I don't see why Apple needs Lightning AND the MagSafe adaptor. If they wanted to introduce a new cable, why didn't they invent a MagSafe version of Lightning?
I believe the nexus 7 had the same issue, and they devised a slightly longer version of the micro USB plug that is capable of carrying 2.1 amps of current, which is more than 10 watts of power. The socket can still accept "normal" USB plugs, and the new longer plugs can be used with "old" sockets too (these combinations will not be able to achieve the increased current rate, of course). All in all, it seems a reasonable solution.
Wait, so that means that of all of these micro-USB cables I have lying around, only one of them is actually capable of performantly charing my Nexus 7?
Precisely. It also means that if you don't have the original cable at hand, you can use any cable to charge it, albeit more slowly.
As a side note, the nexus 7 charger is also special in itself, as it is capable of outputting 2.1 amps of currents, so you also need to use that to achieve the maximum charging speed.
Huh. So, honestly: I think that was actually a horrible decision. I just found the box, and the only thing related to this in the manual is the fairly overly-typical "use only the USB charging unit that comes with your Nexus 7; using a different power adapter may damage your tablet" warning. It says nothing about the cable.
I, like many people I know, end up having multiple cables: even non-technical people I know often end up buying an extra cable, so they aren't screwed if they lose one. A lot of people who splurge for Android tablets probably also like Android enough to have an Android phone, so they will simply already have a micro-USB cable lying around anyway.
Assuming this is true for a second (and I currently have no reason to disbelieve you), I have a friend who was actually complaining just a few days ago that "my nexus 7 is really, really bad at charging". We were all discussing it, many of us commiserating that the Nexus 7 seems to be the worst of all of our devices when it comes to charging.
However, now, it could be that we are all just using "the wrong cable", because no one at Google thought it important to mention "this cable is a magic voodoo cable; the manual might claim it is micro-USB, but you cannot use a normal micro-USB cable to replace it". At least with Apple, I can look at the cable and tell if it will work for me or not.
I don't get any of this and I haven't had a bad charging experience with my Nexus 7.
I've successfully charged it with at least the included charger and its cable, with an 1A USB charger and its included cable that originally came with an older HTC Android phone, and with yet another cable that was connected straight to an USB port in a computer.
tl;dr: to my experience, Nexus 7 charges just fine anywhere like any other micro USB device does.
FWIW, I am perfectly willing to believe that the various complaints that came up among my friend group were all weirdly-correlated one-offs (like, maybe we are all likely to have done certain stupid things with our tablets in the same way), and that tiziano88 is wrong about the cable.
That said, I've found some other people talking about similar issues.
Apparently, in their version of the manual (maybe it was changed after Google I/O) there is even a statement about the cable: "use the charging unit and micro USB cable that come with your Nexus 7; other charging units and USB cables may charge more slowly or not at all".
I then maintain that if this is true, they should have provided a bright blue cable that said "Nexus" on it, so I'd always be able to know "ok, that's the cable that came with my Nexus 7 that I should be using when I charge it", as otherwise you end up with this horrible set of folklore surrounding how the charging sucks (as, seriously: how many people read or pay heed to the fine print warnings in the manual? ;P).
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 31.1 ms ] threadAs a side note, the nexus 7 charger is also special in itself, as it is capable of outputting 2.1 amps of currents, so you also need to use that to achieve the maximum charging speed.
I, like many people I know, end up having multiple cables: even non-technical people I know often end up buying an extra cable, so they aren't screwed if they lose one. A lot of people who splurge for Android tablets probably also like Android enough to have an Android phone, so they will simply already have a micro-USB cable lying around anyway.
Assuming this is true for a second (and I currently have no reason to disbelieve you), I have a friend who was actually complaining just a few days ago that "my nexus 7 is really, really bad at charging". We were all discussing it, many of us commiserating that the Nexus 7 seems to be the worst of all of our devices when it comes to charging.
However, now, it could be that we are all just using "the wrong cable", because no one at Google thought it important to mention "this cable is a magic voodoo cable; the manual might claim it is micro-USB, but you cannot use a normal micro-USB cable to replace it". At least with Apple, I can look at the cable and tell if it will work for me or not.
I've successfully charged it with at least the included charger and its cable, with an 1A USB charger and its included cable that originally came with an older HTC Android phone, and with yet another cable that was connected straight to an USB port in a computer.
tl;dr: to my experience, Nexus 7 charges just fine anywhere like any other micro USB device does.
That said, I've found some other people talking about similar issues.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-7-tablet-acces...
Apparently, in their version of the manual (maybe it was changed after Google I/O) there is even a statement about the cable: "use the charging unit and micro USB cable that come with your Nexus 7; other charging units and USB cables may charge more slowly or not at all".
http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/StereoMike7/86ee9ea1...
I then maintain that if this is true, they should have provided a bright blue cable that said "Nexus" on it, so I'd always be able to know "ok, that's the cable that came with my Nexus 7 that I should be using when I charge it", as otherwise you end up with this horrible set of folklore surrounding how the charging sucks (as, seriously: how many people read or pay heed to the fine print warnings in the manual? ;P).