Apple iPhone 15’s Biggest Feature, USB-C?
There was a time when the lords who used lightning cables looked down on the peasants who used universally accepted USB-C connectors, but that is no more.
Apple’s Road To USB-C
The EU passed a law back in October 2022 to have a common charging cable for all. By the end of 2024, all mobile phones and tablets sold in the EU will have a USB-C charging port. Every phone will be USB-C, including Apple’s iPhone 15.
This change was brought as part of the EU’s broader effort to reduce e-waste. Now, for most phone manufacturers, this wasn’t an issue as they already used USB-C ports and chargers.
For Apple, this was a slap to the face. They tried their best to avoid changing to USB-C. Apple cited worries about limiting innovation and hurting its customers, but that was BS. When the bill was introduced, the EU even replied to Apple in 2021 that it still allows for continued development.
Why did Apple hold out the lightning cable for so long? “It’s purely to protect the iPhone. It’s to protect themselves from iPhone users having an easy time going to another device…” says Carl Pei, Nothing CEO. It’s understandable, at least from a business standpoint, you want your customers to be within an ecosystem you create and control, exclusive products help you do just that.
In the end, even the 2.7 trillion-dollar giant had to comply.
The Too-Slick Event
Apple launched the iPhone 15 range of phones during its all too well-produced and polished, prerecorded unveiling at Apple’s Wonderlust event. Nothing more awkward and canned than Tim Cook saying, “Like we just saw, nothing more important than saving lives” after a genuinely moving video on how Apple products saved lives.
It’s really funny how innovative the largest company on earth has to be to open up with a video trying to say ‘You can’t survive without Apple products’ to sell their latest iPhone.
The iPhone 15: Not Just USB-C?
“Everything Apple just added to their newest flagship phones falls into two buckets,” says YouTuber MKBHD,
1. It is something we’ve already seen in some other phones for years
2. It’s some ecosystem feature that only works with other iPhones
The 14 pro is repackaged to 15 base and plus models with better brightness and an improved camera. The camera has a feature which automatically detects portrait mode. You can just take a normal photo from “photo mode” and turn it into a portrait later on.
Now, even though Apple changed to USB-C, it’s still different flavours for different phones. The 15 pro and pro max USB-C ports get USB 3 speeds which allows faster data transfer speed of up to 10 gigabits per second.
The base iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will only get speeds of USB 2.0 (480 Mbps)—the same as lightning cable speed. That’s sneaky of Apple to hand out outdated [23 years to be exact] ports. For context, Samsung flagships moved to USB 3 speed ten years ago.
The Pro and Pro Max models get a new and fast chip named, A17 Pro, by Apple. Adding to that, Apple has changed the stainless steel rails to titanium ones with a brushed texture which makes it a bit lighter.
Overall, nothing’s mind-blowing, it’s a solid phone. What’s the iPhone 15s stand-out quality? It seems to be USB-C.
There’s one good thing for the tech community with the release of the iPhone, universal charging is finally here.
P.S. Never forget the disgusting look in your Apple friends had when they saw your USB-C charger and claimed the lightning cable is far superior..
P.P.S Should you buy a new iPhone? I answer that here.
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