Apple's most useless dongle ever costs $29
Apple finally dumped the iPhone's Lightning port for USB-C, but don't worry, it's selling a $29 dongle that you'll never need.
Filed under "Shameless Ploys for Squeezing More Money Out of Consumers," news came today that the Lightning to USB-C adapter is now for sale in the Apple Store. So if you get an iPhone 15, you can spend 30 bucks on a dongle to charge your iPhone with a soon-to-be obsolete cable, or you can use a USB-C cable that you probably already have.
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If you're a Mac user, you already have a USB-C cable. If you have an iPad, you already have a USB-C cable. If you're an Android user switching to iPhone, you already have a USB-C cable. If you don't have a USB-C cable you can buy one for less than $10 on Amazon. Orrrrr you could buy a $29 dongle to convert your lightning cable. When you do the math, it adds up to useless.
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On Tuesday's September event, Apple unveiled the iPhone 15 lineup, the first to feature a USB-C port instead of its proprietary Lightning cable. The brief mention was "lightning" fast, but it's a welcome change for people who just want one cable to charge their devices. In 2022, the European Union passed a mandate forcing USB-C charging to be the universal standard for all tablets and devices by 2024. So, we knew this was coming, but we didn't know Apple would be so petty about it. Or did we?
Ironically, one of the arguments Apple made against the EU's universal charging mandate was that forcing the iPhone to be made with a USB-C port would create more e-waste. But despite Apple's heavy emphasis on sustainability at today's event, the company seems to have no problem creating and selling a redundant product. As history tells us, Apple loves its dongles.
And this isn't the first time it's been dongle-dunked-on for its strategy to bring in more revenue by creating incompatible devices. Old habits die hard.
Cecily is a tech reporter at Mashable who covers AI, Apple, and emerging tech trends. Before getting her master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she spent several years working with startups and social impact businesses for Unreasonable Group and B Lab. Before that, she co-founded a startup consulting business for emerging entrepreneurial hubs in South America, Europe, and Asia. You can find her on X at @cecily_mauran.
