The iPhone 15's new braided USB-C cable could fix another long-running problem

You'd need to have been hiding under a rock to have missed the fact that Apple is going to announce as many as four new iPhones next month, likely alongside the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra. But the phones' new cables are perhaps going to be the star of the show this time out - and not just because they're going to come with USB-C connectors at both ends.

Recent reports have already suggested that the new iPhones will come with color-matched cables and that those cables will also be braided for the first time. Now, a new report suggests that those cables will have something else going for them - they're going to be 50% longer than the cables that currently ship inside iPhone boxes.

That's according to Twitter X leaker Majin Bu who says that the new cables will most likely run at 1.5 meters. The Lightning cables that currently ship with iPhones are much shorter than that and have historically required people to buy their own, longer cables just to be able to reach relatively close plug sockets.

The extra length does also seem likely to require a change in packaging, as can be seen from the images shared by Bu in the tweet above. It's also unclear exactly how the new cables will fit in the iPhone boxes as they are today, although a box redesign could also be in the cards.

However, there is some controversy already brewing in relation to these iPhone cable leaks. As some people have suggested, it's possible that these cables will be sold with new iMacs that will also come in these colors. They'll need USB-C cables to connect to a new USB-C Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, or Magic Trackpad. The extra length would also make plenty of sense in that instance as well.

With that in mind, it's now difficult to be sure what these cables are intended to be shipped with, although we can all still hope that they really are going to come in the box with new iPhones.

Thankfully, all of these cable questions will be cleared up sooner rather than later. Apple is expected to announce the new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro lineups at a streamed event on September 12 or September 12, with the former the most likely. The new iPhones (and Apple Watches) will then very likely go on sale on September 22 with preorders having begun on September 15.