Sources: Apple is testing iPhones with a USB-C port, and adapters for Lightning accessories, for 2023 at the earliest, to help it conform with looming EU rules

Apple Inc. is testing future iPhone models that replace the current Lightning charging port with the more prevalent USB-C connector …

Bloomberg 2022-05-14 Mark Gurman

Context & Ripple Effects

Apple’s testing follows a report that the iPhone 15 would move to USB-C in the second half of 2023, while a planned USB-C refresh for the entry-level iPad indicated the connector change was extending across Apple hardware. The immediate significance is that Apple is preparing both a port transition and a bridge for its existing Lightning accessory base.

The policy pressure soon became explicit in the EU agreement to mandate USB-C on smartphones and other electronics. Later coverage set a December 2024 compliance deadline, making the iPhone test program an early product response to a market-access requirement rather than a standalone connector update.

First-order effects

Apple must validate USB-C iPhone hardware and Lightning adapters, preserving compatibility for customers with existing Lightning accessories while it changes the phone’s physical interface.
iPhone accessory makers face an immediate shift in product planning toward USB-C connections and adapter-compatible Lightning products.

Second-order effects

Apple’s reported USB-C direction for the entry-level iPad gives suppliers and accessory partners a clearer incentive to support USB-C across more of Apple’s device lineup, rather than treating it as an iPhone-only exception.
The EU’s common-charger mandate narrows Apple’s ability to maintain a region-specific Lightning iPhone strategy, raising the value of a broadly deployable USB-C transition.

Third-order effects

If Apple standardizes USB-C across iPhone and iPad lines, the connector becomes less of a proprietary accessory boundary and more of a shared hardware layer for Apple and third-party peripherals.
The subsequent EU deadline and report of EU sales ending for Lightning iPhone models show how charging-port regulation can shape which device generations remain commercially viable in a region.

The trend: Consumer-device regulation is pushing proprietary charging interfaces toward common standards, with adapters serving as the transition mechanism for installed accessory ecosystems.

Discussion

@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
New story: Apple is indeed planning a switch to USB-C from Lightning for the iPhone, testing future models with the connector as well as an adapter for old accessories. Move would better unify Apple device charging and meet incoming European mandate. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@detroitborg Michael Kukielka on x
C'mon, just do it! https://twitter.com/...
@drbfg @drbfg on x
@MikeElgan I loathe lightning cables, so this push is getting Apple to be more responsive to a consumer frustration.
@notpatrick Patrick Beja on x
@MikeElgan @drbfg I'm not a fan of this specific application of the process but there are a ton of instances where standard setting by government agencies is important and sometimes essential. And even here honestly, even as a “not a fan”, I can see the appeal...
@aapltree @aapltree on x
Lightning, “the connector for the next decade” per now-Apple Fellow Phil Schiller, has been *around* for a decade. *Of course* it's time for a change. (And to USB-C? Sure why not) No feigned surprise from the long-time Apple/iPhone watchers, please.
@impastaw @impastaw on x
@verge What's there to test about? It's like upgrading from cassette to cd. Lightning is incredibly outdated, they better bring 40w+ charging speeds to justify the delays. Every other shit in their ecosystem is usb-c too, I don't understand the hesitation.
@a_rosaceae @a_rosaceae on x
@mingchikuo Thank you @EU_Commission 💙 https://twitter.com/...
@mikeelgan Mike Elgan on x
@NotPatrick @drbfg The government should decide stuff, but not necessarily stuff that throws anchors overboard and halts innovation. For example, years ago Apple was first to jettison 3.5-inch floppy drives in PCs. One could imagine a major government body mandating them.
@faseehmangi @faseehmangi on x
I hope the wires don't break like the current ones, what a flaw | Bloomberg exclusive https://twitter.com/...
@vadimyuryev Vadim Yuryev on x
@erfon I think Apple is gonna sell so many iPhones because of the switch to USB-C. It'll quickly outweigh any loss in sales from Lightning accessories.
@mikeelgan Mike Elgan on x
@drbfg My guess would be that a majority of iPhone users prefer Lightning to USB C, and if that's true it's a case of a specific government agency overruling the desires of the majority of users and overruling the design choices of a company, and my point is: It's a bad precedent…
@vijayshekhar Vijay Shekhar Sharma on x
Oh ! that will be so good. iPhone may get USB-C finally !! https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@notpatrick Patrick Beja on x
@MikeElgan @drbfg I mean... DC current I guess? :) I honestly don't have a specific exemple but everything health & safety related goes through government agencies. This is more environnement & convenience related (hence the “not a fan") but I'm wary of people saying “gvt shouldn…
@azardey3 @azardey3 on x
@markgurman Why didn't they do it 4 years ago !!! Save everyone the headache & wasteless wires, confusion & waste
@jake31krol Jake Krol on x
Exciting stuff ahead. And I imagine this means that the entry-level iPad might eventually move away from it at some point? https://twitter.com/...
@mkbhd Marques Brownlee on x
There's a report that Apple is testing a USB-C iPhone for 2023... Filing this under “I'll believe it when I see it” (please do it) https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@lkanies Luke Kanies on x
I am *so* ready to ditch all the lightning cables in my life. Especially for accessories, but duh, for phones. Apple could appease the people who hate cable changes by switching the pro phones to start with, and give the other phones a couple of years with the old connector. http…
@geoffreyfowler Geoffrey A. Fowler on x
Yey, Apple — making products interoperabe makes them better https://twitter.com/...
@caro_milanesi Carolina Milanesi on x
If Apple moves the iPhone to USB-C they'll have to do AirPods too - I was already expecting this last year given iPad had made the shift https://twitter.com/...
@mikeelgan Mike Elgan on x
We should let unelected European bureaucrats design every detail of all our consumer electronics. https://twitter.com/...
@vadimyuryev Vadim Yuryev on x
YESS!!! Awesome news to hear from Mark Gurman, along with what Ming-chi Kuo recently said. https://twitter.com/...
@bradstone Brad Stone on x
finally: https://twitter.com/...
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
hell hath frozen over https://twitter.com/...
@rsgnl Joe Rossignol on x
@markgurman Nice!
@darylbaxter Daryl Baxter on x
good https://twitter.com/...

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