JFC......more nickel and diming. Guess when you're putting out such incremental and underwhelming "upgrades" to your products, you've gotta get those coins where you can......Apple (in my personal opinion) is really just not what they used to be....
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Kuo: iPhone 15 MFi Requirements Expected to Boost Apple USB-C Charger Shipments
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Calm down…
Apple apologists will argue that your MacBook and iPad Pro cables were bought for/with those devices so they shouldn’t give you those special MFi iPhone 15 Pro features.
Meanwhile Apple are preparing ten additional new features that lead to ten additional proprietary problems.
It never ends! 😩
I sadly don’t think the E.U. predicted this move from Apple and didn’t include anything in the legislation about arbitrary proprietary limitations on charging and transfer speeds.
I think the legislation just states that smartphones(including iPhones) and their cables must be USB-C and cross compatible across brands.
That is not Legal, clearly goes against the EU Directive that Apple needs to comply to.
They will get Spanked big time until their bottoms glow in the dark.
They will get Spanked big time until their bottoms glow in the dark.
This is what happens when tech bloggers are not actually a techie. Faster charging and speed are NOT the feature of USB-C. USB-C is just the physical connector.
Apple's upcoming iPhone 15 series will include support for faster charging speeds when used with MFi-certified USB-C chargers, including its own 20W Power Adapter, according to the latest research note from Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
This year, Apple will transition the iPhone from Lightning to USB-C in order to comply with European regulations that require electronic devices to have non-proprietary, common charging methods.
As part of the move, Apple is expected to restrict certain advantages of USB-C like faster charging and data speeds to work with MFi-certified cables and chargers only. As a result, Kuo believes Apple is anticipating a major increase in demand for its own USB-C 20W Power Adapter. From his latest post on Medium:
In addition to the benefits of owning an Apple-certified charger, Kuo believes that another potential driving factor behind the strong replacement demand will be iPhone 15 customers' desire to own more than one USB-C charger to meet the need for more charging locations.
Given these factors, Kuo says that shipments of Apple's USB-C 20W Power Adapter in 2023 are "expected to see a significant 30–40% YoY growth, amounting to 230–240 million units," with Apple supplier LY iTech standing out as the main beneficiary in terms of revenue contribution.
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 do not feature this chip, often leading to "This accessory is not supported" warnings on connected Apple devices.
Rumors have suggested that the replacement USB-C port on iPhone 15 models will continue to have a Lightning-like authentication chip, despite USB-C ports on Apple's iPads having no such chip. The concern from a user perspective is that Apple will use the MFi program to limit features like fast charging and high-speed data transfer to Apple and MFi-certified cables. Kuo's latest prediction appears to suggest the same.
Kuo has previously claimed that 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.
Article Link: Kuo: iPhone 15 MFi Requirements Expected to Boost Apple USB-C Charger Shipments
Faster charging is done using USB-PD, and faster transfer speed is done through USB3, which both ARE already supported by current lightning port (USB-PD charging on recent iPhones, USB3 speed on iPad Pro 10.5”).
Those Apple’s restriction might just mean the same handshake requirement for USB-PD and USB3/Thunderbolt. Even on Android, you have to use certified cables and chargers to reach those charging and transfer speeds. Using a cheap cable and you’ll get just USB2 fallback and slow charging.
And I find it funny that Apple is being criticized here, while all the Android OEMs have their own proprietary fast charging, requiring their specific cables and chargers.
Because Apple is a publicly traded company which is expected to maximize returns for its owners (the shareholders).
Consider how Apple has moved iPads from Lightning to USB-C:
iPads are all USB-C now, even iPad 10. But only iPad Pro is Thunderbolt, iPad Air is 3.1, and iPad 10 is limited to 2.0 speeds (identical to current iPhone Lightning port specs).
If Apple has no issue limiting ports for iPads to push consumers to get a more expensive model to get modern transfer speeds, then why would they opt out of this strategy for their highest earner and most important product, iPhones?
If EU USB-C legislation doesn’t prohibit Apple from bastardizing USB-C into its next arbitrary proprietary MFi royalty cash cow then MFi USB-C is what we get for the first USB-C iPhones. No discussion.
good thing chargers don't come in the box anymore, because people wont need ... oh never mind.
I don't make purchasing decisions based on vague rumors.
Would it be possible for the iPhone to give some indication of its charging speed when you connect a cable? Sometimes they are not labelled and most of the time the chargers are labeled in a way that is too small to read. It would be nice if the phone could give you a clear idea of how fast your charger is going to be.
Fortunately this is not true. The legislation also clearly talks specifically about USB-PD. Basically if your device is able to charge within the speeds of USB-PD specification (meaning <100W), you have to fully support it.
