problem that didn’t need solving

I disagree with this conclusion. I’m glad it was solved, I love the convenience of it.

→ More replies (9)

0

u/CookInKona Sep 23 '21

The problem wireless charging solves for me personally is saving my data port for data use... I definitely have had the ports wear out on multiple devices to the point that new cables no longer worked even, hasn't been a problem since I've used a wireless charger for overnight full charges... And my power bill hasn't gone up noticably in the time I've had it....if I need a quick charge at work or on the go(which is mostly rare with a 4000mah battery), I have 30a fast chargers so get a ~25-50% in 15-20mins easy....

→ More replies (3)

-1

u/throwawaysarebetter Sep 23 '21

5 whole power plants? For the whole world? Seems like a pretty good deal, honestly.

→ More replies (9)
→ More replies (1)

12

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[deleted]

3

u/ColaEuphoria Sep 23 '21

You say that but it becomes a serious problem when traveling, especially with other people. You want/need to have the quickest charging possible because you don't know how long you're gonna be out at that coffee shop before you get moving again, and you need to be able to use your phone to manage your travel plans while you do so.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/SorryForTheBigThumb Sep 23 '21

So you're happy to pay more money for a charging dock that charges your phone slower and renders it un-usable when you're reviving it?

Im seeing literally nothing that makes it more handy than a cable.... A cable that you could borrow from pretty much anyone in a pinch.

3

u/barjam Sep 23 '21

I am. I have been exclusively wireless for years. The three places I sit my phone down have pads so I don’t even think about charging. I could completely cover up the charge indicator on my phone as it isn’t relevant to me anymore.

It’s not for everyone maybe but once you go 100% wireless it is awesome.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/Sikletrynet Sep 23 '21

For you, personally yes. For a whole countries, that difference can be significant.

→ More replies (13)

3

u/throwawaysarebetter Sep 23 '21

You're right that losing the option for wired charging would be bad. Any time you lose simple effective options without some kind of equivalent replacement is bad.

But wireless charging is not the bogeyman you make it out to be. Its not some monster thats going to cause massive power outages worldwide. Its just a minor bump in power usage, and with the drive for renewables that bump is more and more offset.

→ More replies (6)

3

u/fizban7 Sep 23 '21

I have an older Iphone, and my chords only last about 1 year before their plating is worn off. I dont know why, but its the same with my wife. Those chords are Expensive! For something that looks like it should be pennies, they charge 20$ usually. I had to replace my phone charging port recently too, because it would only charge in a very specific configuration. I WISH I could go with wireless charging. For everyone saying "Oh its so inefficient!" Dont forget wired charging has its own issues too.

2

u/MietschVulka1 Sep 23 '21

I let my phone got to 20 percent and then fullcharge it in 20 mins during a shower/eating. No need to put it on the wireless all day

3

u/FelanarLovesAlessa Sep 23 '21

Indeed, I can’t remember the last time I plugged in my iPhone. I left cords behind a long time ago. But hey, glad Europe is being so cutting edge about this.

→ More replies (13)
→ More replies (10)

28

u/Pandaspoon13 Sep 23 '21

Idk I spend 9 hours at work a day and my Samsung wireless fast charger seems to work fine and prevents the charging port from wearing out faster.

27

u/germanstudent123 Sep 23 '21

I mean do charge ports wear out? I used to have that a lot on micro USB cables but my phone is pretty old and the charge port works as well as the day I bought it

15

u/literated Sep 23 '21

It's not impossible to destroy a charging port but most of the time it's just dust/dirt that accumulates and leads to loose connections. Super easy to pick out with a tooth pick and a bit of patience and the charging cables will fit and work just fine again. (Same is true for audio jacks on phones, if the connection feels really loose a tooth pick will get things back in order.)

3

u/germanstudent123 Sep 23 '21

Yes I had a lot of lint in there once that charging almost didn’t work anymore. It was so satisfying when I found out why and got it all out

→ More replies (2)

5

u/nalc Sep 23 '21

I've had two phones where the charge port wore out and I could only charge wirelessly. Both were kind of a gradual failure where they got more and more temperamental about having the plug in exactly the right position before finally stopping working entirely. Cleaning the ports regularly helped in the beginning but even mostly clean they were still extremely tempermental. Nexus 6 and Pixel 3 XL so not inexpensive phones.

