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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

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
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,495
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.
 

Anonymous Freak

macrumors 603
Dec 12, 2002
5,604
1,389
Cascadia
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.
 

alex0002

macrumors 6502
Jun 19, 2013
495
124
New Zealand
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:

scarrab666

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 24, 2009
76
4
Sydney
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!
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
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Brandonjr36

macrumors 68000
Sep 12, 2016
1,624
563
Joplin
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.
Yeah probably not. They may leave the port and still make it wireless. May leave the port to charge in the car and headphones.
 

padaxax

macrumors member
Oct 31, 2015
42
19
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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coolio93

macrumors 6502
Apr 15, 2013
304
50
Houston, TX
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?

I hope this happens. USB c is becoming an industry wide standard and the lightning port has its own limitations
 

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,354
18,580
Florida, USA
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.
 

Mildredop

macrumors 68020
Oct 14, 2013
2,478
1,510
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?

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.
 

ericwn

macrumors G5
Apr 24, 2016
12,121
10,912
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.
 

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,354
18,580
Florida, USA
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.

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.
 

geoff5093

macrumors 68020
Sep 16, 2014
2,251
2,564
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.
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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ScottButler

macrumors regular
Sep 16, 2016
105
177
Sunderland, UK
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.
 

wwohl

macrumors regular
May 2, 2013
135
25
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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padaxax

macrumors member
Oct 31, 2015
42
19
So it seems like they use it for 4 years now? How long did they use the 30pin connector, just for a comparison?
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,566
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?

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.
 
So it seems like they use it for 4 years now? How long did they use the 30pin connector, just for a comparison?

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.
 

0007776

Suspended
Jul 11, 2006
6,473
8,170
Somewhere
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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