In 2021, engineer Ken Pillonel did what Apple refused to do by producing the world’s first iPhone with a working USB-C port. Now Pillonel has turned the scenario around with its latest project: The first Android phone with a Lightning connection…
A Galaxy A51 Android phone with a Lightning port may not have the same appeal as an iPhone with USB-C. But Pillonel says it’s a more fun project he did to “balance the chaos” unleashed by his previous device. And he adds that he especially wanted to explain on April 1st.
But this project was not created just as a joke and the link is fully functional. The engineer said, “Lightning cables sold by Apple are not ‘dumb’. They only charge Apple devices. So I had to find a way to trick the cable into thinking it was plugged into an Apple device. And everything has to fit inside the phone, which is another challenge in itself.”
Pillonel says he’s learned a thing or two since his previous project, which helped lay the groundwork for his latest device: “I would say USB-C is easier than the iPhone. First, I’m getting better at it as I’m learning new things every day, so I hope I can finish these mods faster and faster. Second, the quality of the finished product isn’t close to that of the iPhone.”
We can say that an Android phone with a Lightning port is definitely worse in terms of usability compared to a standard USB-C port. But that doesn’t seem to bother Pillonel: “I don’t expect anyone in their right mind to want to do this to their device. It was for fun, I just wanted to see if I could do it.”
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