World’s First iPhone with USB-C Fetched Over $86,000 on eBay | But How? Why?

A few weeks ago, a robotics engineering student gained notoriety among tech enthusiasts by undertaking the challenge of replacing an iPhone’s Lightning port with a USB-C connector, and now he’s managed to sell his “prototype” on eBay for over 80 times what he originally paid for it.

It’s a healthy profit for Kenn Pillonell, the Swiss engineering student who accomplished the feat – and many pundits are holding it up as evidence that Apple needs to bring USB-C to the iPhone. After all, the reasoning goes that if somebody is willing to pay $86,000 for a dated iPhone just because it has a USB-C port, just imagine how popular a USB-C iPhone would be.

While we don’t doubt that there’s some pent-up demand for USB-C on the iPhone, it’s probably safe to say that, outside the tech bubble (and the European Union, of course), not too many people really care. Apple has been using the Lightning connector for nearly all of its devices since 2012, and the average iPhone user lives comfortably enough within that ecosystem that they already have everything they need.

Besides that, the world is rapidly moving toward wireless charging, and the introduction of MagSafe on last year’s iPhone 12 lineup gives folks an even more compelling reason to ignore the Lightning port entirely. As we’ve discussed, the iPhone will likely go portless before it switches to USB-C.

So, What’s Really Going on Here?

To be clear, the $86,001 USB-C iPhone is an iPhone X from 2017. In other words, whoever shelled out that much money for it was getting a four-year-old iPhone, and it’s hard to believe that they wanted a USB-C connector that badly.

It’s also worth noting that Pillonell explicitly warned potential buyers they shouldn’t use this as their daily phone.

Of course, a buyer can do whatever they want with it, but the robotics engineering student notes that restoring it, updating it, erasing it, or opening it could break things. It’s an experimental proof-of-concept that’s not intended to be a production unit.

I guarantee that the phone will work when you receive it but if you don’t follow the aforementioned guidelines you are on your own. So basically you can do whatever you want with it but don’t expect anything from me if you break something. It is just a prototype.

Kenn Pillonell

The most likely scenario is that Pillonell’s USB-C iPhone was purchased by an engineering enthusiast and collector with deep pockets, purely for the scientific curiosity that it is.

There’s also a conspiracy theory that’s been making the rounds that the winning bid was actually submitted anonymously by Apple itself, in an attempt to keep the modded iPhone out of the hands of the public. While that’s remotely plausible, we don’t buy it.

Firstly, Apple usually has other ways of getting things removed from eBay. While it’s harder for Apple to make an intellectual property claim in this situation, it also has a battalion of combat lawyers at its disposal, and eBay has shown a tendency to err on the side of caution in such cases. Put simply, it’s easier to pull a listing than fight it.

More importantly, however, we can’t see any reason why Apple would really care. The unit in question is a much older model that’s well out of warranty, and it’s not like Pillonell is going into business selling USB-C iPhones. He makes it clear this is a one-off prototype that’s being offered up for the purposes of scientific study.

Further, Pillonell has already open-sourced his work on the project, which means anybody could theoretically install a USB-C port on their own iPhone. This isn’t for the faint of heart, mind you, as Pillonell’s video shows.

Basically, even though this sounds like a simple thing in theory, in reality, it requires a custom PCB, CNC machines, and an almost microscopic level of precision. It’s not hard to understand what somebody may have preferred to shell out over $86,000 for the finished product rather than attempting to undertake it themselves.

Pillonell isn’t through with his work, however. He made the initial build open-source so that he can benefit from the experiences of others, but he also plans to continue building on the design, with the hopes of improving fast-charging and waterproofing, and possibly even enabling USB-C accessories.