Rumors Appear! Apple Considers Using USB-C Ports And Abandoning Lightning Ports

USB-C ports will be more popular. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - Apple is preparing to swap its iPhone's Lightning port next year for the almost universal USB-C. This possibility arises from the claims of company analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, as reported by The Verge, Wednesday, May 11.

In a pair of tweets, Kuo said Apple would make changes in 2023, basing this claim on an unspecified "survey". It's likely from the component manufacturers, or from whom Kuo seems to get a lot of information for predictions about Apple's future products.

Kuo said at Apple that adopting USB-C "could increase iPhone charging and transfer speeds in hardware design, but final spec details are still subject to iOS support."

Kuo's prediction is not without priority as rumors and speculation about Apple adopting USB-C for the iPhone have been circulating for years. The smartphone industry, in general, has also embraced the reversible USB-C standard, and Apple itself has stepped in, adding USB-C to its new iPad and using a USB-C-compatible Thunderbolt port on many Macs.

Pressure to switch is also emerging from policymakers, as the European Union is still considering a proposal that would require USB-C ports on smartphones and other electronics marketed in their region with the aim of reducing e-waste by standardizing chargers and data cables.

However, Apple has always seemed strongly against the idea. Even Apple says it prefers to make its iPhone portless, and rely on wireless charging and data transfer, rather than destroying its devices with USB-C.

Kuo himself estimated last year that Apple was not considering a USB-C port. In March 2021, he said Apple plans to keep the Lightning port on iPhones for the "foreseeable future" - partly to keep the lucrative Made for iPhone‌ (MFi) program running, and partly for better waterproofing.

Perhaps, Lightning just failed. As MacRumors noted in a recent article, when Apple introduced the standard in September 2012, Phil Schiller called it "the modern connector for the next decade."