Apple used to e-mark every single charging cable, and even ban unauthorized ones - despite every iPhone having one included in the box.

Don't underestimate the corporate greed when it comes to selling accessories. The razor-and-blades model is very, very attractive to many.

▲

vrmiguel a day ago | parent | next [-]

Not a great comparison because people lose and break charging cables all the time, so there's a much better profit angle there.

I suppose it's possible to lose Switch Docks, and some must break, but it's such a rare thing to happen that it doesn't really justify the razor-and-blades model.

Usually the docks outlast the tablet itself (this has happened to me once, so I actually have a spare Switch 1 dock)

	▲	glenngillen 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		re "profit angle"... our Switch 1 stopped working last week, I assumed a charging port failure. No amount of trying to hard reset or leave on charge for days could nudge the little red battery off empty. I have to assume it's 5 years old at this point. So we sent it back to Nintendo to find out if it's salvageable at all. They told us today that it's the main board, and they'll replace it under warranty (what warranty?!) and we'll have it back Monday. They don't seem to be one of those companies that's trying to squeeze maximal money out of their customers at every opportunity.

▲

Kirby64 a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Apple used to e-mark every single charging cable, and even ban unauthorized ones

Do you have information on what “ban unauthorized ones” means? Are you talking about the pre-USB-C days with lightning or something? I’m not aware of any restriction besides perhaps max charge speed on their USB-C implementation if you used a mediocre cable.

▲

psp99 a day ago | parent [-]

you seem new to the game, then. for years, and years, iPhone software (firmware) upgrades would kill 3rd party lightning cables. obviously not USB-C. Third party iPod cables were very hit and miss, too.

	▲	karlgkk 19 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> you seem new to the game, then they very specifically asked you to scope what you were talking about. and, you replied by challenging their competency and experience.
	▲	Kirby64 a day ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I would appreciate it if you don't assume I'm "new". We're talking in the context of USB-C hence the question. I'm well aware of the history with Lightning and 30-pin cables.
	▲	duskwuff a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> Third party iPod cables were very hit and miss, too. That was probably because the cables were crap, not because Apple was doing anything to disable them. As far as I'm aware, the iPod 30-pin connector never did any sort of handshaking.

▲

jeffbee a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Every USB cable that can carry more than 3A, or that can signal above the baseline 480mbps, must have the e-marker. That isn't weird in any way. It's how USB works.

	▲	josephcsible 18 hours ago \| parent [-]
		GP is talking about a proprietary Apple thing that just marked that the manufacturer paid the MFi royalty, not the thing that standard USB uses for legitimate reasons.