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iPhone 15 USB-C Cables Without MFi Badge May Have Data Transfer and Charging Speed Limits

macrumors3000 said:
Apple will sell billions of new $49 USB-C iPhone cables and chargers. We love being green! (money!)
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I think in the end, what Apple will do is require cables that STRICTLY adhere to the USB-IF standards for Type C connectors. They may not need a chip inside the connectors for that type of compatibility. It may force the likes of Anker and other third-party cable makers to make cables that actually support the USB 20 Mbps Certified (USB 3.2 Gen 2) standard.
 
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Wait until they implement non physical buttons. you can click to change volume only if you pay A subscription fee
 
blazerunner said:
Yeah I don't respect that. That just shows you have little concern for the greater good, pretty shameful.
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blazerunner said:
No. But I would expect an individual like @I7guy to have some integrity; not a lot to ask for from the general public / consumers.
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The flip side of this is you are making a mountain out of a molehill. I strongly suggest dumping your apple gear and going android and getting complete freedom. That is the only way Apple will listen. There won't be any government regulations behind this move.
 
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prime17569 said:
Apple engineers, if you're reading this: This is stupid. Don't do it.

According to the EU law, if the device supports charging at "voltages higher than 5 volts, currents higher than 3 amperes or powers higher than 15 watts," then it must support USB-C PD. So I don't think Apple could limit charging speeds unless they were somehow supporting more than 240W, the limit of USB-C PD. And if they only supported up to 5V/3A/15W then I don't see why they would want to limit speeds further.

I suspect that data will certainly be limited. iPhone 15 and 15 Plus will be limited to 480 Mbps due to the limitations of the SoC (A16 only had lightning ports previously), while it is likely that iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max will probably require the MFi chip to enable faster speeds.

This still seems like a rather stupid strategy on Apple's part though. I would hate to see them run afoul of EU regulators again.

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that document references this https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/66588 and its been withdrawn.
 
MacRumors said:


Apple's iPhone 15 series will officially only support USB-C accessories that have been certified by Apple's own Made for iPhone (MFi) program, potentially limiting the functionality of accessories not approved by Apple, an established leaker has now claimed.

iPhone-15-to-Switch-From-Lightning-to-USB-C-in-2023-feature.jpg

Since being introduced in 2012, first-party and MFi-certified Lightning ports and connectors have contained a small integrated circuit that confirms the authenticity of the parts involved in the connection. Non-MFi-certified third-party charging cables, for example, do not feature this chip, often leading to "This accessory is not supported" warnings on connected Apple devices.

Apple is widely expected to switch out the Lightning port for USB-C on iPhone 15 models, and earlier this month, a rumor out of China suggested that the replacement USB-C port would continue to have a Lightning-like authentication chip, despite USB-C ports on Apple's iPads having no such chip.

In a tweet posted on Tuesday, ShrimpApplePro appeared to corroborate the rumor by claiming that "USB-C with MFi is happening," and that Foxconn is already mass producing accessories like EarPods and cables that conform to the Apple certification.

The authenticator chip is there to encourage customers to buy genuine iPhone peripherals, while Apple receives a commission on MFi-certified accessories and the MFi program makes it easier to expose counterfeit and potentially dangerous accessories.

Despite these advantages, the concern from a user perspective is that Apple could use the MFi program to limit features like fast charging and high-speed data transfer to Apple and MFi-certified cables. And that is precisely what AppleShrimpPro believes we should expect. "Cables with no MFi will be software limited in data and charging speed," said the leaker in a follow-up tweet.

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the USB-C port on the ‌iPhone 15‌ and ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus will remain limited to Lightning/USB 2.0 speeds, while faster transfer speeds will be exclusive to the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ Max models. ShrimpApplePro's tweets add a new complexion to Kuo's prediction.


ShrimpApplePro accurately leaked the hardware design of the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models, giving them an established track record for rumors. Earlier this month, the leaker said the iPhone 15 Pro will feature even thinner bezels around the display. ShrimpApplePro also previously claimed that at least one iPhone 15 model will feature a titanium frame and curved rear edges, which could mirror the curved bezels.

Article Link: iPhone 15 USB-C Cables Without MFi Badge May Have Data Transfer and Charging Speed Limits
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Not complying-I would hope the EU sticks it to 🍏👍🫵👊
 
MJaP said:
This is an incredibly shady, anti-competative, and anti-consumer practice from Apple, I'm surprised they haven't been censured on this before now. We'd be up in arms if Samsung put restrictions on their TVs so you could only use overpriced Samsung manufacturered HDMI cables on Samsung TVs and all other HDMI cables wouldn't work or only allow a 480p SD picture unless cable manufacturers paid royalties to Samsung to make them. All this "it is to ensure a high quality standard and to make sure damage isn't done to your devices" is all marketing BS to cover corporate greed. This practice needs to stop.
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LMAO. Evil Apple and their *shuffles cards*...protecting users from Chinese knock offs and spy devices.
 
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MacPoulet said:
The silver lining is that this might help address the issue around so many dodgy USB-C cables. I can totally see non-Apple users buying them because they know the cable would be made to spec.

as for making money on this? Yeah that blows. Maybe spin off the MFi program into a non-profit entity that exists on its own and funds itself through those fees…
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The problem is the biggest benefit of going to USB-C is compatibility. If I'm at a party and my phone is low, and I borrow my friend's 30 watt USB-C compatible charger for his Android phone, I want it to charge as fast as possible. I don't want to be stuck with 5 watt charging because it's not an "Apple" cable, that's just idiotic.

