What USB-C meant for the iPhone
Before Lightning, iPhones used a wide 30-pin dock connector that dated to the iPod. Apple replaced it with the smaller, reversible Lightning connector with the iPhone 5 in 2012. Lightning stayed on the iPhone for 11 years.
USB-C, meanwhile, spread across laptops, tablets and Android phones. Apple had already moved the Mac and most iPads to the port, which left the iPhone as the notable holdout.
The final push came from regulation. In 2022 the European Union adopted rules requiring a common charging port for many portable electronics sold in the bloc, which applied to phones from December 28, 2024. Apple said it would comply, and it introduced USB-C on the iPhone 15 family in September 2023.