Apple Phases Out Lightning Port in iPhone Lineup With iPhone 16e Launch

[MacRumors]

With the launch of the new iPhone 16e, Apple discontinued the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone SE, eliminating the last two iPhone models that were equipped with a Lightning port.

Apple no longer manufactures any iPhones with a Lightning port, and all models in the iPhone lineup feature USB-C. Apple does still sell refurbished iPhones that use Lightning, but its main website and retail locations only offer iPhones with USB-C connectivity.

The new 16e has a USB-C port, as do the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models that Apple also sells. Apple started the transition away from Lightning with the iPhone 15 launch in 2023, and it has completed the move to USB-C in less than two years.

Apple has already overhauled the iPad lineup with USB-C, so Lightning is no longer used for any iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Lightning has almost been phased out entirely, but Apple continues to sell the original Apple Pencil and some legacy cables that have Lightning connectors.

Apple will need to offer a small selection of Lightning-based accessories for a few years to come, but we are close to the full sunsetting of the Lightning port and connector.

Article Link: Apple Phases Out Lightning Port in iPhone Lineup With iPhone 16e Launch

 

[wellander1]

They still have a keyboard with the lightning port.

 

[thefrost]

Let Lightning die!

 

[Cryates]

“Apple no longer sells any iPhone with ___” has been an abused headline today.

 

[vegetassj4]

As Yoda would say:

 

[Compote]

A user was ironically making the list of all the "last iphone to X" articles that might come out of this.
MR: literally doing it.

Doing away with lighting has been made possible in 2023. That's not innovation, and it's still USB2 under the hood.
Apple won't improve on USB2, just to spite its customers, because the EU forced it to ditch Lighting.

Also the switch to USB3 or Thunderbolt might make Apple phones useable without paying a 1300 dollar tag, and we wouldn't want that, would we now.

 

[kirky29]

Thankfully 99% of gadgets in my house are now finally USB C! Even my toothbrush and shaver!

 

[addamas]

But it’s USB2.0 data speed stays there for a long time because Apple doesn’t care about their customers.

 

[Avenged110]

For things that didn't require high power or fast data transfer speeds, I've always preferred Lightning. It seems like a much more durable connector.

 

[BelgianChoklit]

89 of the 91 articles published here today could've been said in 3 articles.

 

[klasma]

“Apple no longer sells any iPhone with ___” has been an abused headline today.

Apple no longer sells any iPhone below $500.

 

[Wags]

“Apple no longer sells any iPhone with ___” has been an abused headline today.

About 9 that should be 1. And counting

 

[Eric_WVGG]

goodbye sweet prince

I always liked the Lightning plug design a little better. It's sexier. All for the best though.

In a superior parallel universe, Apple sold the design to the USB Consortium for $1, and that became USB-C.

 

[ApostolisApo]

Thank U, E-U

 

[TechRunner]

My work iPhone has a lightning port (14). Can I throw it away now and ask for a 16?

 

[segfaultdotorg]

A sad reminder of Apple giving in to EU government tyranny.

 

[melodibit]

I like lightning better than USB-C, but I like having One Connector To Rule Them All even better. All my life I've had to deal with adapter hell, and finally now with USB-C, I'm seeing light at the end of this tunnel.

 

[ThomasJL]

Good riddance.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

A sad reminder of Apple giving in to EU government tyranny.

...and all of us customers suffering terribly with those broken tongues, "wobbly" and the extinction of lint in the USB-C "lint magnet" slung around so heavily ahead of the change.

It's got to be towards as bad as all of the EU devastation rained upon them by third party store adoption: emptied bank accounts, virus & trojans to the moon, bricked phones, loss of first born, plague & pestilence... as THAT law's implementation approaches its first-year anniversary in just a couple more weeks. Those poor, poor, EU people. I hope at least a few of them survived the certain apocalypse so many of us assured all would befall them. Perhaps some were able to hide behind all that accumulated lint and/or the piles of those USB tongues???

Glad to see Lightning go. Proprietary, relatively expensive, relatively slow and- best of all- now the whole Apple lineup of major products are all unified with one type to rule them all. Apple seemed to be towards the first to adopt USB-C. Glad they are finally finishing what they started. Too bad they needed a legal push to do so.

 

[Radeon85]

Finally, took long enough!

With the release of the PBP 2, I finally got rid of the last device I had that used lighting (PBP 1).

 

[azentropy]

I still believe the lightning "connector" idea was superior. When it broke it was the cable/connector that broke. With USB-C I've now had 4 devices break with the on device receptacle. That never happened in dozens of Lightning devices I had. it was the protocols and bandwidth that couldn't keep up.

 

[chars1ub0w]

iPhone 14 Pro 256GB with Lightning. Still a decent phone with near state-of-the-art camera technology and processor speed. Recently had Apple replace the battery (Dec 17 2024). Warranty expired. 1.5 years perhaps of life left it in before the next battery replacement. Then consider whether it's worth upgrading.

 

[newtestleper]

“Apple no longer sells any iPhone with ___” has been an abused headline today.

It's been the internet version of "this meeting could have been a phone call" in each instance.

 

[nutmac]

They still have a keyboard with the lightning port.

Which one?

 

[iZac]

I honestly didn't expect them to nuke the iPhone 14 entirely, but in retrospect a $500 SE with a 12/13/14/15/16 form factor was too much to hope for.

Basically replacing the $599 iPhone 14 with a slightly hobbled version with USB-C is a perfectly Apple thing to do.