20 watts, actually.

But anyway, the point isn’t whether lightning is better than USB-C. It’s about whether USB-C is good enough that we want to accept being locked to it for all time. If Apple wants to invent a better connector, they can’t, assuming this European regulation goes through.

> for all time.

That's a strawman. Standards evolve and new standards come along. 2G -> 3G -> 4G -> 5G. Well look at that.

> If Apple wants to invent a better connector, they can’t

Not true. If Apple is willing to share, they can invent all they want and propose a new standard.

So they have to wait on a consensus. Wait for all vendors to agree. Wait for a government body to approve the new standard and then they can implement the new “standard” and still have it be as convoluted and half ass like USB C?

> So they have to wait on a consensus. Wait for all vendors to agree.

Yes, just like 5G. Interoperability is sometimes worth the tradeoffs so a nuanced view is needed instead of a reductive "standards bad, competition good".

Or on the other hand iMessages is far better than SMS and RCS.

Then you have Google who alone introduced three incompatible messaging apps in one year. It must be part of the promotion process for Google SWEs and PMs to introduce a new messaging app.

> Or on the other hand iMessages is far better

I have a friend in Brazil is barely surviving as a farmer and has a tiny budget for a phone. He needs messaging. Which is better for him? iMessages or SMS?

Neither actually. The answer for his particular situation is almost certainly WhatsApp.

Not quite. He needs to communicate with everyone, even folks who don't have WhatsApp installed. Not many of them, but they do exist in Brazil.

Either way, it's not going to be an expensive iPhone with iMessages is it?

Probably not, but what's your point? Nobody was arguing that Apple phones are _cheaper_ than Android ones, nor that they're more popular in Brazil

My point is that iMessages is not "better". It depends on the use case, and cost is sometimes a factor in deciding which solution is the "best".

They didn't have a problem doing that with Thunderbolt, I don't see why it would become a problem now all of the sudden.

They didn’t wait on industry consensus. They basically worked with one company - Intel - and put the port on Macs. They definitely didn’t have to wait on the government to give them permission.