If the apple brand has to abandon its proprietary Lightning port, there is no question of depriving yourself of the few funds collected from partner manufacturers.
The Lightning port will have lived a little over a decade, but Apple has no choice today but to abandon it in favor of USB-C.
Apple forced to abandon the Lightning by the European Union
The brand clung to its favorite port for a long time before finally switching many of its products to USB-C. Adopted massively by the entire industry, this port will eventually equip Macs, iPads and several Apple accessories to open them to other accessories.
The iPhone is the only device today that still resists USB-C, but it’s only a matter of time before that stops. According to certain insistent rumors, the iPhone 15, which should be presented at the start of the school year, would finally abandon the Lightning port.
The American manufacturer does not operate this modification with lightheartedness, but constrained and forced, in particular by the European Commission which will impose from 2024 the USB-C port on each smartphone sold within the borders of the EU. This decision does not help the business of the brand either, which had developed a juicy certification program around the Lightning connector, thanks to which it still receives a pretty penny.
A restricted USB-C, except to pay for a certified accessory
You may not know it, but every accessory manufacturer wishing to offer a device equipped with a Lightning connector must join the MFi (Made For iPhone) program. The latter allows them to access a proprietary chip jealously guarded by Apple, against a percentage of its turnover generated by the sales of these products. Customers are guaranteed not to buy a counterfeit product, thanks to a logo that certifies the conformity of the accessory.
USB-C could have meant the death of the MFi program, but according to the leaker ShrimpApplePro, Apple has already anticipated this and could limit the charging speed and throughput of iPhones using cables not certified by it.
To benefit from the best performance, consumers will have no choice but to check out and obtain accessories validated by Apple, which will continue to receive royalties on each sale.
The brand would already, according to some indiscretions, want to limit the performance provided by the USB-C port of the iPhone 15 compared to that of the iPhone 15 Pro. If this last information is confirmed, the Californian company will win the jackpot by strictly complying with the decisions of the regulators while maintaining its lucrative business.
Source : Neowin
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