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jgzman t1_ir1hjn8 wrote

What exactly do we want in charger innovation, anyway?

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variousred t1_ir1hpcd wrote

A faster horse.

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Bill_Buttersr t1_ir1uva7 wrote

OnePlus has a proprietary changing brick that came with the OnePlus 8. Fastest charging at the time. USB C. Still charges from any old brick.

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flipmcf t1_ir1zbc3 wrote

You are correct. usbc is backwards compatible, but does have additional protocols for better charging. In fact, an old brick might not charge your new phone well, although the interface works. Newer phones might use power barely faster than the brick can provide. Try Charging a Note 20 with an old brick overnight....
For example, there is an entire handshake that happens over usbc that can say "can I do 10v" or "I can do 15v". An 80-watt USBC charger can potentially charge your phone in 5 minutes to full charge, but there is additional circuitry to implement the USB Power Delivery specification.
USB-C is superior to lightning in every category. Apple is going to drop lightning soon, and this makes sure they stay on a standards track.

https://www.lifewire.com/usb-c-vs-lightning-5206813

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Aceticon t1_ir1zwy3 wrote

That's the thing: nobody stops them from supporting "innovative" charging solutions as long as they also support this specific minimum.

Surelly Apple's "innovation" in charging can win in the market by its own merits rather than by owners of Apple devices having no other option.

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Bill_Buttersr t1_ir2a3d7 wrote

That's the beautiful thing about this. It won't innovate at all. Apple fan boys will cry that they aren't being forced to use an incredibly outdated connection. Apple will come in middle of the pack on charging, like they do for everything else. Maybe a generation or two will be nice, but it's a matter of time before they make a proprietary charging solution that only works on the iPhone, with slow charge (or wireless) as a fallback.

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ecmcn t1_ir3xh0s wrote

Back when Apple was using their original plug for the iPhone I really wanted something better. Then when I had an Android with micro USB I really wanted something better. I’m fine with Lightning and USB-C now, and maybe USB-C will get us through the next however many years before the EU updates their requirements, but history has shown that the simple little plugs can indeed be improved upon.

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flipmcf t1_ir22ewy wrote

  1. We want a charger to also be a data cable.
  2. we want a charger to understand the load that the device is asking for, and charge devices both safely and quickly.

This means that if a phone is wanting 120W to fast charge it's circa 2040 sulfer-hydride battery and you plug it in to a circa 2010 USB brick, you don't burn your house down.
Conversely, when you plug in your Galaxy Note 10 into your 2040 terawatt brick, your phone won't explode when it gets a 40V DC potential.

Yet - the actual interface, the 'connectors' should remain the same, so you don't have to go to computerzone and find out if your special cable is in stock.

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