It’s been ten years since Apple switched from the spacious 30-pin Dock of the third-generation iPod to the Lighting connector that continues today. Former Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller described Lightning as “the modern connector of the next decade,” and with that milestone officially reached, Apple is widely expected to switch to a more universal USB-C interface on next year’s iPhone 15 series smartphones.
In fact, Apple already offers USB-C ports on almost all of its main devices (including Macs and iPads) except for the iPhone, in addition to accessories like the Studio Display / Pro Display XDR display and Beat headphones.
There are also rumors that in addition to the MagSafe wireless adapter / AirPods charging case, the upcoming 10th generation entry iPad tablet will also switch from Lighting to USB-C ports.
Unfortunately, this year’s iPhone 14 series is still sticking with Lighting — even though the new EU regulations have mandated the use of Type-C ports, Apple apparently wants to stick with it until the last minute in the face of huge existing ecological interests.
MacRumors notes that while Lighting is the first reversible charging cable, USB-C has stood out in a fully competitive market.
The Lighting interface has long been criticized for having a theoretical USB 2.0 rate of 480 Mbps, while USB-C can easily reach 5/10 Gbps.
Of course, we wouldn’t rule out Apple introducing support for Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40 Gbps) for the next generation of iPhones if the company wanted to.
