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- The iPhone 15 features a USB-C port instead of the Lightning port which has been standard for more than decade.
- YouTuber Marques Brownlee says the new port lets the iPhone 15 transfer battery power to older iPhones.
- iPhone 15 devices can also communicate with each other to figure out which has a lower battery level, he said.
If you've ever found yourself in a situation where your phone is about to die, but you can't access an outlet to charge it, the iPhone 15 may have a fix.
The model — unveiled earlier this month at Apple's annual Wonderlust event — features a USB-C port instead of the Lightning port, which has been the standard on iPhone models for the past 11 years.
And when you plug in an older model of the iPhone (with a Lightning port) into the iPhone 15, the iPhone 15 will always transfer its battery power to the older model , regardless of the iPhone 15's own battery level, popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee explained in a recent video.
In addition, he said that when you connect two iPhones that have a USB-C port, they'll conduct what Brownlee called "a handshake" to figure out which device has a lower battery level so the one with the higher battery level will essentially act like a "battery bank" and transfer its power to the device with a lower battery level.
Insider also tested this feature by plugging in the iPhone 15 Pro to an iPhone 13 Pro and noticed that the iPhone 15 Pro acted as a power bank and automatically started charging the iPhone 13.
When Insider connected the iPhone 15 Pro to the iPhone 15, the two devices performed a handshake to recognize that the iPhone 15 had a much higher battery charge, and the iPhone 15 then started charging the iPhone 15 Pro.
Brownlee tested the "handshake" with an Android phone too. He found that if the Android device supports a fast-charging standard called USB-PD, and also has more battery life than the iPhone 15, then the Android will act like a bank and transfer its battery power to the iPhone. If a device doesn't support USB-PD, though, Brownlee found that the results are a little more inconsistent. "You could end up charging it or it could end up charging you," Brownlee said.
Take a look at Brownlee's video here. He starts talking about the "handshake" about 5 minutes into the video.
The USB-C connector can transfer data more quickly than some previous USB versions. Not only have Apple enthusiasts been pushing for the company to switch to the USB-C port, the company has also faced pressure from the European Union since 2020. Last year, the EU agreed on legislation that would require all smartphones charged via wires in the EU to have the universal USB-C charging port by the fall of 2024.
Apple did not immediately respond to Insider's request for a comment.