Ming-Chi Kuo: 2023 iPhones to switch to USB-C

[Neoxon]

 

With the EU closing all potential loopholes Apple could've taken to not adopt USB-C on the iPhone & the USB-C mandate fast approaching ratification, reliable Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo has confirmed that Apple will finally cave by adopting USB-C over Lightning for the 2023 iPhones (the iPhone 15). Going portless was seemingly the original plan, but the EU closing said loophole looks to have forced Apple to reconsider in order to comply with said upcoming regulations. For reference, Kuo had originally heard that Apple would tough it out with Lightning for the foreseeable future (likely until Apple could get a portless iPhone going).

 

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Apple will ditch its proprietary Lightning port and switch to USB-C on all or possibly some models of the iPhone 15 lineup destined to launch in the second half of 2023, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today.

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Kuo had previously said that Apple would be sticking with Lightning on the ‌iPhone‌ for the "foreseeable future," saying that switching to USB-C would be harmful to Apple's MiFi business and has lesser waterproof specification. Now, Apple has reportedly changed its tone. One possible reason for Apple's change in heart is pressure being placed upon it by the EU.

The EU continues to move forward with passing new legislation that would force Apple to adopt USB-C on all iPhones, iPads, and AirPods sold in Europe. Such legislation, if passed, would require Apple to either ship specially designed USB-C equipped models of its products to Europe while keeping the rest of the world stuck with Lightning or adopt USB-C for all of its products globally.

Personally, I'm happy about this news. Not just because it'll guarantee faster data transfer (which is great news for those who shoot ProRes video on their pro iPhones), but also because I can finally use the same charger I use for my PS5 & Switch controllers for my iPhone. Not to mention that this will bring the iPhone more in line with the iPad & MacBooks. And given that the EU mandate specifically calls out the AirPods as well, I'd imagine that those will likely also follow suit in switching to USB-C in accordance with the aforementioned mandate. As someone who was considering getting the AirPods Pro 2, I'm more than willing to wait for the eventual USB-C AirPods Pro.

 

Source

MacRumors

[hishnash]

6 minutes ago, Neoxon said:

Not just because it'll allow for faster data transfer,

does the EU regulation even require apple to support data transfer at all? I could well see them running the same usb speeds as lightning. 

 

 

[Neoxon]

4 minutes ago, hishnash said:

does the EU regulation even require apple to support data transfer at all? I could well see them running the same usb speeds as lightning. 

Every Apple device that switched to USB-C came with an increase in bandwidth speeds. I'd be surprised if the iPhone 15s were any different. I recall seeing a rumor that the iPhone 14 Pros would have a faster Lightning port, but don't quote me on that. But even if that doesn't happen for the 14, it's a safe bet for the 15.

[Sauron]

I mean yeah, I could have told you as much.

42 minutes ago, hishnash said:

does the EU regulation even require apple to support data transfer at all? I could well see them running the same usb speeds as lightning. 

That's possible but I don't see why Apple would do it. Either way it's not like it needs to be super fast, it just needs to be standard.

[captain_to_fire]

39 minutes ago, hishnash said:

does the EU regulation even require apple to support data transfer at all? I could well see them running the same usb speeds as lightning.

Unpopular opinion: I actually prefer Lightning over USB C because plugging it feels more snug than USB C. I've seen Android phones with USB C getting loose over time. I'm not sure if it's because of the one encircled in red below.

 

Spoiler

 

But I kinda wished Lightning was open source. But that's just me. I get as to why USB C would be nice eventually as it will mean less chargers to carry and it'll be a more cohesive experience with an iPhone, iPad, and a Mac. How I wish there's a motherboard OEM that will only put USB C ports.

 

[RejZoR]

Everyone whining over Lightning, but it didn't really bother me whatsoever and I came to Lightning from USB-C... I'm not going to be against USB-C, but I honestly just don't care. Lightning has served me well and I didn't have any particular expenses or problems with it. I got one cable with my Qi charger, one with iPhone and one with AirPods 2. I bought extra 2 really cheap Lightning cables for work and in my car, so that was the only expense ever for it... Like 10€ for both.

 

If EU will force them to use USB-C on everything, they'll use it on everything. Using 2 separate SKU's for different markets would be highly inefficient for the volumes Apple is designing/producing.

[SADS]

Great.... now if I get a new iPhone in the future, my wife will be able to steal (break/tangle) more cables from me

[Levent]

Wouldnt be nice if they switched to M1 chips to on mobile and used thunderbolt as well?

[Neoxon]

30 minutes ago, Levent said:

Wouldnt be nice if they switched to M1 chips to on mobile and used thunderbolt as well?

I'm pretty sure the iPhone is too small to properly cool an M1 chip.

[Supreme Calamitas]

Personally, portless would be my preference over usb or lighting. 

 

Even though there are a lot of drawbacks, no more wired headphones, slow transfer speeds and potentially slower charging that's also less efficient. 

[RejZoR]

7 minutes ago, Neoxon said:

I'm pretty sure the iPhone is too small to properly cool an M1 chip.

M1 is actually based on Bionic chip. I'm not 100% sure right now if it's A12 or A13, but somewhere there.

[CephDigital]

42 minutes ago, Levent said:

Wouldnt be nice if they switched to M1 chips to on mobile and used thunderbolt as well?

I doubt it. They'd have to reduce the power usage to keep thermals under control for a much smaller chassis unless they did some wizardry. 

 

Could be wrong though but it makes more sense they have a more mobile focused SOC and a laptop focused one. 

[GhostRoadieBL]

This has some major potential to put apple in a new device category if they do it right.

