iPhone 15 USB-C port is 100% standard; MFi certification rumors wrong

https://9to5mac.com/2023/09/15/iphone-15-usb-c-port-compatibility/

by CharlesW • 3 years ago

86 121 3 years ago

gruturo• 3 years ago

Apple probably realized that they've been selling USB-C cables for years, even in their own stores, and those might have lacked an MFi certification. Better to avoid the ridicule and do the right thing for once.

ehPReth• 3 years ago

that, or people running rumour accounts throw everything at the wall to claim victory when something sticks

smoldesu4• 3 years ago

It would have been more ridiculous if Apple's previous serial bus didn't have DRM.

dangus3• 3 years ago

What really happened is that they came up with something proprietary and desirable (MagSafe) to make up for lost accessory sales.

fh93022• 3 years ago

The iPhone 15 supports Qi2, which is based on Apple's MagSafe standard. It's not proprietary.

kube-system2• 3 years ago

When lightning came out, it was also desirable because it was durable and reversible, and USB-C didn't exist yet. Its main problem is that it stayed around for too long.

dmonitor2• 3 years ago

that’s been around for years now on iphones.

cr3ative• 3 years ago

I was going to suggest they confused MFi and e-marking for the USB-C cables, but it appears you only need e-marking for above 60 watt applications, which the iPhone 15 isn't going to require. Good news all round.

runako3• 3 years ago

Good news all round.

Maybe for people new to the ecosystem. Most existing users have had their existing inventory of cables suddenly rendered useless for future phones. When I eventually upgrade, I will have to buy at least 2-3 additional cables (I am not a fan of dongles). I will spend this money even though there is no tangible benefit to me as the only USB-C device I have is a Kindle.

wlesieutre5• 3 years ago

My USB-C devices include: headphones, earbuds charging case, laptop, tablet, VR headset, and Switch

My non USB-C device is: eBook reader

I do have a bunch of Lightning cables, but I also have more than enough USB-C cables because literally everything else uses it, and I'm looking forward to not needing to bother with carrying a special cable around for one device anymore.

The eBook reader is a minor nuisance with micro USB charging, but battery life is long enough that for short trips I don't even bother bringing a cord for it. And around the house I can unplug my Qi pad and use its micro USB cable.

EDIT: forgot one more USB-C device, it's also on my Ryobi battery bidirectional charger. Don't use that frequently, picked it up for power outages. But it means the Ryobi provided charger in the garage which I sometimes use for headphones will be able to charge my next phone as well.

ilyt2• 3 years ago

So you know how everyone else that had everything else but the iphone on USB-C...

zarzavat• 3 years ago

USB-C phone charging cables are stupid cheap. It’s USB 2, 30W. Just don’t buy the crappy Apple cables.

zamalek4• 3 years ago

Didn't the EU explicitly warn Apple that MFi would not be in compliance with the USB-C law?

fh93022• 3 years ago

They warned Apple based on rumours but that doesn't prove that MFi certification for USB-C ever existed.

thoughtsimple• 3 years ago

It was always a stupid rumor. Can you imagine if Apple required a different USB-C cable for your new iPhone rather than what already works with iPads and MacBooks? They would never do that.

sysadm1n• 3 years ago

How do I get USB3 'superspeed' data transfer though? I regularly shuttle multi-gigabyte files onto my iPhone's flash storage and that takes too much time. One of those sit-back-and-make-some-coffee moments in life that doesn't have to be that way. It would free up so much time if the transfers were near instant.

astrange• 3 years ago

The Pro phones are USB3.

spacedcowboy• 3 years ago

You buy a ‘pro’, which has the correct hardware to do super speed. The pro has a new chip, the ‘normal’ 15 doesn’t.

2OEH8eoCRo0• 3 years ago

The Google Pixel from 2016 has Type-C USB 3.0

s3p• 3 years ago

Even though the older chip runs on the iPads which DO support USB C SS.

Simulacra• 3 years ago

I wonder what the conversation was an apple about losing all that additional revenue from the sale of lightning cables. I never believed lightning was anything more than a way for Apple to gouge the customers a little bit more.

jmull• 3 years ago

When Apple switched from the 30-pin connector to lightning, USB-C didn't exist.

