According to rumors circulating on the Weibo social network, the USB-C port on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro smartphones and their charging cables will have a special chip. That’s why Apple wants to certify related accessories, similar to how it’s now regulated with Lightning. This means that not all USB-C cables will be suitable for the iPhone 15, while uncertified ones will not work with future smartphones or will be limited in capacity.

Apple is said to be developing its own USB-C variant for the iPhone 15 series. This information comes from a user claiming to be an integrated circuit expert with 25 years of experience working with Intel Pentium processors. Integrated circuit (IC) interfaces are microcircuits used to control information exchange between devices. Since the launch of Lightning in 2012, certified product (MFi) ports and connectors contain a special chip that validates the purpose. If you connect an unapproved cable without this chip, the user will see a warning that this accessory is not supported on Apple devices.

The chip is an authenticator that forces users to buy genuine or certified products. At the same time, Apple itself profits from the sale of third-party accessories. The company explains this by fighting counterfeit and potentially dangerous devices.

It is worth noting that the USB-C interface that Apple currently uses in the 10th generation iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air and iPad Pro does not contain any chips. For iPhone, everything will be different.

It is not yet clear whether such a decision will affect the functionality of the new devices, but it is possible that Apple will restrict features such as fast charging and high-speed data transfer in the case of using uncertified cables. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the USB-C port on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will provide USB 2.0-level speeds (like Lightning). Only the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max models will have higher speeds. Therefore, the only significant difference between Lightning and USB-C in standard smartphone models will be only in the form of connectors.

The information seems plausible as it reflects the company’s desire to level devices. For example, the 10th generation iPad and iPad Pro have USB-C, but the former is limited to USB 2.0 speeds (up to 480 Mbps), while the latter supports the Thunderbolt standard (up to 40 Gbps).