Only MFi-certified USB-C cables and power adapters will fast charge your iPhone 15. Your Lightning cables and USB-A chargers won’t work at all with the new phone.
- What’s happening? It looks like you’ll need to purchase certified cables and chargers to enjoy faster charging and data speeds on the iPhone 15 family.
- Why care? Your existing Lightning cables and USB-A chargers won’t work with upcoming USB-C iPhones, so you’ll need to purchase new ones.
- What to do? Get ready for the next iPhone with 65W-100W multi-port USB-C PD chargers from Ugreen and other vendors, like Anker, Belkin, Satechi, etc.
iPhone 15 will require MFi cables for fast charging
Apple is expected to ditch Lightning for USB-C in its next iPhone—not because it thinks USB-C is better from a compatibility standpoint but because of the new EU rules. The leaker ShrimpApplePro previously reported that fast-charging via USB-C on the iPhone 15 could be restricted to certified cables and chargers.
Reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has corroborated ShrimpApplePro’s claim, saying the iPhone 15 will support faster USB-C 3.2 data transfer speeds and fast charging via USB-C but only when using MFi-certified USB-C cables and chargers.
Non-MFi cables will have limited charging speeds. By comparison, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus support fast charging up to 20W or 27W on the iPhone 15 Pros.
MFi is Apple’s certification program designed to give customers peace of mind knowing compatible accessories have been verified as safe for Apple products.
Apple bumps orders for 20W chargers
Moving to USB-C will create high demand for MFi-compatible chargers, Kuo wrote on Medium, more so knowing Apple stopped bundling chargers with phones in 2020.
Kuo says Apple has bumped orders for its 20W USB-C charger by 120 percent through the second and third quarters, in time for the iPhone 15. “Among Apple’s chargers, the 20W USB-C model is the most cost-effective choice for iPhone users, resulting in strong replacement demand for 20W USB-C chargers,” he writes.
Apple also offers a 30W USB-C charger.
領益智造為iPhone 15系列改採USB-C與Apple顯著調升20W USB-C充電出貨預估的主要贏家 / LY iTech is the primary beneficiary of the transition to USB-C for the iPhone 15 series and Apple's significant increase in 20W USB-C charger shipment estimationshttps://t.co/OpRcgorn9a
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 21, 2023
“Another potential factor driving the robust replacement demand could be that future iPhone 15 users might purchase more than one Apple 20W USB-C charger to meet the need for more charging locations,” the analyst continued.
Third-party chargers will also work
Of course, customers won’t be limited to Apple’s chargers as any third-party USB-C charger will work, too. But as stated, only MFi-certified chargers compatible with the USB Power Delivery protocol will let you fast-charge your iPhone 15.
The regular iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models are also expected to swap Lightning for USB-C, too, not just their Pro-branded counterparts.
However, USB-C on non-Pro models apparently won’t achieve full performance—Kuo previously claimed that while the entire iPhone 15 family will adopt USB-C, only the iPhone 15 Pros will support faster USB 3.2 data transfer speeds.
As for their non-Pro counterparts, those phones are said to be restricted to slower USB 2.0 data speeds (the same as Lightning), like the tenth-generation iPad.