Earlier this week, Apple unveiled the iPhone 15 here and in Europe. It’s notable because it features a USB-C plug instead of Apple’s proprietary Firewire charging cable. That means that soon we’ll be able to charge our iPhones with any old schlubby USB-C cord from the junk drawer.
But what about that junk drawer? What are some of the techniques I use with my organization clients in order to wrangle all of their cords?
- Tackle boxes have a lot of little subdivisions that can hold coiled cables. The way a tackle box opens up allows a quick inventory of everything that’s inside, which is perfect for our purposes.
- Find a dollar store and go in with an open mind. Any store that sells a lot of plastic junk is bound to have something with little compartments. (They’re usually marked for recycling.)
- You can make dividers for your desk drawer to keep cables separate. This may involve advanced cardboard architecture, but you get the idea.
- Buying color-coded cords will help you keep track of them even when you’re away from home. Similarly, white cords can be color coded by you. Or, you can finally use that label maker for something other than comedy.
The iPhone 15’s turn towards USB-C was not a voluntary one. The European Union mandated that all smartphones use USB-C chargers. Apple was not about to make one model for Europe and another for the USA, so we are benefiting from Europe’s regulation.
It’s likely that people who attempt to use a generic charger are going to receive a message saying it is suboptimal — people are also suggesting that the charging time with a generic cable will be drastically longer than an Apple brand cable. All I know is that life just got slightly easier for a lot of us.
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