I Love the iPhone 15’s USB-C Port, But I Hate What it Represents


On one level, I’m absolutely thrilled about it for all the same reasons you probably are. I love the idea of having one cable that charges all my devices, and I love the fact that after nearly two decades of smartphone evolution, we finally have everyone on the same charging standard. That’s a big win, and we should be proud that we’ve made it to this point.

But I’m also bitter about it, because we (the United States) can’t take any credit for it. After all, Apple only ditched its proprietary Lightning cable because it was forced to by the European Union. So to me, the iPhone’s 15’s USB-C port is simultaneously a welcome upgrade and a subtle reminder of how the US is seemingly incapable of reining in its own tech companies.

Now, for the next few years (until Apple does away with ports altogether), it’s going to sit there like a bad tattoo, quietly but constantly drawing attention to how incompetent we are, and underscoring how we need to rely on foreign governments if we want to see any sort of forward progress when it comes to tech policy.