Kuo: AirPods, Keyboards, other accessories will switch to USB-C like iPhone 15

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Chargers
Chargers (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple is thought to be ready to move its iPhone lineup to USB-C.
  • New USB-C accessories are expected to arrive in the "foreseeable future."
  • Apple is still expected to launch a portless iPhone at some point, too.

Following the news that Apple is increasingly likely to switch from Lightning to USB-C for the iPhone 15 launch next year, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also now shared expectations that the same fate will befall Apple's accessories, too.

With iPhone 15 heavily rumored by both Kuo and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman to go USB-C next year, the former has now shared more information on what we should expect Apple to do in terms of the plethora of accessories that also use Lightning. As was to be expected, Kuo believes that Apple will move all of its Lightning products to USB-C in the "foreseeable future." That includes AirPods, the MagSafe Battery Pack, and even the much-maligned Magic Mouse.

There is no word yet on whether Apple will move the charging port from the mouse's belly, though.

Magic Mouse

Magic Mouse (Image credit: iMore)

Other Lightning port products (e.g., AirPods, Magic Keyboard/Trackpad/Mouse, MagSafe Battery) would also switch to USB-C in the foreseeable future.

Whether this will all happen in 2023 as Apple edges closer to the launch of iPhone 15 isn't clear, however. There are a lot of accessories that would need a refresh to change port including keyboards, trackpads, and more. Apple is also said to be working on some kind of adapter that would allow USB-C devices to be charged using existing Lightning cables, too.

Apple has been under pressure to switch to USB-C for some time now. European lawmakers have been aiming to force Apple to use USB-C for years and the pressure continues to grow. As Apple continues to add more video recording features to its higher-end iPhones, faster data transfers would also be of benefit — something USB-C would theoretically allow, giving owners of Apple's best iPhones a way to get videos off of them more easily.

Critics who claim Apple would make such a move just to sell more charging cables would do well to remember that Lightning arrived ten years ago — the 30-pin Dock connector has been dead longer than many would realize. And if rumors are true, Apple could be going port-free with a future iPhone anyway.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

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.