1y ago

USB-C confirmed for the iPhone 15 in new leaked images - Macworld

www.macworld.com USB-C confirmed for the iPhone 15 in new leaked part images

Time to toss your Lightning cables.

We’ve known that the iPhone is switching to USB-C for a while now, but there was always a possibility that Apple would stick with Lightning for one more year. Based on the latest leaked images, however, Apple is all-in on USB-C for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models, with USB-C parts for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, and iPhone 15 Pro Max all shown in a leaked image by X user fix Apple.

With the switch to USB-C, nearly all of Apple’s devices will have adopted the new standard, with only AirPods, Mac accessories, and the iPhone SE remaining aside from older iPhones and the 9th-gen iPad.

218 comments

Government regulation works.
- I think the jury is still out on this one imo. If Apple does what the rumors are saying and limit it to 500mA @ 5V and 480Mbps transfer speed unless you have a MFI chip in the cable, then I don't think these regulations worked.
  Also, if a hypothetical USB type D comes out some time in the future and blows USB type C out of the water in every category, but phones can't use it because the EU said, then these regulations didn't work. It's my understanding that the EU protected against this possiblity, so I'm hopeful that this won't happen. But I haven't actually read the bill myself. I have only heard this from comments on the internet, so I don't know for sure.
  
  This is not correct for devices being sold to the EU at least. Part of the amendment to the Radio Equipment Regulation outlines the exact standards for power delivery that must be used, and that interfaces which are capable of being charged @ > 15W must "ensure that any additional charging protocol allows for the full functionality of the USB Power Delivery...".
  For data transfer, I don't see the point and future improvements to USB will come from industry in future.
  The only way around this is with a wireless charging protocol, but manufacturers are moving away from that it appears.
  
  The EU requirement isn’t actually USB-C. It’s whatever USB-IF says is the standard connector. So if USB-C gen2x2 (or wherever they will call it) comes out, that will be what everyone has to implement.
  The problem would arise when USB-IF stops being the de-facto innovation driver for peripheral interconnection.
  
  Even if companies keep trying to be anti-consumer despite regulations, it doesn't mean we need to stop trying.
  Don't forget that, at least in Europe, governments are elected by Europeans so they're our representatives. Companies however only represent their shareholders, and their bigger ones in particular.
  
  Even if they limit the speed of other cables I think for the most part it's still worked
  Looking forward to the day a charger cable is a charger cable and no more of this "could I borrow your charger? Sorry only got an iPhone charger/micro USB" problem
  Slow charging is infinitely better than no charging in an emergency
- Always have been
  
  And ever will.
- Consumer-based regulation works better.
  ie- when people stop spending billions on iphones that don't use standardized hardware.... Then, perhaps Apple will stop being anti-competitive assholes.
  Right now, they can get away with being anti-competitive assholes, because everyone keeps buying their products.
  Money speaks.
  Just watch- apple will indeed release a phone that has a USB-Type C port. Then, disable data transfer to any non-apple certified USB cord, due to "security concerns" or "fire hazards"
  
  It literally does not, as evidenced by the state of chargers in the 2000s and early 2010s, before the EU threatened to regulate if phone companies didn't get their shit together. Back then you'd have a different charger design for virtually every phone, including new models of the same phone. USB only became ubiquitous because the EU told companies to stop fucking around and legislate themselves, or the EU would make formal legislation. Most companies got the memo, but Apple decided to be cunts for long enough that the EU decided they needed to finally step in.
  Consumer-based regulation being the end-all is based off the classical- and neoliberal ideas that humans are rational actors and companies have a greater incentive to compete than to collude. Both of which are lies.
  
  It's not so simple. If my parents stopped buying iPhones, they would need to replace their watches, their TV streaming device, their car chargers, and all their apps. You can't expect normal people to collectively switch from an ecosystem designed around lock-in.
  