What you're suggesting just doesn't make sense.

isykt• 3 years ago

Ahistorical as this take is, I’m kind of jealous that you weren’t around for microUSB.

underseacables2• 3 years ago

Lightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector, created and designed by Apple Inc. It was introduced on September 12, 2012, in conjunction with the iPhone 5, to replace its predecessor, the 30-pin dock connector.

And now that they are switching to USB-C, they are going to lose all that revenue.

swamp403• 3 years ago

The thin pc board inside the USB-C connector is prone to breaking. Angled insertion/removal also leverages the pins soldered to the mainboard and can eventually break them loose.

The Lightning connector was superior in many ways. I have no idea why everyone is celebrating this downgrade.

Now no one is ever able to improve on the connector reliability because the EU has frozen the design forever by enshrining it into law?

Goronmon2• 3 years ago

The Lightning connector was superior in many ways. I have no idea why everyone is celebrating this downgrade.

You say it's a downgrade, but the only issues I've had with cables in this context are lightning connectors where the cable connector broke off into the device and required a good amount of work to get all the pieces out.

And that's with only a single device using a lightning cable and many other devices that are USB-C.

buildbot4• 3 years ago

Honest to whatever - How?! Those connectors seem like solid metal, seems like it would take ludicrous force to break it like that.

So would a cable side USB-C connector - but in agreement with the grandparent comment that tab in the center port is pretty flimsy… and the ports themselves seem pretty wear happy, similar to how micro usb tended to break the port first after repeated insertion vs. a more easily replaceable cable.

KennyBlanken• 3 years ago

In any case, this wouldn't be solved by USB-C. In fact, it'd be even worse, because instead of one chunky piece of metal with some bits inside, you'll have a mess of tiny plastic and long, unprotected connector pins, both in the device and on the cable connector.

Also: Apple does not attach the lightning port to the mainboard of an iPhone, and thus it is easily replaced unlike damn near every Android phone where the connector is soldered onto the mainboard, purposefully, along with extremely fine pitch SMD components very close to the connector, to make it difficult to impossible to repair (the tiny SMD components will blow off the board if you use a hot air rework gun.)

wlesieutre5• 3 years ago

99% of my phone charging happens on a Qi pad, this saves me from needing to carry a special cable around just in case I need to charge my phone with it once a year.

650REDHAIR• 3 years ago

99.9% of my charging is via lightning connector. I don’t even own a Qi pad.

vachina• 3 years ago

Wireless charging warms the phone so much more than cable charging it hastens battery ageing.

captainmisery• 3 years ago

I have no idea why everyone is celebrating this downgrade.

Because now all the cables you use are the same (well in most cases is the thought). It's just convenient.

I have never experienced a faulty or broken usb c, but that says nothing off course. Android user for years now so I have have had it for years.

D13Fd• 3 years ago

The legislation freezes development in time. It's unlikely that anything will be able to replace USB-C any time soon, because it is legislated in place.

I'd rather see the tech continue to improve and let the marketplace decide what tech is superior.

smoldesu4• 3 years ago

A shame Apple missed their opportunity to standardize it as an alternative to USB-C.

km3r• 3 years ago

I've yet to have a USB C port fail for what it's worth.

Apple had plenty of opportunities to be involved in the development of USB C (they are on the forum). They also could have opened up lightning as an option for USB C. Fighting against using common standards for so long has left them to the whims of others. Be part of the global tech stack instead of a dead end.

hartator• 3 years ago

USB is a private organization and you pay a fee per connector.

USB lobbying won over the EU. Nothing to celebrate indeed.

nmca• 3 years ago

I've had my last four phones get issues due to usb-c. The standardization is worth it, but goddman I wish they had standardized on a better physical port.

swamp403• 3 years ago

They fail constantly in cheap Chromebooks. And then there is no other way to charge the laptop, so it is junk unless you get inside and replace it.

keep_reading• 3 years ago

Apple had plenty of opportunities to be involved in the development of USB C (they are on the forum).

They are actively involved. That's how Thunderbolt 3 and 4 exist and use USB-C connectors

guilhas• 3 years ago

Had 3 Pixels, all with slightly loose USB-C, needing to adjust the charger up and down, or even buying a new cable

ilyt2• 3 years ago

It really is not. Any connector which puts springy bits inside of the device and not the cable is automatically worse.

The only reason lightning connectors don't break as often is because cable relief falls apart before it.

jjtheblunt• 3 years ago

does the law require existence of a cable connection, or just require that a pluggable connector be USB-C?

