According to a rumor shared on Weibo, the iPhone 15 and ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro’s USB-C port and accompanying charging cables will feature a Lightning-like authentication chip, potentially limiting their functionality with accessories not approved by Apple. The rumor claims that Apple has developed its own USB-C variant for this year’s “iPhone 15” series and comes from a user who claims to be an integrated circuit expert with 25 years of experience working with Intel Pentium processors.

Integrated circuit (IC) interfaces are semiconductor chips used to control and manage information exchange between devices. Since its launch in 2012, the first manufacturer-certified and MFi-certified Lightning ports and connectors contain a small chip that certifies the authenticity of the parts included in the connection. For example, third-party charging cables that are not MFi certified do not have this chip, which often results in “This accessory is not supported” warnings on connected Apple devices.

Rumors suggest that Apple is developing a similar proprietary chip for the USB-C ports and possibly charging cables on the “iPhone 15” and “iPhone 15” Pro. Alongside the ‌iPhone 15‌ lineup, the new chip is apparently designed for new MFi-certified peripherals.

It’s worth noting that the USB-C interface currently used by Apple on the 10th generation iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro does not include an authentication IC, meaning it will be the first port of its kind offered by the company. .

It’s unclear whether this addition will have major implications for the functionality of the new devices, but there is a possibility that Apple will limit features such as fast charging and high-speed data transfer to Apple and MFi certified cables.

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the USB-C port on the “iPhone 15” and “iPhone 15” Plus will be limited to USB 2.0 speeds, just like Lightning. Only the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max models will apparently have a higher charging speed.