Apple is almost certain to unveil its iPhone 15 lineup in September, along with the traditional standard model expected to arrive alongside the iPhone 15 Pro and an all-new iPhone variant – the iPhone 15 Ultra (which could replace the iPhone 15 Pro Max, this year).
The tech gap between each new device will reportedly be bigger than ever – for example, the iPhone 15 Ultra could get a periscope lens while the standard iPhone 15 will have a camera setup similar to the iPhone 14 Pro – but rumors also suggest that all three the first to abandon the proprietary Apple Lightning port in favor of USB-C.
But what is USB-C and why does it matter for iPhones? Will it make them faster, slower, cheaper or more expensive? And why might Apple abandon its own technology in favor of a more common one? In this article, we answer all these questions and more.
What is USB-C?
USB-C is the latest universal standard for wired connection of smart devices. If you buy a smart device in 2023 – whether it’s one of the best Android phones, the best laptops or the best smart speakers – it’s likely to come with a pill-shaped port to support USB-C charging and data transfer.
The USB-C connector has a total of 24 pins, of which 16 are for data, 4 for charging, and 4 for ground. USB-C cables are reversible, meaning you can insert them into their respective ports face up or face down, it doesn’t matter.
It’s worth noting that USB-C is not a data transfer standard, so you can’t tell how fast a given USB-C cable is without looking at the corresponding number (which indicates speed). There are many different types of USB-C cables, including USB 2.0, 3.0, and Thunderbolt 4.
In October 2022, the European Union (EU) finalized a regulation requiring companies to include universal USB-C charging ports on all new technology products sold in EU countries from late 2024.
Will the iPhone 15 get USB-C?
Apple remains the only manufacturer not to include USB-C ports as standard in its new tech products, and the company’s Lightning ports continue to be a fixture on top iPhones. However, the EU has told Apple it must add USB-C charging ports to all new iPhones sold in Europe from 2024, and the company has confirmed it will comply with the new law.
What’s more, Apple will reportedly implement the USB-C charging standard a year earlier, in 2023, along with the iPhone 15 lineup.
In fact, we’ve already seen a photo (above) that purports to show an iPhone 15 Pro with a USB-C port, so Apple’s transition to the new charging standard in 2023 seems increasingly likely.
Will USB-C speed up iPhone 15 charging?
If indeed Apple decides to implement USB-C charging in every model in the iPhone 15 line – which seems likely – there is a good chance that the Pro models will offer faster data transfer speeds than their predecessors.
According to veteran Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra will feature USB-C ports that support data transfer speeds of up to 20Gbps or 40Gbps, compared to just 480Mbps on current iPhones. ah.
We have since heard similar claims from multiple sources and USBMakers predicts that the iPhone 15 Ultra could offer transfer speeds up to 90% faster than those offered by the vanilla iPhone 15 (which will reportedly stick to its predecessor’s USB 2.0 standard).
Kuo also suggested that Apple’s proprietary MFi (“Made for iPhone”) USB-C chargers could charge the iPhone 15 faster than accessories made by other manufacturers, but the EU recently warned Apple against such a move, citing a desire to maintain a level pitches.
Given that the EU directive won’t take effect until 2024, Apple has no legal obligation to comply with the rules until that date – but it wouldn’t be a good idea for the company to knowingly circumvent regulations it knows are coming into effect in the near future.
It’s also worth noting that Apple’s move to USB-C is unlikely to affect the price of the iPhone 15 lineup.