iPhone 15 Models Have 'Completely Standard' USB-C Port Without Restrictions on Accessories

[sack_peak]

A decade ago I bought $1.00 knock off Lighting cables that worked on my 2012 iPhone's 5W charger.

When I heard that fast charging was possible using the 10-12W iPad charger I switched to that.

To my surprise I started to smell burning palstic as thecable's insulation started to smoke through and melt.

Since then I used MFI-compliant Anker USB-A to Lightning cables.

Back when the 2015 Google Nexus 6P & 5X phones came out there was a mad dash for USB-C cables & chargers. The big topic back then was USB-C compliant cables. It was so bad that Google engineer Benson Leung made a database on what brands are compliant or not.

I know everyone's saying Apple's profiteering from Lightning port but to be honest I rather pay $10 than lose my house or my life.

 

[Arsenikdote]

You got it in the first 4 words. Not everyone is you. I plug my iDevice in every night to charge. Wired charging is far more efficient than wireless and data transfers over wire are far more efficient than wireless transfers... especially if the cloud is involved as middleman.

People who need to move a LOT of data- such as a lot of 4K video or now spatial video shot on these new phones- will likely much prefer to do that with a FAST wired connection than a slow wireless connection. Unlimited* plans that throttle speeds at a certain data transfer capacity will be at risk every month if someone shoots much video and transfers it all over cellular. Wired doesn't need cellular at all.

People setting up these brand new phones who have extensive "owned" (not rented) collections of ripped music, video, etc will likely want to use a wired connection in that first restore to get it all on the new phone FAST... vs. waiting for the much slower transfer wirelessly and/or from cloud.

However, you are not alone. There are many people who do both wirelessly. It very well may be the future... but in the present, it is less efficient in both primary uses.

BONUS: the jack existing opens up the opportunity for MANY accessories that can't function wirelessly at all. For example, you shoot a bunch of footage to near capacity and need to shoot more, hook in a USB-C drive/stick and free up the internal space without having to delete footage. Shoot to capacity and repeat as often as needed. Cloud only works if you have a connection and it may be too slow to free up the space for the thing you are wanting to also shoot ASAP.

I prefer the port to still be there. However, I think most of your use cases are not the average person. In my opinion, it is strange Apple didn't use this opportunity to get rid of the port altogether. It seems very inline with how they operate. They could have upped the wireless charging speeds and called it a day. My only though is that they have bigger plans for using it, but aren't ready to reveal it yet.

Again, I am glad they left it in. I am sure there will be a couple times a year I personally use it and will be glad it is there.

 

[jicon]

Biggest blunder I have with the lightning cables is not certified MFI cables in the car needing me to unlock my phone before Carplay started to load. Good riddance. Security be damned.

 

[Unami]

Not that it will make a real world impact to many people, but those usb 2.0 speeds still makes apple look cheap and lame. What were they thinking? Instructing their shop personel use uab-c as a selling point, just with pre usb-speeds from 2 decades ago? It's like selling a new porsche with a non removable casette-deck unless you pay for the porsche pro.

 

[mngdew]

Apple had to make it that way since it was one of EU's requirements.

 

[killawat]

LOL, but then the second that cable ends up next to all the other cables you are like "$%^#, which one is it again?"

USB needs to figure out this standard labeling thing ASAP!!

no disagreement from me. if however many years later after USB-C is produced I still need to be able to read emarkers to safely use cables (which there is no cheap way to do by the way) literally the only way to do it is cable flags or vastly more expensive thunderbolt cables (which I used as a "safe" option for a while).

 

[theinsaneworld]

No restrictions on cables or accessories, just transfer speed 🤣

iPhone 15's USB-C Port Remains Limited to Lightning Speeds

While the new standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are equipped with a USB-C port, data transfer over a cable remains limited to USB 2.0 speeds of...

www.macrumors.com

I'm thinking Apple didn't want to upset the EU which could easily create a rule where device makers cannot limit the function of USB-C cables and accessories.

The transfer speed is because the A16 chipset has USB-2 controller on it. The A17 has a USB-3 in it. I’d bet that once the standard iPhone gets the A17, it’ll get USB-3 speeds.

 

[Black.Infinity]

Do Android phones require a special cable to take advantage of a higher data rate? 🤔

 

[Unami]

I prefer the port to still be there. However, I think most of your use cases are not the average person. In my opinion, it is strange Apple didn't use this opportunity to get rid of the port altogether. It seems very inline with how they operate. They could have upped the wireless charging speeds and called it a day. My only though is that they have bigger plans for using it, but aren't ready to reveal it yet.

Again, I am glad they left it in. I am sure there will be a couple times a year I personally use it and will be glad it is there.

I think that there are still a lot of accessoires where you'd need that port. Carplay stereos, wired headphones (instill use airpods to listen to audiobooks while falling asleep because I don't want to search the bed for an empty airpod in the morning), midi & recording devices, connecting a card reader/usb hdd/camera, older credit card readers... the list goes on and a lot of those don't offer a wireless alternative, let alone for the same price.

