The auction for the world’s first USB-C iPhone ended with a winning bid of $86,001. It was started as an engineering project but turned out to be quite an interesting situation.
People on the internet were amazed recently by Ken Pillonel’s master’s engineering student project to add a functional USB-C port to an iPhone X. Unlike many other superficial iPhone modifications, Pillonel’s unique USB-C smartphone modification does not affect performance or increase the phone’s overall size. It allows for full functionality of both charging and data transmission.
Fan-made iPhone with a USB-C port sold for $86,001
In his video, Pillonel showed used reverse engineering on Apple’s C94 connector to be able to swap out the Lightning port, next, he made a new circuit board in order to go inside the iPhone.He had to modify the iPhone’s chassis in order to accommodate the USB-C connector’s somewhat larger connector. After Pillonel, the developer of the world’s first iPhone with a functional USB-C port put it up for auction on eBay after completing it.
Bids skyrocketed to $30,000 before eventually reaching $80,000 after the initial bidding began at $1,000. With a final winning offer of $86,001, the auction has now closed.
Pillonel’s USB-C iPhone project may be dismissed as a gimmick by some but the record-breaking winning bid and all of the media attention seems to indicate that people really want an iPhone with a USB-C port.
