Michael Calore: Was Tuesday’s Apple occasion every thing you ever needed?
Lauren Goode: In what manner?
Michael Calore: USB-C. You lastly bought a USB-C iPhone.
Lauren Goode: It is a low bar when your life is that affected by a charging normal. However sure, life has already modified and I can let you know how. And that was not even probably the most attention-grabbing a part of Tuesday’s Apple occasion.
Michael Calore: I can’t wait to listen to extra.
Lauren Goode: I wager you may’t, Mr. Pixel.
Michael Calore: No matter. Let’s do it.
Lauren Goode: Let’s do it.
[Gadget Lab intro theme music plays]
Michael Calore: Hello, everybody. Welcome to Gadget Lab. I’m Michael Calore. I am a senior editor at WIRED.
Lauren Goode: And I am Lauren Goode. I am a senior author at WIRED.
Michael Calore: We’re additionally joined this week by WIRED evaluations editors Adrienne So, sitting over right here proper subsequent to me—
Adrienne So: Hey, guys.
Michael Calore: —and Julian Chokkattu, sitting over right here on the opposite aspect.
Julian Chokkattu: Howdy, hiya.
Lauren Goode: Sure. Issues have already gone off the rails in studio right here. We simply must allow you to all know, however you are not going to listen to that a part of the podcast.
Michael Calore: That is proper. That is proper. We have been chatting, testing the microphones, testing the microphones.
Lauren Goode: Testing the mics, telling individuals what we had for breakfast.
Michael Calore: Properly, we’re all right here within the studio collectively as a result of this week the three of you went right down to Cupertino, California, for Apple’s massive September occasion as it’s carried out yearly for greater than a decade. Apple introduced new iPhones. There have been additionally new Apple watches and a few new software program options to associate with the brand new merchandise. And as we have talked about on the present earlier than, a whole lot of these updates can really feel form of samey with iterative characteristic enhancements popping out yearly.
Lauren Goode: Samey.
Michael Calore: Samey, samey.
Lauren Goode: I like that phrase. Subsequent time I put that in a WIRED article, I anticipate you’ll not edit it out.
Michael Calore: Oh, by no means, by no means. It is my favourite neologism. However we must always begin immediately’s dialogue with the one massive change that Apple made to its cellphone lineup that’s not samey. Apple has ditched the iPhone’s Lightning port and changed it with a USB-C port. Julian, I wish to begin with you. Inform us why did Apple do that to us?
Julian Chokkattu: So USB-C, Apple has been including it to its units. It was one of many first firms so as to add USB-C to a MacBook again in 2015. And it has slowly been including that port to its different units like iPads, besides the final holdout has been the iPhone. Final yr the European Union dominated that every one telephones, tablets and cameras by the tip of 2024 are required to have a USB-C port. In order that form of Apple had a call to make. Will we simply not promote telephones within the European Union? Will we simply change the port within the European Union and use Lightning in every single place else? However in fact I believe this variation was going to return sooner or later finally. So that is the yr that it is taking place, but additionally they in all probability have been going to do it sooner or later anyway. It is value noting that they gather licensing charges and make some huge cash from all the opposite firms that make Lightning equipment. So this was simply a possibility that they have been in all probability pushing away so far as potential to allow them to gather as a lot as potential. And now it is altering. And so now we have now a USB-C port which implies that you need to use the identical cable you’ve on your MacBook, your iPad, your Android cellphone when you weirdly even have an Android cellphone and a MacBook and an iPad. However different units—
