USB-C has been around since 2014, but if you have ever owned an iPhone or are heavily invested in the iOS ecosystem, you'll know Apple has yet to make an iPhone that uses USB-C charging. If you ever wondered what an iPhone would look like with USB-C, someone has finally created one.
Ken Pillonel, a robotics engineering student, uploaded a video on YouTube (spotted first by Apple Insider). He showed off a modded iPhone X he used, which swaps out the Lightning port with USB-C. Pillonel claims that the modded iPhone not only supports USB-C charging but is capable of handling data transfers through a USB-C cable.
This was not the first time Pillonel attempted to make a USB-C iPhone. In May, he created a prototype, but it only allowed the iPhone's battery to be charged over the USB-C port as the PCB board did not fit and would compromise the smartphone's functionality. To ensure the proof of concept worked, Pillonel notes that he had to create his own PCB design by reverse-engineering Apple's custom C94 connector.
Although the video is brief and does not detail how he modded his iPhone to include a USB-C port, Pillonel notes that he is currently editing a full video that explains how he managed to create it. Though he does not confirm nor deny whether or not he will share information on the custom PCB he made.
News of the first iPhone with USB-C support comes just a few weeks after the European Commission announced plans to force electronic companies to adopt USB-C as the universal charger. It's a standard that would impact Apple in particular, which has used Lightning ports in its smartphones since 2012, starting with the iPhone 5.
While Apple has not responded on how it will address this new EU standard, the company could either create an iPhone that features a USB-C port or make an iPhone that solely relies on wireless charging. This would not be too far out of reach, as the company introduced MagSafe into its iPhones in 2020, yet it is important to remember that Apple's smartphones have supported wireless Qi standard charging since 2017.
Thumbnail image by Mohssen Assanimoghaddam/picture alliance via Getty Images.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.