Lightning vs. USB-C: USB consortium was too sluggish

It is well known that Apple had offered a connector type with Lightning long before the introduction of USB-C: From the beginning, it was non-rotating, significantly smaller, and it tolerated higher currents and voltages. What is new, however, is that Apple did not bypass the responsible USB consortium called USB-IF (Universal Serial Bus Implementers Forum), but that the consortium was simply too sluggish.

Speaking to c’t magazine, USB-IF Chairman Brad Saunders said regarding USB-C: “We were too lazy.” When Apple was looking for a new connector type to succeed the 30-pin connector, according to Saunders, there was still no majority for a completely new development of the USB connector. At the time, the companies active in the USB-IF had opted for interim solutions such as MHL, which misused a mini or micro USB socket.

As a standardization body, the USB-IF is dependent on the majority decisions of its members for new developments and may therefore react more slowly than a single manufacturer who does not have to agree with other companies on detailed questions. Apple recently warned of a single USB charger that the EU wants to enforce. Apple argues that such requirements are hostile to innovation and do not serve environmental protection. The latter is a key argument of the EU when introducing uniform USB power supplies.

Apple didn’t want mini-USB or micro-USB

When Apple was looking for a successor to the 30-pin connector, neither mini-USB nor micro-USB came into question. The reason is assumed that the plugs were not twist-proof as standard. In the meantime, there are also micro USB plugs on the market that can be plugged into a micro USB socket. The Tolino Alliance, for example, includes such cables in its high-quality e-book readers.

But there may have been other reasons why Apple chose its own connector type, it says. Apple launched its first device with a Lightning connector in autumn 2012. The USB-C standard was only adopted in summer 2014 and has taken up some features of Apple’s Lightning connector.

–