Andrew O'Hara
Apple is now allowing manufacturers to produce their own fast-charging USB-C to Lightning cables, with releases for consumers possible as early as February according to documentation from socket part suppliers.
Eligible manufacturers that are apart of Apple's Made for iPhone program were notified at the end of November about the changes, with the required Lightning connectors now available to order. Compared to the standard USB-A Lightning cables, the new USB-C Lightning cables require a new Lightning connector, likely due to the faster 18W fast charging that they support.
Manufacturers can purchase the updated C94 Lightning Connector from Apple for $2.88 a pop, with six weeks as the estimated shipping time. That means the earliest cables could hit the market would be February.
Popular third-party accessory makers will likely be racing to be the first to market. We should see offerings from many known cable makers such as Nomad, Anker, Audrey, Native Union, and Belkin, though none have confirmed their plans as of yet.
Some manufacturers were notified earlier this year about Apple's plans to introduce third-party USB-C Lightning cables. Until Tuesday's information, though, it wasn't clear when they would actually be able to do so.
To date, anyone looking to take advantage of fast charging on the iPhone — or quicker charging on their iPads — needed to use Apple's USB-C Lightning cables. Apple charges $19 for a meter-long cable and $35 for the two meter.
The leaked MFi documentation was provided to MacRumors by Hong Kong site ChargeLab.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
5 Comments
As with many things Apple, this took longer than it should have, but its great news for consumers.
I've been told that fast charging reduced the lifespan of the battery.
Any thoughts?
That seems like a very long lead time. Is Apple manufacturing those connectors only to order? It's also surprising that they can be purchased in quantities in as low as 20 units? What cable manufacturer would only need 20 units or even 200 units?
4 years after the first Mac with USB-C was released?
Tim Cook doesn’t care about Mac people.