Thanks to new EU regulations coming into effect next year, Apple has no choice but to finally adopt the USB-C connector for its iPhones. Now a new component appears to be coming into play. According to a rumor from China, Apple plans to use a custom IC (Integrated Circuit) interface for the iPhone 15’s USB-C port. This will allow the smartphone to authenticate the devices involved in the connection.
Apple did exactly the same thing with its Lightning port. There is an authentication process built into the Lightning interface that displays “This accessory is not supported” warnings. This always happens when you use accessories that are neither made by Apple nor part of the “Made for iPhone” licensed program. An extremely lucrative side business for Apple.
So far, however, these are only rumours. It’s also worth noting that none of Apple’s mobile devices that already use USB-C have such limitations. These include the current Apple iPads and the MacBooks from the Californians. It remains to be seen whether this will also be the case in the future. It’s also unclear whether the IC chip would really have a bigger impact on the functionality of non-Apple and non-MFi accessories. Apple may restrict certain features, such as the charging speed and high-speed data transfer, to licensed accessories.
It is unlikely that third-party accessories wouldn’t work at all. The EU would most likely intervene in such a scenario. Earlier rumors about iPhone USB-C limitations assumed that only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max would get fast charging and data transfer rates. The base models would be limited to USB 2.0 speeds. This would keep them on the same level as with the previous Lightning ports.
