?
https://www.amazon.com/xPOWR-3-Pack-Lightning-Adapter-iPhone...
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A lot of accessories, docks etc are form fitting for good reason, and in that case no there will be no adapters, there just physically is no room. For anything handheld adapters tend to be more awkward and crappier if they work at all for anything that isn't a cable, hard to avoid in a that kind of space constrained scenario. For accessories like the mic yes an adapter likely could work, though it'll still be an extra half inch or whatever more fragile stuff stuck on the end. An irritation and extra expense for no value but not the end of it.
The conversation around it has been pretty annoying and self righteous though by promoters, even as it also felt like fait accompli as regulators started forcing it. Lots of braying about "ewaste" without any sort of analysis of what percentage of the waste stream that is (looks pretty minuscule) or the ROI on sweeping away all the enormous existing capital investment the public has made. I could even accept some sort of "yes this will mean more junk and cost in the near term but it'll pay off in 20 years". But for some reason all the conversations I've seen have brushed it aside with "uh adapters" or "well I only use cables myself".
Anyway, just consider my post a grumpy resigned last bit of pushback. I still don't really feel like government forcing Lightning -> USB-C was really worth it, if we were forcing a change I'd have preferred it at least going to something really thought through, ground shifting, and future proof forever like an optical hybrid. I think (I sure hope!) USB-C isn't "the end of history" in terms of peripheral connectors. But it's also all water under the dam at this point, and younger me may have been less grumpy, not like I haven't seen lots and lots (and lots)^n of connectors come and go over the decades already.
And since you bring it up, I do actually hope that the USB-C form factor connector winds up being a permanent connector. Consider: AC mains power connector form factors, while they vary from country to country, are basically "finished" and don't have to keep getting revised every half decade. USB-C has proven to be tremendously scalable and imo is good enough that it could well be the final form for its use case for the foreseeable future.
>What I find annoying is that lighting cables are rent-seeking proprietary Apple tech
I don't think this is a fair description frankly. Lightning was developed years before USB-C, which itself was heavily influenced by Apple, and the USB situation before that sucked. They themselves came up with something useful, better than what came before or the other options at the time. Sure, ideally they would have standardized it voluntarily and made it open for all, but by the same token why couldn't the rest of the industry be bothered to do a decent non-directional plug connector years before hand instead of monstrosities like the USB-3 Micro Type B? I think using "rent seeking" to mean "anything proprietary anyone develops and sells" starts feeling a little too expansive?
>and not even universally used in their own product
It's been universally used across what it was developed for though, the handheld devices. And in terms of raw performance capability and flexibility it's obviously much, much worse than Thunderbolt/USB-C which came later. I don't see why things would be better if it was on Macs?
>Apple already on their own makes people have to re-buy peripherals when they change standards, so it's not like they have a high ground.
Lightning has been around though 11 years, and the 30-pin connector 9 years before that. And would likely have been around years more without this. I don't think you can reasonably say they haven't had pretty decent runs when it comes to handheld/ultra portable devices? Apple has definitely been far, far faster moving when it comes to Macs for better and for worse. But again, I think that's not an apples-to-apples comparison, because computers almost always are connecting to things via cables not anything form fitting, they have plenty of space to work with. Which in turn means adapters really can be an acceptable (if suboptimal and disliked) solution.
Reasonable minds can differ of course!
>I do actually hope that the USB-C form factor connector winds up being a permanent connector.
I really, really don't. It stinks so much having to use copper vs fiber.
>USB-C has proven to be tremendously scalable
I can use the same OS2 I got a decade ago for a 10gbps to run 200 Gbps now. Same cable. For a few bucks per meter. And can do it over anywhere from 1 meter to kilometers.
Much better designs are possible then USB-C, and stuff could use it.
They charged a lot of money to make compatible devices. That makes it rent-seeking.
> It's been universally used across what it was developed for though, the handheld devices.
iPads are handheld aren't they?
> I really, really don't. It stinks so much having to use copper vs fiber.
Are you suggesting fiber couplings inside the plug? That sounds very delicate and prone to dirt, not good at all for a phone.
If you want a fiber cable with transceivers on each end, there's plenty of those.
But the price should tell you a lot about why we rarely use fiber for minor connections.
EDIT: see e.g. here https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/663707
These peripherals had lightning ports in them? You can't use a USB-C - Lightning cable and continue using them??
/s
This is the reason Apple waited 11 years - to reduce the impact. Plus, there will be adapters.
They were pissed that the EU doesn't bend to the will of corporations like the US does, so they dragged their feet for over a decade.
Lightning is actually a really nice connector design, despite the hate.
There's a reason Apple waited 10 years to change on iPhones, even though they switched to USB-C on other products.
They could have potentially had both ports, but nobody seems to want to put two ports on phones, and Apple is not one to put an old and new thing together.
Edit: as I replied below, some accessories are form fitting, so no, can't use an adapter. Gamepad example I have (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FFPKRYW/). And even for those that can work with an adapter, for anything but cables the result is longer/flimsier/more awkward/another point of failure, and what are adapters if not more ewaste? And is everyone supposed to by adapters for even lightning cables? I'm fairly certain lightning cables are all going to get tossed too, or at least a very high percentage as people switch. I'm resigned to it and I can afford it, just feels like this time was itself a waste and not based on data and carefully thought through tradeoffs but populism.