Apple had to change the charging port on iPhones this year after changes in legislation. Find out more!
The iPhone 15 hit the market less than a month ago and came packed with new features compared to its predecessors. Among the changes to the line, Apple said goodbye to the Lightning connector, adopted in 2012. With this change, cell phone owners will have to use cables and other accessories with a USB-C port, just like the iPad and MacBook.
The standard has long been present in Android-based cell phones and tablets from Motorola, Samsung, and Xiaomi, among other brands. The standard is universal and brings several advantages to Apple's new line of cell phones, such as high-speed data transfer on the iPhone 15.
In other words, the USB-C connector may be better than the Lightning connector, which was used by Apple. Learn more about this change and why Apple adopted this new standard in its electronic devices in 2023.
USB-C connector
Apple began using Lightning in 2012, with the arrival of the iPhone 5. At the time, the standard replaced the 30-pin connector, which made history in the first generations of the cell phone and iPads. More than ten years later, the company is changing the cell phone standard again, this time to adopt the format considered universal, USB-C, used in other Android devices.
The decision was not taken of free will from Apple. It was taken after changes in European Union legislation, which determined that all manufacturers must offer a USB-C input on their cell phones by next year, 2024. This measure also continues the adoption of the standard on a large scale in the brand's devices.
Accessories with the old standard are no longer compatible with the iPhone 15. If you want to keep it in use, you will need to use an adapter that transforms the USB-C input into Lightning. Otherwise, you will need to buy them again, following the new standard.
When the new phone was launched, the company started selling an accessory to solve this problem: the USB-C adapter to the old standard. In the company's online store, the product can be purchased for R$349.
Advantages of USB-C cable
The iPhone isn't the company's first product to adopt the USB-C port. Since 2015, it has prioritized the port on the MacBook. All of the latest iPad models also feature the connector instead of Lightning.
This means that the phone now shares the same standard as other products, meaning that the user only needs one cable to charge and transfer data to all devices. The same applies if the user has an Android tablet or a Windows computer that offers USB-C charging. As long as they use a compatible cable and a power adapter with the precise specifications to charge the iPhone.
The Lightning connector does not have a fast transfer system. Apple limits the cable to the USB 2 standard, with speeds of up to 480 Mb/s. Apple devices with the USB-C port go further, such as the iPad Pro with USB 4 at up to 40 Gb/s.
THE iPhone 15 Pro It is compatible with the USB 3 standard, which reaches rates of up to 10 Gb/s. The iPhone 15 Plus follows the same USB 2 standard, up to 480 Mb/s.
The USB-C port also makes it easier to use adapters for other types of inputs, as it will no longer be necessary to look for accessories with the Lightning connector, which are harder to find on the market. With all this, the user's life is made easier.
