USB-C for Lightning iPhones
110 comments
·July 27, 2025seltzered_
MostlyStable
So this comment made me go looking, and there _is_ a case that adds headphone jacks back to iphones, but literally not a single one for any model of android phone. I guess they figure that the people who care enough to buy such a case will go out and buy one of the dwindling number of android phones that still have such a jack.
seltzered_
The divide generally is that android phones with headphone jacks as of 2025 generally dont have 5G ultrawideband support* . And there are some split-out dangles which offer a jack and usb-c, but they've sorta had annoying quirks in my experience (the CableCreation one is less terrible in my experience). One could design a case around one of these dangles, though it's add some bulk and the dangle quirks mean you sometimes need to disconnect it from the phone.
* - supposedly the Sony xperia pro (2020) might be the rare exception to this rule.
alias_neo
The don't always seem to work either. My wife asked for one of the little USB-C to 3.5mm adapters of which I had a few from various Android phones over the years, and one from an iPhone and she couldn't get them to work on her Samsung Galaxy S21, I ended up buying hear some bluetooth earbuds (yes, she could have done it herself but she trusts my judgement on selecting these sorts of things).
ChrisMarshallNY
Apple devices have a much smaller variance in shape. It’s a lot easier for case designers to develop for Apple. Android devices have a lot of variety.
That said, I have seen some fairly cool cases for Android devices, so I assume that some case companies support just the big sellers.
pydry
This is probably as much of a reflection of the market size and lack of device fragmentation for the apple ecosystem than demand.
It's similarly easier to buy a wide range of different case designs for apple.
frollogaston
If this case had a jack that worked reliably, I'd totally buy it. It's just that every other adapter I've used has somehow had occasional hiccups where the phone plays via speakers instead.
nabwodahs
The best Lightning audio adapter is Apple's Lightning-to-30-pin-iPod adapter. It provides line-level audio out, as the 30-pin port always did. So you don't have to dick around with two volume levels; it's fixed coming out of the phone, and you only adjust your amp.
I built one into a dock in my car that charged the phone and delivered audio to my car radio.
dcrazy
There’s no analogue audio over Lightning, so if the 30-pin adapter is disabling volume level on the phone, it’s just picking a fixed gain for its internal DAC—perhaps because the DAC is only good within a certain gain range. The Apple USB-C to 3.5mm adapters are widely regarded as having excellent DACs irrespective of their size and price. I’m not as familiar with the reputation of the Lightning to 3.5mm adapters, but I would consider the ability to configure the DAC volume an indicator of superior quality DAC compared to the 30-pin adapter.
crenwick
This is also the case with Apple wired usbc headphones. Probably the phone software and not the adapter.
Reminds me of when Android phones used to do the same with analog audio jacks.
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pinoy420
[dead]
nabwodahs
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colinprince
His video is great
bacon_waffle
Thanks for the link - PCBWay recently offered me sponsorship, and this video has provided some good inspiration to make use of it :)
saagarjha
For a moment I thought this would be https://twitter.com/David3141593/status/1548314959943122945
Brajeshwar
For those not going for this one, should get a bunch of USB-C to Lightning adapter. I bought a few packs and they are all over the house, the car, tech pouch, etc. I stopped caring about Lightning cables. Lighting pins are going to be needed for a pretty long time. The TV Remote is going to be there for quite a while, the mice, the keyboard.
rahulbisht
The USB‑C connector sticking out feels a bit odd. We can explore to move the port at the bottom, make it horizontal and add a cut‑out in the case for the cable to fit in. That would make the cover more natural and clean.
p_ing
This only gives you USB 2.0 speeds. If that's not a concern, then this is a good upgrade.
colejohnson66
Lightning only ever supported USB 2.0. Theoretically, the free serial pins could’ve been used for the SuperSpeed 3.0 pins, but Apple never did.
brigade
They supported superspeed for the lightning iPad pros by doubling the number of pins (top and bottom rows)
Only the lightning to usb3 camera adapter used them
ThatPlayer
I think it's also notable that the iPad Pro never supported usb 3 client either. The iPad Pro had a separate USB3 host controller, and so only supported that camera adapter. There was never a USB-A (or C) 3.0 to Lightning cable.
colejohnson66
I stand corrected.
delfinom
I would assume the vast majority of people aren't doing anything serious with their USB ports on a phone....