I can imagine just removing the connectors entirely, for Qi charging, and thereby reducing one port and its consequences on RF noise -> RF desensifying for cellular.

cyberge99• 3 years ago

I think Apple has wanted a portless iphone for ages, but they haven’t been able to get past consumer demand.

buildbot4• 3 years ago

100% agree with this - the lightning connector was actually a really nice design.

In a perfect fantasy world, it would have been open sourced so others companies could use it, and been upgraded to higher speeds too.

selectodude• 3 years ago

Every USB-C port I've ever used has gotten mushy after 6 months or so. Lightning is just simply a better port, especially for mobile. So it goes.

gjsman-1000• 3 years ago

Now no one is ever able to improve on the connector reliability because the EU has frozen the design forever by enshrining it into law?

The EU has made it clear that if the manufacturers get together and come up with a replacement, technically superior standard, then it will be permitted. However, there isn't one on the horizon anytime soon because USB-C doesn't really have any weaknesses requiring a new connector right now.

The Lightning connector was superior in many ways. I have no idea why everyone is celebrating this downgrade.

Faster speeds, but primarily consistency with other devices. I can certify that when you travel with a MacBook, Nintendo Switch, iPad, Portable Soundbar, Battery Pack, and they all use USB-C... the iPhone that uses Lightning gets pretty annoying very quickly.

To be honest, part of me wondered if Apple could have gotten away (even though it would have caused shock) with 2 connectors on the iPhone. Lightning on the bottom where it had always been, USB-C on the left side with the volume switches and SIM card tray, just for the EU market. Would've been compliant but the EU would've been furious.

swamp403• 3 years ago

if the manufacturers get together and come up with a replacement, technically superior standard, then it will be permitted

You can see how that is next to impossible, though. You need to test in millions of phones over several years to verify that something is good. Which means it has to get into production. But that isn't allowed. A Catch-22 situation.

SigmundA6• 3 years ago

I am interested to know how it deals with lint. Lightning on all my iPhones eventually gets packed with lint from being in my pocket eventually with enough to prevent the connector from going in enough to make a good contact, usually it will stop consistently charging or connecting to carplay and I think something wrong with cable until I remember to clean it out with a paperclip or something.

Always thought they should have done a small spring loaded door that the connector pushes out of the way when inserted.

USB-C has even smaller space to stick something in to clean out lint since the pins are in the middle, also looks more delicate so would be worried to do that anyway, and a cover door looks out of the question too due to the pins in middle board.

ewoodrich• 3 years ago

The failure mode for every plugged in USB-C cable I have owned has been the connector bending on the cable with no damage at all to the port on the device. Cable needs to be replaced but I have had zero USB C port failures at this point having owned around 15 USB-C devices in the last 5-6 years (several of which are Apple devices btw, which is why I'm happy about dropping the last of Lightning).

amluto• 3 years ago

Not really.

In any connector of this sort, there are two pieces: the plug on the cable and the receptacle on the phone. Lightning has a very visually appealing and physically durable plug, and that’s the part that you see. But this hides several aspects of the connector that make a poor functionality tradeoff.

On a USB micro B or USB-C cable, the plug is retained in the socket by little spring-loaded clips on the plug. On micro, they’re on the outside and very obvious, and they stop working well if the plug gets a bit bent. On USB-C, they’re in the concealed portion of the plug. In both cases, they are components that can wear out, and, when they do, you replace the cable and you’re in good shape. These spring-loaded clips mate with fixed notches in the receptacle, and those notches are much longer lasting.

Lightning does this the other way around. The plug has notches, and the springs are concealed in the socket. If the springs wear out, replacing the cable doesn’t help.

Similarly, the electrical contacts are springy in the socket. They are very easy to damage with careless cleaning, and they have a tendency to accumulate lint, so they are likely to need cleaning.

Lightning has an additional defect involving arcing. If you look at a charging cable that’s been use for a while, you’ll see that one electrical pad on each side of the plug will be burnt. Presumably this is where the connection arcs every time it’s unplugged. I’m not sure how USB mitigates this, but it seems to be less of a problem. Maybe the contacts are simply thicker and more durable.

Sure, USB-C receptacles have a thin tongue, and it’s a weak point, but it’s much stronger than the 10 fragile moving parts inside a lightning receptacle.

