On the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, Apple lastly removed the Lightning port and changed it with USB-C. This opens up an entire new world of comfort of connecting equipment and peripherals. The iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max go one step additional, because the USB-C port on the professional fashions helps USB-3 speeds, enabling as much as 10 Gbps information switch speeds.
USB-C makes it straightforward to attach shows, exterior storage, cameras, and cost utilizing the identical cable as all of your different units. Right here’s what you are able to do along with your new iPhone and its shiny new port …
Why did Apple change from Lightning?
Apple was absolutely invested in Lightning port ecosystem on the iPhone. Nonetheless, it started adopting USB-C throughout Mac and iPad fashions since 2015 as a option to modernize PC connectivity. USB-C is flexible, carrying energy and information with the identical connector. And USB-4 / Thunderbolt gives even larger information switch speeds.
On the identical time, USB-C was turning into more and more fashionable on the Android aspect of the smartphone market. However Apple caught with Lightning on iPhone, partly as a result of they had been nonetheless stung from the backlash of 30-pin -> Lightning transition that occurred greater than a decade in the past.
The forcing issue for Apple was the EU fee, who’ve handed laws to cut back e-waste by implementing USB-C because the common connector for telephones. That may imply Apple would at the very least should make a particular mannequin of iPhone for the European market. That brings its personal issues. As an alternative, Apple selected to simply undertake USB-C throughout the board … and aside from the frustration of consumers having to vary out all their present now-defunct Lightning cables, that brings a whole lot of advantages …
Common USB-C Charging
Now that you’ve an iPhone 15, you’re in all probability near having the ability to use the identical single cable to cost all your units. Nearly all iPads have a USB-C port, and all Macs have been sporting USB-C for a decade. The most recent Macs include Apple’s MagSafe charger, however they can be charged by plugging in to one in all their USB-C ports too. The newest-generation Apple TV comes with a USB-C distant, and Apple simply launched a brand new AirPods Professional with a USB-C charging case. You may as well now purchase simply the USB-C case individually from the Apple Retailer.
Apple sells its personal USB-C cost cables, and the iPhone comes with a pleasant high quality woven cable within the field itself. Not like Lightning, USB-C is just not proprietary. To cost your Apple gear, you need to use any USB-C charging cable or accent available on the market. That features cheaper USB-C cables, and USB-C cables of various types and lengths. Anker has a really handy twin 47 watt USB-C energy adapter, for instance.
To cost your iPhone at full velocity, you need to use a 20-watt or 30-watt energy adapter. You possibly can safely use the next wattage energy adapter just like the one which comes along with your MacBook; the cellphone will mechanically handle the ability. Study extra about fast-charging iPhone 15 right here.
Cost different units along with your iPhone 15 battery
One other cool angle of the USB-C charging story is that you could now use the iPhone to cost different equipment. The iPhone 15 can settle for as much as 27 watts by way of the USB-C port, however itself may also output about 4.5 watts. (Lightning may solely handle a measly 0.3watts.)
This implies you may really use your spare iPhone battery to energy and cost related equipment. In case your AirPods are operating low, in a pinch, you may plug them into your cellphone and your cellphone will high up the juice in your AirPods case. You can even high up the battery of one other individual’s iPhone — however simply bear in mind it would take some time.
Simply connect with exterior shows
With Lightning, you could possibly solely connect with exterior shows by way of a clunky dongle. With USB-C on iPhone 15, you may output to a display screen straight. Use a USB-C to HDMI cable and present your iPhone display screen on a 4K TV or monitor, with display screen mirroring. If you’re watching a film in a video streaming service app, the movie will mechanically fill the TV dimensions with playback controls on the contact display screen. Simply exhibit your photograph library or conduct a presentation with Keynote by simply plugging your cellphone straight right into a projector.
One of many use circumstances Apple is pushing is positioning iPhone as a conveyable video games console. Utilizing the ability of the A17 Professional chip inside, iPhone 15 Professional can run some top-end video games with excessive graphical constancy. Pair an Xbox or PlayStation sport controller, join your cellphone to a TV, and begin gaming. The Apple USB-C Digital AV adapter is an effective alternative for this use case, because it permits for HDMI, energy output for steady charging and passthrough USB-C in a single handy dongle.
Broaden your native storage with moveable USB-C arduous drives and SD playing cards
Join a USB-C arduous drive or SD card reader and browse recordsdata straight utilizing the Information app on iPhone. In the event you go on vacation and take a devoted digital camera with you, you may import images straight from the SD card into your iPhone’s photograph library. Then, empty the SD card and preserve taking pictures whilst you edit and add the images you’ve taken in your cellphone’s large touchscreen.
The iPhone 15 Professional Digicam app means that you can document ProRes 4K at 60 FPS video on to USB-3 storage. ProRes is uncompressed and the file sizes are big, consuming gigabytes per minute of recording. However pairing your iPhone with a 1 TB moveable SSD, you may document for some time earlier than operating out of area. This requires a USB-3 cable (not merely cost cable) to make the most of the quick 10Gbps switch speeds attainable by way of the iPhone 15 Professional’s port.
With iOS 18, utilizing exterior storage with iPhone and iPad is even simpler. The Information app can now natively erase and re-format related drives, so that you don’t want to make sure the drive is already within the right disk format, if beforehand used elsewhere.
Join {hardware} keyboards and wired web
Generally, wi-fi doesn’t minimize it — and also you simply must plug in. USB-C on iPhone helps virtually any primary accent you may consider, with out the necessity for particular drivers or extra configuration. It’s all plug and play. Meaning you may join a {hardware} keyboard will simply work.
Or if you’re podcasting on the highway, you may document utilizing a mini USB-C microphone. One other risk is wired web, utilizing a USB-C to Ethernet adapter. And when you have a MIDI keyboard, you can also make a track on the go along with an app like GarageBand.
Wired headphones that work along with your cellphone and pc
Since Apple dropped the headphone jack, a lot of the world has moved on to utilizing Bluetooth wi-fi headphones like AirPods. However for those who nonetheless desire to plug in with a wire, utilizing wired headphones with iPhone has been an inconvenient affair. Lightning earbuds labored along with your cellphone, however nothing else.
Now, it’s all a lot easier. iPhone 15 works with any USB-C headphones, together with Apple’s new USB-C EarPods. These headphones will work with any pc with a USB-C port, so you may lastly use the identical wired headphones throughout your cellphone, iPad and Mac. An rising variety of high-end headphones and audio system additionally depend on USB-C connectivity as of late.
Join multi-port hubs
USB-C may be very versatile and permits for information and energy to journey over the identical port. This implies you may carry a single dongle, which is a multi-port hub comprising all types of IO. These are tremendous handy as iPad and Mac equipment, and now work with the iPhone too.
For instance, this $25 Anker 5-in-1 hub will work with the USB-3 USB-C port on iPhone 15 Professional and allow you to hook up with exterior shows, connect with energy, plug in USB equipment and an exterior show all on the identical time.
The one factor you might have to bear in mind is that the iPhone can output energy to the hub at 4.5 watts. iPad and Mac can supply a lot larger bus-powered wattage, so if you’re utilizing them with the iPhone, you might must additionally plug in an exterior energy supply.
A few of these capabilities had been beforehand attainable with Lightning however necessitated massive, clunky, and particular function adapters for every use case. USB-C is standards-based which implies something you purchase can even work with different units too. You don’t want to hold a particular Lightning SD card reader anymore; the identical USB-C peripheral will work simply as effectively along with your iPhone, iPad, Mac and any Home windows PC or Android units within the household as effectively. The common connector life is lastly right here.
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