Leaker: Apple to Stick With Lightning Over USB-C for 'iPhone 12' Before Going Port-Less Next Year

[compwiz1202]

i already think apple realizes this too. They won’t drop the charging port because sales would drop an insane amount. It’s not like the headphone jack that could be taken out and it wasn’t a big deal. There can be dongles used for that but if they take out the charge port half to 3/4 of people with CarPlay will be mad. Also all the wired headphones people still using the port just got screwed as well as all the headphone industry besides Bluetooth.
I just don’t see them doing that. It wouldnt make sense just going out and screwing most everyone needing the port for no reason. The 3.5 was manageable. That’s not.

Exactly! Music is just one facet of the iPhone. The port is how you charge it conveniently on the go. Now you can just put a power bank in your pocket to charge while you use the phone, but with wireless only, you'd need to hold some clunky disc or box up to your phone while using it.

 

[spinedoc77]

How about for most people using their phone while charging? I think wireless charging is a niche that not everyone uses. I use my phone while charging almost always and this will be problematic. I don't see how the Smart Connector will be any different as well. I sure hope this is just a rumor.

This. Is there anyone who has not used their phone while it was charging at some point? Sometimes it's nice to have the connection be solid so I know I'm tethered, those magnetic connections can be annoying as they come loose with a little pressure.

 

[FireFish]

Sorry, but I call bs on this.

 

[Abazigal]

I'm more interested in what precedes it. If Apple would announce portless now, there would be a 0% chance I would buy it. Apple needs to boost their wireless rate past the wimpy 7.5W, wireless needs somewhat of range so you can use the phone like you do now while charging, and public availability needs to expand a lot. And they would need a reasonably priced reliable CarPlay adaptor.

They could also make it something like the Apple Watch or iPad Pro Magic Keyboard. Remove the charging port while introducing an alternative way of charging it via a magnetic puck or smart connector.

 

[largefarrva]

They could also make it something like the Apple Watch or iPad Pro Magic Keyboard. Remove the charging port while introducing an alternative way of charging it via a magnetic puck or smart connector.

Problem is this whole issue doesn’t affect just charging, but also data transfer. As has been stated multiple times already....what about the people who rely on CarPlay? Is Apple going to expect them to all go out and buy new cars that have CarPlay over Bluetooth? But first we would need all the car manufacturers to adopt the wireless CarPlay.

DFU Mode? Like I’ve mentioned earlier....people will not take kindly if they have to give up their phone for days or weeks at a time if Apple has to send their phone in for repairs like they do for Apple Watch (Or they would have to get much more liberal on their phone replacement policies).

This would be an incredibly stupid move for Apple to do...and hopefully they realize it and know better than to do something so foolish.

 

[iTone]

God I hope not! I don’t think we are ready to be portless.

 

[hijackb]

Everyone in my family and myself have had more trouble with Lightning cords than any other cable I've used in nearly 40 years of using tech products. Not sure what it is about them. They are so finicky. Would have preferred to see USB-C, but not sorry to see it go for a smart connector. Can't see how it's worse than buying new lightning cables every month or so.

I find this unbelievable. Lightning Ports are incredibly robust. I am an iPhone repairer and very rarely have to replace a lightning port. They do get grot in them and need cleaning. You must be incredibly rough with your cables!

 

[The Game 161]

God I hope not! I don’t think we are ready to be portless.

Will only be one one phone model.

 

[magbarn]

I find this unbelievable. Lightning Ports are incredibly robust. I am an iPhone repairer and very rarely have to replace a lightning port. They do get grot in them and need cleaning. You must be incredibly rough with your cables!

I agree, they also don't suffer the "loose port" issue as easily. My oldest MacBook with USB-C (of course it only has 1) is now loose and I have to fiddle with the cable to get it to charge despite trying a new Apple Cable and several third party. Meanwhile my Ancient 5s lightning connector is still solid. I'd rather have the cable fail rather than the connector on the device every time.

 

[Denzo]

I love tech but wireless charging without h thy s option to plug in kind of bothers me.

 

[HoosBruce]

I don't think 13 series is coming next year, more like 2 years because next year will be the 12S.

