The Lightning port was admittedly a great innovation when it was first introduced in 2012 with the announcement of the iPhone 5. Yes, when phones had a single number in their name instead of two.
However, two years later, an alternative came on the market that was better in many ways: the USB-C port. Many phone manufacturers, as well as other players in the mobile technology industry, quickly jumped on the bandwagon and adopted USB-C, as it was superior in almost every way to what was available before.
To this day, however, Apple has gone ahead without taking the step of using USB-C on its phones, and now it looks like that could finally change in the near future.
Famous Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo posted on Twitter today, it looks like its latest research indicates that with the announcement of iPhone 15, Apple will finally swap the Lightning port for USB-C. In other words, in the second half of 2023.
Showdown: Apple vs. the EU
Now it’s not very clear whether this change, if it happens, will affect all iPhone 15 models or just some of them. It’s not even clear if this would apply to all iPhones worldwide. You see, one of the most likely catalysts for Apple to make this decision isn’t the benefits USB-C would bring to customers, but more likely the growth for some time under pressure from the European Union.
The European Parliament has been debating a common charging standard for mobile device manufacturers in the EU for some time now. Despite opposition from major tech companies, MEPs overwhelmingly voted in favor of this new legislation in April.
It’s possible that Kuo is wrong about this, so take it with a grain of salt. That said, the push from the EU shouldn’t be taken lightly, and it could be a clear sign of how Apple might decide to move forward with adopting USB-C for products like the iPhone.