Having a small single device with the performance and OS for general office tasks and giving it a thunderbolt port instead of just a usb-c charging port could pull off what Samsung Dex keeps failing at.

A phone with the port throughput to drive a studio display and has the ipad's robust software, even if you don't have a stripped down M1 chip the iPhone's processors have never been slouches for editing. They were never given the chance to run a full monitor because the port was horrible for data.

 

Such an easy sale pitch too, "secure your data by bringing your office with you"

[Obioban]

1 hour ago, captain_to_fire said:

Unpopular opinion: I actually prefer Lightning over USB C because plugging it feels more snug than USB C. I've seen Android phones with USB C getting loose over time. I'm not sure if it's because of the one encircled in red below.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

But I kinda wished Lightning was open source. But that's just me. I get as to why USB C would be nice eventually as it will mean less chargers to carry and it'll be a more cohesive experience with an iPhone, iPad, and a Mac. How I wish there's a motherboard OEM that will only put USB C ports.

 

I suspect the vast majority of "normal people" are going to be super annoyed their lightning cables no longer work.

 

I heard complaints from ALL of my non tech people friends when Apple moved from 30 pin to lightning, and 30 pin was a junk connector (and lightning is pretty great). This is going to piss them off more.

[WereCat]

2 hours ago, captain_to_fire said:

I've seen Android phones with USB C getting loose over time

 

From my experience thats a fabric buildup from carrying the phone in the pocket. Needs a cleaning with a wooden pick from time to time.

[RejZoR]

6 minutes ago, WereCat said:

From my experience thats a fabric buildup from carrying the phone in the pocked. Needs a cleaning with a wooden pick from time to time.

It's not that because I never had any lint buildup as I clean them regularly on all devices. It just feels loose over time and click becomes mellow sounding instead of secure "click" when you jam the connector in. That never changed with Lightning, but has with USB-C. I mean, it still clicks, but it just doesn't feel as secure and click isn't as loud anymore.

[Dracarris]

3 hours ago, Neoxon said:

Not just because it'll guarantee faster data transfer (which is great news for those who shoot ProRes video on their pro iPhones),

People will probably stick with Airdrop. Even for large files, it's just an absolute bliss to use. Much better than any wired solution in existence.

[Neoxon]

18 minutes ago, Dracarris said:

People will probably stick with Airdrop. Even for large files, it's just an absolute bliss to use. Much better than any wired solution in existence.

That’s fine for a smaller files like photos or songs, but that’s not exactly viable for huge files like ProRes raw footage (especially at 8K). Jonathan even proved as much on a video done for Mac Address.

[PeachGr]

I m just dying to hear that they re-invented the USB-c on the presentation

[Lightwreather]

23 minutes ago, PeachGr said:

I m just dying to hear that they re-invented the USB-c on the presentation

"Intrducing The all-new Apple C. Designed by our top engineers to bring iPhone the greatest cable transfer speeds of all time. We love our customers but we love mon-I mean the Environment, and so we've removed the cable itself from the box. And it's available for the low price of only $250."

[Commodus]

21 minutes ago, PeachGr said:

I m just dying to hear that they re-invented the USB-c on the presentation

Everyone jokes about Apple doing that, but it rarely if ever acts as if it's revolutionizing what's actually very common tech. More often than not it just highlights what that "finally" feature means on a practical level. USB-C/Thunderbolt on iPads meant you could directly attach all kinds of peripherals, for instance.

 

If this rumor is true, I don't see Apple pretending that USB-C iPhones have some special magic versus Android; I just see it as being helpful for anyone who needs to transfer gobs of data over a wired link.

[cmndr]

3 hours ago, Neoxon said:

I'm pretty sure the iPhone is too small to properly cool an M1 chip.

Just clock it slower...

With that said, for the BOM costs that Apple likes to target and the performance needs of a phone, something smaller and cheaper probably works better.

[maplepants]

I think the lightening cable design where the contacts are on the outside of the port is better than the USB-C design where the contacts are on a wafer in the middle of the port. So I'm not super looking forward to this switch. But even with it's downsides, I'd take a USB-C iPhone over a portless one any day of the week. 

[Commodus]

3 minutes ago, cmndr said:

Just clock it slower...

With that said, for the BOM costs that Apple likes to target and the performance needs of a phone, something smaller and cheaper probably works better.

I find it funny that people are saying "just use a power-reduced M1..." folks, the lower-power version of Apple's M-series is the A-series chips the company has been using in iPhones for years. The M1 is a supercharged version of the A14 from the same year. The A16 in the 2023 iPhone is likely to be faster and otherwise more advanced than an M1 while using less power.

[Zodiark1593]

4 hours ago, RejZoR said:

Everyone whining over Lightning, but it didn't really bother me whatsoever and I came to Lightning from USB-C... I'm not going to be against USB-C, but I honestly just don't care. Lightning has served me well and I didn't have any particular expenses or problems with it. I got one cable with my Qi charger, one with iPhone and one with AirPods 2. I bought extra 2 really cheap Lightning cables for work and in my car, so that was the only expense ever for it... Like 10€ for both.

 

If EU will force them to use USB-C on everything, they'll use it on everything. Using 2 separate SKU's for different markets would be highly inefficient for the volumes Apple is designing/producing.

I consider the barrel plugs for laptops to be a much bigger problem than Lightning vs USB-C. Finding a cable and charger for my iPhone is no problem. During power outages (like the one I’m in as I type this), using any car charger is no problem. My laptop on the other hand, I’ve no options to charge it outside the charger it came with. Kind of a problem when wanting to use it to watch DVDs or something.  
 

My car charger is good for 50 watts (and even 20 volts), which is more than plenty of juice for ultraportables, but I guess we just can’t have nice things.