You read that right, this is the world’s first iPhone 12 with a USB-C interface, isn’t it a bit exciting? Slovakian technology company DEEP has successfully retrofitted an Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max to make it fully USB Type-C capable. After prying open the phone and removing the Lightning port cable assembly, the USB Type-C port needed to be measured in order to fit a 3D printed homemade case on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. After removing the Lightning port’s gasket, the opening was barely large enough to fit a USB Type-C plugin.
The company then designed a flex cable for the USB Type-C port and soldered an original MFi chip from a different device to it. It then mounts a 3D-printed case on it. With this design, the USB Type-C plug fits almost completely.
In order for the new location of the MFi chip to fit, the speaker module had to be filed away a bit. After careful reassembly and installation of a new battery, the USB Type-C iPhone 12 Pro Max is ready to power up again.
A series of tests on the device reveals that it is fully functional. It can exchange data with iTunes, connect to a Mac, and charge normally using an original Apple charger with a USB Type-C to C cable (or USB-A to C cable), all via the USB Type-C port.
On auction at eBay
The device is now available on eBay, and the auction kicked off on Thursday. The auction will end at 3 am ET on March 6. As of now, there are only five buds and the maximum bit is about $1,375. Back in November, Swiss robotics student, Ken Pillonel managed to modify an iPhone X to work with a USB Type-C port. The device was sold on eBay to a winning bidder for $86,001. However, a subsequent model of the same iPhone X that supports waterproof didn’t sell for so high.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max specifications
- 6.7-inch (2778×1284 pixels) OLED 458ppi Super Retina XDR display, up to 1200 nits brightness, Ceramic Shield protection
- Six-Core A14 Bionic 5nm chip with 64-bit architecture, quad-core graphics
- 128GB,256GB and 512GB storage options
- iOS 14
- Water and dust resistant (IP68)
- Dual SIM (nano + eSIM)
- 12MP wide-angle (f/1.6) camera, 7P lens, 1.7μm pixel size, Sensor-shift optical image stabilisation, True Tone flash, 4K video recording at 60 fps, Slo‑mo 1080p at 240fps, 12MP 120° Ultra Wide (f/2.4) secondary camera, 5P lens, 12MP Telephoto camera with f/2.2 aperture with 2.5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out, 5x optical zoom range and Digital zoom up to 12x, Night mode portraits enabled by LiDAR Scanner
- 12MP TrueDepth front camera with f/2.2 aperture, Retina Flash, 4K video recording at 60 fps, Slo‑mo 1080p at 120fps
- Dimensions: 160.8 ×78.1×7.4mm; Weight: 226grams
- Stereo speakers
- 5G (sub‑6 GHz), Gigabit-class LTE, 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC with reader mode, GPS with GLONASS
- Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery with MagSafe wireless charging, fast charging, up to 20 hours of video playback