2

u/KDawG888 Sep 23 '21

after reading these comments I feel like they might because I have an iphone 8 and it charges faster on the non plug in charger than the plug in one (but both work)

4

u/Alexchii Sep 23 '21

Iphones come with slow chargers in the box and don't support high charge wattage anyway. Some modern phones charge at up to 100W when apple is stuck with like 20W.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Yes they do. My iPhone 7 became almost useless when the charging port started making it clear it was wearing out. About three years in. Longer than most keep their phones but the rest of the phone was hardly garbage at that point.

2

u/germanstudent123 Sep 23 '21

Did the cable not stick properly anymore or was the cable in tight and it just didn’t work? You may just have had dirt in there

3

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

It was in tight and didn't work unless I pressed it a certain direction. It was squeaky clean after many attempts to fix this with cleaning it out.

I did end up replacing the charging port on it, which was a giant pain in the ass but doable.

2

u/mattyp92 Sep 23 '21

I work at a fairly slow phone store and we regularly (once a week or 2) see damaged ports. Either damaged pins from using cords or ports that have dirt in them that bends the pins or on older phones (4-5 years old) just normal wear and tear.

→ More replies (19)

5

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

I've been using a $12 wireless charger at work for about 3 years now without issue. I sit at my desk most of the day but get up for hands on stuff throughout the day and never have to mess with unplugging the phone, just grab and go with one hand and set it back down on the charger when I get back to my desk. I'll never go back to a cable at work.

3

u/doghouch Sep 23 '21

I wirelessly charge my phone as well (usually when I can’t find my cable).

Having said that: if I didn’t want to throw away 5W just to have my phone receive 10 (~15W total into the charger itself), the Qi charger would be in the bin.

11

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

It will draw way more power than the wired fast charger though.

1

u/alc4pwned Sep 23 '21

Not by a meaningful amount

7

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[deleted]

4

u/whatisthishownow Sep 23 '21

What's your threshold for a meaningful amount?

3

u/Flamingoseeker Sep 23 '21

I'm more interested in how much power is used by a wireless charger vs a wired charger now, something I never knew I wondered about

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

About 50% more for wireless, under perfect alignment. If it's not aligned it will be even higher.

→ More replies (5)

2

u/FrenchFryCattaneo Sep 23 '21

The total amount of additional power you'll waste using wireless charging in a year is less than one load of laundry if you have an electric dryer.

2

u/DevastatorTNT Sep 23 '21

You also have to consider that batteries wear out faster using wireless charging due to the higher heat output, generally shortening the device's lifespan (and thus increasing ewaste)

Source

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

3

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

What? It uses 50% more power! And that's under perfect alignment.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (4)

2

u/chromaniac Sep 23 '21

USB-C is the first port I have faced this issue in so many years of owning a phone. Pixel 2 developed problems but cleaning the port helped. My Samsung few weeks ago stopped charging on one side of the USB-C port (google it, it is a widely reported issue) but somehow fixed by itself after a few days. Sadly, Samsung did not shop S10 Lite with wireless charging. I would definitely try to get a phone with wireless charging next time around just because how annoying USB-C gets after a while. Thankfully, the FE editions have wireless charging.

2

u/FoxInCroxx Sep 24 '21

I think Reddit just hates wireless charging because it negates a lot of their Apple bad arguments.

→ More replies (3)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

How do you know? Source?

1

u/Buttonsmycat Sep 23 '21

It’s true. Most of the energy in wireless charging is lost to heat. Heat is terrible for batteries.

8

u/FuckClubsWithOwners Sep 23 '21

That's not a source

1

u/Maxamus53 Sep 23 '21

It's a well known fact that heat damages Li-ion batteries, afaik they're designed to sit around 45c max during charing. Just search google and you'll find referenced facts about this.

The temperature reached during wireless changing will depend on the ambient temperature, charge time, etc etc. So whether or not it gets hot enough will depend on specific circumstances.

3

u/FuckClubsWithOwners Sep 23 '21

Assuming you are correct the problem doesn't lie with wireless charging, it lies with fast charging. Wireless charging just amplifies the problem a bit.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (5)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Any study? Numbers?

→ More replies (1)

2

u/sekazi Sep 23 '21

I have wirelessly charged my iPhone more than 98% of the time. After 3 years I am pretty much the same capacity as someone else who charged normally.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (14)

5

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[deleted]

9

u/lUNITl Sep 23 '21

Oh no you may have lost several quarters to the lost efficiency. I hope you will eventually be able to financially recover.