xp84
It did take 8 hours to do a migration of data from my wife's 256GB iPhone 14 (lightning) to her iPhone 15 Pro this year, so that's at least one "serious" thing. I am so glad to be rid of that cursed Lightning port. Now I just have to come up with a good excuse to replace the younger child's tablet, despite it working fine. It is so frustrating to have to maintain special charging cables just for certain devices especially when you know it was a deliberate and cynical choice by the vendor. Thank goodness for the EU forcing this matter.
ggreer
Taking eight hours to migrate the data is almost certainly a software issue. Assuming the phone is completely full, transferring 256GB over USB 2.0 (480Mbit/sec, or 60MB/sec) should take about an hour and 15 minutes.
sgarland
IMO, Lightning was a better physical connector. But a near-universal standard is better.
tamimio
Use landrop, been some times since I used wires to transfer data.
brookst
The EU did not force the matter. They trotted out in front of the parade and pretended to lead it.
Apple switched a year before required, and not coincidentally, ten years after promising that Lightning would be the connector “for the next decade” so as to reduce fears from those who were angry about being “forced” to replace their 30-pin peripherals.
I don’t know why tech enthusiasts tend toward conspiratorial thinking, but certainly if Apple had obsoleted Lightning after only 8 years, many of these same people would be professing outrage and demanding class action lawsuits over such a greedy deceit.
makeitdouble
IMHO it is a learned habit that will change as limitations are lifted.
Plugging a SD card reader to one's phone instead of pulling out the laptop to push the images to the cloud for instance. You do it once, and will be immediately convince of the advantages.
frollogaston
I'm not doing anything serious with it, but photo/video transfer takes annoyingly long
scarface_74
I have a portable external monitor with two USB C ports. It can get power and video from one USB port.
I can plug it up to my iPhone 16 Pro Max using the same standard USB cord. With a phone, it can only power the display up to 50% brightness by itself. If I plug power into the second USB C port, it will show the display up to 100% and charge my phone.
Having USB C also means I can use a standard USB C to HDMI cord for TVs and use the same cord for my computer. Not to mention all of the other standard USB protocols like audio, mass storage, Ethernet, etc. that just work.
ThatPlayer
It's also funny that the Lightning to HDMI adapters had to add hardware to decode a compressed video stream from the Lightning port.
It's basically a wired AirPlay adapter. That's why they cost so much.
BobbyTables2
How does he have so much equipment? That’s way beyond a hobbyist!
LeonM
Either he had some money available, or he just financed. It's not that hard to get a small business loan/financing for this kind of equipment.
I don't know how many he sold, what his production capacity is, and what margin he makes, but I recon he could definitely make his investments work from the sales of the cases alone. And even if it does not, then there are also future products that this equipment enables. So a good investment if you ask me.
ProllyInfamous
I've worked in a few hardware tech startups (early phases underling) and his pick'n'place is nicer than many multimillion dollar companies'.
aaronblohowiak
Is that an open source opulo? You could get one for 2k
aaronblohowiak
Oops, saw he upgraded to a big boy unit at end of video
Retr0id
There's your answer, it's beyond his hobby.
Aurornis
Where are you seeing that? The link currently takes me to a purchase page that only has product photos.
mog_dev
Probably from his yt channel: https://youtu.be/KUXQzVD1TdI?si=0TBoFhb9BUlPxZZ-&t=744
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chromatin
I actually want lightning for my USB-C phone :/
K7PJP
For what purpose? There are USB-C to Lightning adapters if you were using some specialized Lightning device you couldn't or didn't want to replace.
bigyikes
I love my USB-C iPhone but Lightning was smaller and easier to plug in.
Modified3019
From my experience using various (work provided) devices in outdoors agriculture use, I consider the lightning connector/port less prone to failure as well. If something was to break (from torque), it seems like the tab on the cable should snap or the cable just pull out before catastrophic damage to the port can occur.
Though I still had to replace cables because the cable itself developed a break somewhere, even with one that had proper stress relief at the ends.
Meanwhile most of the USB C ports on my Lenovo laptop from 2022 are barely working because somewhere along the line either the soldering broke or the port got too loose. Possibly from too much torque but I’m not sure. So the cable has to be at just the right angle. I’ve also done some android phone battery/screen replacement for friends, and had to do a few USB-C ports when it was possible due to the same sort of thing.
