Apple To Drop iPhone Lighting Port to Support USB-C in 2023

According to business analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is planning to replace the proprietary Lightning port on its iPhones with the nearly universally embraced USB-C next year.

Kuo said in a pair of tweets that Apple will make the move in 2023, citing an unnamed “study”. Adopting USB-C “may boost iPhone’s transfer and charging speed in hardware designs,” according to Kuo, “but the final spec details still depend on iOS support.”’

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There have been rumors about the Apple supporting USB-C for years

Kuo’s prediction isn’t without precedent: for years, rumors and speculation have suggested that Apple will adopt USB-C for the iPhone. The reversible USB-C standard has been accepted by the smartphone industry as a whole. Apple has gotten on board in part, adding USB-C to its most current iPads and using USB-C-compatible Thunderbolt connectors on many Macs. The EU is still contemplating a plan that would make USB-C connectors essential on smartphones and other products. Hence, Apple will be force to add USB-C ports.

Despite this, Apple has always seemed adamantly opposed to the idea. It’s been reported that Apple might rather keep its iPhones portless; depending on wireless charging and data transfer instead of introducing USB-C to its smartphones. Last year, Kuo himself predicted that Apple would not consider USB-C connectors. He indicated in March 2021 that Apple expected to keep Lightning ports on iPhones for the “foreseeable future”; partially to keep the profitable Made for iPhone (MFi) program afloat, and partly to improve waterproofing.

However, it’s possible that Lightning has simply died. When Apple first announced the standard in September 2012, Phil Schiller described it as “a modern connector for the next decade,” according to MacRumors. It’s May 2022, and the decade is ending.

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