In which I ask of Apple, “Seriously?”.

That was pretty much my reaction with Apple sticking to Lightning connectors rather than going with the USB-C standard. Having USB-C around the place for my last two (Android) phones was fantastic. I could charge a phone, external battery, a (future) laptop, all off the same wall wart and with the same cable. It is with some hilarity that I read that the new iPad Pro has USB-C rather than Lightning.

But Apple’s dongle fetish reigns supreme, and so I get a multitude of damn dongles all for a wonderfully inflated price with an Australia Tax whacked on top.

The most egregious one is the Lightning-to-3.5mm dongle. In the office, I have a good set of headphones. The idea is to block out the sound of an open plan office so I can actually get some concentrating done. With tiny dedicated MP3 players and my previous phones, these sounded great. The Apple dongle? It sounds terrible. Absolutely terrible. The Lighting-to-3.5mm adapter might be okay for small earbuds but it is nearly completely intolerable for any decent set of headphones. I’m now in the market for a Bluetooth headphone amplifier. Another bunch of money to throw at another damn dongle.

Luckily, there seems to be a really good Bluetooth headphone amplifier on Amazon. The same Amazon that no longer ships to Australia. Well, there’s an Australian seller, for six times the price.

Urgh.