However all that is pretty much moot now, thanks to wireless charging and magnetic attachment docks. As such the only time I connect a cable anymore is monthly for cleaning out photos and other data. Previously I’d be connecting cables several times a day to charge in between fields as the battery went to shit. Honestly the “MagSafe” concept is the only change I’ve seen to smart phones in the past decade that I actually really like.
floxy
Does anyone have reliability data for USB-C ports? It seems to me like Lightning is more robust to repeated plug/unplug cycles. But this is only on my limited sample size of one laptop with a failed USB-C port and some vague hand waving.
cactusplant7374
It is more satisfying to plug in a lightning cable. I know it sounds crazy. I can’t explain it.
I don’t care about charging speeds or data transfer speeds. When it is done, it’s done. Until then I will find something else to do or use it while charging.
zevon
That's not crazy at all. If you look at a male lightning connector, you can see detents at the sides that snap into a (spring-loaded) retaining mechanism on the female side. USB-C doesn't have anything like that which results in less tactile satisfaction.
SchemaLoad
Lightning plugs in with a pretty hefty thunk. While USB-C is a light click.
esseph
You just want what, magnetic connectorized charging?
dylan604
because you still need a cable with a lightning end in your spaghetti of cables in a drawer somewhere. if all of your devices had USBC on both ends, then you don't need the one cable with the special adapter. you just need USBC cables. this isn't rocket science, and it's not a hard position to be sympathetic with either.
toast0
Having everything be usbc makes sense.
Having everything be lightning makes sense too, but is infeasible. Lightning was never going to be good for almost all devices, like usb mini-b, micro-b, and now usb-c have managed to get to.
frollogaston
Adapter might not fit, or is annoying even if it does
KennyBlanken
The Lightning connector is superior for everyday use. It's exeptionally reliable, tolerant of debris, and difficult to damage. It was designed to last, unlike every single USB device port ever made, which was designed to fail so you'd need to replace the cable and device eventually. MiniUSB, MicroUSB, and USB-C. It's all trash.
Lightning has a perfect mechanical design. The pins phone-side are nearly possible to damage because they're well supported and only poke out in a bump shape that can't hook on anything. The cable side is the same way - no pins to catch on anything. The port is easy to clean out. The cable end is trivial to clean. The retention mechanism doesn't rely on anything that can wear out or break.
Meanwhile the USB-C connector puts a fucking thin wedge of plastic in the middle of the connector and even worse, there are pins around that center thin wedge and they're easily broken/damaged because they have no protection whatsoever and poor mechanical support. Oh, and the retention mechanism sucks just like it has in every
The USB-C port on my airpods is contactly getting fucked up while once in a blue moon I need to tick a toothpick in and rummage around a little to get some lint out of my phone's Lightning plug, and it's good for a couple more months...and that thing lives in my pocket, whereas the Airpod case spends most of its life sitting around on tables.
It's also a substantial plus that Apple tightly controls the cable spec. Just go look at the pages where people document USB-C cables that are so shitty they'll destroy the electronics in one or both devices.
tamimio
I would take fast speed like USB 3 in lightning form than USB-C, it’s solid design, just needs some speed boost.
vachina
Haha, 50 Swiss franc for what the Chinese can do for 10CNY. Yeah nah.
Workaccount2
What sucks (or is awesome) is that if this gets popular, it will certainly show up on Alibaba in the next few weeks and Amazon a few weeks after that.
It will be a nicer material while much cheaper too.
zevon
The material thing is debatable. 3D printed Polyamide - possibly with a fibre filler - is really nice for phone cases, in my opinion. The surface texture is grippy, it's quite durable (and I like the look).
vachina
There are already charging cases that is a little thicker, that offers usb c input.
rckt
What is the point of this? I'm not questioning the engineering part. This guy is amazing. I just don't understand the issue with iPhones' lightning port. Is there a shortage of lightning cables in the world?
pimterry
It's just _ridiculously_ useful having every single device you own work with the same charger. It's not the end of the world, but not even having to think about chargers has been a gamechanger.
rf15
Saving up on actual cables you carry around - you always have that one extra iphone cable, while everyone else is on USB-C for years now.
DrNosferatu
Killer feature would be also a 3.5mm earphone jack.
Ugh, this just needed a headphone jack to be perfect.
(Relatedly, back in 2017 eric migicovsky of pebble tried to make a usb-c iPhone case that also charged airpods: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/581404323/podcase-batte... )