Only USB-C cables and MFi-certified power adapters will quickly charge your iPhone 15. Your Lightning cables and USB-A chargers won’t work with the new phone at all.
- What’s happening? It looks like you’ll need to purchase certified cables and chargers to enjoy faster charging and data transfer speeds on the iPhone 15 family.
- Why care? Existing Lightning cables and USB-A chargers won’t work with future USB-C iPhones, so you’ll have to purchase new ones.
- What to do? Get ready for your next iPhone with 65-100W USB-C PD multi-port chargers from Ugreen and other vendors like Anker, Belkin, Satechi, and more.
iPhone 15 will need MFi cables for fast charging
Apple is expected to ditch Lightning in favor of USB-C in its next iPhone – not because it thinks USB-C is better in terms of compatibility, but because of new EU regulations. Leaker ShrimpApplePro has previously reported that USB-C fast charging on the iPhone 15 may be limited to certified cables and chargers.
Authoritative analyst Ming-Chi Kuo confirmed ShrimpApplePro’s claim, saying that the iPhone 15 will support USB-C 3.2 faster data transfer rates and USB-C fast charging, but only when using MFi-certified USB-C cables and chargers.
Cables without MFi will have limited charging speed. By comparison, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus support fast charging up to 20W or 27W on the iPhone 15 Pro.
MFi is Apple’s certification program designed to give customers the confidence that compatible accessories have been tested to be safe for Apple products.
Apple increases orders for 20W chargers
Kuo wrote on Medium that the move to USB-C will create high demand for MFi-compatible chargers, especially since Apple stopped shipping chargers bundled with phones in 2020.
Kuo says Apple increased orders for the 20W USB-C charger by 120 percent in the second and third quarters, just in time for the launch of the iPhone 15. “Among Apple’s 20W USB-C chargers, the 20W USB-C charger is the most economical choice for iPhone. users, leading to strong demand for 20W USB-C chargers,” he writes.
Apple also offers a 30W USB-C charger.
iTech is the main beneficiary of the USB-C transition for the iPhone 15 series and Apple’s significant increase in 20W USB-C charger shipment estimates https://t.co/OpRcgorn9a
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 21, 2023
“Another potential driver of strong replacement demand could be that future iPhone 15 users may purchase more than one 20W Apple USB-C charger to meet the need for additional charging spots,” the analyst continued.
Third party chargers will also work
Of course, customers won’t be limited to Apple chargers, as any third-party USB-C charger will also work. But, as mentioned, only MFi-certified chargers that are compatible with the USB Power Delivery protocol will allow you to quickly charge your iPhone 15.
The regular iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models are also expected to replace Lightning with USB-C, not just their Pro-branded counterparts.
However, USB-C on non-professional models doesn’t appear to deliver full performance – Kuo has previously stated that while the entire iPhone 15 family will use USB-C, only the iPhone 15 Pro will support USB 3.2’s faster transfer rates.
As for their non-professional counterparts, these phones are said to be limited to the lower USB 2.0 data transfer rate (same as Lightning) as the tenth generation iPad.