With the date of the latest Apple event revealed as October 30, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, there is much anticipation about what the new iPad Pro, near-certain to be announced there, will be like.
There is talk that the new tablet will have an all-screen front and feature Face ID. Rumor has it there will be no headphone jack. And repeatedly there have been leaks suggesting the Lightning connector will be replaced by USB-C.
Rumors include a report from the ever-reliable Ming-Chi Kuo, who said in September that USB-C would be the connector on the iPad Pro.
The thinking is that it facilitates the possibility of outputting video to a 4K monitor. All of which goes to blurring the difference between a tablet and a computer that picked up pace with the release of iOS 11.
Now, MacRumors has picked up on reporting from Mac Otakara which seems to endorse the whole no-Lightning-connector idea.
The talk around the Global Source Mobile Electronics Trade Fair, which has just closed in Hong Kong, seemed to confirm this predilection for USB-C over Lightning.
And now, as the incisive Jon Porter at The Verge has pointed out, there’s another indication that Apple likes USB-C.
That's because the Cupertino giant has now released a charging cable for the Apple Watch which fits into a USB-C socket. That means you can charge your Apple Watch from your MacBook, MacBook Pro or other compatible computer. That’s handy, though frankly the Apple Watch charges fast and keeps its charge for a long time so charging isn't usually an issue.
The Apple Watch has its own proprietary charging puck, of course, but, if you have the Apple Watch Charging pad you’ll know the cable that links to it uses a Lightning connection. So, that could easily change to USB-C and, of course, there’s no indication yet as to what connector the AirPower will favor, when it arrives.
So, what are the chances that next year’s iPhone will switch to USB-C?
Why USB-C?
First of all, it’s an excellent connector because, like Lightning, it fits in either way up. If you’ve ever spent time, and I suspect you have, trying to insert USB-A, microUSB or even SCART connectors and found it took at least two, usually three, attempts to fit the blessed thing, you’ll know that either-way-up, meaning first-time-every-time, is the absolute future.
Exporting video to a bigger screen is a bonus, too.
Oh, and it’s not exclusive to Apple, or any other company, so you are more likely to have a compatible cable and/or charger knocking around.
Why not?
Let’s be clear, USB-C doesn’t automatically make for faster charging, though don’t be surprised if that’s one of the features trumpeted by Apple at its October 30 event. You can certainly charge fast with USB-C and the right charger but you can also speed up charging of an iPhone by using the USB-C to Lightning cable that’s already available if you plug it into the right charging plug, like a MacBook Pro charger. A cable like the USB-C to Lightning cable is also compatible with the current MacBook, for instance.
Secondly, there will be an almighty uproar if the iPhone switches connector, whenever that happens. Every iPhone user, surely, has a spare cable, charger or other accessory and doesn't want to give up the usefulness of that.
It is, in fact, six years since the Lightning connector appeared in September 2012, so that’ll be seven years by next fall. That’s way longer than the lifespan of a games console, say.
Even so, expect people to complain that they don’t want to change.
So, next’s year’s iPhone: Lightning or USB-C?
At this stage, it’s anyone’s guess, so don’t hold back on buying that replacement Lightning cable you need right now.
Before the rumors about the iPad Pro, I’d have said the chances were nil to zero. Now, I’m not so sure. It's true that Apple likes owning the connection, which it won’t with USB-C, and licensing the manufacture of Lightning cables is a not insignificant revenue stream for the company.
But, sooner or later, I predict, it will switch to USB-C, saying it’s the right thing to do and because it gives the consumer the best experience. All of which is likely to be true.
Let’s remember also that wireless charging now comes as standard in iPhones, so the actual charging connector is of less moment than it used to be. Indeed, that's another reason to think USB-C is coming to iPad Pro: there's no wireless charging in this tablet. I mean, can you imagine the charging pad you'd need?
I’m going to say that Apple probably hasn’t quite decided yet which way to go. It’ll see how things go with the new iPad Pro, assuming that’s where the change will be made first. If that goes well, then, yes, I think the 2019 iPhones will have a USB-C connector. But the current models will still be on sale 12 months from now, so don’t go binning those Lightning gadgets just yet.
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