  Consumer-based regulation works better.
  Consumer-based regulation doesn't exist lol
  
  But you just negated your initial argument by using Apple as an example...?
- The real test on this one is going to be in how well those regulations support the eventual transition from USB-C to something else.
  There's inevitably going to be a use case for new connectors that have some yet-unidentified advantage over USB-C for certain devices, and there's going to be hurdles convincing regulators to grant exceptions for those devices or to adopt one of them as the new standard for everybody.
  There's plenty of examples of government regulations gone wrong trying to transition from an old technology to a new one. (i.e. the REAL ID format in the US, or the switch from analog to digital broadcast TV).
  
  The regulation is worded to require whatever the USB-IF currently requires, which is what companies that adopted USB already follow. The concern here died before the ink on the law even dried.
- Earlier rumors speculated that Apple would cripple it via software, either restricting charging speed, data transfer, or both.

EU is the real MVP. Hoping that a few more years now and we'll have iphone with USB C, app sideloading, user replacable battery. I've never owned an iphone before but if that happens, I might consider one.
- If you don't need access to iMessage or are not part of the iCloud ecosystem (i.e. do most/all of your work on a Mac), it's still not worth it. I switched ~3-4 years ago for iMessage and the Lidar sensor. The lidar is shit for technical work, or really anything other than the simplest in-phone diversions. If iMessage were available on Android I'd almost certainly swap back. It's not that the phone is bad, per se, just that there are weird limitations that pop up from time to time that wouldn't exist with an Android device.
  Edit: I was going to jump on the 15 for the USBC, but I'll probably wait for the hype to die down unless I get a sweetheart upgrade deal from my provider. My airpod case is still lightning, so there's no economy for me in getting my phone switched over.
  
  If you're happy using a third party app then you can use iMessage on Android.
  
  I don't really care about imessage or icloud. But apple have a much better track record for providing updates for old iphones. Android is quite enshittified these days. Filled with sponsored unremovable apps, abandonware stock rom, and if you try to use something else like lineage os, it is no longer possible to use banking apps etc. Really all iphone need for me to consider it is sideloading apps which is presumably on its way.
- This and we are gonna have replaceable batteries in the future as well. Thanks EU!

Apple is honestly garbage. This would have been news 5 years ago. Now it's just sad.
- This is not sad. Progress is progress.
  Good on EU to force their hand, we should be cheering for regulatory agencies making life better for consumers.
  
  It's sad that it took so long
  
  It's depressing that they were forced into it rather than realising for themselves that it's bad for their own consumers to continue to have to use their crappy proprietary port. Of course they don't care they make money out of lightning and that's all that matters.
  
  The EU rocks, but it is sad apple had to be forced to do this instead of choosing to not be dicks
- Wait until you hear the same Apple fans who kept repeating the iPhone is better because of the lightning port suddenly praise Apple's genius to switch to USB-C.
  
  I can't wait to see tweets from people claiming that Apple invented the USB-C port.
  
  As an iPhone user since the 3GS, I couldn't really give a shit which port my phone has, because I almost never actually use it. Data transfer is usually via iCloud or Airdrop, and charging is almost always on my MagSafe stand.
  That said, it'll be nice for my next phone to be able to use the same USB-C adapters that I have for my MacBook for those odd occasions they're needed.
  
  Yep. That's what they always do. I cannot wait for Tim Cook to be giddy about it on stage lol
  
  The lightning port is literally the USB-C standard but with a bunch of features removed, a lower max voltage rate, and it's less safe. It's not going to blow up on you, but it is less safe then usb-c.
- I like apple 👍
  
  I don't. But their hardware is top notch. Fuck Apple. I like my Google Pixel. But fuck Google too.
- Not saying it's the right thing to do but sticking to lightning was more profitable to them due to licencing fees. Switching to usbc means they're losing money
  
  This is exactly why they didn't do it before, despite it being the right move to make. But they lied and said lightning is a better tech
- Their 10 years of no charger port change promise hadn't yet expired 5 years ago. So it sure would've been news if they'd broken it. In fact it ran out a year ago, so I guess they went 11 years.