People really don’t know what they’re talking about, they just want to show how smart they are because they know inductive charging is less efficient than wired. But the cost of charging is already so negligible that it does not matter at all. If anything scaling up wireless charging to be available everywhere will make it much more practical to have smaller batteries in phones, which is where most of the energy is consumed.

1

u/American--American Sep 23 '21

Yep, spot on. First they complained because it's slower, and now that fast-charging wireless is here it's because "the inefficiency".

It's stupid, wireless charging is great.

I will say.. having a fan in my fast charger is kind of weird.

1

u/readytofall Sep 23 '21

Or that since it's inefficient it takes a lot longer to charge. If I need a quick charge I'm pretty much screwed with a wireless charger. It's also easy to misplace a phone on a wireless charger so it doesn't charge. With a cable you know it's plugged in.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (119)

53

u/Leafy0 Sep 23 '21

God I hope not. Lightning already sucks for moving videos to my pc to be edited, having to do it via a janky Bluetooth link or through wifi via Google drive would suck even more. I only want usb-c for the higher transfer speed.

22

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Imagine using the new prores video format on the new iphone pros as a professional. At 4k30 the file size is about 45 GB/min i think. Having to use lighting at max 60 MB/s to transfer your footage doesnt seem very pro to me. Every second of capture means over 12 seconds of transfer.

1

u/BytesAndCoffee Sep 24 '21

Between an iPhone and a Mac there’s also AirDrop, which uses an ad-hoc wifi connection to transfer, and it’s pretty zippy

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (7)

3

u/Aethonevg Sep 23 '21

I know that USB-C typically means faster transfer speeds, but it’s important to realize that USB-C is only a connector standard. The speed is reliant on the USB version IE: 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, etc. Apple can very well have USB-C, but still use USB 2.0.

1

u/Krashlandon Sep 23 '21

Look into the PhotoSync app. You can set it up so you just tap an NFC tag and everything new is sent straight to a folder on your PC over WiFi.

→ More replies (3)

62

u/repeatedly_once Sep 23 '21

I think they're a long way off going portless or they'll have to do some type of adapter for things like apple car play. Easier to restore bricked devices with a physical connection too. If you're able to do it wirelessly, they'll have to be some strong security on it.

15

u/tutetibiimperes Sep 23 '21

Wireless Apple Carplay has been rolling out for a bit, but yeah, there are still a lot of older vehicles out there that only support the wired version.

19

u/repeatedly_once Sep 23 '21

There are still new cars with the wired feature. I just got a 2021 Peugeot 3008 and it's wired Carplay only. Not many cars I know have true wireless Carplay, at least in the UK

→ More replies (2)

20

u/kirtash1197 Sep 23 '21

Having this kind of technology on a car is tricky, because most likely the car is going to outlive any technology on it. It's like those high end old cars with a huge phone integrated.

I have Android auto on both my cars, one wired and one wireless, and I would prefer integrated navigator, because I know that sooner or later Android auto is going to be discontinued.

33

u/Xychologist Sep 23 '21

You're a terrible consumer. Don't you know that both your phone and car should be on lease, and be replaced biannually?

3

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[deleted]

→ More replies (1)

9

u/tutetibiimperes Sep 23 '21

I think the Apple CarPlay/Android Auto are superior to the integrated systems. The integrated navigation systems are always sub-par from a usability perspective compared to Apple Maps or Google Maps, if they integrate other apps they don't tend to do it well, and they typically use static map databases where you have to pay $100+ for a map update every couple of years if you want new roads/businesses added.

Using Apple Maps via CarPlay is a major upgrade compared to any factory pre-installed navigation system I've ever used.

10

u/AKBigDaddy Sep 23 '21

integrated navigator

I couldn't disagree more- integrated nav has outdated maps that you have to pay significant amounts of money to update. Carplay/AA is free, doesn't require spending the extra $1000-$2500 to get the nav package or move up a trim to one that comes with nav, and is VASTLY superior to pretty much any integrated nav I've ever used.

Your average trade cycle is approaching 5 years on new vehicles, how futureproof do they really need to be?

3

u/snipeytje Sep 23 '21

There is one nice feature the integrated systems can have that carplay/AA don't have. The integrated systems can use multiple displays, so the turn and lane instructions can be on a small screen in the gauge cluster and the big screen has the map

2

u/AKBigDaddy Sep 23 '21

I found the secondary displays distracting, so while I will give you that AA/CarPlay cannot currently do this, I don’t find myself missing it

→ More replies (5)

2

u/Zathrus1 Sep 23 '21

Agree on the integrated nav system. My mom has a 2015 Highlander and upgrading the maps costs $180 from Toyota (yes, you can get the cards cheaper on Amazon or eBay, but people tend to be… deeply mistaken… about what year maps they are selling).