I'm not a lawyer though, so I definitely don't know whether Apple found some specific loophole.
Aren’t android phones compatible with quick charge from Qualcomm? Doesn’t that make a lot of them incompatible with PD?
Not all usb c cables are created equal. If I have a $1000+ phone, I want to be sure that the cable I'm using isn't going to fry my battery or burn down my house. If that means I have to pay a few extra dollars, so be it.
If iPhones start having battery issues, everyone will point the finger at apple, even if the culprit is sub par cables. Apple is protecting their reputation for high quality hand sets
If iPhones start having battery issues, everyone will point the finger at apple, even if the culprit is sub par cables. Apple is protecting their reputation for high quality hand sets
I like that Macrumors is finally waking to Apple's insane hypocrisy .
Is there an actual performance metric quantified as the minimum power output in the legislation? Having a look at it there’s standards compliant PD profiles that can fall well bellow the 20w power adapters possible output, so Apple could support PD with it being slower than what the 20w and other first party adapters will do if the device then limits higher power PD profiles.
If the legislation lists an actual minimum power input Apples hands may be tied, but I could see them just saying “PD” broadly as a specification in which case devices have always had an ability to determine what actual combinations they’ll support under those PD standards.
I don't understand why people who are feeling screwed over by Apple are not able to simply change brands and find happiness.
I guess it's about not wanting any agency in their lives and believe being screwed over is OK.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
If so- and I do NOT know myself- it's easy enough for legislators to further amend established legislation to deal with such consumer (and voter) exploitive shenanigans. I'm a bit doubtful they will do that... but there's nothing that stops them from doing it.
A more common way to make it happen is to have some other country(s) important to Apple adopt the same base legislation and pass it there with the amendment written in. That then presses Apple to either make different hardware for that country(s)/region or just go ahead and comply for the world. Apple has shown that they will make special versions/accomodations of iPhone/iOS for a country like China due to such legislative scenarios. But sometimes, it is a financial win to simply comply with one region's demands and spread the benefit of that compliance with the rest of the world.
Last edited:
This is a ridiculous argument. My $3000+ laptop charges just fine with any cable I connect into it. So does my $800+ tablet. By the way, both of these devices were made by Apple 😉
I'm still hoping this is just some kind of misunderstanding based on false rumours. Apple has been pushing USB-C for years, and there has been no need for "MFi" for Macs and iPad Pros. There are already measurements in place as part of the USB-C standard Apple is already utilising, called USB-PD. As part of USB-PD, you must comply with specific certifications to charge above 15W. Apple might try to argue why they want more control over the certificate themselves, but come on now.
If true, this is beyond stupid and pure corporate greed on a whole other level. And it puts out precedence for other companies to start doing the same kind of nonsense. I hate to see what used to be a somewhat pro-consumer company getting reduced to pro-profit over anything else kind of company. This would be a massive blow to Apple's pro-environment image as well. There is nothing pro-environment about any of this.
If true, this is beyond stupid and pure corporate greed on a whole other level. And it puts out precedence for other companies to start doing the same kind of nonsense. I hate to see what used to be a somewhat pro-consumer company getting reduced to pro-profit over anything else kind of company. This would be a massive blow to Apple's pro-environment image as well. There is nothing pro-environment about any of this.
Your reasoning is faulty from the get-go. It's easy for you to ensure this without any nonsense. You simply purchase official cables directly from Apple if this is anything you worry about. What's the need for artificially handicapping everything that is not "MFi" certified? Apple could even move along with "MFi" certification and have the warning showing when not using a certified cable without artificially limiting everything that has not been verified.
A certification process is already in place as part of the USB-PD standard needed for allowing beyond 15W charging. Apple has been more than happy to rely on USB-PD for Macs and iPad Pros until now. The only "downside" of USB-PD is that Apple can't have a warning showing on iOS when using something that is not certified. It will simply charge slower if it doesn't support USB-PD without any information sent to the user. One could argue that "MFi" is excellent in showing users a warning when using non-certified charges and cables. But you are still limited to tops 15W unless you are using USB-PD, which already requires certification so there is no argument for artificially limiting non-MFi certified chargers and cables other than pure corporate greed.
I don't think my argument is ridiculous. What you are assuming is that the cords you use are indicative of all cables available. I would assume, being the savvy tech person you are, based on your time spent on a forum dedicated to this particular brand of technology, you probably use higher quality cables. I know I'm making some assumptions here, but I also assume you probably wouldn't buy your cables at say a convenience store. The majority of "average" consumers assume that all cables are created equal.