Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Apple will finally start shipping its iPhone with a USB-C instead of Apple’s proprietary Lightning port next year.
Yeah, yeah: We’ve been hearing the rumors about this since (at least) 2017, but this time it might be different. The news comes from typically reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who tweeted about it on Wednesday.
“My latest survey indicates that 2H23 new iPhone will abandon Lightning port and switch to USB-C port. USB-C could improve iPhone’s transfer and charging speed in hardware designs, but the final spec details still depend on iOS support,” wrote Kuo.
Second half of 2023 indicates that the iPhone 16 (or whatever the one that comes after the one that comes out this year is called) will be the first iPhone with the USB-C port.
The news isn’t particularly surprising given EU’s upcoming regulations that are practically forcing Apple to make the switch, at least in Europe. But those regulations are still in proposal stage, so it might take years until Apple actually has to do anything.
Also notable is Kuo’s comment that USB-C could improve iPhone transfer and charging speed, though we’ll believe that when we see it.