There have been plenty of reports on Apple’s plans to adopt USB-C for its next iPhone range, including speculation on an “Apple-certified” scheme to restrict fast charging to approved cables and devices only. Now a renowned analyst has weighed into the debate.
As part of a report into the manufacture of 20W chargers for this year’siPhone 15 serieshandsets, Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that faster iPhone charging will be possible through optimisation, but only if a plug or cable carries the MFi (Made For iPhone) tick of approval: “I believe Apple will optimise the fast charging performance of MFi-certified chargers for the iPhone 15,” he wrote on his regular blog atMedium.
As things stand, theiPhone 14and 14 Plus support 20W charging, while the Pro models up that to 27W. The latter might be the maximum for the iPhone 15 too, but third-party, unapproved cables or wired docks will not be able to supply it.
That means that even if you own an alternative from an Android phone or other device capable of supplying faster charging speeds, if its not Apple-certified the iPhone will be locked to charge more slowly. Your existing cables will likely work, just not at maximum performance.
To be honest, this isn’t new forApple. There are plenty of non-MFi Lightning cables that don’t work at their best. And, if you’ve ever charged an iPad Pro with a cheap, third-party USB-C cable, you’ll know it’s not ideal if you’re in a rush.
Still, some will undoubtedly be disappointed that, while Apple has conceded to the EU in the connectivity format battle, it’s still going to do things on its own terms.
After years of consultation and speculation, theEuropean Parliament passed a law at the end of last yearthat requires all tech manufacturers to ensure mobile and portable devices released from the end of 2024 on only use USB-C for charging. Its aim is to standardise the format so that users only need the one charger and cable for multiple devices - be it a camera, handheld games console, phone or tablet.
After initial reservations about the ruling, Apple confirmed that it will switch to USB-C for its devices and it is assumed that this will happen sooner than later, in order to ensure the iPhone 15 models comply.
It already uses the standard for iPads and MacBooks.
