iPhone 15 USB-C port may support Thunderbolt

Apple is rumored to announce iPhone 15 next month. At this point, multiple sources agree that the new phones will all be equipped with a USB-C port instead of Lightning. It’s no secret that USB-C has a bunch of advantages over Apple’s proprietary connector, but more than that, it seems that iPhone 15 will have Thunderbolt support.

iPhone 15 to get Thunderbolt support

Earlier this month, @lipilipsi shared alleged images of USB-C connectors made for the new iPhone 15 models. What we didn’t know is that these leaked connectors have a secret. According to ChargerLAB, which received exclusive images of the USB-C connectors made for iPhone 15, the new phones will support Thunderbolt technology.

For those unfamiliar, Thunderbolt is a hardware interface developed by Intel in partnership with Apple to transmit data at fast speeds. The current version of Thunderbolt works through the USB-C connector and is present in a lot of Apple devices, such as Macs and the iPad Pro.

And iPhone 15 may be the next device to get Thunderbolt support, at least based on ChargerLAB’s findings. The website noted that leaked iPhone 15 components feature a mysterious Retimer chip. This chip is commonly used to reconstruct signals and reduce signal jitter in Thunderbolt devices.

In other words, iPhone 15 USB-C connector will be able to transmit data at much higher speeds than the Lightning connector is capable of. For instance, the Lightning connector is based on USB 2.0, which transmits up to 480 Mbps. Typical USB-C connectors transmit between 5 Gbps and 10 Gbps of data. When it comes to Thunderbolt, data transfer speeds jump to 40 Gbps.

This brings a lot of benefits to users, especially for professionals who need to quickly transfer ProRes videos to a computer (which currently takes a lot of time because of Lightning). The technology can also deliver more power, so users can recharge their phone in less time.

iPhone 15 USB-C port may support Thunderbolt for faster data transfer speeds

Hold your expectations

It’s unclear at this point whether every iPhone 15 model will have Thunderbolt or only the Pro models. With the iPad lineup, Apple limits Thunderbolt to iPad Pro, while iPad Air has a USB-C 3.1 connector and iPad 10 has a really slow USB-C 2.0 connector.

Despite ChargerLAB claiming that the connector looks to be the same for all new models, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Thunderbolt is an exclusive feature for iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max.

While we certainly have a lot of questions about iPhone 15, it won’t be long before Apple answers them. The company is rumored to hold a special event to announce the new iPhones in the third week of September. That means we’re less than a month away from the official announcement of the iPhone 15 lineup.

Are you excited about the possibility of having Thunderbolt on an iPhone? Let us know in the comments section below.