Apple May Pack in Colorful USB-C Cables with the iPhone 15

For years there’s been a common theme with nearly every Apple adapter and cable: You can get them in any color you like, as long as it’s white. However, if rumors are true, that could be set to change in a pretty big way with this year’s iPhone 15 lineup.

While the classic glossy “Apple white” remains the trend for many Apple products (we’re looking at you, AirPods), Apple has been getting much more colorful over the past few years. The iPhone, once available only in variations on black, white, and gold, took a first step into vibrancy with a (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 in early 2017 and then exploded into a rainbow of new colors in 2019 with the iPhone XR.

Then, in early 2021 Apple gave its new M1-powered iMac a huge splash of color, marking the first time in over two decades that a desktop Mac was available in a non-neutral finish.

However, Apple took that beyond the iMac’s casing. It also included a nice color-matched braided USB-C to Lightning cable in the box. While you can easily find colorful USB-C cables from third-party sellers, Apple providing them in the box was a big departure from years of white cables, connectors, and adapters — a trend that had previously been broken only by the 2019 Mac Pro’s braided black USB-C to Lightning cable. It says a lot when a black cable is considered something different.

Now, it looks like Apple may be planning to take a page out of the same book for this year’s iPhone 15 lineup. Over the weekend, leaker Majin Bu shared images purporting to be of an iPhone 15 USB-C cable, although they weren’t confident in the source.

However, Kosutami corroborated that earlier today with several more photos that showed iPhone 15 Pro USB-C cable samples from Apple’s Design Verification Testing (DVT) process. While the images all showed a black braided cable similar to the one that ships with the Mac Pro, the leaker noted that the “polished gloss plastic shell” sets it apart from the Mac Pro version.

In a follow-up post, Kosutami shared a photo of five cables in different colors that presumably align with the finishes on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. While the black cable uses black ends, the others have glossy white plastic on each end. According to what Kosutami told MacRumors, the new cables will come in black, yellow, purple, and orange in addition to the standard white. They also note that the “orange” may end up being more of a pink or coral shade.

More significantly, these are expected to be much more durable braided cables, similar to what Apple now ships with its Macs, rather than the rubber white of the traditional USB-C to Lightning cables that come with the current iPhone models.

With Apple expected to make the leap over to USB-C ports with this year’s iPhone lineup, these will be USB-C to USB-C cables rather than Lightning, which makes it an ideal time for Apple to adopt a new cable design. Considering how much Apple has been moving away from pack-ins, eliminating the EarPods and charging brick from its iPhone packaging three years ago and leaving only the rather flimsy USB-C to Lightning cable, it’s also a nice way of adding a bit of value back into the mix.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]