I don’t want USB-C on the iPhone to charge the battery – here’s the real upgrade

The European Union will force all smartphone manufacturers to use USB-C ports for charging electronic devices. That includes Apple, which will have to replace Lighting with USB-C by 2024 at the latest if it wants to continue selling iPhones in the region. Apple has confirmed that it plans to comply, although it still defends its strategy of relying on proprietary connectors.

As a longtime iPhone user, I’m excited to see the iPhone switch to USB-C connectivity, whether it happens next year or in 2024. But the feature I want from it isn’t ease of use or faster charging the battery. The real USB-C upgrade is faster wired data transfer speeds, a feature Apple needs to get right.

What USB-C brings to the iPhone

Android vendors widely use USB-C connectors for battery charging and data transfer. Music is also supported if you like wired headphones.

Battery charging is a big win for USB-C. Not only does the connector support fast charging speeds, but it’s easy to use. Both ends of the USB-C to UBS-C cable are reversible, so you won’t have to worry about which end goes where.

Lightning already does a very good job of convenience because you don’t have to pay attention when you insert the Lightning connector into your iPhone, iPad, AirPods, and various accessories.

But USB-C still beats Lightning overall. It will be much easier to leave the house without a charging cable. You’ll find one wherever you go, so you won’t have to stress about topping up the battery at short notice.

The same goes for using accessories or connecting to computers. USB-C supports data transfer speeds up to Thunderbolt 4, which makes me think. It’s a feature that Apple has never been able to match with Lightning before, not that we necessarily need Thunderbolt 4 speeds on an iPhone or iPad.

But Apple switched to USB-C on the iPad Pro to improve data throughput. This turned the iPad into a more versatile computer, able to support connections to all kinds of accessories, including external monitors. Moreover, it also increased the data transfer speeds.

Why fast iPhone data transfer speeds are so important

Apple moved all iPads to USB-C, completing the transition this year with the iPad 10. Unfortunately, we’ve just learned that the $449 iPad 10 has a USB-C port that only supports USB 2.0 speeds (480 Mbps), in line with Lightning ports.

Compared to the iPad Pro supports Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps), and the iPad Air 5 reaches 10 Gbps.

I don’t need the iPhone to connect to external monitors via USB-C. But I want it to support much higher speeds than the iPad 10. That’s the most significant improvement for me when it comes to this charge port switching mandate.

Think about this; we use more and more data with each new device. We have 5G and Wi-Fi 6 speeds to get everything wireless, but they’re not widely available.

Also, iPhone cameras generate better and better photos and videos, which require a lot more space.

The quick way to manage this data is a wired connection to your Mac or PC. A fast USB-C connection would make this hassle incredibly easy. It would be great for local backups that have the advantage of being encrypted, or for transferring photos and videos. And since your Mac or Windows laptop can charge via USB-C, you already have the cable with you.

Of course, there’s AirDrop and iCloud to handle backups and photo transfers. But the fast speeds of cable data transfer will be much more convenient and faster.

With that in mind, I hope all iPhones support fast USB-C data transfer. Whether it’s the $500 iPhone SE 4 or the $1,199 iPhone 15 Pro Max. And I’m also hoping that the iPad 10’s slow USB-C speeds will be the only exception Apple makes.

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