If that's the case, then where is the 11S?

 

[Wolfpup]

Ugh. Lightning still doesn’t work, and neither does not having a wired data and power connection, not if you want to sync with iTunes, one of the big remaining advantages iOS has, and not if you want to use your phone for more than an occasional glance.
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And I hope they start just numbering iPhones normally, this year is the iPhone 14.

 

[x-evil-x]

Ugh. Lightning still doesn’t work, and neither does not having a wired data and power connection, not if you want to sync with iTunes, one of the big remaining advantages iOS has, and not if you want to use your phone for more than an occasional glance.
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And I hope they start just numbering iPhones normally, this year is the iPhone 14.

What do you mean lightning doesn’t work? It’s been solid since it’s inception.

 

[Rokkus76]

Got a link to one of those? The fastest wireless charger available is 10W, the iPhone 11 ships with an 18W charger in the box

Huawei P40 pro can be charged with 40W wireless charger. Obviously we are in Android world in this case, but fast wireless chargers exist.

 

[Wolfpup]

What do you mean lightning doesn’t work? It’s been solid since it’s inception.

100% of lightning ports I’ve used have failed, save for two devices where the batteries expanded and destroyed them before the port started failing. It’s more reliable than it was circa the 5s where you’d be lucky to even have a cable last a week, but it’s still a joke.

should have been forced to recall everything back in 2012.

 

[I7guy]

100% of lightning ports I’ve used have failed, save for two devices where the batteries expanded and destroyed them before the port started failing. It’s more reliable than it was circa the 5s where you’d be lucky to even have a cable last a week, but it’s still a joke.

should have been forced to recall everything back in 2012.

I have never had a device with a lightning port fail. And, I still have my original cables. Even the cable that came with the Ipad 2.

 

[x-evil-x]

100% of lightning ports I’ve used have failed, save for two devices where the batteries expanded and destroyed them before the port started failing. It’s more reliable than it was circa the 5s where you’d be lucky to even have a cable last a week, but it’s still a joke.

should have been forced to recall everything back in 2012.

Interesting. I’ve had iPhones back from the 3g. 4,5,6+,7+,x,xs max. I’ve never had an issue with the cables. Never broke a cable but I don’t pull out the cord by the cord I always pull on the plastic around the lightning cable. I did have I think it was my 5 stop charging and took it in. Turns out the port had lint buildup I never noticed and they cleaned it and it was fine.
also my iPad mini that’s 5+ years old is always plugged in and that’s fine. You must have bad luck.

 

[Wolfpup]

I have never had a device with a lightning port fail. And, I still have my original cables. Even the cable that came with the Ipad 2.

The iPad 2 doesn’t use lightning, and mine lasted longer than it was supported for. (It May still work, I’m not sure). Lightning on the other hand I’ve never had not fail
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Interesting. I’ve had iPhones back from the 3g. 4,5,6+,7+,x,xs max. I’ve never had an issue with the cables. Never broke a cable but I don’t pull out the cord by the cord I always pull on the plastic around the lightning cable. I did have I think it was my 5 stop charging and took it in. Turns out the port had lint buildup I never noticed and they cleaned it and it was fine.
also my iPad mini that’s 5+ years old is always plugged in and that’s fine. You must have bad luck.

There’s no way it’s bad luck, and this is a common issue. They should have been forced to do a recall back in 2012.

I never had an issue with the 30-pin port, nor with usb micro nor mini. One of my more recent attempts I bought the smart case thinking then the port would never be exposed, but it still failed. Both my 6s and air 2 will kind of charge/failed in the same way where You have to rest the weight of the device on the lightning connector, which usually gets it working, at least much of the time.

I’ve babied these things and they still fail. Meanwhile I have a literally $50 Windows Phone from Microsoft with zero waterproofing, that had a USB port that got dunked, and then dried out a few days, and it works fine, and STILL works fine years later, and I bend over backwards to baby Apple’s stuff.
I use Apple at this point because they’re the only people doing any sort of proper podcast support, and they care about privacy way more than google.

