Which is superior: USB-C or Lightning?

The key question is, what are the main differences between USB-C and Lightning connectors. Apple basically admitted that the Lightning connector is obsolete by inserting a USB-C port on iPad tablets, and today we expect the iPhone 15 series to appear with a new connector, primarily due to EU pressure.

Lightning is a much older standard

Lightning is an older form of connection compared to USB-C, and the first product with support for Lightning – iPhone 5, was presented back in September 2012, writes Trusted Reviews. It caused quite a stir, replacing the 30-pin connector that Apple had used on most of its products since their inception. However, Apple fans eagerly welcomed the new, smaller, more powerful and symmetrical Lightning port.

On the other hand, USB-C was first revealed in late 2014, and the connector appeared in early 2015. Meanwhile, USB-C has taken the tech industry by storm and established itself as in fact standard on phones, tablets, headphones and all other peripherals.

Lightning is an Apple exclusive

If there's one thing we can say for sure, it's that you won't find any device with a Lightning port that isn't Apple or made for Apple devices. That's because Apple Lightning technology was designed by the company itself and was reluctant to share it with the tech community in the years after its release.

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USB-C, on the other hand, is an open standard, which made it widely accepted, so that today it has become increasingly difficult to find a modern device without it.

USB-C has better data transfer speeds

USB-C definitely has the upper hand when it comes to data transfer speeds, with USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 starting at 5 Gbps, all the way up to a whopping 80 Gbps on the latest USB4 V2 connections. Those speeds allow you to quickly and easily transfer large amounts of data to and from your phone.

Even if you do a specific job or use your phone to shoot high-resolution RAW photos and videos, USB-C will save you a lot of time. Although for many the speed of data transfer from and to the phone does not play a key role, when you need to transfer data to a new phone or do a backup of an old one, remember how good it is to have a modern connector.