Apple may limit iPhone 15’s USB Type-C port support: Report

Apple is planning to bring a USB Type-C port with iPhone 15 series. According to a report by Macrumours, the company is planning to limit Type-C port in the same way as lightning port right now. The report says that USB-C port on iPhone 15 and the accompanying charging cables will feature a Lightning-like authenticator chip, potentially limiting their functionality with Apple-unapproved accessories.

Citing a Weibo rumour, the report says that Apple has developed its own variant for iPhone 15’s USB Type-C port. The Weibo leakster claims to be an integrated circuit expert with 25 years of experience working on Intel's Pentium processors.

For those unaware, integrated circuit or IC interfaces are semiconductor chips used to manage the sharing of information between devices. Apple introduced first-party and MFi-certified Lightning ports in 2012. These connectors contain a small IC which authenticates the parts involved in the connection.

This chip is not present in non-MFi-certified third-party charging cables. If a user tries using such cables with an Apple iPhone, they will see the message "This accessory is not supported" warnings on the device.

Now, the rumour says that Apple has developed a similar custom IC for USB Type-C ports on iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. While the authenticator chip on iPhone 15’s USB Type-C port and charging cables, Apple users will be able to buy genuine iPhone peripherals and receive a commission on MFi-certified accessories. The move will also help Apple in tackling counterfeit and potentially dangerous accessories.

The feature will not have any impact on the functionality of the upcoming devices. But it will result in limiting features like fast charging and high-speed data transfer to Apple and MFi-certified cables.

Readers must note here that the USB Type-C interface currently used by Apple in the 10th-generation iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro, do not contain an IC chip for authentication.