Hi all. I’ve been thinking about this in the back of my mind for a little while now.
When the iPhone 15’s announcement was first making rounds, I noticed many (predominantly US-based) tech reviewers praising the EU legislation for finally forcing Apple to use USB-C in iPhones. However, to me, this doesn’t fully make sense.
As I understand it, the language of the law only applies to products sold in the EU. Apple has shown before that they can and will make different hardware models for different regions of the world e.g. dual physical SIM for HK/China, single SIM for other countries, e-SIM only for USA, etc. just to name a few.
They could have just made an EU-designated model with USB-C, and kept lightning for that sweet MFi money for the other regions like they did with the SIM types. But they didn’t, and instead added USB-C to all models, internationally. Why do you think that is?
With the earlier iPhones I seem to remember that all legitimate Apple lightning cables had a small chip inside them to verify they were legit.
Is this the case with the USB-C cables or are they just all standard cables now? (I know there are different grades of USB-C cables)
Thanks.
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So my parents are switching our iphone 13s to iPhone 15s for the whole family because they have some sort of deal or discount that lets us be able to switch basically every couple years.
It's a set deal and I can't protest because it's their money in the first place and we have to give back our iPhone 13s.
I already switched but I didn't want to switch because the new iPhone uses a USB-C connector instead of the lightning connector. I'm wondering if this is going to be a problem if I ever have an emergency and need to charge my phone, because now my charging port is different from something my friend would use as they would most likely be using lightning. I wouldn't have a problem changing phones if the connector was normal so now how is this going to play out
am I able to use a regular usb-c cable to charge the iphone 15. I heard that apple changed their charging on the iphone 15 to make it usb-c but only a specific type of usb-c that is only compatitble with apple usb-c's
I mean will any USB-C cable work, or do the phones use a special Apple cable with a chip like the Lightning cables have?
What’s great: one cable to rule them all
Finally one cable that charges iPhone, AirPods, iPad, MacBook and a ton of competition - it’s great
What’s not so great: it’s fragile
It might be my unit but some cables are not fully snug in the port. Slight wiggle and connection is terminated. This is often obvious with CarPlay. I feel that lightning was a more superior connection in terms of fit and durability
What’s your take?
Recently got myself an iphone 15 and I’m a bit confused on why it’s not USB-C to USB-A. I’d prefer to not buy excess electronic accessories and am wondering if I can’t just use my old charging blocks with a C to A cable.
Is there some benefit of C to a C? Will A to C damage my phone in some way? If all it comes down to is speed what sort of difference are we actually looking at here?
I’ve never really looked at what goes into all the components of charging cables before so I’m a bit lost, any help is appreciated!
People are making a lot of plans and even purchases based on mere rumours.
Apparently the EU mandates a USB-C port for all phones. But why does this mean that all iPhones henceforth will have USB-C ?
We do not know about apple's internal workings. If the revenue from licensing Lightning is much more than the amount needed to maintain two separate models, they will definitely have a separate model for the EU.
The iPhone can undergo a design change wherein Apple can claim that the phone is too thin to fit a USB-C port. They have slowly accustomed everyone to wireless so they can go portless.
Endless possibilities, and yet I see many people commenting here that they are holding until the iPhone 15 for rumoured features like the USB-C , (periscope, touchid, under screen camera and what not). All based on rumours when the 14 itself isn't out yet and none of us can predict what Apple will do 1.5 years in advance
Mechanically the lighting connector is better designed. But the transfer speed is really outdated.
Apple will either switch to USB-C or they will drop the port entirely on the future, but they definitely won’t be selling a lightning and a USB-C model.
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The EU is apple‘s second largest market after NA, so apple needs to produce dozens of millions of iPhones with the new port. At that point it’s easier for them to switch the manufacturing process to USB-C entirely.
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Apple tries to avoid spec differences which require a complicated manufacturing process. This is why iPhones are segregated by color and storage, two processes which only rely on part availability and doesn’t change the manufacturing process at all. Even small regional updates like dualSIM adapters instead of eSIM in China are just a part swap.
