If you ’ve bribe one of Apple ’s late 2023 phones ( and gone through our list of the first 7 things to do with it ) you ’re probably wonder about the raw port at the bottom . The Lightning port , which get in on the iPhone 5 in 2012 , has last been substitute by the non - proprietary USB - carbon standard , which means it ’s compatible with a wider range of cables , battery charger , and other accessories .
But what specifically can the raw USB - nose candy port be used for ? What are its charging and data conveyance upper ? What other intersection is it compatible with , and does it perform substantially with official Apple - certified accessories ? In this article , we outline the capabilities and limitations of USB - C in the 15 - serial iPhones .
Charging
By far the most common utilisation of your iPhone ’s USB - C port will be for pumped-up charging , which is faster and more big businessman - efficient than charging wirelessly . MagSafe is capped at 15W , whereas charge via a USB - atomic number 6 cablegram should be able to achieve 20W or more ( look on your iPhone model and other bottlenecks ) .
You ’ll need a USB - C overseas telegram and a compatible power adapter . ( The 15 - series iPhones each come with a cable with USB - snow on both ends , but no power transcriber . You ’ll necessitate toprovide that yourself . ) The new iPhones are capable of fast charging – or what Apple draw as fast charging , there being no widely agreed measure for what that means – but you ’ll ask a mogul adapter scab at 20W or higher . If you may set that up , Apple exact the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro will load up to 50 percent electrical capacity in 30 minutes , and the iPhone 15 Plus and 15 Pro Max in 35 moment .
In fact , Macworld testing ( using the bundled cable television and a high - powered 67W MacBook tycoon arranger ) advise Apple is being somewhat modest about the charging speed limit : our sample iPhone 15 Plus had achieve 64 percentage charge after the intend 35 minutes . It took 92 minutes to completely charge from empty .
The iPhone 15’s USB-C cable can do a lot more than the older Lightning models.
The iPhone 15 ’s USB - light speed cable can do a lot more than the older Lightning models .
Petter Ahrnstedt
Reverse charging
This is a new capableness for the iPhone occupation : the 15 - series handset can themselves charge up other , smaller machine . Connect your iPhone 15 to an Apple Watch , an AirPods case , or another compatible product , and tycoon will flow in the other direction . ( So make certain the iPhone has enough charge to absorb the hitting . )
For this function , you probably wo n’t need to buy any supernumerary cables . Current and recent Apple Watch models fall with accuse pucks that have USB - C on the other end , and you’re able to easy institutionalize your AirPods using either USB - one C to USB - C or USB - vitamin C to Lightning , calculate on which case you ’ve got .
On a technical level , reverse charging is slow than regular charging . Apple enjoin you ’ll call for the pocket-sized gimmick to stand USB Power Delivery at up to 4.5W. But with such machine , even a comparatively small transfer of flush can make all the departure . In testing , we found that just 15 minutes of reverse charging was enough to bump an Apple Watch Series 8 from 53 percent to 68 percent , while the tie iPhone 15 Plus unload from 100 percent to 97 percent . You ’re gaining about a point per minute , while the personnel casualty on the iPhone side are pro rata far smaller .
The iPhone 15’s USB-C cable can do a lot more than the older Lightning models.
Connect to iPad, Mac, or PC
Data transfer , like charge , is quick if you use a cable . AirDrop may be more convenient , but when batch - shift pic and videos from your iPhone to your Mac , for object lesson , we ’d advise punch them in . Most modern Macs and all current iPads have at least one USB - C larboard , so you could link up your iPhone using the USB - C cablegram from the box , though your mileage may motley with PC .
Transfer speeds depart depending on whether you paid extra for a Pro model . The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus support the USB 2 criterion , which has a theoretical limit of 480Mbps . The 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max , meanwhile , support USB 3 and , adopt you ’ve have a USB 3 - compatible cable to take advantage of this , speeds of up to 10Gbps . ( The cable add by Apple tops out at 480Mbps . )
As an add up bonus , your iPhone will file while connecting to one of these larger devices .
The iPhone 15 can hook up to an Apple Studio DIsplay with just a USB-C cable.
Connect to an external storage device
Like change data file to an iPad or Mac , the iPhone 15 can also connect toexternal storage driving force . In fact , if you have a 128 GB iPhone 15 Pro , you have to record straightaway to an outside drive for record 4 K ProRes video , which take up scads of gigabytes . high-pitched configurations do n’t have this limitation and can make unnecessary ProRes video instantly to the gadget .
Connect to displays and TVs
The USB - light speed measure wee-wee it much easier to connect your iPhone to a television , reminder or other display , and consider your picture and video on a declamatory sieve . But it is n’t necessarily as straightforward as plugging in a cable television .
If it ’s a USB - C display , of course of instruction , you could employ a standard USB - C cable to link up the iPhone to the display . ( Apple say the 15 - serial iPhones use DisplayPort to support up to 4 K and 60Hz on compatible showing . ) If you require to benefit from high resolutions , however , you ’ll require to employ a overseas telegram that support USB 3.1 or high . A USB - C displaymayalso charge a link up iPhone , but this varies from model to model .
If the video display or tv set is based on HDMI , you ’ll need some sorting of adapter ( such as Apple ’s own USB - C Digital AV Multiport Adapter – US store connection / UK storehouse link ) or a USB - blow to HDMI cable . Provided your cable system / arranger defend HDMI 2.0 , the iPhone will be able to output video at 4 K and 60Hz .
Either means , when you connect to an external presentation the iPhone will default on to showing what is on its own silver screen . The exception is when you ’re using an app that sport a “ second screen ” style , but those are much more coarse on the iPad .
The iPhone 15 can hook up to an Apple Studio DIsplay with just a USB - C cable television .
Willis Lai / Foundry
Connect to audio devices
The iPhone 15 can touch base to a wide-cut range of audio accessories that are compatible with USB - degree centigrade , whether stimulation devices ( such as microphones ) or yield ( such as speakers or headphones ) . For some audio devices , you may need to get a USB - C to 3.5 mm diddly adapter .
Connect to other devices
The USB - 100 standard is astonishingly prevalent , and you may be surprised by the range of accessory you could now connect to your iPhone 15 without having to devote the “ Apple Tax ” for a Lightning - compatible or Apple - certify version . This includes external battery packs , Mount Rushmore State adaptor and hence SD cards , ethernet adapters , and even machine ( although they still want to be CarPlay - compatible ) . In all of these causa , turn out in brain that data transfer , if applicable , will be loyal if you use an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max , and a cable / adapter / accessory that supports USB 3.0 .
you could even connect Lightning accessories to your iPhone 15 … although in that showcase , you ’ll need adongle . Plus ça change .
