At the weekend, from authoritative insider Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, it became known that the iPhone 15 will finally lose Lightning in favor of Type-C. Techsuppo Media suggests that the changes will affect only Pro versions, and base models will receive this connector only in iPhone 16.
However, according to Mr. Gurman, Apple will switch to Type-C, but not for a very long time. This brings to mind the 30-pin connector that appeared on the iPod and was used until the iPhone 4S. That is, it was used for about 11 years. The release of Lightning took place in the iPhone 5, which is still alive today. The life cycle of Lightning will be close to a 30-pin connector.
With Type-C, iPhones won’t last that long. Apple is still aiming to release a smartphone completely without connectors. The presentation of AirPower in 2017, the release of MagSafe for iPhones in 2020, and the rejection of the physical slot for the SIM card are a few small steps toward such a device. True, AirPower was canceled in 2019, but rumors periodically appear that the company continues to work on a universal wireless charging mat. Although Mr. Gurman does not name specific dates when exactly Apple will release an iPhone without connectors. Even the year is unknown.
You might argue that the EU requires Type-C. However, the bill, which has not yet passed all the legislative stages, states that we are talking only about devices that have connectors. Therefore, Apple Watch and other smartwatches will not receive Type-C. Therefore, European parliamentarians will also have no questions about an iPhone without connectors.
However, with Type-C, in addition to the convenience of a single type of charging cable, there is another benefit: fast file transfer if Apple gives iPhone users access to at least the USB 3 standard. Thanks to this, it will be possible to transfer blessed ProRes without spending all year before the release of the next iPhone.
Here we can say that Apple has AirDrop. Fantastic technology, but its speed is not as high as its counterparts. For example, you can quickly transfer files from Xiaomi to Xiaomi – much faster than from iPhone to iPhone. There is only one not the most clever moment: although the smartphones of the Chinese company are popular, it is much easier for an iPhone user to find another.
But there is a problem with AirDrop. It is slow and constantly breaks. And when transferring heavy files, you can not block both devices. Yes, and heavy files are compressed during transfer. For example, I somehow dropped a 25 GB video via AirDrop, the exact resolution and the same duration on a poppy but already weighing 8 GB. And it took off for an hour and a half. I told this story in the review of the iPhone 13 Pro Max cameras:
In general, giving up all connectors will be painful for many users. So it was in 1998 when the iMac G3 came out with a USB incomprehensible to the world and without many relatively popular connectors. This was the case in 2016 when the MacBook Pro came out only with Type-C, which forced users to buy new accessories in the form of adapters. So it will be here. Someone will not feel the difference, but someone will understand that the “professional” functions of iPhones will not be available outside of these same iPhones.