The USB-C iPhone becomes a reality thanks to a robotics engineer

S. Dent@stevetdentOctober 12th, 2021In this post: news, gear, iPhone, port, Apple, Lionel Pillonel, Lightning, hack, USB-CKen Pillonel

The humble USB-C port has been in the information mainly because Europe would like to make it a normal for all mobile equipment to reduce e-squander — and Apple is the only manufacturer even now not employing USB-C for its smartphones. Now, a robotics engineering college student has proved that its doable to exchange the iPhone’s Lightning connector with a USB-C port, Apple Insider has documented. 

On his YouTube channel, EFPL master’s student Ken Pillonel teased an iPhone X with a USB-C port, promising a entire video later on on how it was carried out. In an earlier weblog article and movie, he spelled out how he reverse-engineered the Lightning connector, then built a prototype PCB connector to verify the thought. 

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Pillonel learned that Apple sells a Lightning connector with an built-in circuit (IC), identified as C94, to qualified partners that establish USB-C to Lightning cables. He managed to get just one out of a third-occasion cable, then clear away the metallic aspect and expose the PCB. With that done, he pulled the woman Lightning port from an iPhone and soldered wires from the bare C94 board to a PCB with USB-C connectors. “The moment that was completed I experienced my 1st functioning prototype,” he stated. “Lightning is long gone and only USB-C is still left.”

The upcoming step was to “entirely reverse engineer the C94” board so that everything can be shrunk down to suit into a phone, he reported. That component has seemingly been performed, judging by the online video above, and will be totally defined in a 2nd movie.

An iPhone with a USB-C port is the desire for several buyers, as it would allow for more rapidly PD charging and the use of normal, non-proprietary cables. It’s also clearly feasible for Apple, given that the iPad Pro has a USB-C port. Europe has proposed a rule that would require USB-C charging for all telephones and electronic devices, with the purpose of lowering e-waste and consumer inconvenience. 

It is not crystal clear if this has been performed just before, but most people shouldn’t consider a venture like this at property. Pillonel has an electronics history and is performing on a Master’s diploma in Robotics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). That’s with out mentioning that it would certainly void your iPhone’s guarantee.

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