iPhone 12: I had high hopes for a return to USB-C, but MagSafe has arrived

I very much hoped that the iPhone 12 would move to a universal port which is already everywhere. Instead, he swapped one proprietary format for another. IPhone 12 didn’t get USB-C to Apple October Event. (Here’s how buy all four Apple models 12.) Instead, he kept Lightning and added a new one MagSafe connector.

I was impressed with MagSafe on the iPhone 12 Pro so far. But I’m also starting to accept that USB-C on the iPhone is never going to happen. And the two shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.

Read more: IPhone 12 brings us closer to Apple’s portless future

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Forget USB-C on an iPhone

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Lightning has been around since iPhone 5 in 2012, when it debuted as a replacement for the older 30 pin charger that had been around since the iPod. Lightning had its advantages ten years ago: it was small and allowed for faster data transfer. But we’ve been living in the USB-C age for years now. Lightning looks old in comparison.

Apple’s new MagSafe charging connection looks like an improvement on standard Qi wireless charging, adding a magnetic handshake similar to how the Apple Watch charges. The charge could be more reliable. But also, you will need a brand new charging cable, and the MagSafe compatible iPhone cases to go with them.

Read more: IPhone 12 drop test result available: ceramic shield is as tough as it looks

But why is there still a Lightning port? Why not be brave and switch to USB-C too?

Apple’s iPad line has already started to switch to USB-C: the iPad Pro first, now the ipad air this year. MacBooks have all upgraded to USB-C / Thunderbolt 3. I can charge a iPad Pro, Macbook Pro, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia controller and Oculus Quest 2 all from common charging cables. And then Lightning for the rest.

Lightning is now a weird legacy port, and it’s even stranger that Apple is putting a USB-C-to-Lightning charging cable into the iPhone 12 box. This lets you find or buy a brick of. USB-C charge that you plug your Lightning cable into. It’s like a tease. Seriously, why not switch entirely to USB-C?

And now that Apple doesn’t include a charging brick in the box, and the USB-C tip cable doesn’t fit into your old iPhone and iPad power adapters, what are the chances that a lot of people end up? to buy a MagSafe charger and a new case with their iPhone 12?

Right now there’s a power strip on my home office dotted with all the bricks and cords I need to charge all my random devices. I see a ton of laptop-specific chargers, but for everything else it’s almost all USB-C. Everything, except for the iPhone and the few other Apple devices that still use Lightning.

I hate dongles. And I don’t like proprietary charging cables any more. At least one could have been eliminated on future iPhones. Instead, I could add another one.

I don’t think I need to explain why USB-C should be on the iPhone. Because all other phones use it. Because half of Apple’s devices do it, more or less? And also, it would allow a more seamless flow of accessories and dongles for the iPhone and iPad Pro and other products that I use. Of course, I can do a lot of these things with Lightning and a dongle: I could output to a TV with HDMI, or use a microSD card to read data from the camera. But even so, USB-C would be so much nicer.

Of course, you can have all of those Lightning accessories that you might need to replace. We do not care? Unlike the 30-pin evolution to Lightning, which involved two waves of proprietary ports and accessories, USB-C ignores all of this. And, again, here’s the good news: Apple has already taken the plunge. Or, made the trip halfway.

So the iPhone 12 didn’t have USB-C. Now I wonder if that ever happens at all. But seriously: Apple, don’t forget it. Don’t go portless and merge it all into a slab without port as everyone expects, using MagSafe as the only charging method. No please. If the iPhone is an everyday computer, it would be extremely useful for it to have an everyday port – a small one, already well used and accepted.