I want an iPhone with USB-C. Now there are signs Apple does, too - CNET

Commentary: Apple's praise for USB-C and its use in the new iPad Mini could be steps toward moving the iPhone ecosystem off Apple's proprietary Lightning port.

I like my iPhone, but I'd really like it if it came with a USB-C port.

It wasn't any surprise when Apple introduced the iPhone 13 on Tuesday with the same old Lightning port the company has used since 2012.

And there's a growing ecosystem of USB-C accessories, including hubs, docking stations, keyboards, flash drives and memory card readers.

Apple has more or less stuck with Lightning, a proprietary product, for its mobile devices, though its top-end iPad Pro got USB-C in 2018 and the midrange iPad Air got the technology in 2020.

At its event this week, the iPad Mini got a USB-C port, making the device more powerful and flexible.

It'll be harder to switch iPhones to USB-C because so many phones and Lightning chargers are already in use, but it increasingly looks like Apple is preparing its formidably large customer base and product ecosystem to make the leap.

Lightning was a fine replacement for the iPhone's older and bulky 30-pin connector, but now USB-C is a much better alternative.

Katie MacDonald, an iPad product manager, said Tuesday that the iPad Mini's USB-C connector is 10 times faster than Lightning and can "connect to a vast ecosystem of USB-C accessories." That's great for everyone from amateur photographers to medical personnel scanning patients with Butterfly portable ultrasound scanners.

If you're filling your $1,599 iPhone 13 Pro Max's 1TB of storage with high-end ProRes video, you might appreciate a faster technology than Lightning to transfer your data.

And if Apple signs up cinematographer Greig Fraser for another iPhone endorsement, he won't have to use that awkward Lightning dongle on a USB-C iPhone.

An iPad Mini's USB-C connection lets it connect directly to a camera.