Can Anyone Explain Apple’s Bizarre Decisions?

If there’s one thing that Apple has always prided itself on, it’s exceptional user experience.

The company sacrificed market share by not allowing any other company to release computers running its operating system — in comparison to Microsoft’s Windows, which other manufacturers can include on their own hardware.

By being the one company to make the hardware and software, Apple was able to ensure everything was optimised — we see the same with the iPhone, which is able to outperform rival Android phones in benchmark tests despite having less impressive hardware stats. By fine-tuning how it works, there’s no need to throw in twice the processing power.

Non-customers would often be perplexed by Apple’s insistence on using proprietary solutions instead of industry standards, such as the pin-connector charger or lightning cables. For customers, it didn’t matter much because Apple gave us those cables, and the market quickly adapted to offer compatible products — like the plethora of home speakers that allowed the iPhone, and only the iPhone, to dock onto it.

Yet in recent years, Apple has been acting very un-Apple with something.

Instead of the minimalist, streamlined experience we’re used to, Apple has been giving customers a headache. The more devices you own, the worse that headache is.

And that headache is this:

Apple has made charging its devices too convoluted

Charging shouldn’t even be something we think about. Device + cable, done.

Instead, Apple has introduced a problem that didn’t exist previously.

In 2020, I purchased a new MacBook Pro. At the time, Apple had decided the only ports needed were 4 USB-C. Although the laptops also charged with USB-C, Apple removed the exceptionally clever and useful MagSafe charger. Hmm.

USB-C is the sensible port, no doubt about that. The problem is that Apple only included USB-C, to the exclusion of everything else. The result? It’s impossible to charge an iPhone with it directly, because the lightning cable uses the older USB design. That meant buying an adapter, at additional expense, to plug the phone into the laptop.

In 2021, I upgraded from the iPhone X to the iPhone 12. At the time, this was the latest model. Yet, bizarrely, it still wouldn’t connect to the MacBook! A laptop that cost £1800 and a phone that cost £1000 can’t physically connect to each other, without buying a dedicated dongle.

Then there’s the Apple Watch. A device that is somehow absolutely incredible, but simultaneously hideously frustrating — so much so, I’ve decided to stop wearing my Apple Watch.

The Watch doesn’t have a port for a Lightning cable to plug into it, it’s entirely wireless.

Except, it doesn’t use normal wireless charging.

The Apple Watch has its own little charging mat, which can only charge the Apple Watch. No other device can be charged on it, and the Apple Watch can’t be charged on anything else. It’s a maddening decision. Why can’t the Watch have a subtle port on the underside for charging? Why can’t it use Qi charging so it can use the other wireless chargers we have available to us?

The mess

What does this look like in practice? Like this:

My Macbook Pro only has USB-C slots.

My iPhone and AirPods have Lightning ports.

My iPad Air only has USB-C.

The Apple Watch has its own special charger.

Apple was going to release AirPower, a wireless charger that could simultaneously charge the iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch. But in March 2019 it cancelled it. In short, it acknowledged a problem, then failed to address it.

Don’t leave home without it

This old cliche takes on new meaning with Apple’s recent products.

Not blessed with strong battery life (one of the reasons I stopped wearing my Apple Watch), if you’re going away overnight you’re going to want a charger. And by “charger” I really mean “chargers”.

That means taking the laptop charger, the Watch charger, the iPad charger, and the iPhone charger. Oh, and if you want the laptop to connect to anything except the USB-C iPad, don’t forget the dongle — y’know, that really-easy-to-lose-dongle.

Is this a Post-Jobs Apple problem?

Apple is the largest tech company in the world. It earned itself millions of loyal and devoted fans by putting the customer experience first, underscored with its simple but powerful “it just works” slogan.

We accepted its decision to not charge with micro-USBs and to offer proprietary cables instead. Fine, it meant we couldn’t use someone else’s charger if they didn’t have an iPhone, but that’s a relatively infrequent problem.

Fast forward to today though, and we’re watching Apple make decisions that have no apparent logic to them.

Nor do I see these decisions being approved by Steve Jobs. Three separate charging methods for three devices, with no intercompatibility? If the stories of Jobs’ famous temper and expectations are true, I imagine someone would get fired for suggesting it.

By all means, upgrade the charging to USB-C on iPads, but bring the iPhone along for the ride too. Let the Watch charge wirelessly, but with Qi so we don’t need one charger for one device and absolutely nothing else.

The solution is simple: prioritise customer experience again. Whether the answer is USB-C or Lightning, I don’t particularly care — just pick one, stick to it, and make sure the cable can plug into the expensive computers you sell.

How hard can it be?