Apple's new iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max are equipped with a "completely standard" USB-C port without any restrictions on cables or accessories, according to Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham.
For previous iPhones with the Lightning connector, Apple limits the functionality of some cables and accessories that are not certified through its "Made for iPhone" program. It was rumored that Apple might apply similar limitations to the USB-C port on iPhone 15 models, but this report confirms that is not the case.
As with iPads and Macs with USB-C ports, the report said all existing USB cables, chargers, and accessories will work normally with the iPhone 15 models.
As the report notes, it is still possible that Apple will launch a "Made for iPhone" certification program for iPhone accessories with a USB-C port, but it appears that uncertified accessories will work just fine with the devices.
All four iPhone 15 models are equipped with a USB-C port, but there are differences in data transfer speeds. The lower-end iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are limited to USB 2.0 data transfer speeds of up to 480 Mbps, which is equal to Lightning, while the iPhone 15 Pro models support USB 3 data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps.
Apple began accepting pre-orders for all four iPhone 15 models earlier today. The devices launch on Friday, September 22.
Top Rated Comments
When I heard that fast charging was possible using the 10-12W iPad charger I switched to that.
To my surprise I started to smell burning palstic as thecable's insulation started to smoke through and melt.
Since then I used MFI-compliant Anker USB-A to Lightning cables.
Back when the 2015 Google Nexus 6P & 5X phones came out there was a mad dash for USB-C cables & chargers. The big topic back then was USB-C compliant cables. It was so bad that Google engineer Benson Leung made a database on what brands are compliant or not ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benson_Leung').
I know everyone's saying Apple's profiteering from Lightning port but to be honest I rather pay $10 than lose my house ('https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/usb-chargers-health-canada-recall-halifax-fire-firefighters-1.4622943') or my life. ('https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/faulty-usb-phone-charger-blamed-for-sheryl-aldeguers-death-20140627-zsoc8.html')
People who need to move a LOT of data- such as a lot of 4K video or now spatial video shot on these new phones- will likely much prefer to do that with a FAST wired connection than a slow wireless connection. Unlimited* plans that throttle speeds at a certain data transfer capacity will be at risk every month if someone shoots much video and transfers it all over cellular (to/through iCloud). Wired doesn't need cellular (or wifi) at all.
People setting up these brand new phones who have extensive "owned" (not rented) collections of ripped music, video, etc will likely want to use a wired connection in that first restore to get it all on the new phone FAST... vs. waiting for the much slower migration wirelessly and/or via cloud.
However, you are not alone. There are many people who do both wirelessly. It very well may be the future... but in the present, it is less efficient in both primary uses.
BONUS: the jack existing opens up the opportunity for MANY accessories that can't function wirelessly at all. For example, you shoot a bunch of footage to near capacity and need to shoot more, hook in a USB-C drive/stick and free up the internal space without having to delete footage. Shoot to capacity and repeat as often as needed. Cloud only works if you have a connection and it may be too slow to free up the space for the new video you are wanting to also shoot ASAP.