Apple iPhone 11 Finally Ditching Lightning For USB-C?

A recently leaked image suggests that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 11 could have the USB-C instead of the usual Lightning port. Apple has long been using the Lightning port as the standard for its devices. Does this mean that it is ready to let go of Lightning for USB-C on its new iPhones?

Normally, iPhone devices have the Lightning connector appear on its restore screen. However, an image from the iOS 13 beta, as seen on Raphael Mutton’s Twitter, shows that the software update is going to display a USB-C connector in lieu of the Lightning connector.

While the on-screen connector still looks similar to the Lightning connector, the small notches on its connector tip aren’t there. Potentially, this new restore screen could be Apple’s departure from its own connector technology.

The potential marketability of the iPhones can be improved with the switch to USB-C ports. USB-C can charge faster since it delivers 100 watts, 20V/5A charge speed to a device compared to the Lightning’s 12 watts. Moreover, the USB-C has a transfer speed of 10 Gigabytes per second compared to the 460 Megabytes per second of the Lightning port.

While the Lightning port allowed Apple to make smaller, thinner devices in the recent past, the company is moving away from that design and is willing to make larger devices moving forward. This mean the iPhone 11 could be a slightly larger device if it does adapt the USB-C.

On Apple’s end, the company has yet to confirm the final design of the upcoming iPhone 11. Moreover, the tech giant has yet to release concrete details about the device but has teased an improvement to the iOS smartphone firmware. The firmware is said to now support USB-C connectors for one unconfirmed iOS device instead of Lightning connectors.

Leaked renders have already been dropping hints about the possible design of the new iPhones. But for now, we’ll have to wait for more information about the iOS 13 devices and confirmation if one or all of them would truly be equipped with USB-C instead of Lightning.