One of the good things coming out of the EU.
I still wonder if Apple will do a split between EU iPhones and the rest of the world, though. Lightning accessories make money.
- It makes them a very small amount of money. But they’ve also been rumored to be making iPhones use a “Made for Apple” type of cable for faster charging speeds. I think that would be really dumb but here we are.
  
  a “Made for Apple” type of cable
  That is absolutely ridiculous, but not surprising at all.
  
  making iPhones use a “Made for Apple” type of cable for faster charging speeds
  They can't do that. The iPhone must comply with PD.
  
  At least then there will be no more confusion over who's fault it is when your iPhone doesn't charge as fast as you'd like.
  It's always been Apple's fault, but now there will be no more saying it's because Lightning is somehow better.
  
  Don't worry, Apple fans will happily buy an official charger for 3x the price even if third party work perfectly well.

Hot damn! Thank you, EU. Maybe we'll finally be able to climb out of connector hell.
- The beauty is that it will start extending to devices like notebooks. So goodbye those stupid barrel plugs most still use that all vary in size for whatever goddam reason.
  Mice too. Why no one makes usbc dongles is just insane to me. Even if it was an extra $10 give us the option.
- I'm already out of the connector hell for several years by buying only devices with USB-C.
  The iPhone doesn't have USB-C, I don't even consider buying one.
  
  My new connector hell is trying to find a micro usb cable to charge that one device I still have that uses it.

Hm. For some reason, I felt like Apple was going to be petty enough to only make phones with USB-C ports exclusively for EU territories and leave the rest of the world with proprietary ports. Good for them for not doing that I guess.
- It's simply cheaper for them not to have two different devices.
  
  They kinda already do different physical models for different regions. NA has no SIM card slot, China requires 2, rest of the world gets 1.
  With that being said, charging ports might be a different beast.
- If that were the cheaper thing to do I have no doubt they would've done it. Personally, I figured they were more likely go portless/wireless charging before being forced to USB-C but I guess that's not entirely feasible yet.

Watch them roll with the most barebones feature set possible just so they can point and say, "see, lightning was obviously better!"
- There's no point for Apple to self sabotage like that. Why make your new shiny $1500 phone look bad just to praise a discontinued products? Switching back to Lightning is impossible. Better to just move on with it and because it's Apple, they will more likely to pull some bullshit like "Reinventing USB-C" or "The Best USB-C in the world".
  Apple would rather just ditch all physical ports and move to 100% wireless than praising Lightning over USB-C.
  
  Remember that this is Apple, the company which has already been crippling its phones with lightning for the past decade(?). Although you're probably right about them just going with whatever and then marketing the crap out of it.
  As for ditching all physical ports, I was honestly thinking that'd probably be the road they'd go just to spite the EU. Oh well, I guess there's always next gen?
- iPad Pro (2020 model onwards if I recall correctly) already uses USB type C already so it shouldn't be any different.
  I could charge my android phone with it for example and in couple occasions I have done so.
  
  Honestly, the fact that apple used usb-c on it's "pro" iPads but not the regular iPad is all the proof we need that even apple thinks usb-c is better
- Not gonna happen.
  They are a perfectionist company.
  
  side-eyes the 10th gen iPad with its 1st gen Pencil and usb-c > lightning adapter...
  
  You're probably right, but imagine the meme potential 🥺

Was that so hard?
- cries in proprietary
  
  nobody understood this
- I'm pretty sure accessory manufacturers have to pay Apple a fee for each device they sell. Apple are more concerned about making money than making life easier for the consumer.

I wonder how they're going to announce it at their keynote. Because Apple was strong armed into doing this they didn't want to. At all. They kicked and screamed the whole way but they did comply.
So. Will they present it as an evolution like they almost invented the thing? Will they be passive aggressive about it? Or will they just say nothing about it.
I'm also expecting Apple to basically use the worst USB-C standard possible, which, just like Lightning, will basically be USB 2 in terms of speeds and so on. At least on the non-pro models. :/
- Apple actually pioneered and pushed USB-C use with their Macbooks which had only USB-C ports. Pretty sure they kept lightning out of pure greed.
  
