This week we say goodbye to the Lightning porting: with the launch of the iPhone 15 series and the Pro models its story comes to an end. We’ve already taken a detailed look at Lightning, what he was, what he could do and what he couldn’t do. Here we just wanted to mention all the devices powered by Lightning.
The story began in 2012 with the iPhone 5, iPad 4, and the brand new iPad mini. Apple also replaced a pair of iPods – the seventh-generation nano and fifth-generation touch – with Lightning. This was significant as the 30-pin connector that Lightning came to replace was originally used on the iPod (after it abandoned FireWire).
Now, the iPhone 5, like the iPads and iPods, each had a 3.5mm headphone jack, which wouldn’t disappear until the iPhone 7 generation. But you can see the writing was on the wall, Apple has also introduced a version of its wired EarPods headphones that used a Lightning plug instead of a 3.5mm jack.
The accessories included in the iPhone 7 package
A quick note: to avoid confusion, we will skip some products, mainly cables, chargers and the like. Really the only such accessory worth including here is 2016’s Lightning to 3.5mm adapter: Apple included one with every iPhone 7 (along with a pair of Lightning EarPods) and made the same for future models up to 2018.
So, as you can see the list is dominated by iDevices, but there are wireless headphones – AirPods, which are also moving to USB-C – as well as small battery-powered electronics like some keyboards and mice (those should be switched to USB-C along with the Macs they’re connected to, anyway).
Goodbye, Lightning.
2012
Apple iPhone 5 • Apple iPad 4 Wi-Fi • Apple iPad mini Wi-Fi
Apple EarPods • Apple iPod nano (7th generation) • iPod touch (5th generation)
2013
Apple iPhone 5s • Apple iPhone 5c • Apple iPad Air • Apple iPad mini 2
2014
Apple iPhone 6 • Apple iPhone 6 Plus • Apple iPad Air 2 • Apple iPad mini 3
2015
Apple iPhone 6s • Apple iPhone 6s Plus • Apple iPad mini 4 (2015) • Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2015)
Apple Pencil (1st generation) • Apple Magic Keyboard • Apple Magic Mouse (2nd generation) • Magic Trackpad
Apple iPod Touch (6th generation) • Beats Pill+
2016
Apple iPhone 7 • Apple iPhone 7 Plus • Apple iPhone SE • Apple iPad Pro 9.7 (2016)
Lightning to 3.5mm Adapter • Apple AirPods (1st generation)
2017
Apple iPhone 8 • Apple iPhone 8 Plus • Apple iPhone
Apple iPad Pro 10.5 (2017) • Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2017) • BeatsX • Magic Keyboard with numeric keypad
2018
Apple iPhone
2019
Apple iPhone 11 • Apple iPhone 11 Pro • Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max • Apple iPad mini (2019)
Apple iPad 10.2 (2019) • Apple iPad Air (2019) • Apple AirPods (2nd generation) • Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation)
Apple iPod Touch (7th generation) • Beats Solo Pro
2020
Apple iPhone 12 mini • Apple iPhone 12 • Apple iPhone 12 Pro • Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
Apple iPhone SE (2020) • Apple iPad 10.2 (2020) • Apple AirPods Max
2021
Apple iPhone 13 mini • Apple iPhone 13 • Apple iPhone 13 Pro • Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
Apple iPad 10.2 (2021) • Apple AirPods (3rd generation)
2022
Apple iPhone 14 • Apple iPhone 14 Plus • Apple iPhone 14 Pro • Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Apple iPhone SE (2022) • Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation)
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