Thinking about buying a new iPhone? Get ready to swap your Lightning cable for USB-C.
The iPhone 15 models that Apple introduced on Sept. 12 have a USB-C port instead of the Lightning port, which the company has used since 2012.
USB-C ports have been around for nearly a decade on devices ranging from Android smartphones to laptops to tablets. They offer advantages beyond the efficiency of needing just one cord to address various charging needs.
If you’re not familiar with USB-C, here are answers to some key questions.
What Is USB?
USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. The tech was introduced more than 20 years ago as a convenient way to connect devices like printers, mice, keyboards, and external hard drives to a computer. The USB-C version of the standard arrived in 2014 and has since been adopted for use with Android smartphones from Samsung and Google, not to mention Apple iPads and MacBooks.
What Are the Benefits of USB-C?
To start, you’ll no longer need to pack a Lightning cable and a USB-C cable to power up your iPhones when traveling. The USB-C cord from a laptop or tablet will suffice.
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In a pinch, you can also borrow a charging cord from a friend with a Samsung or Google phone and use that to power an iPhone with a USB-C port.
In general, USB-C can support much faster data transfer speeds than Lightning, but not every device with a USB-C port can move data at the same speed.
The iPhone 15 Pro models support data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps, according to Apple, but the standard iPhone 15 models top out at 480 Mbps—exactly as same as phones with Lightning ports. In other words, if you want the fastest transfer speeds you’ll need to spring for a Pro model.
Apple has not said why the standard iPhone 15 models are limited to 480 Mbps.
Which Charging Cables Last Longest?
We tested cords from Apple, Samsung, and other brands for durability and found two clear winners.
Do All USB-C Devices Work the Same Way?
No. The USB-C tech supports a variety of data and power transfer speeds.
All USB-C connectors work with devices that support USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB 3.1, the standards that control the speed at which data is transferred. The higher the number, the better the performance.
With USB 3.0, the maximum rate you can transfer data is 5 gigabits per second. With USB 3.1, it’s twice that—10 Gbps. But in the end, the slowest device determines the speed. If you’re plugging your new laptop into a USB 2.0-era hard drive, your data will be traveling from one to the other at 480 megabits per second, max.
And the truth is that your files aren’t likely to move from one device to another quite as fast as the spec suggests. So it’s best to think of these numbers as relative: USB 3.1 is up to twice as fast as USB 3.0 and 20 times as fast as USB 2.0.
Adding yet another big wrinkle to this discussion, the USB-C ports on new MacBook Pros double as Thunderbolt 3 ports, which support whopping speeds of 40 Gbps, and USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 cables are interchangeable.
You can usually identify USB 3.x devices by the blue plastic tabs inside the ports.
Some USB ports and cables also support “alternate modes” that allow them to transmit data in forms other than USB. That includes video and audio formats, which is why you can connect a DisplayPort monitor to a MacBook via a USB-C port.
What About Charging With USB-C?
Much like with data, the amount of power that flows through a USB-C connector is determined by the device that’s being charged.
The maximum is 240 watts, more than enough to charge most laptops. But many USB-C chargers deliver just 45 or 60 watts. The power can flow in either direction, with data right alongside it.
Nicholas De Leon
Nicholas De Leon is a senior reporter for Consumer Reports, covering laptops, wireless routers, tablets, and more. He has been at CR since 2017. He previously covered tech for Vice, News Corp, and TechCrunch. He lives in Tucson, Ariz. Follow him on Twitter for all things tech and soccer @nicholasadeleon.
