Lightning · 2012
Lightning
Apple's reversible 8-pin connector, 2012–2023. USB 2.0 speed on almost every device.
- data: 480 Mbps (USB 2.0)
- video: via adapter only
- power: about 20–27 W with USB PD
Spec card
- Contacts
- 8 on each side of the plug
- Data
- USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s) on iPhones; USB 3 on the first iPad Pro
- Charging
- USB PD fast charge via USB-C to Lightning cable (iPhone 8 and later)
- Video
- Lightning Digital AV Adapter, up to 1080p
- Replaced by
- USB-C (iPhone 15 in 2023; iPads from 2018–2022)
- Certification
- Apple MFi; uncertified cables may stop working after updates
Also sold as Apple Lightning8-pin
The cable you need
An MFi-certified USB-C to Lightning cable. It fast-charges with a USB PD charger of 20 W or more.
Watch out for
- USB-A to Lightning cables can't fast-charge.
- Non-MFi cables may trigger "accessory not supported" warnings.
Lightning arrived with the iPhone 5 in 2012. It's small, reversible and sturdy, but on iPhones it only ever carried USB 2.0 data, 480 Mbps, the same as the 30-pin dock connector before it. Moving a long 4K video off a Lightning iPhone by cable is slow, which is one reason AirDrop became the default.
For charging, the cable matters. A USB-A to Lightning cable is limited to 5 V and about 12 W. A USB-C to Lightning cable on a USB PD charger of 20 W or more fast-charges iPhone 8 and later to about 50% in around half an hour.
Apple moved iPhones to USB-C with the iPhone 15 in 2023, and EU rules now require USB-C on new phones sold there.