Apple staff will unsurprisingly tell iPhone 15 customers that Lightning won't work
A new social media post has dramatically exclaimed that Apple employees will tell customers that Lightning charging cables aren't going to work with the iPhone 15. This is completely true, of course, and should be expected.
USB-C to Lightning cable
If you read AppleInsider, you've known that USB-C coming to iPhone was inevitable. If you didn't catch that when it first came to the 2015 MacBook and then was the only port on the 2016 MacBook Pro when it went Thunderbolt 3 across the board, you figured it out when it was made clear that Apple was heavily involved in developing the USB-C spec.
And if you missed all of those, the port coming to the iPad Pro, then the iPad Air, mini, and lower-end iPad surely showed you.
Even so, that point may not be completely clear to the wider base of iPhone 15 buyers, who may not have bought an iPhone since the iPhone 6. And, unsurprisingly, Apple is instructing its salespeople and Apple Store employees that they may need to educate customers on the topic.
![USB-C cables rumored to come with the iPhone 15 [X/@KosutamiSan]](https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/55945-113579-usbciphonerumoraug12-xl.jpg)
USB-C cables rumored to come with the iPhone 15 [X/@KosutamiSan]
According to a "leak" by yeux1122, staff have been told to make sure iPhone 15 buyers have what they need to charge the iPhone 15. The leaker says employees are being reminded that existing Lightning cables won't work, and USB-A charging adapters can't be used. This is true with the cable that comes in the box, but untrue when you consider that USB-A to USB-C cables are plentiful.
The post says that Apple employees should recommend one of many USB-C adapters that Apple sells. And of course, MagSafe will still work.
We've spoken with a few Apple Retail employees this morning. While it is true that they are being reminded to tell customers about the differences between USB-C and Lightning, as they have been since the iPad Pro first shipped with it years ago, the claims that they are being harangued to sell USB-C peripherals are false.
iPhone 15 USB-C hot takes
Meanwhile, on the internet, the breathless "Apple wants to sell you more things" and "why does Apple change chargers so often" takes have already begun. The former is true to some extent given that we live in a capitalistic society, but the latter is not as it has been a full decade since Apple stopped shipping devices with the 30-pin connector.
As far as the former point, focusing on accessory sales through Apple go, it's likely that licensing fees that the company has collected for about 15 years for MFi will mostly go away over time, since it appears that the iPhone 15 won't have an authentication chip like the iPhone 14 and earlier do. The sale of third-party peripherals at Apple retail likely won't make up for this, in all likelihood.
And, it's not like the release of the iPhone 15 will make all uses for Lightning go up in a desktop blaze. Apple is expected to have a single AirPods Pro update on Tuesday -- but nothing else as far as peripherals go. Older AirPods and the the current AirPods Max still will need Lightning to charge, and a new model of the latter isn't expected until 2024.
There's also still a bevy of Lightning charging docks floating around, the MagSafe Battery Pack, and more, that use Lightning.
And, we're pretty sure that the company will still be selling at least one iPhone model that requires it to charge after the iPhone 15 debuts. And then, there's all the iPhones sold for the last decade that will still need it.
So, like 30-pin before it, the Lightning connector will be with us for a while. And, it's right and unsurprising that Apple employees have been instructed to keep the customer who doesn't follow AppleInsider or tech in any real way, up to date.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Some name brands are likely to make a lightning (female) to USB-C adapters. There are already some by companies you've probably never heard of on Amazon.
https://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/accessories/power-cables
The new iPhones will only need USB-C to USB-C cables and they will work with chargers from the past few years. For older chargers with USB-A, people can buy a USB-A to USB-C cable.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Of course they probably should have made the adapter in 2018 when they began the iPad transition, but I don't think iPad caused anywhere close to that much concern when they changed over.
Most rental cars I've driven have USB A but some have USB C
every single airplane I've been on has USB A
8 years after Phil Schiller proclaimed 'USB C is the future' and everyone here on AI claimed USB A was dead, USB A appears to be alive and well.
USB-C was clearly the future of USB, but like all things, it takes time. Even when USB-C becomes the de facto standard—of which automobiles were always going to be one of the last holdouts—it still own't mean that USB-A is dead. We can go 20 years into the future and USB-A will still not be dead, just as VGA, serial and many other obsoleted data standards are not dead even if most of use don't see or use them any longer.
The iPhones since iPhone 12 have been shipping with USB-C to Lightning cables so people will likely have bought USB-C chargers. This is around 0.5 billion people. That would still leave ~1 billion with USB-A chargers but people upgrading from iPhones older than 12 can get a USB-A to USB-C cable or a USB-C charger.
Apple hasn't supplied adapters for iPhones since the iPhone 12 so there would be no reason to do it now that the iPhone end changed to USB-C.
Maybe Apple could have recycling bins in Apple stores and reseller stores where people can drop old cables, devices, batteries. That would save them from ending up in general household waste.
USB-A was so 'dead' in many people's eyes that they were already calling it legacy (along with every other port!) and wouldn't hear of anything that said the two connectors (and all the others) could even coexist, and that is what most so-called 'whiners' were, erm, 'whining about.
No one disputed it being the future. The problem is that the word transition normally means, transition, not wholesale switch. That's what irked people like me.
It was good for dock manufacturers though. A decent one could cost as much as $300 back then. Some manufacturers decided to include one in the box. Apple didn't.
Then the iMac got updated and, oh dear, the silence was deafening. All those 'legacy' ports were still there!
Seven years on they are still around on many devices.