Apple introduced the iPhone 5 in September 2012. The biggest upgrade to the iPhone 5 from its predecessor was how you charged it. Apple’s marketing chief, Phil Schiller, announced that the iPhone 5 would use a new port called Lightning. The new port was small, powerful and reversible.
Today, 10 years later, every iPhone still comes with a Lightning cable and port. However, some people are ready for Apple to stop using Lightning.
Lightning is still a very good connector. It’s smaller than past connectors and easy to plug in. It can charge new iPhones from zero battery to 50 percent battery in about 30 minutes, you can use it with some headphones, and you can even use it to move video signal to a monitor.
However, Apple’s Lightning connector is not universal. These days, most new devices use USB-C. USB-C is also a small, reversible, powerful port. It’s on almost every Android phone, GoPro cameras, game consoles and more. Apple also uses USB-C for its MacBooks and iPads.
There are less and less devices that continue to use Lightning. It can only be found on iPhone, one type of iPad and some Apple accessories like Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, and AirPods.
iPhone 14 is coming soon and will likely use Lightning. But will it be the last time we see the Apple port?
The European Union (EU) is trying to make a law which says that only USB-C ports can be used on cell phones. Of course, the law is only for phones sold in the EU, but it is expensive for companies to make a phone with two different types of ports.
Some rumors say that the new iPhone in 2023 will have a USB-C port because of the EU law. It’s also possible that the iPhone will have no ports and only use wireless charging.
VOCABULARY
- Introduce – to start using for the first time; launch
- Upgrade – improve; to make better; add to; enhance
- Predecessor – a person or thing that came before; the earlier thing;
- Port – a socket or “hole” on a digital device for transferring/moving data
- Reversible – you can turn it around; both sides are OK
- Connector – a thing which links or connects; a wire that joins two things
- Monitor – screen; display
- Universal – done or used by many people; widespread; common
- Device – electronic equipment like watch, camera, phone, etc.
- Game console – Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch are consoles
- Likely – high chance; surely; high certainty; more than 70%
- Law – a rule, regulation, or guideline set by the government
- Wireless – no wires; no cables
Original story from The Verge below:
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