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A USB-C port is a bigger change and requires changes to the motherboard, the provided cable and the battery (to benefit from the faster charging).
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It’s bad marketing for apple, because all reviewers in the US would immediately critics the lack of USB-C compared to the “superior” EU model. Samsung faced the same problem when the NA model was using Qualcomm SoCs while other models with their own Exynos SoCs like these sold in the EU had worse performance and battery life. Eventually they decided to totally axe the Exynos variant.
Apple will eventually release a USB-C iPhone and will spin it as a exciting new future, most likely touting its faster charging and higher transfer bandwidth speeds.
Well, exactly as in the title. I'd love to know your thoughts about it!
I've been having a hard time plugging in my iPhone 15 Pro Max in the dark. The old iPhones had a Lightning port, which was very easy to connect in the dark, even if you didn't line it up perfectly. Because of the design of the Lightning connector, connecting the Lightning connector to the Lightning port is like sliding a sword smoothly into its slot. But the USB Type-C port on my new iPhone doesn't work like that. It's supposed to be easy because you can plug it in any way around, but if you don't get it just right, it won't fit, especially when you can't see.
I bought the iPhone 15 Pro Max because Apple said the USB Type-C port helps the new iPhone to transfer data really fast, up to 10Gbps. But no matter what expensive cables I tried—USB 3.2, USB 3.1, Thunderbolt 3, or Thunderbolt 4—I can't get that high speed. These cables work fine with my other devices like SSDs or Android phones. My iPhone always transfers data slowly, not even as fast as the older USB 2.0 speed (480 Mbps). I looked online and saw many people have the same problem. Almost no one can get the 10Gbps speed. Some who did said to remove VPN profiles and VPN apps, but when I did that, nothing changed. My phone still transferred files very slowly. I don't think it's okay for a $1500 phone to move files that slow.
I would say skill issue :)
It’s definitely not useless lol. What you are stating isn’t even an opinion it’s just incorrect. The amount of devices you can now use and connect due to the USB-C port is huge and with the Pros the benefit is faster data transfers up to 10gbps. Also the fact that USB-C has become much more universally adopted in recent years.
I posted a version of this earlier in the week but I've cleaned it up to make it easier to read. This may save you money.
CHARGING SPEEDS
The USB-C cable that you use to charge your phone has no affect on charging speeds, because the minimum power delivery of a USB-C cable far exceeds what the iPhone 15 can accept. Officially, all four of the new iPhone 15 models take 20W. Unofficially, it may actually be 27W-35W depending on which source you're reading. All compliant USB-C cables will deliver 60W at minimum.
What matters is the USB-C power adapter you're using at the other end of the USB-C cable. A 35W adapter will cover all possible bases, ensuring that your phone charges as fast as possible. If you have power adapters laying around that deliver even more power, those are fine too. Your iPhone 15 will treat a 240W power adapter exactly the same way as it does a 35W power adapter. It will only draw what it can use.
DATA TRANSFER SPEEDS
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus use USB 2.0 for their USB-C port which has a data transfer limit of 480Mbps. There's no such thing as a modern USB-C cable that will transfer less than that, so any USB-C cable will do.
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max use USB 3.2 Gen 2 for their USB-C port which has a data transfer limit of 10Gbps. You will have to purchase a USB-C cable that's capable of transferring 10Gbps separately in order to take advantage of this, as the one packaged with the phone is USB 2.0 which will limit you to 480Mbps. Unless I missed it, Apple doesn't sell one. The next step up from their USB-C USB 2.0 cables is Thunderbolt.
Speaking of which...
THUNDERBOLT
Unless you have another use for a Thunderbolt cable, there's no reason to purchase one for your iPhone 15 for charging or transferring data. It offers no benefits, as the power delivery (100W) and data transfer speeds (40Gbps) delivered by Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 far exceed what the iPhone 15 is capable of accepting. Thunderbolt will not charge the battery any faster or transfer speeds any faster on an iPhone 15.