Some of Apple’s last hold-out accessories have switched from Lightning to USB-C
Just a couple more gadgets and USB-C might really feel universal.
One of the last major hold-outs against USB-C has majorly loosened its grasp. All the accessories that come with Apple’s newest iMac—the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad—ship with USB-C charging and connection ports, rather than the Lightning ports they have featured for nearly a decade.
“These accessories now come with USB-C ports, so users can charge all of their favorite devices with just a single cable,” Apple writes in announcing its new M4-powered iMac, in the way that only Apple can, suggesting that something already known to so many is, when brought into Apple’s loop, notable and new.
Apple’s shift from its own Lightning connector, in use since 2012, to USB-C was sparked by EU policies enacted in 2022. Apple gradually implemented USB-C on other devices, like its iPad Pro and MacBooks, over time, but the iPhone 15’s USB-C port made the “switch” somewhat formal.