On the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, Apple finassociate got rid of the Lightning port and swapd it with USB-C. This uncovers up a whole new world of convenience of joining accessories and peripherals. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max go one step further, as the USB-C port on the pro models helps USB-3 speeds, enabling up to 10 Gbps data transfer speeds.
USB-C creates it basic to join distake parts, outside storage, cameras, and accuse using the same cable as all your other devices. Here’s what you can do with your new iPhone and its gleaming new port …
Why did Apple change from Lightning?
Apple was brimmingy spended in Lightning port ecosystem on the iPhone. However, it began adchooseing USB-C atraverse Mac and iPad models since 2015 as a way to conmomentaryize PC joinivity. USB-C is changeable, carrying power and data with the same joinor. And USB-4 / Thunderbolt gives even higher data transfer speeds.
At the same time, USB-C was becoming increasingly famous on the Android side of the cleverphone labelet. But Apple stuck with Lightning on iPhone, partly because they were still stung from the reaction of 30-pin -> Lightning transition that happened more than a decade ago.
The forcing factor for Apple was the EU cotransferrlookion, who have passed legislation to shrink e-squander by enforcing USB-C as the universal joinor for phones. That would uncomardent Apple would at least have to create a one-of-a-kind model of iPhone for the European labelet. That conveys its own complications. Instead, Apple chose to fair adchoose USB-C atraverse the board … and apart from the frustration of customers having to change out all their existing now-defunct Lightning cables, that conveys a lot of advantages …
Universal USB-C Charging
Now that you have an iPhone 15, you are probably seal to being able to use the same one cable to accuse all of your devices. Almost all iPads have a USB-C port, and all Macs have been sporting USB-C for a decade. The newest Macs come with Apple’s MagSafe accuser, but they can also be accused by plugging in to one of their USB-C ports too. The tardyst-generation Apple TV comes with a USB-C far, and Apple fair liberated a new AirPods Pro with a USB-C charging case. You can also now buy fair the USB-C case splitly from the Apple Store.
Apple sells its own USB-C accuse cables, and the iPhone comes with a pleasant quality woven cable in the box itself. Unappreciate Lightning, USB-C is not proprietary. To accuse your Apple gear, you can use any USB-C charging cable or accessory on the labelet. That includes affordableer USB-C cables, and USB-C cables of separateent styles and lengths. Anker has a very accessible dual 47 watt USB-C power changeer, for example.
To accuse your iPhone at brimming speed, you want to use a 20-watt or 30-watt power changeer. You can safely use a higher wattage power changeer appreciate the one that comes with your MacBook; the phone will automaticassociate regulate the power. Lachieve more about quick-charging iPhone 15 here.
Charge other devices with your iPhone 15 battery
Another chilly angle of the USB-C charging story is that you can now use the iPhone to accuse other accessories. The iPhone 15 can hug up to 27 watts thcdisesteemful the USB-C port, but itself can also output about 4.5 watts. (Lightning could only regulate a measly 0.3watts.)
This uncomardents you can actuassociate use your spare iPhone battery to power and accuse joincessitate accessories. If your AirPods are running low, in a pinch, you can plug them into your phone and your phone will top up the juice in your AirPods case. You could even top up the battery of another person’s iPhone — but fair be conscious it will get a while.
Easily join to outside distake parts
With Lightning, you could only join to outside distake parts via a clunky dongle. With USB-C on iPhone 15, you can output to a screen honestly. Use a USB-C to HDMI cable and show your iPhone screen on a 4K TV or see, with screen mirroring. If you are watching a movie in a video streaming service app, the film will automaticassociate fill the TV uninincreateigentensions with take partback regulates on the touch screen. Easily show off your photo library or carry out a currentation with Keynotice by fair plugging your phone honestly into a projector.
One of the use cases Apple is pushing is positioning iPhone as a portable games console. Using the power of the A17 Pro chip inside, iPhone 15 Pro can run some top-finish games with high detailedal fidelity. Pair an Xbox or PlayStation game regulateler, join your phone to a TV, and commence gaming. The Apple USB-C Digital AV changeer is a excellent choice for this use case, as it apverifys for HDMI, power output for continuous charging and passthcdisesteemful USB-C in one accessible dongle.
Expand your local storage with portable USB-C challenging drives and SD cards
Connect a USB-C challenging drive or SD card reader and browse files honestly using the Files app on iPhone. If you go on holiday and get a promiseted camera with you, you can present photos honestly from the SD card into your iPhone’s photo library. Then, vacant the SD card and protect shooting while you edit and upload the pictures you’ve getn on your phone’s huge touchscreen.
The iPhone 15 Pro Camera app apverifys you to sign up ProRes 4K at 60 FPS video honestly to USB-3 storage. ProRes is uncompressed and the file sizes are huge, consuming gigabytes per minute of sign uping. But pairing your iPhone with a 1 TB portable SSD, you can sign up for a while before running out of space. This insists a USB-3 cable (not spropose accuse cable) to get achieve of the quick 10Gbps transfer speeds possible thcdisesteemful the iPhone 15 Pro’s port.
With iOS 18, using outside storage with iPhone and iPad is even easier. The Files app can now natively erase and re-createat joincessitate drives, so you don’t necessitate to promise the drive is already in the right disk createat, if previously used elsewhere.
Connect challengingware keyboards and wired internet
Sometimes, wireless doesn’t cut it — and you fair necessitate to plug in. USB-C on iPhone helps almost any fundamental accessory you can slfinisherk of, without the necessitate for one-of-a-kind drivers or includeitional configuration. It’s all plug and take part. That uncomardents you can join a challengingware keyboard will fair labor.
Or if you are podcasting on the road, you can sign up using a mini USB-C microphone. Another possibility is wired internet, using a USB-C to Ethernet changeer. And if you have a MIDI keyboard, you can create a song on the go with an app appreciate GarageBand.
Wired headphones that labor with your phone and computer
Since Apple dropped the headphone jack, much of the world has transferd on to using Bluetooth wireless headphones appreciate AirPods. But if you still pick to plug in with a wire, using wired headphones with iPhone has been an inaccessible afuninwhole. Lightning earbuds labored with your phone, but noslfinisherg else.
Now, it’s all much basicr. iPhone 15 labors with any USB-C headphones, including Apple’s new USB-C EarPods. These headphones will labor with any computer with a USB-C port, so you can finassociate use the same wired headphones atraverse your phone, iPad and Mac. An increasing number of high-finish headphones and speakers also depend on USB-C joinivity these days.
Connect multi-port hubs
USB-C is very changeable and apverifys for data and power to travel over the same port. This uncomardents you can carry a one dongle, which is a multi-port hub comprising all sorts of IO. These are super accessible as iPad and Mac accessories, and now labor with the iPhone too.
For example, this $25 Anker 5-in-1 hub will labor with the USB-3 USB-C port on iPhone 15 Pro and help you to join to outside distake parts, join to power, plug in USB accessories and an outside distake part all at the same time.
The only slfinisherg you have to protect in mind is that the iPhone can output power to the hub at 4.5 watts. iPad and Mac can give much higher bus-powered wattage, so if you are using them with the iPhone, you may necessitate to also plug in an outside power source.
Some of these capabilities were previously possible with Lightning but necessitated huge, clunky, and one-of-a-kind purpose changeers for each use case. USB-C is standards-based which uncomardents anyslfinisherg you buy will also labor with other devices too. You don’t necessitate to carry a one-of-a-kind Lightning SD card reader anymore; the same USB-C peripheral will labor fair as well with your iPhone, iPad, Mac and any Windows PC or Android devices in the family as well. The universal joinor life is finassociate here.
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