First ever iPhone with USB-C port on sale, student beats Apple to it

iPhone with USB-C port: Ken Pillonel’s Apple iPhone with USB-C project is now on sale on eBay. This was a home project for the robotics student.

Apple iPhone X (Representative Image) (Picjumbo)

iPhone with USB-C port? Apple hasn't made one yet but this robotics student from Switzerland tried building one at his home. Not only did he succedded, he is now auctioning this only iPhone in the world with a USB-C port. Head over to eBay and you can find this project iPhone listed for auction. Currently, the biddings have gone up to $3950, which is way more than what Ken Pillonel, the student, had paid for that iPhone X when it was new.

Pillonel showcased his iPhone with a USB-C port in a completely working condition. In his video, the iPhone was shown charging naturally via the USB-C port, although he did not show whether it was ready for data transfer. It might just be a home project but Pillonel beat Apple to it, at least for the record.

iPhone X with USB-C up for auction

The iPhone that Pillonel worked on was a 2017 iPhone X with 64GB storage. Although Apple sold the iPhone X complete with a charger in the box, Pillonel is only selling the black iPhone X with just the box, no accessories. Given that it has a USB-C port, you are most likely to buy or use your existing USB-C cable for charging it.

Pillonel warns the buyer of not using the phone as a daily driver. Hence, it is recommended to use it as a secondary project. Chances are that whoever buys this for close to $4000 is likely to use it as a showpiece rather than using it daily.

iPhone 13 Mini uses the Lightning port (Amritanshu Mukherjee / HT Tech)

iPhone 13 Mini uses the Lightning port (Amritanshu Mukherjee / HT Tech)

On the other hand, Apple shows no signs of ditching its old Lightning port anytime soon on the iPhone. The latest iPhone 13 models feature the Lightning port and so does the AirPods 3rd Gen. The USB-C port is currently reserved for the MacBook models as well as iPad Pro models. Rumours have it that Apple is planning to go for a portless iPhone in the coming years and rely solely on MagSafe to charge devices.