Your iPhone 15 might not come with a fancy color-matched USB-C cable after all

Claimed iPhone 15 USB-C cable in silvery blue

(Image credit: @MajinBuOfficial)

Following multiple leaks in recent weeks some had expected that the imminent iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models would come with special color-matched and braided USB-C cables. But that might not be the case after all.

Leaks claiming to show cables intended for the boxes of those new iPhones appeared on X, the social network previously known as Twitter. But now one of the leakers who shared some cable photos says that they aren't destined for iPhones after all.

Instead? It looks like they're probably designed for use with Macs, they say.

You can have any color you want so long as it's white

X leaker Majin Bu now says that, according to their sources, "Apple will not include the new colored cables in the iPhone 15 boxes." But you will at least get a braided cable, with the leaker saying that "a 1 meter white braided cable will be included in the regular and Pro models box." It's worth remembering that the color-matched cables were said to be around 1.5 meters long.

So what were those colorful cables we all saw in the various leaks? Bu believes that "it is very likely that the new colored cables will be available with the new MacBooks soon."

According to my source, Apple will not include the new colored cables in the iPhone 15 boxes. Instead, a 1 meter white braided cable will be included in the regular and Pro models box. It is very likely that the new colored cables will be available with the new MacBooks soon pic.twitter.com/fnjVnIExinSeptember 11, 2023

There have been rumors of some new Macs making an appearance either at an October event or via a press release in the same month so it's possible the color-matched cables are intended for those. Rumors of a new M3 24-inch iMac and M3 13-inch MacBook Pro are everywhere right now although the 13-inch MacBook Air might not get in on the act according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

If Apple is indeed launching an updated iMac it's possible these cables could ship with those all-in-one computers — to power their color-matched accessories.

With Apple set to announce the new iPhones tomorrow, September 12, we'll know what cable the new models come with soon enough.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

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