Finally, Apple says the iPhone will get USB-C ports. Earlier this month, the European Union passed legislation requiring all phones and tablets sold in the EU to use USB-C charging ports by 2024. It’s a move that has huge implications. ramifications for a company like Apple, which sells iPhones with the same physical design. in every region of the world. And all of these iPhones currently use Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector to charge and connect accessories.
This week, Apple finally acknowledged that it would bring USB-C ports to the iPhone. Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak, confirmed the wall street journal journalist Joanna Stern that USB-C ports are coming.
“Governments have to do what they’re going to do,” Joswiak said at the WSJ Tech Live conference this week. “Obviously we will have to comply. We have no choice.”
Clearly, Apple isn’t exactly happy with the decision. It’s a change the company has resisted for years. Apple’s overall business philosophy is to control every element of its product line. That’s why the company moved from Intel chips to its own proprietary silicon and quadrupled its streaming service offerings. The goal is to keep customers under the Apple Dome at all times. Having a proprietary charger on the iPhone was just another part of this strategy. That meant iPhone users would have to get those charging cords directly from Apple, instead of handing that money over to any other USB-C cord maker.
Of course, Apple probably won’t take a big financial hit from the death of the Lightning cable. It’ll probably go all-in on USB-C next year, perhaps even happily marketing the new connector as a way to cut down on excess e-waste at its next flashy iPhone announcement event. Still, the forced change shows just how much the company wants to cling to its darlings, or at least tweak its products on its own timeline rather than someone else’s.
No word yet on the fate of the Apple Pencil’s Lightning ports, Magic Trackpad, and other Apple accessories that currently rely on the connector.
Here’s some other gadget news you might have missed this week as everyone wondered if Elon Musk was going to throw Twitter into a volcano.
Apple subscriptions are getting more expensive
On the heels of last week’s announcement of a price hike for YouTube Premium for Families, Apple has raised prices for its own streaming services. Apple Music is growing by $1 to $11 per month. Apple Music Family Plans are getting a $2 hike, to $17. Apple TV Plus is also up $2 and will be $7 per month. Apple One will drop from $15 to $17.
Many streaming services seek to get the most out of their subscribers. Netflix also recently said it would start charging more for people who share an account among multiple users. It looks like Spotify is next, with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek saying the company may soon increase the monthly price of its music streaming plan.
Press F to pay nothing
Another year, another Call of Duty Game. The latest entry in the absurdly popular military murder franchise was released this week, and by all accounts, it’s really a Call of Duty Game.
But, hey, you know what ain’t a Call of Duty Game? Everything on the disk inside the case. Players who have purchased the physical edition of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 discovered that the disks are almost empty. There’s a 72 megabyte authenticator app that sends a link to servers where you can download the 150 gigabytes of game files. That’s all there is on the discs: none of the game files, just a key to access it. This essentially makes the physical copy of the game identical to the digital version, albeit wrapped in an unnecessary plastic case.
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