I had high hopes that the iPhone 12 would move to a universal port that’s already everywhere. Instead, it’s traded one proprietary format …
I had high hopes that the iPhone 12 would move to a universal port that’s already everywhere. Instead, it’s traded one proprietary format for another. The iPhone 12 didn’t get USB-C at Apple’s event last week. (Here’s how to preorder and buy all four Apple 12 models.) Instead, it kept Lightning and added a new MagSafe connector. I’ve been impressed by MagSafe on the iPhone 12 Pro so far. But I’m also starting to accept that USB-C on the iPhone will never happen. And the two shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. Lightning has been around since the iPhone 5 in 2012, when it debuted as a replacement for the old 30-pin charger that had been around since the iPod. Lightning had its advantages, way back last decade: It was small, and enabled faster data transfer. But we’ve been living in the era of USB-C for years now. Lightning feels old by comparison. Apple’s new MagSafe charge connection looks like an improvement to standard wireless Qi charging, adding a magnetic handshake similar to the way the Apple Watch charges. Charging could be more reliable. But also, you’ll need a whole new charge cable, and the MagSafe-compatible iPhone cases to go with them.
