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Apple is all but certain to unveil its iPhone 15 line in September, with a standard standard model expected to arrive alongside the iPhone 15 Pro and a brand new iPhone variant – the iPhone 15 Ultra (which stands for iPhone 15 Pro Max). Maybe, this year).
The technical differences between each new device will reportedly be bigger than ever — for example, the iPhone 15 Ultra could feature a periscope lens, while the standard iPhone 15 sticks with the same camera setup as the iPhone 14 Pro — But rumors also suggest that all three devices will, for the first time, be ditching Apple’s proprietary 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? Why might Apple give up its own technology for a more general technology? 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 – be it the best Android phone, the best laptop or one of the best smart speakers – it’s likely to have 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 transfer, four are for charging, and four are ground pins. USB-C cables are reversible, meaning you can put them face-up or face-down in their respective ports, it doesn’t matter.
It’s worth noting that USB-C isn’t a data standard, so you can’t tell how fast a given USB-C cable is without looking at the corresponding number (which indicates the speed). There are several 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 the end of 2024.
Will the iPhone 15 get USB-C?
Apple remains the only manufacturer not to include a USB-C port as standard on its new technology products, with the company’s Lightning port still a fixture of the best iPhones. However, the EU has told Apple that it will need to add a USB-C charging port to any new iPhone sold in Europe from 2024, and the company has confirmed that it will comply with the new law.
What’s more, Apple will reportedly implement the USB-C charging standard a year earlier in 2023, with the iPhone 15 line.
We’ve actually already seen a photo (above) that allegedly shows an iPhone 15 Pro with a USB-C port, so Apple’s transition to the new charging standard in 2023 looks more likely than ever. Is.
Will USB-C charge the iPhone 15 faster?
If indeed Apple decides to implement USB-C charging on every model in the iPhone 15 line – as is likely to be the case – there is a good chance that the Pro model will offer faster data transfer speeds than its predecessors.
According to veteran Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra will get USB-C ports that support data transfer speeds of up to 20Gbps or 40Gbps, up from just 480Mbps on current iPhones.
We’ve since heard similar claims from multiple sources, and USB makers have predicted that the iPhone 15 Ultra could offer transfer speeds comparable to those of the vanilla iPhone 15 (which will reportedly stick with its predecessor’s USB 2.0 standard). is 90% faster in comparison. ,
Kuo also suggested that Apple’s proprietary MFi (‘Made for iPhone’) USB-C chargers could offer faster iPhone 15 charging speeds than accessories produced by other manufacturers, but the EU recently Apple was warned against taking such a step, citing a desire to keep the playing field level.
Given that the EU directive doesn’t come into force until 2024, there’s no legal obligation for Apple to comply with the rules until that date – but it wouldn’t do much good for the company to deliberately circumvent the law Knows it is coming into effect. In the near future.
It is also worth noting that Apple’s change to USB-C is unlikely to affect the pricing of the iPhone 15 line.
