Apple Phases Out Lightning Port in iPhone Lineup With iPhone 16e Launch

With the launch of the new iPhone 16e, Apple discontinued the iPhone 14, ‌iPhone‌ 14 Plus, and ‌iPhone‌ SE, eliminating the last two ‌iPhone‌ models that were equipped with a Lightning port.

lightning connector feature blue
Apple no longer manufactures any iPhones with a Lightning port, and all models in the ‌iPhone‌ lineup feature USB-C. Apple does still sell refurbished iPhones that use Lightning, but its main website and retail locations only offer iPhones with USB-C connectivity.

The new 16e has a USB-C port, as do the ‌iPhone‌ 15 and iPhone 16 models that Apple also sells. Apple started the transition away from Lightning with the ‌iPhone‌ 15 launch in 2023, and it has completed the move to USB-C in less than two years.

Apple has already overhauled the iPad lineup with USB-C, so Lightning is no longer used for any ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, or Mac. Lightning has almost been phased out entirely, but Apple continues to sell the original Apple Pencil and some legacy cables that have Lightning connectors.

Apple will need to offer a small selection of Lightning-based accessories for a few years to come, but we are close to the full sunsetting of the Lightning port and connector.

Related Roundup: iPhone 16e
Buyer's Guide: iPhone 16e (Neutral)
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...

Top Rated Comments

BelgianChoklit Avatar
9 months ago
89 of the 91 articles published here today could've been said in 3 articles.
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cryates Avatar
9 months ago
“Apple no longer sells any iPhone with ___” has been an abused headline today.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Avenged110 Avatar
9 months ago
For things that didn't require high power or fast data transfer speeds, I've always preferred Lightning. It seems like a much more durable connector.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
9 months ago
As Yoda would say:



Attachment Image
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kirky29 Avatar
9 months ago
Thankfully 99% of gadgets in my house are now finally USB C! Even my toothbrush and shaver! :)
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
9 months ago

“Apple no longer sells any iPhone with ___” has been an abused headline today.
Apple no longer sells any iPhone below $500.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)