 

[Arsenikdote]

A decade ago I bought $1.00 knock off Lighting cables that worked on my 2012 iPhone's 5W charger.

When I heard that fast charging was possible using the 10-12W iPad charger I switched to that.

To my surprise I started to smell burning palstic as thecable's insulation started to smoke through and melt.

Since then I used MFI-compliant Anker USB-A to Lightning cables.

Back when the 2015 Google Nexus 6P & 5X phones came out there was a mad dash for USB-C cables & chargers. The big topic back then was USB-C compliant cables. It was so bad that Google engineer Benson Leung made a database on what brands are compliant or not.

I know everyone's saying Apple's profiteering from Lightning port but to be honest I rather pay $10 than lose my house or my life.

I agree with your point. However, while extreme cases of cables causing massive impact will exist, even from Apple, I don't think using fringe examples helps make the point since it can be easily dismissed.

What is more likely is that non-certified cables will not last as long and thereby create more waste and require the user to spend more money. They can have overheating issues which can cause lighter damage, such as to chargers, outlets, tables, etc... They can melt or burn things they touch such as tables and cars. These are all of the everyday issues that can and do happen at a fairly frequent level (1 out of 10). The easy way of avoiding it is to purchase a certified cable (regardless of the certification). If you are purchasing a $400-$1200 smartphone, it isn't an unreasonable ask to purchase a cable certified to go with your device, even if that cable costs $29 instead of $5 ($1/ea) off Amazon.

 

[theinsaneworld]

A decade ago I bought $1.00 knock off Lighting cables that worked on my 2012 iPhone's 5W charger.

When I heard that fast charging was possible using the 10-12W iPad charger I switched to that.

To my surprise I started to smell burning palstic as thecable's insulation started to smoke through and melt.

Since then I used MFI-compliant Anker USB-A to Lightning cables.

Back when the 2015 Google Nexus 6P & 5X phones came out there was a mad dash for USB-C cables & chargers. The big topic back then was USB-C compliant cables. It was so bad that Google engineer Benson Leung made a database on what brands are compliant or not.

I know everyone's saying Apple's profiteering from Lightning port but to be honest I rather pay $10 than lose my house or my life.

I remember a few years back someone compared the official small 5W Apple charger with a cheap knock off. They opened it up and you could see the crappy electronics in it. Apple sells this stuff in stores and because of how they big they are, if anything goes wrong, here come the lawyers.

 

[tobybrut]

Because USB-C wasn't theirs to restrict like they can do with Lightning. But what they can and ultimately did was to choose a lower transfer spec. We know it's USB2.0 data transfer speeds, we just have to wait for tests to show us if it's just limited to transfer or does power delivery is also gimped at USB2.0.

USB-C transfer speeds in the base iPhone 15’s are limited to what the A16 chip can do since the controller is built into the SoC. Whatever the iPhone 14 Pros could do is what the iPhone 15 non-Pros can do. It’s as simple as that. The limitation in speed was never due to Lightning since the first iPad Pro with Lightning had USB 3.0 speeds. It was always limited by the USB controller in the SoC. I don’t think the hardware controlling charging speed are in the SoC, but I could be wrong.

Next year, we’ll find out if the iPhone 16 non-Pros get the A17 Pro chip or whether Apple creates a new chip using the N3E process that they’ll just call the A17 Bionic, though I personally think the A17 was deemed Pro because of the new GPU ray-tracing cores. But if the iPhone 16’s get the A17 Pro, then those will support 10Gbps transfer speeds. I wouldn’t be surprised if the non-Pros continue to have USB 2.0 speeds since most people who own base phones will never use it for anything other than charging, assuming they even charge with a cable at all. The Pros will need faster speeds to handle 4K60 ProRes video, but ProRes isn’t supported in the non-Pros.

 

[Arsenikdote]

no disagreement from me. if however many years later after USB-C is produced I still need to be able to read emarkers to safely use cables (which there is no cheap way to do by the way) literally the only way to do it is cable flags or vastly more expensive thunderbolt cables (which I used as a "safe" option for a while).

I only use TB cables. Compared to the cost of the devices I need to interface with, paying extra for the cable is not a big deal. I know that is not available for everyone, but regardless of the fix, this is a terrible position for people to be in and the USB standard created this mess by allowing us to get to this stage already.

 

[killawat]

the official small 5W Apple charger with a cheap knock off

I actually hand out genuine Apple chargers or Anker chargers to family members using sketchy knock offs. I have a ton of spares even a couple of USB C ones lying around so its no issue.

 

[Black.Infinity]

I travel a lot and wireless charging is a pain in the ass. Takes too long when you quickly want to charge your phone before stepping out again and obviously nearly impossible to use to charge in the backpack. Also makes my phone turn hot. Can’t be good for its health

Wireless charging is good in case your phone comes in contact with water and you can’t plug in anything.

