USB-C iPhone Confirmed and YouTube's Redesign!

This week, Marques and Andrew talk about Apple being forced by the EU to put USB-C on its products. Then they recap some of the topics that Marques missed out on last week including the new iPads and the Nothing earbuds before getting into the new YouTube redesign. Finally, Marques talks about some EV Rolls-Royce news that caught his eye before we wrap up the trivia questions. It's a classic Waveform episode!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:35 USB-C iPhone confirmed
15:50 Marques weighs in on the new iPad
20:49 Nothing ear(stick) released
22:47 Taylor Swift breaks Spotify record
26:38 Trivia question 1
27:59 Ads
28:03 YouTube Redesign
46:06 Trivia question 2
46:54 Ads
46:57 EV Rolls-Royce
54:18 Trivia answers
57:20 Outro

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Music licensed from Epidemic Sound:

Waveform is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

[yeepsleep]

YouTube removing "sort by oldest" when browsing channels is the single biggest nerf I've experienced in how I use the site. I'm not sure how it can get much worse at this point except for making old videos by creators completely inaccessible.

[juan_urbina]

Marques: “no one watches in 4K”
Also Marques: *records in 16k*

[Hydesy]

😂 I loved the 15 mins of Marques and Andrew forgetting they were on a podcast and spiraling into their train of thought. Literally the only two people I watch online who I've started to feel like I'm "hanging" out with.

[MM-dwew]

Andrew outing himself as a Swiftie is my favorite part of this episode period

[tielessin]

As far as I remember, the EU DOES NOT just say that everyone has to use USB-C for ever, but that companies have to follow the USB Implementers Forum's standard. Following such standards has been normal in software for decades and I have never heard someone make the argument of "stopping innovation". It's weird that this argument only comes up when someone is afraid of missing out on money for doing nothing 🤔

[chasingdogs]

Ok, just to put it out there... on a 4K monitor, watching in 4k. Always 4K. Also, a premium user. I watch waveform religiously. Love when David is the third leg, honestly. He is a very good educator, IMO. Great job guys. I wait for the video all the time.

[stitchdxpaige]

Andrew's love for Taylor Swift is so wholesome

[HardyOh]

OMG YES Producer Cam please!

Edit: Andrew send it!
Edit2: wish I can see the thousands of other users watching this podcast live and interact with you guys.

[futursnw]

Guys, Marques, Andrew, PLEASE add a producer cam 😂😂😂
This is the last show that doesn’t have one! Even LINUS HAS A PRODUCER CAM! 🤣

[Kniightwolff]

I watch Youtube videos like this
60% Phone: 1080p
35% PC: 2K
5% TV: 4K

[mlinkstech]

I use apple products across my activities and I can attest to the fact that the presence of a common charging system is more logical and wise for consumers. It sometimes weird to have different chargers around.

[imchrissheldon]

i’m in thrift store, went to the selector, chose 4K out of spite and watched the last half of the podcast while i kept shopping 😂

[moviemikerod]

Even though I don’t have 4K resolution on my screen, I still put the setting at 4K as long as it’s allowable, because I do notice the ever so slightest bump up and quality, which is also what I think Linus mentioned in his video. The rate is improved in there, for the quality is improved. I always watch at highest if not at the very least second highest quality if I can manage it regardless of if I’m on Wi-Fi or cellular.

[brandonl]

I love that Ellis includes difficult, off the wall, trivia questions. It makes us all have to think more.

[m.f.]

I actually think that USB-C's development was driven by the initial EU 2009 directive suggesting a common charger. The USB-IF saw that there needed to be one cable to do it all, and they delivered. How long it will remain the top dog is yet to be seen, but given that the connector supports up to 40Gbps and 240W charging, I don't think we're gonna need something new for quite a while. And considering the timeline of this common charger law (initially proposed in 2009, extended to 2014, then finalised in 2020), we can expect to have the standards revised evey 5-7 years. They could come up with a better connector by 2030, but seeing as we still use USB-A for so many devices, I have my doubts.

