When the iPad Pro gave up high profits and switched from Lightning to USB-C, Apple seemed to believe that USB-C was the future. Since then, people have been imagining that the iPhone will one day use the USB-C interface, and in the future, whether it is an Android phone or an iPhone, the same data cable can solve charging and data transmission.
But to this day, the iPhone is still an iron-and-drop Lightning interface, not USB-C. On the contrary, some folk masters have replaced the iPhone with a USB-C interface by themselves, and auctioned out hundreds of thousands of yuan of sky-high prices. Is it more difficult for Apple to build a USB-C iPhone than the operation of the folk gods?
However, the latest intelligence shows that the iPhone in 2022 is finally going to upgrade the interface, but this time, it is still not what everyone expects.
Ligtning interface, upgraded!
According to foreign media iDropNews, the iPhone 14 series models will continue to use the Lightning interface instead of USB-C. Not long ago, the CAD drawings of the iPhone 14 were exposed several times on the Internet, providing strong evidence for the continuation of the Lightning interface of the iPhone 14.
Last year, on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, Apple brought ProRes video support to the phone, and photographers can use the two flagship iPhones to shoot ProRes videos. ProRes video is very large, and the current iPhone uses a Lightning interface to transfer speeds only AT USB 2.0 levels, transferring files quite slowly. Foreign netizens even ran to the petition site Change to post, hoping that Apple would make changes.
Transferring ProRes video with USB 2.0 released 22 years ago is not Pro. Many people believe that the iPhone's addition of ProRes video support is a major opportunity for the iPhone to move to a USB-C interface.
Apple certainly knows this is insufficient. Foreign media broke the news that Apple plans to upgrade the interface of the iPhone 14, but instead of using the USB-C interface, it will increase the transmission rate of the Lightning interface to the level of USB 3.0.
This is in line with the views of well-known analyst Guo Mingxi. In a report last year, he pointed out that even if the iPhone abandons the Lightning interface, it is more likely to directly adopt a no-interface with MagSafe design instead of a USB-C interface.
No problem, no interface is the ultimate universal interface. However, to wait until such a universal interface, presumably it is the Year of the Monkey.
The road to Unified Interface
Apple has not been making mobile phones for a long time, but on the road to a unified interface, it has taken a step early.
When the mobile phone was just born, or the big brother form, charging needs to use a seat charge, and the block is big and slow. Around the 1990s, Nokia opened the chapter of the mobile phone empire, bringing the iconic small-hole charging interface and portable charger, so that people charged mobile phones less painfully. In 1996, Nokia introduced the 14-pin Pop-Port interface, which later became a dedicated interface for mobile phone data transmission, headphones, camera connections, etc.
At that time, the mobile phone, the charging interface was only responsible for charging, and the data interface was responsible for data.
Nokia small-hole charging connector and Pop-Port interface
Around the 1990s, Apple began to develop the "FireWire" interface, commonly known as IEEE 1394, and the USB we know as it was not yet born. When the first iPod came out in 2001, it used the FireWire interface, which could both charge and transfer songs.
In 2003, the iPod switched from FireWire to a 30 Pin interface, and over the next decade, it became a dedicated interface for Apple's mobile devices, including the iPod and the Jobs-era iPhone.
At about the same time as the original iPod, the Mini USB interface specification was promulgated, and its successor was micro USB in 2007. At this time, in the mobile phone industry, the interfaces between the big brands are not connected. If you have ever touched the mobile phone of this era, you may have seen such a bizarre monster.
Fortunately, this pain did not last long, and within a few years, the mobile phone market was basically left with only Micro USB and Lightning interfaces. Nokia's last model followed the era to use Micro USB, the rise of Android phones and further promote the popularity of Micro USB interface, iPhone from 2012 iPhone 5 began to use Lightning interface, continues to this day. When ordinary consumers buy data cables, they can simply say whether the Android line or the Apple line can be done.
That being the case, can we go one step further and leave only one interface on the phone?
Objectively speaking, we have everything in place, that is, USB Type-C. USB Type-C was introduced in 2014, referred to as USB-C, and appeared in the consumer digital field the following year. USB-IF sets USB-C as a common interface form for the future, and when USB4 is introduced in 2019, it will no longer distinguish between different forms of interfaces (such as USB-A and USB-C), and only recognize USB-C.
The first to use the USB-C interface on the mobile phone is the LeTV mobile phone that is almost hidden in the jianghu. Apple is also not willing to be conservative and has made it more aggressive. Beginning with the 2015 MacBook, Apple implemented a comprehensive USB-C strategy, leaving only USB-C and 3.5mm audio interfaces on almost all Macs. After that, go to the iPad Pro and iPad Air.
2015 MacBook (12 inches)
However, until Apple found that the Mac only relied on the USB-C interface to work, and then brought the traditional interface back, the iPhone was still a hard-working Lightning interface. Why? Maybe only Apple knows.
When will the USB-C iPhone arrive?
Not long ago, the European Union announced a proposal to make all electronic devices adopt a unified USB-C interface, unified fast charging technology, and promote environmental protection with practical actions. In addition to Apple's own actions, the new regulations of the European Union may be the only hope for the USB-C interface iPhone.
Apple disagrees, arguing that the proposal will stifle innovation. This has a certain reason, if all electronic products are using a unified interface and charging protocol, manufacturers will be bound to the norms, we want to see the next generation of ultra-fast flash charging technology, ultra-fast transmission protocol, we have to rely on the entire industry alliance forward.
Taking the fast charging protocol as an analogy, the super fast charging created by mobile phone manufacturers is almost all private protocols bound to their own mobile phones. In a sense, everyone is talking about universal norms, and those who really have advanced technology want to use this as a moat and build a private profit margin for themselves.
Of course, we have always believed that universal interfaces are the real future. Embracing a unified interface and exploring the development of advanced transmission and charging technologies does not conflict. Whether the iPhone will use the USB-C interface depends on the game between manufacturers, industry chains and industry regulators.
Then again, if the iPhone removes the wired interface and moves towards a fully wireless design, it will not be limited by the unified interface law, which is also an innovation. Guess what, iPhone without interface iPhone and USB-C interface, who will come first?
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