 

[tubomac]

Good! …. but … no! no good! USB 2.0 in 2023? shame on you Apple! you don’t need to be so greedy!
you should be a little bit more grateful to your customers.

 

[russell_314]

Seems everybody who fear mongered was wrong — just as I suspected

Just “people who dislike Apple” are creating FOD. I guess if I have that much “dislike” for a brand I might be doing that too, but I have better things to do with my life than to “dislike” a brand.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

A decade ago I bought $1.00 knock off Lighting cables that worked on my 2012 iPhone's 5W charger.

When I heard that fast charging was possible using the 10-12W iPad charger I switched to that.

To my surprise I started to smell burning palstic as thecable's insulation started to smoke through and melt.

Since then I used MFI-compliant Anker USB-A to Lightning cables.

Back when the 2015 Google Nexus 6P & 5X phones came out there was a mad dash for USB-C cables & chargers. The big topic back then was USB-C compliant cables. It was so bad that Google engineer Benson Leung made a database on what brands are compliant or not.

I know everyone's saying Apple's profiteering from Lightning port but to be honest I rather pay $10 than lose my house or my life.

Yes, but Anker is not Apple. Apple's will cost $19-$29 or more instead of the $10 one.

We all have a "too good to be true" sense when it comes to bargain offers vs. norms. Somewhere right now, there are iPhone 15 knockoffs hitting the streets that look about the same but are available for under $100. It's very likely that those are not really iPhones. Save $1000 on your new "iPhony" and you have only yourself to blame if it is a dud.

It doesn't take maximizing Apple's profits on accessories to protect your house or life. Just avoid making the decision at the pricing extremes: Apple's super profit margin pricing vs. cheapest possible price one can find. Somewhere in between the two are excellent cables that won't burn your house down or kill you... as you discovered yourself with that Anker cable.

 

[sw1tcher]

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t get the big deal with the phones needing to use USB-C. I can’t remember the last time I plugged a phone in. Honestly I would have preferred a phone without any ports. Wasn‘t wireless charging the future?

And when someone buys a new portless iPhone but can't use it with their current vehicle(s) because it doesn't support wireless CarPlay, do they go out to buy a new vehicle with wireless CarPlay or return the iPhone? I'm thinking the latter.

The average age of vehicles on the road today is 12.5 years which means there are a lot of cars that only support wired CarPlay.

 

[tobybrut]

Not that it will make a real world impact to many people, but those usb 2.0 speeds still makes apple look cheap and lame. What were they thinking? Instructing their shop personel use uab-c as a selling point, just with pre usb-speeds from 2 decades ago? It's like selling a new porsche with a non removable casette-deck unless you pay for the porsche pro.

The Pros are the Porsche. Jon Prosser would call the non-Pros the poor person’s phone.

 

[contacos]

Wireless charging is good in case your phone comes in contact with water and you can’t plug in anything.

Ok I give you that one haha

 

[sack_peak]

I agree with your point. However, while extreme cases of cables causing massive impact will exist, even from Apple, I don't think using fringe examples helps make the point since it can be easily dismissed.

I tried googling what happeend after 2018 fire and no further news until today, 2023.

 

[vertsix]

What a relief.

 

[Arsenikdote]

I think that there are still a lot of accessoires where you'd need that port. Carplay stereos, wired headphones (instill use airpods to listen to audiobooks while falling asleep because I don't want to search the bed for an empty airpod in the morning), midi & recording devices, connecting a card reader/usb hdd/camera, older credit card readers... the list goes on and a lot of those don't offer a wireless alternative, let alone for the same price.

That is a great point!

CarPlay is certainly one of the biggest for sure, in fact maybe the main reason itself!

While wired vs wireless headphones used to be a big reason, however we have recently passed the 70% mark for wireless headphones in the US.

Maybe I wasn't clear that I also think Apple would keep the port on the Pro model as long as they still want people to see all of the "creative" work that you COULD do, such as make a film So while fringe cases exist for recording devices/card reader/etc... it is still not mainstream and those users would likely be upsold to the Pro model anyway.

 

[GMShadow]

They could... but the EU gave them a warning that if that tried that, the law that motivated them to finish what THEY started could be amended to penalize such $henanigan$.

Basically this is a win for consumers: use ANY USB-C cable, not just high-profit ones. A universal standard should be a universal standard... not a walled-garden modified one.

This change would miss the entire point of the mandate if it was basically still Lightning in all ways with a different-shaped connector. At the core of the mandate is embracing the global standard that Apple themselves have embraced for years in the other 2 legs of the main product mix. If it's good enough for Apple (there), it should be good enough for Apple here.

Lol @ thinking USB-C is any kind of “universal standard”. It’s possibly the biggest mess of a connector in history.