Five years after making the switch from a 30-pin connector to Lightning, Apple may soon make another change to the way that you charge your iPhone and connect it to accessories.
Apple will abandon Lightning in favor of USB-C with its 2017 iPhone models, says The Wall Street Journal. The new phones will include a “USB-C port for the power cord and other peripheral devices instead of the company’s original Lightning connector,” says the report.
No other details are given, but if true, this would be a big change for Apple. The Cupertino firm has used proprietary connectors with all of its previous iPhone models, but the switch to USB-C would mean that the 2017 iPhone models would use a connector similar to many other smartphones and other devices, including the Google Pixel and the LG G6.
This is still very much a rumor, but there is a chance Apple could make the switch to USB-C. The company spent five years with its 30-pin connector before switching to USB-C, and with the iPhone 7, the Lightning port has been around for five years, too. Of course, it’s also possible that Apple is simply prototyping a USB-C iPhone model and will ultimately decide to stick with Lightning.
Today’s WSJ report also claims that Apple will have three new iPhones in 2017: two models with LCDs like other iPhones and a third with 10th anniversary iPhone 8 with a curved OLED screen. This model will reportedly cost at around $1,000.
Finally, it’s rumored that Apple will abandon the physical home button on its 2017 iPhone models.