Will there be a new and improved Apple cable soon?

In 2012, we bid farewell to the 30 pin and said hello to the lightning cable. It’s surprising that 7 years later, this cable can only be used for two devices namely iPhones and the lower end iPads.

USB-C

When the new iPad Pro was unveiled in 2018, a new USB-C port was introduced instead of the lightning cable. Sadly, when the iPad was upgraded, Apple kept the lighting port making some iPads use USB-C and some, the lightning port. Similarly, MacBooks come with USB-C but the iPhone comes with the lightning cable making it impossible to use the same cable for both devices.

Past Glory

There were many positives to the lightning cable. It transfers power and data, it’s much faster than 30 pin, it’s reversible, the connection is secure and it’s really easy to find. However, Apple’s connector is also very fragile and of poor quality, and it’s inevitable that a new one will be needed soon.

Heavy On The Wallet

Since it’s proprietary, it forces you to pay more for the official cable plus you have to carry around multiple cables because many other devices aren’t compatible with it. The high price leads consumers to buy non-certified cables thus killing the device slowly.

Inadequate Information

Apple isn’t needed to release adequate information regarding the cable since it’s proprietary and so we’re unsure of its speed and if it has even been upgraded in the 7 years that it’s been around. Most lightning cables transfer data at USB 2.0 speed and some of the newer ones transfer data at USB 3.0 speed but we can’t be sure.

Will Apple Unify The Charging Ports Of All Its Products? Maybe Not!

Thunderbolt 3 at 40GB per second is a much faster connector and is frequently used by Apple. It supports external hard drives and displays. However, it’s almost impossible for Apple to insert one common port in all its devices since the company has a history of having different connectors for all their devices. The company is reluctant to insert the USB-C in all their devices which doesn’t help in making things easy for the consumers. From a business point of view, saying goodbye to the lightning port will stop the income Apple receives from licencing the lightning cable to third parties.

Rumour is that in September, Apple will evolve, and may announce the invention of a new cable, and it will be time for us to say goodbye to the lightning cable.