Robotics Engineer Replaces iPhone Lightning Port With Working USB-C Port [Video]

A robotics engineer appears to have successfully replaced the Lightning port on his iPhone with a working USB-C port.

Ken Pillonel is a student completing his master’s degree in robotics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, EPFL. Back in May, he launched an effort to build the world’s first iPhone with a USB-C port.

“The motivations behind the project are simple. I just want an iPhone with USB Type-C on it. Why? Because everything I own has USB Type-C so it would be pretty neat to convert an iPhone too. Have one charger and one cable to charge everything.”

Over the weekend, Pillonel announced he had successfully accomplished his goal…

This is it. I’ve finally built the World’s First iPhone with a USB Type-C port. It supports charging and data transfers. The first part was about getting the electronics to work. Then the next step was to reverse-engineer the Apple C94 connector and make my own PCB with a female USB C port. Then the schematics for the project were set and tested and the final was to make it fit inside the iPhone! I’m very happy to show you this mod in the form of a Youtube Short. The full length video is coming out soon, I’ve started the editing.

Pillonel plans to post a more thorough video explaining how he was able to replace the Lightning port with a USB-C port in the near feature. Please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS for updates.