Earlier this week, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo dropped a bomb : the iPhone 15 could be the first smartphone from Apple to abandon the Lightning connector to switch to the USB-C standard. Another big name in the sector, journalist Mark Gurman now confirms this information on Bloomberg. It would be good for next year: the iPhone 14 range to be presented in September would keep the Lightning connector.
Unsurprisingly, Mark Gurman explains that this is the bill of the european commission who guided this choice. Apple would have considered creating iPhone models without a connector, charging being possible by induction via MagSafe on the back of the phone, but this alternative technology would represent too many constraints both in terms of efficiency (slow charging and transfers) and in practicality (some uses require a cable, for example in the car). Mark Gurman suggests that Apple could allow itself the possibility of keeping the Lightning connector if the European law text were not to be adopted.
Editing by 9To5Mac
The Lightning connector has been used for ten years: it was with the iPhone 5 in 2012 that Apple abandoned the 30-pin dock connector. There is a vast ecosystem of accessories today that may no longer be compatible. Cupertino engineers would thus be working on an adapter that would allow devices equipped with the Lightning format to continue to be used, but it is too early to know if it would be supplied by default with the iPhone 15 (it is relatively unlikely).
There is also the question of the few other devices that carry the Lightning format: the AirPods case, the Apple TV remote control, the Magic Trackpad, Mouse and Keyboard… Note that the entry-level iPad would be affected by European law and should also switch to USB-C. Could Apple reasonably maintain the Lightning connector for the few remaining products? It would indeed be so practical for a single USB-C charger to charge all of Apple’s wireless devices…
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