 

[x-evil-x]

The iPad 2 doesn’t use lightning, and mine lasted longer than it was supported for. (It May still work, I’m not sure). Lightning on the other hand I’ve never had not fail
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There’s no way it’s bad luck, and this is a common issue. They should have been forced to do a recall back in 2012.

I never had an issue with the 30-pin port, nor with usb micro nor mini. One of my more recent attempts I bought the smart case thinking then the port would never be exposed, but it still failed. Both my 6s and air 2 will kind of charge/failed in the same way where You have to rest the weight of the device on the lightning connector, which usually gets it working, at least much of the time.

I’ve babied these things and they still fail. Meanwhile I have a literally $50 Windows Phone from Microsoft with zero waterproofing, that had a USB port that got dunked, and then dried out a few days, and it works fine, and STILL works fine years later, and I bend over backwards to baby Apple’s stuff.
I use Apple at this point because they’re the only people doing any sort of proper podcast support, and they care about privacy way more than google.

im still going to say its bad luck. Everyone I know with iPhones has never said their charging port broke. Ive been getting my mom phones since 2014 and hers have all worked for 2 years. I have her 6+ from back then and its still fine. My 5 never had issues I had that phone for 2 years and my mini for way longer than anything but that always stays plugged in.
Out of all those phones I had the wireless charger go bad on my x that's about it and apple replaced that for me. Ive also gone caseless since iPhone 4(2010) so covering the port or not doesn't seem to matter with me. I don't drop my phones obviously.
My aunt and uncle have had iPhones since the 6+ also and they never have problems with their phones. Older brother and wife the same. I don't know why your stuff keeps failing doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[I7guy]

The iPad 2 doesn’t use lightning, and mine lasted longer than it was supported for. (It May still work, I’m not sure). Lightning on the other hand I’ve never had not fail
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There’s no way it’s bad luck, and this is a common issue. They should have been forced to do a recall back in 2012.

I never had an issue with the 30-pin port, nor with usb micro nor mini. One of my more recent attempts I bought the smart case thinking then the port would never be exposed, but it still failed. Both my 6s and air 2 will kind of charge/failed in the same way where You have to rest the weight of the device on the lightning connector, which usually gets it working, at least much of the time.

I’ve babied these things and they still fail. Meanwhile I have a literally $50 Windows Phone from Microsoft with zero waterproofing, that had a USB port that got dunked, and then dried out a few days, and it works fine, and STILL works fine years later, and I bend over backwards to baby Apple’s stuff.
I use Apple at this point because they’re the only people doing any sort of proper podcast support, and they care about privacy way more than google.

My anecdotal response is that our family has not had issues with lightning ports or cables. I still have two of the family 5s and they are working fine. I still have the original cables that came with the phones purchased for my use (as opposed to what I purchased for the family). We have had iphone 6, 6s, 7 and none of the older phones ports or cables failed.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Hopefully they make CarPlay able to work over Bluetooth or something. I am not going to upgrade my car so I can use CarPlay without a port. That is insane.

 

[JoeShades]

Hopefully they make CarPlay able to work over Bluetooth or something. I am not going to upgrade my car so I can use CarPlay without a port. That is insane.

Depending on your car there are wireless adapters that work pretty well from what I have heard, at least for my 2018 civic. Is carplay over bluetooth even possible?

 

[Brien]

I have been calling a port-less iPhone for YEARS. It just feels like something Apple would do.

My next prediction, which may or may not happen at the same time, but IMO will happen:

Touch-sensitive areas on the sides to replace physical volume buttons (and perhaps, power... but Apple may keep 1 physical button), along with putting the speaker/cameras behind the screen. Finally achieving Jony's vision of a seamless slab of glass.

Heck, I could see them eventually casting the electronics into a piece of Sapphire. Why not.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Depending on your car there are wireless adapters that work pretty well from what I have heard, at least for my 2018 civic. Is carplay over bluetooth even possible?

I am assuming if they get rid of lightning they will need to come out with a solution.

 

[JoeShades]

I am assuming if they get rid of lightning they will need to come out with a solution.

I am sure they will...well I hope they will