Eric_WVGG2• 3 years ago

I was on the same page as you, but a fairly knowledgable podcaster made the case that the weak link in these connectors was the flexy contacts, which are in the device on lightning devices and in the cable on USB-C.

I'm currently unsure which to believe, but I also kind of don't care anymore. There was never a future where Lightning was opened to the rest of the industry, and Apple never bumped it beyond USB 2.0 speeds, so I'm ready to just get on with it.

Except that Apple doesn't appear to be ready to make anymore iPhone Minis, so I'll be stuck with lighting for the next five years… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

frizlab• 3 years ago

Thank you! I’m bewildered and quite frankly truly annoyed by this celebration of an obvious downgrade, forced by a law made by people who (mostly) do not understand the tech world. Yes, you now have the same port as (all of) the concurrent phone when you have an iPhone. Youplidoo. You succeeded in giving us (iPhone users) something worse than what we had because there were too many of you. By force. Thanks for nothing.

happytoexplain• 3 years ago

Yup. I love standardization, and I don't even use iPhone - but the USB-C port is demonstrably awful. My failure rate with C ports across three or four devices has been even higher than Micro-B, which is insane. In the latest case, I was forced to switch to wireless charging after less than one year plugging my Pixel 7 in every night. The port is utterly useless now - if I'm ever in a situation where I don't have a wireless charger, I will simply be unable to charge my phone (yes, I've cleaned the port). Lightning is simply the most rock-solid and long-lasting port of its size ever designed.

GeekyBear2• 3 years ago

The iPad Pro has had 100% standard USB C ports for years now.

The conspiracy theories never made sense.

SigmundA6• 3 years ago

The iPad Pro used a separate USB controller which adds cost, space, power making it a no go on the phones. The A17 is the first A series with integrated USB3 controller.

auguzanellato• 3 years ago

Wasn't the USB4 controller on the newer Pro models on die? Should be the same used by Apple Silicon Macs

GeekyBear2• 3 years ago

The iPad Pro used a separate USB controller

The iPad Pro has used M series SOCs with an integrated USB controller for years now.

jdjdjdjdjduuuu2• 3 years ago

Apple sucks and tries to not follow standards until it needs to... Thats not conspiracy theories.... Thats just the truth

Eric_WVGG2• 3 years ago

yeah, like their proprietary USB connector on iMacs, or their proprietary USB-C connector on Macbooks in 2016, or when they invented Thunderbolt all by themselves, and the time they didn't make Firewire and open standard…

What are you talking about? Proprietary connectors I can think of…

- A bunch of ridiculous digital video ports, necessary because the whole industry couldn't agree on how to move on from VGA.

- The "dock connector" — literally nothing else in the industry, even after its introduction, could meet all the needs of that thing, up until…

- Lightning. USB-C was still years away, and the attempts at small USB were a garbage fire.

underseacables2• 3 years ago

So now that everyone is switching cables, what will Apple do to make up all that lost revenue? People were locked into the MFI lightning cable for so long

rubatuga2• 3 years ago

There are a lot of critics on the lack of USB 3.0 speeds in the base model, but this hasn't been a problem for me. iCloud backups happen over WiFi for the general consumer and even when I do iPhone backups over USB it takes less than an hour the first time, and less than ten minutes for the incremental updates.

If anything, the fact that Android adds a soft-lock to the DisplayPort output on their USB-C port should be under scrutiny. There is absolutely no reason this should be blocked on flagship models like the Google Pixel, in fact brands like Samsung enable it on their phones (DEX). All iPhone 15 models support 4K60 from their USB-C port.

johnmcd3• 3 years ago

All iPhone 15 models support 4K60 from their USB-C port.

Do you mean just the iPhone 15 Pro models? I understood the base models are USB2 and wouldn't have the bandwidth for 4K60, right?

rubatuga2• 3 years ago

Video mirroring and video out support: Up to 4K HDR through native DisplayPort output over USB-C or USB-C Digital AV Adapter (model A2119; adapter sold separately)

https://www.apple.com/iphone-15/specs/

grumpycamel• 3 years ago

I wonder if Apple will be "blamed" for not-to-spec USB-C cables damaging devices.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/02/google-engineer-find...

iPhone 15 USB-C port is 100% standard; MFi certification rumors wrong

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