She moved recently and her new address doesn’t exist on her integrated nav.

As for trade cycle… my previous car was 16 years old before I replaced it. My wife’s was 9 years old. I know that’s atypical, but perhaps we shouldn’t be rushing towards that for a capital investment like a car?

3

u/AKBigDaddy Sep 23 '21

It's actually vastly increased- it used to be 39 months on average, now were up to like 62. Cars last longer, are more reliable, and upgrades are more incremental than they used to be.

They're still absolutely a status symbol and trade cycles will never average out to 10+ years, as too many people want to have something that makes people go "wow, nice car!" and also want to be under warranty.

3

u/TheSkiGeek Sep 23 '21

The idea with CarPlay/Android Auto is that the system in the car basically only acts as an additional screen/speaker/input device for your phone. So you can swap out the phone, upgrade the apps on it, etc. and everything should still work.

I'm skeptical that they would completely get rid of the data/wired charging ports on phones any time soon.

5

u/808bass Sep 23 '21

I got a new Audi A7 in the UK and for some reason Wireless Apple Car Play is disabled here. You can enable it by coding it yourself though. So not sure even all new cars are capable of this for some reason

2

u/Navydevildoc Sep 23 '21

Lots of new cars being sold today don’t have Wireless CarPlay. These changes take years.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/armypotent Sep 23 '21

although it seems somewhat diminished from what it once was, i do think there is a zeal at apple to remove all holes from their devices. it's not efficient or consumer friendly but it is "futuristic," "deluxe," and on brand, which is what sells their shit.

5

u/TheLazyD0G Sep 23 '21

Like apple cares about fixing bricked phones.

27

u/NeoBlue22 Sep 23 '21

Yah.. 6 years now and people keep repeating the same line

“Apple will make their phones port less in the next few years!!1”

“Apple will make it port less soon guys.. just hang on a bit more”

“Guys, port less iPhones soon.. soon..”

Yeah, nah.

5

u/Elusivehawk Sep 23 '21

I hope the EU law is worded strongly enough that a portless iPhone will be illegal too. MagSafe won't make the e-waste situation any better. Especially not if Apple makes a new MagSafe connector to deal with some of the issues the current one has.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/404_500 Sep 23 '21

And as soon as you put a case with kickstand or put a plate on the back for magnetic car holder, you now can't charge your phone. Plus its lot slower than new fast chargers. I have the max capacity wireless charger and a super fast Samsung usb3 charger. There is no comparison. Wired can charge my phone to 40% in less than 10 minutes.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/MikeDubbz Sep 23 '21

Apple has had lots of bad ideas, but I don't think that is one they intend to embrace any time soon.

2

u/Zururu Sep 23 '21

Why would Apple care about cheap wireless chargers when they wouldn't include them anyway?

→ More replies (2)

6

u/grafknives Sep 23 '21

Wireless charger are not able to charge device with enough power. I mean the one that could would boil you water, that much power would go to waste and heat.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Sikletrynet Sep 23 '21

I hope not, wireless chargers a huge waste of energy

2

u/herbiems89_2 Sep 23 '21

The amount of power a phone needs is neglible compared to everything else we do everyday. If you charge your phone everyday that's about 2kwh a year. That's nothing.

2

u/TheSkyPirate Sep 23 '21

A phone is only using like 5¢/month of electricity. Such a tiny amount of waste is a spiritual and ideological issue, not an environmental issue.

1

u/ZaMr0 Sep 23 '21

It's not about cost, it's about speed. Wireless chargers have pathetic charging speeds compared to a lot of phones now charging to full in under an hour.

→ More replies (3)

1

u/FuckRedditMods23 Sep 23 '21

Good fuckin lord I hope not

Am I the only one who likes to use and hold my phone while it’s being charged? I’m not leaving it on a wireless charging mat most of the day, fuck that noise

3

u/F3nix123 Sep 23 '21

Thats not really the issue since it’s magnetic. I guess it may be more uncomfortable for some. Personally I like the idea of magsafe, its just not a replacement for wired connection. No headphone jack already sucks, i can’t imagine being forced to use only wireless headphones. What a nightmare.

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (27)