It’s been a bad handful of days for Apple’s Lightning port.
The iPhone maker’s proprietary charging standard isn’t long for this world, per analyst and prolific Apple predictor Ming-Chi Kuo. Just days after Kuo said Apple is working on iPhones that charge via USB-C instead of Lightning, the analyst updated his tweet with clarification that Apple’s other Lightning-powered products would also make the switch. That includes AirPods, MagSafe chargers, and Apple’s mouse and keyboard peripherals.
As for when exactly this would happen, Kuo didn’t specify beyond “in the foreseeable future.” His initial iPhone take and a subsequent Bloomberg report that backed it up suggested iPhones wouldn’t ditch Lightning until 2023 at the earliest. Apple could choose to slowly phase out Lightning, but it might also make sense to move everything over to USB-C at the same time, too.
For the non-tech-savvy folks out there, USB-C is the oval-shaped charging port you’ve likely seen on recent Android phones, modern video game controllers, and even some of Apple’s products like MacBooks. It charges and transfers data more quickly than Lightning, to go along with the obvious benefit of being able to use the same charging cable for every device you own.
The main benefit of Apple sticking with Lightning for this long has probably been the company’s ability to charge third-party peripheral makers a fee to use the standard, but at some point, it’s best to let go. Please, Apple, let us live in a world without Lightning.
