Come on already.
This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters.
I had high hopes that the iPhone 12 would move to a universal port that’s already everywhere. Instead, it’s traded one proprietary format for another. The iPhone 12 didn’t get USB-C at Apple’s event last week. (Here’s how to preorder and buy all four Apple 12 models.) Instead, it kept Lightning and added a new MagSafe connector instead.
I’m starting to accept that USB-C on the iPhone will never happen.
Watch this:
Apple (re)introduces MagSafe
2:35
Lightning has been around since the iPhone 5 in 2012, when it debuted as a replacement for the old 30-pin charger that had been around since the iPod. Lightning had its advantages, way back last decade: It was small, and enabled faster data transfer. But we’ve been living in the era of USB-C for years now. Lightning feels old by comparison.
Apple’s new MagSafe charge connection looks like an improvement to standard wireless Qi charging, adding a magnetic handshake similar to the way the Apple Watch charges. Charging could be more reliable. But also, you’ll need a whole new charge cable, and the MagSafe-compatible iPhone cases to go with them.
But why is there still a Lightning port? Why not be brave and move to USB-C, too?
Apple’s iPad lineup has already started to shift to USB-C: the iPad Pro first, now the iPad Air this year. MacBooks have all moved to USB-C/Thunderbolt 3. I can charge an iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia controller and Oculus Quest 2 all from common charge cables. And then Lightning for the rest.
Lightning is a weird legacy port now, and it’s even weirder that Apple packs a USB-C-to-Lightning charging cable in the iPhone 12 box. It makes you find or buy a charging brick that is USB-C, and that you’ll plug your Lightning cable into. It’s like a tease. Seriously, why not just move fully to USB-C?
And now that Apple isn’t including a charging brick in the box, and that USB-C tipped cable won’t fit into your older iPhone and iPad power adapters, what are the odds that a lot of people will just end up buying a MagSafe charger and a new case with their iPhone 12?
At the moment, there’s a power strip on my home office desk studded with all the bricks and cords I need to charge up all my random devices. I see a ton of wearable-specific chargers, but for everything else, it’s nearly all USB-C. Everything, that is, except for the iPhone, and the few other Apple devices that still use Lightning.
I hate dongles. And I dislike proprietary charge cables even more. At least one could have been eliminated on future iPhones. Instead, I might be adding another.
I don’t think I need to explain why USB-C should be on the iPhone. Because all other phones use it. Because half of Apple’s devices do, more or less? And also, it would allow a more seamless flow of accessories and dongles for the iPhone and iPad Pro and other products I use. Sure, I can do many of those things with Lightning and a dongle: I could output to a TV with HDMI, or use a microSD card to read camera data. But even so, USB-C would be so much nicer.
OK, this might be going too far. But you could on an iPad Pro.
Sure, you may have all those Lightning accessories you may need to replace. Who cares? Unlike the 30-pin to Lightning evolution, which involved two waves of proprietary ports and accessories, USB-C skips all that. And, again, here’s the great news: Apple has already made the move. Or, made the move partway.
So, iPhone 12 didn’t get USB-C. Now, I’m wondering if it ever arrives at all. But seriously: Apple, don’t skip it. Don’t go portless, and fuse the whole thing into one port-free slab like everyone is anticipating, using MagSafe as the only charge method. No, please. If the iPhone is an everyday computer, it would be extremely helpful for it to get an everyday port, too — one small and already well-used and accepted one.
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Leaving her elderly father on a basement floor for two days in a soiled adult diaper won’t mean jail for a Calgary woman.
Justice Indra Maharaj accepted a joint Crown and defence submission on Wednesday for a two-year-less-a-day conditional sentence order for Tara Picard to be followed by 12 months of probation.
Prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence counsel Shaun Leochko proposed a community-based term which will include eight months of 24-hour house arrest followed by a nightly curfew for the second eight months.
Maharaj also agreed with the lawyers to order Picard to commit 300 hours of community service over the length of the three-year sentence.
The Calgary Court of Justice noted that amount of community-service hours was “a lot” to commit to.
But Maharaj said it showed Picard, 52, was truly remorseful for her conduct towards her father, whom Postmedia is not identifying because of the embarrassing nature of the facts of the case.
“What that shows me is Ms. Picard does sincerely recognize what has happened here,” the judge said of her willingness to complete community service.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to the community.”
Picard pleaded guilty in January to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life to her 77-year-old father.
Court heard caregivers found the elderly Calgary man on the basement floor of his daughter’s southeast home wearing a soiled adult diaper.
At the time, Picard was responsible for her father’s day-to-day care after he was moved to her residence, Spaner, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told court at the time.
“He had a number of medical ailments, including non-insulin dependent diabetes, coronary artery disease, some early onset dementia-like symptoms and chronic alcoholism,” Spaner said.
“(He) had been living independently in a Calgary apartment building. Family members became concerned that he was not caring for himself safely.”
With the help of Alberta Health Services he was moved to a home where Picard resided.
A registered nurse assigned to his care attended the 38 Street S.E. home on Nov. 15, 2021, to drop off food bank supplies for him and was told he was sleeping downstairs.
When the nurse called about an hour and a half later and spoke to the man on the phone he said he was lying on the floor, had fallen and was unable to get up.
When she returned to the home with a co-worker she found the victim lying on his back on the floor.
“(He) said that he had been lying on the floor for two days,” Spaner said.
Leochko said Picard was overwhelmed by the situation she was thrust into.
“It really was more than she could handle,” he said.
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@juanhall: I gotta say, this was the most interesting bike in this post….love that Intense is experimenting with gearboxes…I can see it have a huge effect on DH bikes….thank god there’s still people pushing things. Now, they need to make an Enduro bike with the Pinion MGU!
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The City of Pointe-Claire would like to inform you that the Bob-Birnie arena will be closed for its annual maintenance as of Monday, April 29. The Annex rink will reopen to the public on Monday, May 13, and the arena’s Main rink will be accessible as of Monday, June 3.
Public skating will resume on May 13, and the summer public activities programming will begin on June 3 when both rinks have reopened to the public.
In addition to the annual maintenance of the facility, two renovation projects are also scheduled to start at the same time:
Installation of new sound systems
The City will be replacing its current sound systems in both the Main rink and Annex rink, to offer arena visitors a better overall experience, whether watching from the stands or participating in on-ice activities. This project is expected to be conducted throughout the month of May.
Renovation of locker rooms in the Main Rink
The City will also be renovating the five locker rooms located in the Main rink, to bring up to date the amenities currently available to participants. These renovations are expected to begin in early May and will be completed by mid-August.
For all information about the Bob-Birnie arena, visit the arena’s page on our website.
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