If you're looking to pick up a shiny new iPhone, then you'll want to check out the iPhone 15 Pro models. They feature probably one of the biggest Apple upgrades in years: a USB-C port. USB-C is found in a lot of the company's other products, such as its own MacBooks and iPads. But their inclusion on iPhones is a huge deal for a lot of reasons, from higher transfer speeds to faster charging speeds and more.
1 Faster transfer speeds
First off, USB-C is rated for higher transfer speeds when it comes to USB 3.2 than Lightning was ever capable of. With up to 10Gbps speeds, your ProRes video will transfer much, much faster from your iPhone to your computer. Given that Apple really loves to push the video prowess of its smartphones, it always felt weird when massive video files couldn't be transferred quickly. You were often better off transferring them over Wi-Fi just for speed reasons.
For context, the maximum transfer speed of Lightning was 480Mbps, equivalent to USB 2.0 speeds. If Apple implements the full capabilities of USB 3.2 (like with the M1 iPad), then you can expect much faster data transfer speeds going forward for your high-quality photos and videos.
2 A universal connector
While the switch from Lightning to USB-C may be somewhat annoying for users who have to buy a new cable or charger, it'll be worth it. Pretty much all major devices support USB-C charging these days, and that includes other Apple products like MacBook and iPad. So it'll be better for you just for the sake of convenience.
But it's better for the planet as well. While Apple claims that removing chargers from the box was done for environmental reasons, being able to share chargers and not need extra ones will also help in reducing e-waste. It's a win for everybody. Yeah, it might be annoying to have to find a new cable, but on the bright side, you might already own something that can be charged with USB-C.
3 Theoretically faster charging
Some of the fastest charging devices on the market today charge over USB-C. It supports charging speeds that can reach into the hundreds of watts, though those speeds are typically reserved for laptops. Nevertheless, one of the latest iPhones could theoretically support faster charging speeds. Granted, the iPhone 14 series charged at 20W, and that seems to be the case with the iPhone 15 Pros, but Apple could support faster speeds in the future.
4 More peripherals
There are quite a few peripherals out there for USB-C devices, and while not all of them will work with iPhones, some of them will. Lenovo's Legion Glasses, for instance, previously would work with an iPhone but required a dongle, and the Razer Kishi v2 has an iPhone-only variant due to the Lightning port. While it's not clear how it would work yet, it's possible that these accessories will work immediately on an iPhone with USB-C versus others.
We also expect that even if there isn't widespread support now, companies will release peripherals that do work on both Android and iOS, thanks to the shared port. This means many more accessories will be open to Apple users. There are crazy dongles that you can get for the iPad Pro that add Ethernet, display out, and more. These dongles will be theoretically possible on an iPhone with Thunderbolt 4, too (if Apple allows them, anyway).
USB-C is a major upgrade for iPhone users
If you're looking to upgrade, USB-C is one of the most exciting upgrades of the new iPhone 15 Pro. It could be a massive upgrade that unlocks so much for future releases, even if that full potential isn't being used yet. We're looking forward to what Apple does with it, especially if it takes inspiration from the iPad Pro in how much it unlocks for end users.