Lightning

Lightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector created by Apple Inc. It is a small connector on Apple's mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, and iPods that is used with a Lightning cable to charge and connect the devices to host computers, external monitors, cameras, USB battery chargers and other peripherals.

Lightning was introduced in September 2012 with the arrival of the iPhone 5 and, shortly thereafter, the iPad 4, to replace its predecessor - the 30-pin dock connector.

Using 8 pins instead of 30, the Lightning connector is 80 percent smaller than the 30-pin connector it replaced and is fully reversible, which means it doesn't matter which way the connector is facing when you plug it into the Lightning port. However, unless used with an adapter, Lightning is incompatible with cables and peripherals designed for its predecessor.

The cable itself is small with a thin Lightning connector on one side and a standard USB Type-A connector on the other.

The Lightning connector can also transmit audio. Starting with the iPhone 7, Apple ditched the headphone connector in its smartphone lineup and the latest iPhones include a Lightning-to-headphone adapter that connects the devices to headphones with miniplug connectors.