  Yup, and as far as I can tell they still require custom chips for “made for iPhone” approval.
  The lighting port has one good thing though, it’s robust and easy to clean. I’ve cleaned my fair share of dirty charging ports on phones and USB-C is a bitch to clean sometimes. Really depends on what you have at hand.
  Also funny to hear when people replace their phones because the USB port was dirty (cable doesn’t stick and the “phone just doesn’t charge anymore”. A toothpick and a blast of compressed air later and the phone is as good as new.
  
  That Macbook was too ahead of its time... 12 inches was such a good size. It was so thin, too. Wish they'd make a MacBook SE or some sort and bring it back with an M1 or M2 chip in it.
  
  I thought I read there was an agreement with accessory manufacturers about keeping the same port for 10 years. Because they didn't want to run into previous issue of the iPod pin port being discontinued quickly.
- They will probably introduce some dock to monitor mode that is super limited in functionality and talk about how they just couldn't get it working right with lightning or something.
  
  Honestly, some kind of dock that would turn iOS into iPadOS on a display sounds kinda neat.
- Maybe they won't even announce it.
  
  I think they're going to hint at it for a few seconds and very quickly move on. I wonder how it's going to affect MFI products though

I'm really curious how apple will present that on stage. If they say anything positive about the change everyone will ask why they didn't do it sooner. But they also can't just not say anything about it
- They'll do like they always do and pretend it's the greatest, most innovative feature ever. They'll probably give it a hip new name like 'light speed port' and make it only compatible with Apple-branded products.
  
  The EU specifically disallowed that in their terms.
  Harmonised fast charging technology will help prevent that different producers unjustifiably limit the charging speed and will help to ensure that charging speed is the same when using any compatible charger for a device.
  Source
- Two possibilities:
  It's a revolution. They give it a specific name and blablabla.
  They don't say anything.
  
  It's a revolution. They give it a specific name and blablabla.
  iBS™
- I think there's a good chance that they act like it was their idea and that they are doing a the world a huge favor by switching.
- My guess is they spend less than 60 seconds on it, in the same way they talked about it when it came to the iPad Pro in 2018: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bfHEnw6Rm-4&t=3309
  In summary: “We changed a thing. It’s a big deal but also not. Here are three benefits this change brings for users. Also this other benefit. On to the next thing.”
- My understanding is that USB-C as a standard is pretty all over the place. Some can fast charge etc. So my guess is that Apple will come up with some superduper performance USB-C or they'll at least present it as such. And why not sooner? Because they were in the lab perfecting it.
  
  USBC is a hot god damned mess.
  The C describes only the shape of the connector.
  The numbered specification ("2.0", "3.0") describes the speed.
  But USBC can also do non-USB protocols like HDMI and Thunderbolt and DisplayPort.
  
  USB Type-C is not all over the place, it's a pretty normal connector standard, that was updated a few times.
  What may be confusing to is that there are also two other relevant standards:
  USB Power Delivery 2.0 and its updates
  USB 3.0 and its updates
  Both of these standards require the USB Type-C connector for some of their features. Sometimes in a specific revision, for example at least USB Type-C Rev 2.1 is required for the Extendend Power Range introduced in USB Power Delivery 3.1 for charging at more than 100W.
  Furthermore USB 3.1 has absorbed USB 3.0 and USB 3.2 has absorbed USB 3.1. Each time they renamed the old connection speeds. For example a USB 3.2 Gen 1×1 connection used to be called a USB 3.1 Gen 1 connection and before USB 3.1 came out it was called a USB 3.0 connection.
  Finally USB Type-C has so called alternate modes, where the lanes for SuperSpeed USB can instead be assigned to carry other protocols, like DisplayPort.
  Since very few features are actually required to be supported, and marketing managers are apparently allergic to precision, it's hard to find out what feature is supported on which interface for any given device.
  
