Apple prepares the iPhone for a world without Lightning

Just days after prominent analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that Apple will likely ditch the Lightning port in 2023, a new report claims that USB-C phones are already being tested.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple has begun testing iPhone models “that replace the current Lightning charging port with the more prevalent USB-C connector” as European Union regulations seem likely to require the change. He also says that Apple is “working on an adapter that would allow future iPhones to work with accessories designed for the current Lightning connector,” similar to the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that Apple shipped with the iPhone 7 and still sells for $9.

The switch to USB-C would be important. Apple switched to Lightning from the clunky 30-pin dock connector with the iPhone 5 in 2012, and it’s been a mainstay in iPhone and other accessories for the past 10 years. However, Apple has been gradually moving away from Lightning on the iPad, with the 10.2-inch iPad being the only model left without USB-C.

USB-C is a bit thicker than Lightning, but last year an engineering student built an iPhone with a USB-C port without changing the thickness or removing any of the internal components. Along with universality with other devices and accessories, a USB-C port would also allow faster data transfers. The iPhone’s Lightning port is currently limited to 480 Mbps, much slower than the iPad Air’s 10 Gbps.

Like Kuo, Gurman says Lightning won’t be removed from the iPhone until 2023 at the earliest, and this year’s iPhone 14 will still have the tiny proprietary port.