Speaker 1: Goodbye lightning. Hello, U
Speaker 2: S B C. Apple
Speaker 1: Has officially made the switch from lightning to U S B C charging on the iPhone 15 lineup, which means you can now charge almost all your
Speaker 2: Apple devices
Speaker 1: With the same cable. That includes your iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and the updated second generation AirPods
Speaker 2: Pro.
Speaker 1: And it also means you can now share a charger with Android users too. Even Samsung chimed in on the news tweeting. At least we can see one change that’s magical.
Speaker 2: So what
Speaker 1: Does the switch mean if you have an iPhone? And how do you
Speaker 2: Pick [00:00:30] A U S B C cable because spoiler
Speaker 1: Alert, they’re not all the same. Let’s break it down. Apple switching to U S B
Speaker 2: C is
Speaker 1: Long overdue. iPhones have used lightning port since 2012,
Speaker 2: But U S B C offers higher speed
Speaker 1: Data transfers and faster charging. It’s what other phone makers have been using for years and has essentially become the standard. In fact, the European Union adopted
Speaker 2: A law
Speaker 1: Requiring all phones to be compatible with
Speaker 2: U S B C
Speaker 1: Chargers by 2024,
Speaker 2: Which is why
Speaker 1: Apple is rolling out this change now. [00:01:00] But
Speaker 2: Before you get excited about faster
Speaker 1: Charging on the iPhone 15, you might want to hang tight with the iPhone 14 lineup. Apple
Speaker 2: Said you could get the battery up to
Speaker 1: 50% in around 30 minutes using a lightning to U S
Speaker 2: B C
Speaker 1: Cable and a 20 watt power
Speaker 2: Adapter,
Speaker 1: And you’re pretty much going to get that same speed using a U s BBC 20 watt power
Speaker 2: Adapter
Speaker 1: With the iPhone 15 according to Apple. For comparison, other companies like OnePlus and Motorola say you can get almost a full charge on their phones in that same 30 minute time span [00:01:30] using a U S BBC connection. So maybe in time charging on the iPhone will get faster, but don’t
Speaker 2: Expect it right out of the gate. Which leads
Speaker 1: To an important caveat. Not all U S
Speaker 2: B C
Speaker 1: Is the same. U S B C only refers to
Speaker 2: This oval
Speaker 1: Shaped connector. Technology.
Speaker 2: Two U S B C cables
Speaker 1: Won’t necessarily have the same charging or data transfer speeds.
Speaker 2: That’s
Speaker 1: Because there are different standards of U
Speaker 2: S
Speaker 1: B starting with the original standard that was released in 1996
Speaker 2: With a top speed of
Speaker 1: 12 megabits per second. Over [00:02:00] the years, newer iterations were released
Speaker 2: With faster
Speaker 1: Speeds leading to the current standard of
Speaker 2: U S B four, which has a top speed of 40
Speaker 1: Gigabits per second. When U S B C first came out, a lot of Android phones only supported
Speaker 2: Slower U S B two
Speaker 1: Data transfer speeds,
Speaker 2: But
Speaker 1: That’s changed over the
Speaker 2: Years with
Speaker 1: A lot of companies now supporting the much faster 10 gigabit per second connections. When you’re shopping for a cable,
Speaker 2: It’s easy to look for a
Speaker 1: Cheaper option, but just remember that you
Speaker 2: Usually get what you pay
Speaker 1: For. It’s more expensive [00:02:30] to
Speaker 2: Build cables that support high speed data or faster
Speaker 1: Charging, so you may end up paying more for a
Speaker 2: Product that really delivers.
Speaker 1: Which brings us
Speaker 2: To apple’s U S B C
Speaker 1: Cables. The iPhone 15 ships with a
Speaker 2: U S BBC cable, but
Speaker 1: If you’re looking to buy one separately,
Speaker 2: It’s good to explore all
Speaker 1: Your options. Apple’s
Speaker 2: U S B C
Speaker 1: To lightning adapter
Speaker 2: Sells
Speaker 1: For around $30.
Speaker 2: It also has
Speaker 1: A one meter cable
Speaker 2: That supports
Speaker 1: Charging of up to
Speaker 2: 60
Speaker 1: Watts and data transfers at
Speaker 2: USB two
Speaker 1: Rates. That one costs around $20, [00:03:00] and then there’s also a 240 watt cable that also transfers data at USB two rates and costs around $30. Now, those amounts far exceed the charging capabilities on the iPhone or really any other device you might own, but you’ll be able to use those cables across everything from your MacBook Pro to your iPhone 15. If you want those faster U S B data transfer speeds, you’ll need to pay up and get the $70 Thunderbolt for pro cable, which supports charging up to a hundred watts. But ultimately, [00:03:30] the really great thing about U S B C is that you don’t have to get your cable from Apple or an Apple certified retailer. You can shop around and see if other manufacturers have better prices that also match what you need in terms of charging and data transfer speeds. Also, it’s worth noting that data rates aren’t really as important as they used to be.
Speaker 1: Thanks to cloud services. Most of us aren’t syncing music and photos between our phones and laptops via cables anymore. But if you are someone who’s shooting several gigabytes of four K pro-res video, then it’s [00:04:00] a good idea to opt for those faster cables. The switch to U S B C will ultimately mean we can all be unified under one cable, but it’ll be a bit of an adjustment as people weeded out their lightning cables as they slowly become obsolete. The good news is when you’re cleaning out your drawers, you’re likely to find some old U s BBC cables buried in there too. Thanks so much for watching, and let us know in the comments how you feel about Apple Switch to U S B C and don’t forget to hit like and subscribe to CNET for more of our ongoing coverage on all things Apple and iPhone 15.
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