This reminds me of the "feature phone" era in the early 2000s, where every phone had a proprietary charging port, proprietary headphone jack and the removable memory interface was not yet standardized on MicroSD.
Thankfully European Union pushed for MicroUSB standardization. While vendors (like Apple) can still get around it by bundling an adapter in European markets, it was enough to push the entire industry to standardize.
Still, both Nintendo and Apple still change charging port standards frequently (and not adopting the universal standards even when they're superior): the original GBA used a certain proprietary charging port, then both GBA SP and the original Nintendo DS shared a (different) charging port. But Nintendo DS Lite used another standard (looks a lot like MicroUSB but wasn't). Finally all handhelds since DSi (including DSi XL, 3DS XL and New 3DS variants) all use another proprietary variant!
New 3DS systems don't even ship with AC adapters! Not even a cable from the proprietary 3DS connector to USB type A! This means little Johnny will get between 0 and 1 charges out of the system on Christmas Day, while his exasperated mother has to go find a shop that's open during the holiday period just to charge the device.
Very surprising since Nintendo have sometimes been very good regarding backwards compatibility of interfaces on their hardware - Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64 and Gamecube all shared the same video cable (a proprietary connector to composite audio/video out via Red/White/Yellow RCA connectors)
Apple of course do it with constantly changing MagSafe variants, as well the old 30-pin iPod/iPhone connectors (and not switching to the MicroUSB standard) and chasing Firewire (and to a much less degree Intel Thunderbolt) and most recently choosing the superior (to USB2.0) reversible Lightning connector over the new industry standard, USB3.1 Type C.
The reasons for doing this appear to be mostly related control of an ecosystem to enable price gouging. (Can't really be due to increasing water resistance, as competitors show it's possible to have even better water resistance without removing any standardized jacks)
They have 2 MegSafe versions in 10 years (MegSafe was introduced in 2006), the 2nd one was necessary to make slimmer laptops. Same thing with 30-pin connector and lightning. Lightning was before USB-C and it's superior to the old 30-pin connector.
Btw, MegSafe is one of the best thing about MacBooks, I'm actually sad they're not using it in the new MacBook.
My only gripe with the newer MagSafe variant is that the part that attaches to the actual port comes out much further than the old one, so when I sit with the laptop on my lap and my legs crossed, I always accidentally push it upwards with my left leg just enough that it becomes unplugged, and then I don't notice it's not charging until I get a notification saying my battery is low. I can't imagine anyone else has this problem, but it happens to me several times a week.
Bear in mind: not invented by Apple. Japanese kitchen appliances (e.g. deep fryers, fondue appliances) have had that type of connector since the late 90s/early 2000s.
Yeah, the original Game Boy Advance doesn’t actually have a charging port on it in the first place!
Unlike the Game Boys that came before it, the Game Boy Advance didn’t have a barrel connector on it to connect an AC adapter for powering it without batteries. Due to that, Nintendo made an accessory¹²³ for the Game Boy Advance that plugged into the battery compartment (which completely replaced the battery cover). It had a proprietary port on it which you would use to plug in an AC adapter that would then plug into a wall outlet and power (not charge) the Game Boy Advance. I believe that may be what the parent poster was referring to.
I doubt it's about price gouging -- Apple makes most of its money selling phones, tablets, and computers, not adapters and accessories. Sure, you could argue that they're trying to lock their customers in by getting them to invest in tons of adapters and accessories that would need to be replaced if they switch to another ecosystem, but I think iOS and the App Store ecosystem are much better at that. Besides, why would they keep changing port designs every few years if lock-in was the goal? There's no better time than a port redesign to switch to someone else's hardware if you need a new device and have to buy new accessories anyway.
USB C seems like the future for basically _all_ ports on all devices, so I do think it's a shame that Apple's going to stick with Lightning for iOS devices. It's hard to blame them for this -- Lightning is quite a bit thinner[1]. But I also don't share their obsession with device thinness.
Apple does care about its service business revenues, and I think they felt they needed to compete with Spotify, etc. instead of letting others slowly erode iTunes' share. This isn't about lock-in to iDevices -- Apple Music is also available on Windows, Android.
For Apple Beats Audio was a talent acquisition (eg: they got the founders, Trent Reznor and the like) for Apple Music, and a technology Acquisition (Beats streaming service and content is powering Apple Music) as well as buying a profitable accessories business.
Apple has great gross margins on computers because they have such operational excellence in building them, but still a Mac makes much less margin than headphones- at any price point along the quality curve.
Hmm, apparently they don't have to start until 2017 (after looking into the (2014) EU directive, it's still unclear to me the timeline of events leading to MicroUSB adoption and how it is enforced)
What? Yes they do! I unpack dozens of iPhones and Macs at work each year and a charger is included every time. Now, I think this just might be a terminology mix-up as a charger is technically not an "adapter", but e.g. where I live the words are often both used for a charger. I suspect that this is what the parent comment meant.
Ah. Yes, I thought that by "adapter" OP meant micro-usb to lightning adapter, which is available, but not bundled. The charger is, of course, included in the box.
Thankfully European Union pushed for MicroUSB standardization. While vendors (like Apple) can still get around it by bundling an adapter in European markets, it was enough to push the entire industry to standardize.
Still, both Nintendo and Apple still change charging port standards frequently (and not adopting the universal standards even when they're superior): the original GBA used a certain proprietary charging port, then both GBA SP and the original Nintendo DS shared a (different) charging port. But Nintendo DS Lite used another standard (looks a lot like MicroUSB but wasn't). Finally all handhelds since DSi (including DSi XL, 3DS XL and New 3DS variants) all use another proprietary variant!
New 3DS systems don't even ship with AC adapters! Not even a cable from the proprietary 3DS connector to USB type A! This means little Johnny will get between 0 and 1 charges out of the system on Christmas Day, while his exasperated mother has to go find a shop that's open during the holiday period just to charge the device.
Very surprising since Nintendo have sometimes been very good regarding backwards compatibility of interfaces on their hardware - Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64 and Gamecube all shared the same video cable (a proprietary connector to composite audio/video out via Red/White/Yellow RCA connectors)
Apple of course do it with constantly changing MagSafe variants, as well the old 30-pin iPod/iPhone connectors (and not switching to the MicroUSB standard) and chasing Firewire (and to a much less degree Intel Thunderbolt) and most recently choosing the superior (to USB2.0) reversible Lightning connector over the new industry standard, USB3.1 Type C.
The reasons for doing this appear to be mostly related control of an ecosystem to enable price gouging. (Can't really be due to increasing water resistance, as competitors show it's possible to have even better water resistance without removing any standardized jacks)