This week was a big one for Mac fans, with Apple announcing new, M3-powered versions of both its MacBook Pro and iMac. The latter, being a desktop computer, comes with a keyboard and mouse as standard – but users are somewhat baffled to discover that they're still charged via Lightning, which Apple recently (begrudgingly) replaced in favour of USB-C across the iPhone line up.
The Magic Mouse 2 (still one of Apple's most egregious design crimes) and Magic Keyboard still feature a Lightning port, which seems pretty out of place seeing as Apple has already begun updating other accessories, such as the AirPods charging case) to USB-C. It means some Mac users will, frustratingly, need to continue carrying more than one charging cable.
In a move that many have speculated is designed to shift existing inventory, Apple has made the somewhat bizarre decision to keep shipping the mouse and keyboard with Lightning – leading to outcry on Twitter (sorry, X):
No USB-C Accessories!?!?!?!?!?? pic.twitter.com/e9vlgLXgqCOctober 31, 2023
My honest reaction after seeing the iMac still has lightning accessories and not USB C versions https://t.co/r3DP7RZfVd pic.twitter.com/hk85TRWhYAOctober 31, 2023
My honest reaction after seeing the iMac still has lightning accessories and not USB C versions https://t.co/r3DP7RZfVd pic.twitter.com/hk85TRWhYAOctober 31, 2023
Thanks to EU law, Apple was finally forced to adopt USB-C with the iPhone 15 line up. But it seems said law doesn't apply to keyboards and mice – or at least doesn't yet. With Apple swiftly updating AirPods and EarPods to USB-C, and discontinuing several Lightning products including the MagSafe Battery Pack and MagSafe Duo, it seemed the company was keen to make a quick transition. But with the iMac unlikely to get an update for another couple of years, an entire Apple USB-C ecosystem probably isn't on the horizon.
This isn't the first somewhat baffling decision we've seen from Apple regarding accessories. In what could be interpreted similarly as an inventory-based move, the 10th generation iPad only supported the rather dated first generation Apple Pencil at launch last year.
