For more than a decade, the title of the most innovative brand in the world has been given to Apple. However, there are, dissenting voices about the innovation of Apple, for example, The proprietary Lightning connector of it on iPhones & some other devices.
Two kinds of charging cables are primarily used in the market right now: Lightning and USB-C. This still causes inconveniences for the customers. The EU lawmakers are pushing once again currently to make every mobile device use Universal charging cables.
Is USB-C faster than Lightning? A full comparison
Cost
With the “security chip” manufactured by Apple, 1 certified cable of Lightning costs usually more than most of the other charging cables. It includes the latest type of cables USB, Type-C which has the minimum 3A current. The chip inside each cable Lightning is the identifier which tells users whether the cable has got a certification or not. And, of course, the chip isn’t free.
The MFi-certified ones can be expected to be costlier because of the higher quality level of them & licence from Apple. By any chance, if the users find a few very cheap cables of Lightning, chances will be that they aren’t verified.
Data transfer
Lightning cables can transfer data at the speed of USB 2.0, which is 480Mbps/60MBps. On the other hand, USB-C can handle the speed of USB 3.0 and the transfer speed is fast at 5Gbps/640MBps or 10Gbps. USB-C’s superset, Thunderbolt 3, is capable of providing 40Gbps. As these numbers indicate, USB-C includes a massive advantage of speed over Lightning.
No one knows exactly how much speed can be handled by Lightning as Apple does not release all specifications. Surprisingly, there has not been any update on the Lightning cable standards in over 8 years.
Usually, users do not transfer big files of data via smartphones or other devices. Also, the users do not need to use cables for transferring data. Accessing data through the servers of the cloud or wireless transfers is more common these days.
Compatibility
Although it is not a universal standard officially, most modern devices like windows PCs and Android smartphones support USB-3. The current Mac computers of Apple also include Thunderbolt or USB-3 ports. Users will also find the support of USB-C across next-gen consoles such as the Xbox series x, PS5 and Nintendo switch.
But the compatibility of Lightning is limited because it is explosive to the products of Apple. The exceptions are iPad pros of 3rd generation & later, all iPads and iPhones that are released since 2012, are capable of using a Lightning connection. For connecting the iPad or iPhone of yours to chargers or other devices, users will need cables that will have at least one connector of Lightning.
We hope these comparisons help users understand the better one among these two for their needs. They should consider all the factors and features and proceed accordingly.