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USB C and the iPhone/iPad [MERGED]

Will the iPhone 8 (and future iOS devices) abandon Lightning in favour of USB C?

  • Yes

    Votes: 10 21.7%

  • No

    Votes: 36 78.3%
  • Total voters
    46
scarrab666

scarrab666

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 24, 2009
76
4
Sydney
Just curious on peoples opinion on this one... Its not beyond a stretch to think Apple will abandon Lightning in favour of USB C (as its more of a multi platform standard, no?)

Question is, will they do this for the iPhone 8
 
Highly unlikely Apple adopt USB-C by the iPhone 8. Lightning is still very relevant and will be for while. USB-C seems likely in the future though.
 
If they had put USB-C on the new keyboard, mouse, and trackpad, I might have thought it possible. If they had put USB-C on the iPad Pro, I might have thought it possible.

But Apple has fully committed to Lightning as a connector, I don't see them abandoning it for USB-C any time soon.
 
I suspect Apple will continue to collect the license fees for Lightning and make money on selling dongles for a while yet. Once everyone has all the dongles, then we might expect a change to USB-C.

There's no good reason not to have USB-C or both on the iPad Pro.
 
Last edited:
Thanking you... I'm of two minds... I think they should do it (I can see the benefits), but would completely suck to have to change all the peripherals... Though I still struggle to understand why power sockets around the world aren't the same!
 
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foxconn said:
If they do then they won't be including headphones. No way they'll give us wireless headphones in the box unless they raise the price.
Click to expand...
Yeah probably not. They may leave the port and still make it wireless. May leave the port to charge in the car and headphones.
 
Hello guys,

since Apple introduced the new Macbooks with USB-C only and also dropped the Magsafe for USB-C, would it be possible to see a USB-C Charging port on the new iPhone 8? So that the Lightning port will be dropped on future iPhones and iPads?
 
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padaxax said:
Hello guys,

since Apple introduced the new Macbooks with USB-C only and also dropped the Magsafe for USB-C, would it be possible to see a USB-C Charging port on the new iPhone 8? So that the Lightning port will be dropped on future iPhones and iPads?
Click to expand...

I hope this happens. USB c is becoming an industry wide standard and the lightning port has its own limitations
 
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I'm willing to take one for the team and have to buy new charger cables if Apple does this.

On the other hand, I don't think USB-C will be the answer to the "one universal charging plug", even if Apple adopts it. Remember, Micro-USB was supposed to be the "one universal charging plug", and it was eventually replaced by USB-C. How long will USB-C last? Who knows... but the truth is, standards change every few years regardless, so there will always be "the current plug" and "the previous plug" and adapters will always have a place in the world.
 
padaxax said:
Hello guys,

since Apple introduced the new Macbooks with USB-C only and also dropped the Magsafe for USB-C, would it be possible to see a USB-C Charging port on the new iPhone 8? So that the Lightning port will be dropped on future iPhones and iPads?
Click to expand...

I expected to see it on the iPhone 7. As they stuck with Lightning, I'm guessing they'll stick with Lightning on the iPhone 8, too.

Especially since they removed the headphone jack and are pushing Lightning headphones. They also said they developed Lightning as an audio interface.
 
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Since Apple now puts the Lightning port on keyboards and mice as well it's a safe bet that they'll stick around for another couple of years.
 
Mildredop said:
I expected to see it on the iPhone 7. As they stuck with Lightning, I'm guessing they'll stick with Lightning on the iPhone 8, too.

Especially since they removed the headphone jack and are pushing Lightning headphones. They also said they developed Lightning as an audio interface.
Click to expand...

They technically developed their audio interface into USB.

Case in point: When you plug your iPhone into a car audio system using the USB cable, and it plays audio through that cable. There's nothing Lightning-specific here, it's all over USB.

They could easily change the port to USB-C and retain all current functionality.
 
zorinlynx said:
I'm willing to take one for the team and have to buy new charger cables if Apple does this.

On the other hand, I don't think USB-C will be the answer to the "one universal charging plug", even if Apple adopts it. Remember, Micro-USB was supposed to be the "one universal charging plug", and it was eventually replaced by USB-C. How long will USB-C last? Who knows... but the truth is, standards change every few years regardless, so there will always be "the current plug" and "the previous plug" and adapters will always have a place in the world.
Click to expand...
MicroUSB was a universal charging plug that was used on ALL Android phones, Windows phones, Blackberries, Palm Pre's, external battery packs, etc. etc. Apple was the odd company that decided to use their proprietary standard for charging. Only reason it's being phased out now is because after nearly a decade of use, devices are requiring more power and more features that weren't thought of when the old standard came out.
 
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I'm not sure I see them making that change, there's now been 4 years worth of lightning accessories created. But if anyone would do it, it would be Apple, so who knows.
 
USB micro was built on the USB 2.0 standards and had its own limitations. Apple made a good move with Lightning, developing the first truly reversible connector. Intel built on that with the USB C connector design, knowing Apple had hit the mark. The only change they made was protecting the pins and placing them on the inside of the sleeve.

Theoretically, if the battery and power management was designed to handle it, phone manufacturers could significantly increase the power provided to the device with USB C. We haven't had much progress with new battery technology as far as total useage time, but there is big improvements being made in rapid charging.
USB C is the answer. All phones are switching to it. Apple is shipping laptops with only USB C and I expect there other devices to follow. Other PC manufacturers are shipping USB C capable PCs.
Apple needs to go all in on the USB C connector. Sadly, that leaves every customer who purchased Lightning headphones or accessories this year for their iPhone 7 SOL.
They better not keep Lightning and ship the phone with a USB C to Lightning cable. Right now things are a mess for apples eco system as far as connectivity. Their flagship phone can't plug into their flagship PC. Yes you can buy the cable and yes there are adaptors and wifi sync. But it speaks volumes for their vision of the ecosystem.. or lack there of.

usb C is coming. I'd like to see them switch everything asap rather than drag this out any longer than it needs to
 
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So it seems like they use it for 4 years now? How long did they use the 30pin connector, just for a comparison?
 
padaxax said:
Hello guys,

since Apple introduced the new Macbooks with USB-C only and also dropped the Magsafe for USB-C, would it be possible to see a USB-C Charging port on the new iPhone 8? So that the Lightning port will be dropped on future iPhones and iPads?
Click to expand...

Look, a USB cable has _two_ ends. One end that plugs in the Mac or the charger, one end that plugs into the phone. Having a USB-C connector on the Mac is no reason whatsoever to have a USB connector on the phone. USB-C on the Mac has certain advantages that USB-C on the iPhone doesn't have.
 
padaxax said:
So it seems like they use it for 4 years now? How long did they use the 30pin connector, just for a comparison?
Click to expand...

30 pin was around for 10 years. If they ditch lightning next year then that would be only 5 years.

I don't think Apple will go USB-C on iPhone.


If Apple kept the headphone jack on the 7, then I might be inclined to believe it's possible for the iPhone 8 to switch to USB-C, however since they are pushing lightning headphones, I can't imagine them removing that a year later... And I can't imagine them switching to USB-C in the long-term (4-8 years) either, because why would Apple switch a connector for old technology, especially when I imagine they are moving towards wireless.
 
Apple will stick with lightning until they are able to do everything wirelessly. They realize that lightning will never be an industry standard for audio, they went for it to make things inconvenient enough to make people go for wireless headphones without having to pay to include them in the box.
 
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