Follow the USB-PD standard, that's it. It's not hard, Apple, you're ALREADY DOING IT with iPads and Macbooks.
 
You don’t need an Apple branded cable, any MFI cable will work. If you plan on getting a non Pro phone it will be gimped in speed anyway compared to the Pro models. This won’t affect me at all though I don’t buy $3 cables and expect top notch performance. I use separate cables and blocks for each device.
 
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zorinlynx said:
The problem is the biggest benefit of going to USB-C is compatibility. If I'm at a party and my phone is low, and I borrow my friend's 30 watt USB-C compatible charger for his Android phone, I want it to charge as fast as possible. I don't want to be stuck with 5 watt charging because it's not an "Apple" cable, that's just idiotic.

Follow the USB-PD standard, that's it. It's not hard, Apple, you're ALREADY DOING IT with iPads and Macbooks.
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Bring your cable. When I go out I carry one of these and eliminate all doubt. No doubt there will be updates for the iphone 15. https://www.amazon.com/VEGER-Portab...dU0rQFVS1WTs7hyKj04LRO3vsncF3JZ4aAqcLEALw_wcB or if there are any doubts carry a cable. You are already carrying a phone.
 
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zorinlynx said:
The problem is the biggest benefit of going to USB-C is compatibility. If I'm at a party and my phone is low, and I borrow my friend's 30 watt USB-C compatible charger for his Android phone, I want it to charge as fast as possible. I don't want to be stuck with 5 watt charging because it's not an "Apple" cable, that's just idiotic.

Follow the USB-PD standard, that's it. It's not hard, Apple, you're ALREADY DOING IT with iPads and Macbooks.
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That's how I view it. Why wouldn't they on a device that expensive? I'd be floored if they didn't. Other posters here said that EU will require PD to be supported. This is a lot of outrage over a lot of maybe.

If Apple does it on their other devices (I can charge my iPad via USB C on 3rd party hardware really fast) - I don't see why people would assume the iPhone wouldn't... <shrug> seems logical to me that Apple would do the same thing as they're doing already on their other devices.
 
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zorinlynx said:
The problem is the biggest benefit of going to USB-C is compatibility. If I'm at a party and my phone is low, and I borrow my friend's 30 watt USB-C compatible charger for his Android phone, I want it to charge as fast as possible. I don't want to be stuck with 5 watt charging because it's not an "Apple" cable, that's just idiotic.

Follow the USB-PD standard, that's it. It's not hard, Apple, you're ALREADY DOING IT with iPads and Macbooks.
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I suspect this maybe to restrict those magnetically attached wires to a USB-C port that was available to max laptops to bring back MagSafe.

Imagine if one could connect one of those and have MacBook style MagSafe on an iPhone. The present iPhone MagSafe implementation seems half baked.
 
mnsportsgeek said:
Will the usb c cables they already sell with ipads be fully functioning? They better.
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The fact that I can use my USB C cable with my iPad to power my MacBook .... and on any other USB C device I own ........... hmmmmmm I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that it'll work.

We already had other posters here who said the EU will enforce the PD standard. ....
 
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So, now all of you whine bags that cried for USB C can buy new Apple USB C cables. So much for that "less waste" environmental BS. This isn't saving anybody anything... Oops. lol.
 
7149041 said:
Not that I approve this approach, I believe everything should charge with USBC as fast as possible no matter the cable.

But from the technical point of view...

The EU specs say that under 60W it "only needs to work" and above 15W needs to be "compatible with PD".
The way I see it if they make it exactly 15W (or less) only the first part applies: "it must work" but without any specification on "how fast".

So they can lock MFi to 15W and any other cable to 5 and still be up to spec, spinning it creatively and say "higher speeds with non-MFi cables could hurt the battery or set the device on fire".


It would also explain why MFi was not added to iPads (more than 15W).

The specs also only regulate charging, how about data speeds?

And what happens above 60W?

This mess is similar to GDPR, which forced everyone to do the cookie stuff and data export which just usually dumps database rows to JSON and nobody really cares about any of it.
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But iPhones already fast charge above 15w with a USB-C to Lightning cable.
 
krspkbl said:
Don't care. As long as it's USB C and I can charge my phone quickly I'm happy.

I don't transfer data between my phone over cable like some caveman. I upload to iCloud and if I need it on my PC i'll download it from iCloud.

I'm just tired of having to carry two different cables. A lightning for my iPhone and a USB-C for everything else. I know it's not a huge problem but it's annoying.
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Well that's the point , you most likely won't be able go charge your phone quickly ,perhaps will it be limited to 5w if using a cable without certification
 
I7guy said:
The flip side of this is you are making a mountain out of a molehill. I strongly suggest dumping your apple gear and going android and getting complete freedom. That is the only way Apple will listen. There won't be any government regulations behind this move.
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This isn't about me; this is about people like you having disregard for industry standards, government law and business ethics by your favourite corporation; so weird to think theres people that cheerlead over companies like its some kind of football team, it's so cringe.

Only way I could understand your support for Apple's greed is if you're a shareholder.
 
blazerunner said:
This isn't about me; this is about people like you having disregard for industry standards, government law and business ethics by your favourite corporation; so weird to think theres people that cheerlead over companies like its some kind of football team, it's so cringe.

Only way I could understand your support for Apple's greed is if you're a shareholder.
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You might be mistaking support for indifference.

Companies should be allowed to make their own decisions about what products they want to make, and consumers should then be able to make informed decisions whether to purchase or not.
 
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