  For sure, they'll make some spec that isn't very compatible with lots of cables, chargers, devices, etc. But, it will charge. A normal usb c cable might not Super Ultra Mega Charge your iPhone like an apple cable and adapter would, but it will charge, and vice-versa. That's basically what we have with usb-c standards currently, though.
  
  It depends what the device supports. It's on Apple to implement the standard to the fullest extent the device can utilize. If they don't implement fast charging, that's on them. There was a lot of complaints when the Nintendo Switch came out because they didn't implement all the features.
- I’m confident Apple will use whatever the currently top performing variant of usb-c is.

Next up: allow side loading!
I might actually consider getting an iPhone.
(it's crazy you still cannot get a version of Firefox with both adblock and bookmarks sync on ios)
- Apple knows that consumers don't want that. Apple knows everything.
  I feel so suffocated by their products!
- Never, Google pixel and machine learning

fucking hell are we really at number 15? Are they just going to keep going with this naming scheme until the iPhone 1523?
- Firefox 114: "First time?"
  
  extra annoying because in software we have semantic versioning which is objectively better for all purposes other than marketing.
- You simply cant win. People make fun of Xbox fand Windows for having non sequential names, and iPhone gets berated for having a naming scheme that's sensical, easy to follow and date
  
  Yup, out of all the things I hate about Apple, their iPhone's naming scheme is something I wish other brands would follow (including Apple with thier other devices).
  Apple iPad on the other hand, is a completely mess.
  To OP, what's wrong with sequential names? I look at an iphone and i know exactly when they were released and their relative performance to other iphone models. Why is it a bad thing?
- Samsung went straight from S10 to S20.
  
  that makes a lot more sense, it looks better and you get the well-proven benefit of bigger numbers.
  Eventually you get to S3000 and that's when you know you've made it
- They are halfway to iPhone XXX
- A few more than that if you count the S versions.

Yes because wireless charging is still very inefficient. Most of the energy seems to go into cooking your phone for you rather than actually recharging the battery.
It's fine for a quick top-up but if you want your phone to go from flat to 30% in 15 minutes you're going to need wired charging for the foreseeable future.
Going over to full wineless charging would have been very anti-consumer. Not that I'm going to get an Apple device, but I'm glad that they didn't try and screw people over on that one.
- Yet.

I wish I could get a 15 mini with usbc. That's all I want.
- 15 mini pro
  
  This is all I want

Been waiting for this for like 4 years now.
- We changed to USB-C ports because ~~the EU forced us~~ we have courage!

I bet it's USB 2.0. Sidenote: DAE hate all cloud transfer options/nearby share/airdrop and just plug in a good old cable like me any time they need to transfer stuff lol?

though Apple is expected to adopt curved edges for the first time since the iPhone 11.
- Damn, I use a Pixel but I've always liked how the 2018+ iPad Pro and 2020+ iPhones looked. I wonder if the front will still be flat with a curved back, like the Nothing Phone 2

Not sure how a leaked photo can 'confirm' anything but good news regardless

I’m still surprised they didn’t just go MagSafe only for non pro models.

God I waited. I was tempted to go for the 14, but suspected the 15 would have usb c. This will be a tidy upgrade from my 12 Pro.

Could have had superior BNC, pathetic.
- Bayonet Neill–Concelman?
  
  No more loose charging ports.

About damn time

I’ll start saving up then. Still on the XS max but this is finally worth the upgrade.

Props for MacWorld's editors for digging out the OG Blue Pixel for this device shot†
†(back when they originally took it)

One year early, so they can make a big deal about proprietary restrictions if you don't use Apple accessories, which won't be the case the following year with no mention.
This is the one iPhone left that they can do anything they want regarding USB-C, without being under the new law as it won't be in place yet and won't apply to product SKU's that were released prior.

218 comments