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Why Apple Is Finally Ditching Its Proprietary Lightning Connector For USB-C On All iPhones, iPads

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Atherton Research

At the company's “More in the Making” event on Tuesday, Apple's vice-president of hardware engineering John Ternus revealed that the new iPad Pro will have a USB-C port - already present on the latest MacBooks - instead of the company's proprietary Lightning connector.

"Because a high performance computer deserves a high performance connector. And so in these new iPad Pros, we're moving to USB-C," said Ternus. "This brings a whole new set of capabilities to the iPad Pro like connecting to accessories that change how you use your iPad, cameras, musical instruments, or even docks. Or connecting to high-resolution external displays up to 5K."

Another advantage of USB-C over the Lightning port is that you can connect to data accessories and displays at the same time, as well as support "charging out" over USB-C.

"So you can even charge your iPhone [with the iPad Pro] when you’re on the go," added Ternus.

Atherton Research's Take

The writing is on the wall.

With the iPad Pro, Apple is taking the first step to move away from its proprietary  Lightning connector and adopt the more universal USB-C port for all its iOS devices, starting now.

Why change?

First, USB-C is not new to Apple: All the latest MacBooks and Macs have USB-C ports.

And the Silicon Valley technology giant also sells a 30W USB-C charging adapter that can fast charge iPhones (8 and newer) and iPad Pros, as well as a new USB-C version of the Apple Watch magnetic charger.

Second, the Lightning connector is turning 6 years old and the last connector transition, from the 30-pin Dock port to Lightning, happened 10-years after Dock was first introduced in the iPod.

Apple will go all-in on USB-C in 2019

This time around, Apple is a bit early in starting the Lightning connector transition to the slightly larger USB-C port, but that's for all the good reason: It's also reversible, can handle more power, allows for faster charging and data transmission, and is more ubiquitous.

That's why we expect that all the newest iPhones and iPads in 2019 will have a USB-C connector.

Finally, as a way to smooth things out, at least in the beginning, Apple might also include a USB-C to Lightning adapter - as it did when it replaced the headphone jack - so customers can charge their "old" iOS device with the latest USB-C powered ones.

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