Also, does nobody remember the 2015 Macbook? Apple jumped on the USB-C wagon before almost anyone else, leaving all their previous customers invested in other systems out to dry. They will gladly turn on a dime and pull the rug from under their customers, they're just mad that they're getting the same treatment from the EU.

[lagelinnarsson]

FWIW it is written into the directive that it will be revised at specific intervals by the Commission. They will reevaluate which device categories are included, as well as which standard specification is to be used. So, USB-C hasn't been made mandatory forever, it's just that whatever replaces it will need to be flexible and non-proprietary such that the entire industry can adopt it. I guess that does limit innovation for individual companies making their own charger ports, but that sounds like a good thing.

Had this exact directive been issued for Micro-USB in 2009, I don't think we would still be stuck using that standard.

[anamat]

Loved the episode, especially the appreciation of Taylor.
About your question Andrew at 42:10, I use a 2015 MacBook pro that obviously does not have a 4k screen and when I use safari, youtube only allows me to go up to 1080p but when I use chrome or firefox it enables me to go up to 4k. So I would say it has to do with the browser you're using, which is weird given it is the same website. Also, I never choose 4k because 1) 1080p is already good enough for my eyesight (given I only use either the phone or PC to watch youtube) and 2) my internet speed is not that high and thus the video stops to load a lot.

[programmier]

Apple`s fight with type-c has nothing to do with competition and innovation! They have had 10 years with this cable and connector and they never changed it...while USB is constantly improving! Let`s focus on one universal connector/charger that saves everyone money + more environmental benefits. Imagine if the RJ-45 (Ethernet cable port) was not a standard and everyone had their own version...However, apple likes the cut from the certifications they hand out to products made for iphone even though they have changed almost every other product with type-c.

[WFFLDealer]

As a web developer I want to expand on the idea of limiting the video quality depending on the screen size of the user, I think this is not the best idea to put it in the nicest way for the following reasons;

1. Getting the user's screen size from the browser isn't necessarily possible since we are only able to query the browser's size (part of how the browsers change their styling depending on how big they are, a feature called Media Queries in CSS), which means that people have to be having to fill the screen with their browser for us to detect it. If you scale it down to a lower resolution for example to split screen another program this would mean we'd be limiting the selectable quality even though your screen is in general higher resolution, just that the browser size is smaller. This will open a multitude of QoL problems like if the user does decide to splitscreen, do we automatically lower the resolution since it's not available anymore since the browser window is smaller? Or do we remove the option for the highest resolution even though he chose it? Do we keep the highest resolution he has had the browser window to just in case?

2. The detection of the user's monitor size might have adverse effects to user privacy. From what I remember during my forays on the internet one of the things hackers might use against you is knowing your monitor resolution as this may be identifying information. In the Dark Web for example it is not recommended to have your browser at full screen but at a smaller resolution.

A scenario might be where this could be harmful is what if people knew that 90% of the youtube viewership had a 1080p screen? Right now you might be able to manipulate this by changing the video resolution to something that doesn't match your screen but if we know you have a 1080p screen then someone might be able to create a scam that targets the 1080p users while disregarding the "loss" of people who aren't using 1080p screens.

In a similiar way what if you were the only 4K user but someone knew in which street you lived? There is a high chance that with an seemingly weird but innocent question disguised as a technological survey someone might be able to pinpoint you because they knew you have a 4K display and you might be the only one in your street.

Of course this overall second point being a pretty niche and unprobable scenario.

[jojibronner]

I think government regulations and standardization for ports is good. We all use the same 120V outlets in the US and it is great to not think about getting adapters for plugging in electronics. Computers in the late 2000s all had USB-A so you didn't have to worry about flash drives not working. It seems like USB-C will be here for a while and they've made some improvements with speed while having the same connector. 80Gbps is more than enough for most people and it's going to be a while until the speed isn't enough.