What’s happened? Swiss engineer Ken Pillonel has created an iPhone case which brings USB-C connectivity to older iPhones with Lightning ports. As well as providing fast charging (9V), data transfers and Apple CarPlay compatibility, the case also supports wireless and MagSafe charging.
This is important because: Pillonel says “the goal is to give some extra life to those older devices by making them feel less obsolete.” It means owners of older iPhones can potentially eke out a few more years of use with their current handset thanks to the convenience of the industry-standard USB-C port.
- There are cases for 20 models of Lightning port iPhone, from the iPhone XR and iPhone XS which launched back in 2018, right up to the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max from 2022.
- Wireless and MagSafe charging are supported for iPhones with those features.
- The case doesn’t support every Lightning port feature though. You won’t be able to power external devices (such as wired audio devices, external storage or displays) via the USB-C case. You’ll need to remove your iPhone from the case and use the Lightning port for these functions.
Why should I care? If you’re still rocking an iPhone from 2022 or earlier, you may have already faced some frustrations with the Lightning port residing on the base of your handset. The connection has lost out to USB-C, which is now the industry standard. Even Apple is using it on all of its new devices.
- With the USB-C port located in the bottom right corner of the case, it means the charging cable doesn’t get in the way when holding the phone landscape – perfect for mobile gaming and movie marathons.
- More colors will be available in September, including pink, blue, green and white
- For an additional 1 CHF (Swiss Franc, ~$1.50) you can add a lanyard loop to the case. Perfect if you’re one of those cool kids who likes to hang their iPhone round their neck.
Okay, what’s next? You can order the iPh0n3 USB-C case from the Obsoless store today for 49.90 CHF (~$63), with shipping to the US costing less than $10.
- At the time of writing, stock was very limited to just a few iPhone models (the iPhone 14 series and the 13 Mini).
- The first two batches sold out quickly, with the third batch expected mid-September.
- Signing up for stock alerts will ensure you don’t miss restocking, plus models with the most sign ups will get priority.
