Apple Analyst Sees All 2023 iPhones Switching To USB-C — But Only These 2 Models May Support High-Speed Transfer

Apple Inc.'s AAPL iPhone 15 lineup scheduled for release in 2023 might abandon the Lightning cable and adopt USB-C, but not every model will support wired high-speed transfer. 

What Happened: Fresh details shared by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggest that the Cupertino, California-based tech giant may abandon Lightning, but only iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max will support the wired high-speed transfer.

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My latest survey indicates all 2H23 new iPhones will abandon Lightning and change to USB-C, but only two high-end models (15 Pro & 15 Pro Max) will support the wired high-speed transfer, and the two standard ones (15 & 15 15 Plus) still support USB 2.0 same as Lightning.

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) November 17, 2022

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Kuo further predicted that new high-end Apple smartphone models would "improve markedly" with support of at least USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt 3. This upgrade will significantly improve users' experience with wired transfer and video output. 

The changes are in compliance with the EU regulations requiring electronic devices to have non-proprietary, standard charging methods.

Why It's Important: It is likely that the new upgrade will drive the Apple ecosystem's demand for high-speed transfer chips and competitors following suit. Almost every Android smartphone, the operating system developed by Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL, currently supports only USB 2.0, stated Kuo. 

USB 3.2 supports transfer speeds up to 20Gb/s, while USB 2.0 speeds are limited to 480Mb/s. Similarly, Thunderbolt 3 supports data transfer speeds up to 40Gb/s. 

If Kuo's predictions are correct, there will be a considerable difference in wired data transfer speeds between iPhone 15 Pro models and standard ones, reported MacRumors. 

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