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Apple isn't happy about India's demand to upgrade older iPhones with USB-C (appleinsider.com)
submitted 2 years ago by [M, B] to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Apple isn't happy about India's demand to upgrade older iPhones with USB-C::Apple has urged the Indian IT ministry to make changes to its single charger rules, as adding USB-C to older iPhone models will make it hard for Apple to meet production targets for India's manufacturing and export laws.

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[–] 114 points 2 years ago* (3 children)

In this case, I would say – fck Apple. Indians demand is solid. Apples shitty policy of random plugs and industry incompatible chargers shouldn't have been born ever and definetly it shouldn't continue. Usually I'm against regulation by goverment, but in this case it is realy for the benefit of users and enviroment.

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  • [–] 83 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It's also not like this snuck up on them. Governments around the world warned them very clearly that they had to get onto a standard. Apple dragged their feet the entire time, fighting it at every opportunity, until it went into law.

    I don't know what India's law says, but I suspect it boils down to "All phones sold as new after XXXX date must have a USB-C charger". Apple has the choice to modify the older/cheaper designs, or to stop selling them in that market.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Wouldnt be surprising if they just stop shipping the newer phones then. India isn't the EU, most of their smartphones are cheap and low spec, most of their networks are terrible and small bump they've recently had is stil an incredibly small amount as a whole vs the rest of the Indian market.

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  • [–] 41 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    I'm not sure why you're generally against governmental regulation, typical regulations are written in blood.

    I would argue the government seldom goes far enough

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Ever wonder why there's no more reasonable sized pick up trucks in America? CAFE regulations incentivize auto makers to manufacture ginormous trucks. I am pro-regulation in most cases but there are some real stinkers out there.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Since when? We have pickups of every size. Small pathetic compact trucks like the Maverick, Mid sized like the Colorado, Tacoma, Ridgeline, Frontier, and then all the actual pickups. There was only a short time after the Ranger went away for the second time where there wasn't many small P/U options, they're plenty again.

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  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It depends on the regulation. Take zoning for example, you definitely don't want a bunch of kids or elderly people living next to dangerous factories, but the laws usually go too far and prevent corner stores in residential areas, or demand way too much parking. Regulation can be good or bad.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    The big problem with zoning laws is it's far too difficult to get the zoning redefined.

    There's a plot of land near me that's on a high speed road, It is an old residential plot but because of the road no one wants to live there. In the past when the houses were originally built it was a quiet road, but it's been upgraded over the years.

    It'll be an excellent place for a small shop, and indeed a local shop in that area is desperately required, but because it's zoned as residential they can't build a shop there. No residential property is ever going to be built there, it's been abandoned for 20 years, if one was going to be built it would have been built by now.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    My mind goes to net neutrality laws debacle for instance. Yes regulation is important to keep companies in check but they can be abused when applied against the consumer.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Which they 100% will be. I was ALL for Net Neutrality, the first time that was huge news, but then started reading up on all the downsides and it'd end like all gov't regulation does, de-facto government created lock in.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    but then started reading up on all the downsides and it'd end like all gov't regulation does, de-facto government created lock in.

    So you read some propaganda and don’t actually know what net neutrality is. Cool story?

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    And then it goes too far on other things, like the Kind Online Safety Act, while not doing basic things to make the lives of their citizens much better, like UBI, or more controls of companies to stop monopolistic behaviour. Basically: more regulation of companies, less regulation of individuals. Although some things still need to be regulated of course for individuals, like enforcement of software licenses.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    The answer will be that Apple won’t sell iPhones without USB-C in India at all. Have fun waiting for like, 3 years to buy a relatively inexpensive iOS device.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    If this were a small country, yes that is what would happen. In the second most populous country, I suspect that's too huge of a market to just accept as a loss.

    Once a customer leaves the apple ecosystem they're unlikely to return to it. So they would lose those customers forever.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Unfortunately, Apple's marketshare in India is tiny, so they can leave without too much loss.

    Also, India is now the world's most populous country. :-(

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    That also means that there's still a huge potential for growth, before competitors reel in their potential customers. If they let other manufacturers divide the market among themselves, it may be harder to gain market share later.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    There's enough supply of inexpensive Android phones that support standard chargers. It's not a problem for consumers if they can't buy older models of iPhones, there are tons of other smartphones.

    It definitely hurts Apple to loose out in a market as big as India's. But that's their fault. They had enough time.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    There's a fad in India that having an iPhone makes you a sophisticated person.

    I have colleagues who've spent more than a whole month's salary over it. They all use WhatsApp instead of Apple Messages, put on a ₹100 cover they got by bargaining at the railway station they commute to everyday for 2 hours, can't afford the wireless charger, and every 3rd person seems to have one - idk what's sophisticated about such an unexclusive device ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Why so? They have moved to USB C already.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    But they’re not going to redesign all the older iPhone models to have USB-C. They’ll just stop selling those models.

    Edit: and there’s no fucking way that the Indian government can successfully compel Apple to repair every iPhone 14-or-under in India. That is simply not happening.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago

    Exactly, it's complete overreach and isn't going to happen. What's been made has been made already. As you said, they simply stop shipping older model phones, and then Indian people will have less affordable phones to choose from. No way in hell Apple is cracking open phones and desoldering ports and replacing them, the cost would make the old ones cost more than the new ones.

    Govts always take shit too far.

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