Apple is reportedly testing USB-C iPhones

The years-long nightmare of anybody who dares to personal an iPhone and actually some other non-Apple gadget might lastly come to an finish quickly.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported on Friday that Apple has been internally testing iPhones that ditch the corporate’s signature Lightning charging port in favor of USB-C. In layman’s phrases, USB-C is the newer, quicker model of USB with an oval-shaped port that (crucially) you’ll be able to’t insert the improper method, in contrast to older USB variants. It’s rapidly turn out to be the usual on principally any cellphone that isn’t made by Apple, in addition to Apple’s personal Mac and iPad merchandise.

Gurman’s report indicated Apple wouldn’t make the change till 2023 on the earliest, which strains up with a prediction from Apple prognosticator Ming-Chi Kuo earlier this week. It must also be famous that the European Union’s parliament lately got here to an settlement on standardizing USB-C for all cellular gadgets, one thing Apple must adjust to if it needs to maintain promoting iPhones in EU nations.

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The advantages of such a change are quite a few and apparent if you happen to observe together with tech in any respect. Apple has put iPhones on one thing of an island by sticking with Lightning for thus lengthy. Altering to USB-C would imply you could possibly use the identical charger for a number of sorts of telephones, laptops, online game controllers, tablets, and so forth. USB-C additionally costs and transfers information extra rapidly than Lightning.

The one draw back is that any Lightning cables (or different peripherals, like headphone adapters and automotive chargers) you personal would instantly turn out to be ineffective. Gurman mentioned Apple is engaged on an adapter to alleviate this downside, however prospects are in all probability higher off simply getting a USB-C charger with their subsequent iPhone if this finally ends up taking place. 

No matter any short-term complications it might create, this may be one in all Apple’s most customer-friendly strikes in years. The iPhone is principally the one gadget in my life that doesn’t use USB-C at this level. If a Lightning cable wears out or will get misplaced, I can’t simply snag any of my different charging cables to exchange it. It’s annoying, and the truth that Apple can cost third-party gadget makers a payment to make use of Lightning (as famous by Bloomberg) isn’t a adequate cause to inconvenience customers like this.

Apple-heads love the truth that the corporate charts its personal path, however that is one space the place conforming to the remainder of the tech world is for the most effective.