It’s 2023, and I have a port complaint. Apple’s “Scary Fast” event came and went, and new M3-powered iMacs were born. Yet there was a curious tidbit the company didn’t mention: the Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Trackpad still have Lightning ports. In a USB-C iPhone world, what is that old port still doing there?
It shouldn’t come as too much of a shock that Apple didn’t update the crucial accessories. Tim Cook is like a supply-chain-and-logistics Legolas, always ready with a quiver full of old products and designs to maximize their value to Apple. Often, that’s a good thing for customers, too. It means there are iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches with years-old designs but solid performance at more downright affordable prices.
The problem isn’t Lightning itself — it’s that basically the rest of the world has moved on to USB-C, including Apple itself. The same year Apple released its belly-charging Magic Mouse 2, it also released the 12-inch MacBook, with its lonesome single USB-C port. More than eight years later, it’s the standard connector on Apple’s newest Macs, iPhones, and iPads. That leaves the “Magic” Mac accessories stuck in an older era, with a cable that works with a dwindling number of other products.
There was a finality to the iPhone 15’s uptake of the port in September. At the same time, Apple discontinued the MagSafe Battery Pack and the MagSafe Duo, both Lightning accessories, and moved the AirPods Pro to USB-C. That change is expected to spread to the rest of its headphone lineup, too, and there’s even a USB-C Apple Pencil now.
Apple usually updates these accessories when it debuts a new iMac, which makes sense — they’re bundled with the computer, after all. Without making that change, new iMac owners will have to keep two sets of cables around: Lightning for their keyboard and mouse (or trackpad if they opted for it), and USB-C for everything else.
Unfortunately, if Apple is now on a two-and-some-change-year update cycle with its all-in-ones, it could be a while before we have another shot at an update to USB-C. Unless that 32-inch iMac actually floats down from Mount Cupertino.
