Apple Offers Lightning to USB-C Cable for Fast-Charging 12.9-inch iPad Pro

[MikhailT]

Cynically, you answered your own question: $80 is why it wasn't included. Apple is one of the best companies in the world at convincing their customers that a product they were satisfied with only yesterday, is somehow inadequate today. Not every company can do that. Even those that can, can't do it like Apple. You'll even find customers who will claim it's a defensible decision... and they will defend it.

They could've offer it as a BTO and offer a discount for those who doesn't want the slower ones that came with iPad Pro. I'd paid 50$ more if it came with the 29W charger/cable instead.

Frankly, I may be done with Apple after this, they're really turning into the old Apple that I disliked. It isn't bad enough they're fragmenting their products into complex lineups, increasing prices on accessories and QA that's slipping worse every year, they're no longer any better than other companies for me.

 

[mkeeley]

And this new USB 3 camera adaptor can power other accessories like an Ethernet adaptor. Curious that this fact (which makes it possible to connect an iPad, maybe only the 'Pros', to a wired network) hasn't been reported by MacRumors.

Edit: Appleinsider reports that the Lightning-to-USB 3 camera adaptor only provides USB 3 speeds with the 12.9" iPad Pro.

Yeah saw that it's only USB 3 speed on the 12.9, but Marty has one. I'm sure someone will try it out sometime and let people know if it works and, if it does, how much difference it makes.

 

[duervo]

Whooooohoooooo! New cable! Yeah. Yeeeeeeeeehaaaaa! Awesome man! I'm getting the Space Gray one, man! Cable! Cable! Cable! Come on! Yeah!

It's a revolutionary cable. Truly, innovatively, magical.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I was not disappointed.

I'm getting rose gold.

 

[rtr1985]

How much faster?

 

[AliMacs]

And this new USB 3 camera adaptor can power other accessories like an Ethernet adaptor. Curious that this fact (which makes it possible to connect an iPad, maybe only the 'Pros', to a wired network) hasn't been reported by MacRumors.

Edit: Appleinsider reports that the Lightning-to-USB 3 camera adaptor only provides USB 3 speeds with the 12.9" iPad Pro.

I ordered one arriving next week! Best part is if you power it with a lightning cable and USB adapter it will power the devices on the USB port.

 

[appleguy123]

Will 3rd party USB C to lightning cables work with the 29W charger for fast charging on the iPad Pro 12.9? Some of those 3rd party cables re under $10 so it would be quite a savings if it works.

 

[ghost187]

So there is one thing they announced today that I want to buy!

 

[iAppl3Fan]

Will 3rd party USB C to lightning cables work with the 29W charger for fast charging on the iPad Pro 12.9? Some of those 3rd party cables re under $10 so it would be quite a savings if it works.

I bought an 3rd party adaptor to try against Apple lightning cable and the usbc charger to charge the iPad pro. It doesn't charge any faster that I could tell.

 

[appleguy123]

I bought an 3rd party adaptor to try against Apple lightning cable and the usbc charger to charge the iPad pro. It doesn't charge any faster that I could tell.

Did you use the real apple usb c charger with the 3rd party charger?

 

[sza]

Apple becomes an accessory company.

 

[iAppl3Fan]

Did you use the real apple usb c charger with the 3rd party charger?

Everything legit except for this adaptor that convert usb a to usb c

 

[Noble Actual]

And still only one Mac with USB-C.

And one port.

LMAO.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Will 3rd party USB-C to lightning cables work with the 29W charger for fast charging on the iPad Pro 12.9? Some of those 3rd party cables re under $10 so it would be quite a savings if it works.

Until there's some sort of huge change in the quality of third party USB cables across the board, I wouldn't trust any of those to carry anything over USB 2 related wattages.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3002...-google-engineer-warnswhile-naming-names.html

Maybe at some point in the future, but slapping USB-C connectors on a USB 2 level cable is what's being done and it's just not safe.

 

[mountain]

$25 for a meter? Man, that's expensive!

 

[GrindedDown]

I bought an 3rd party adaptor to try against Apple lightning cable and the usbc charger to charge the iPad pro. It doesn't charge any faster that I could tell.

When was the last time you tried it? Do you have 9.3 on your iPP?

I ask because what I am now curious about is if 9.3 helped to 'unlock' faster charging speeds or if instead these new cables have built-in chipsets that enable faster charger. Hopefully it's the former, or else I'll be spending the $80ish for this new fast charging combo, which is a little absurd if you ask me.

 

[satinsilverem2]

I hope these cables are USB 3.0 enabled. It would make sense since we now know that the 12.9 is USB 3 capable. Then again you never know with apple.

 

[alecgold]

@GrindedDown: This night and I tried it with iOS 9.3 beta's and the official release. Original apple usb-c 29w charger and a non original cable and it didn't work. I guess there is a tiny little chip in the lighting connector telling the iPad Pro that it can charge really fast. Anyway, I ordered one and hope it's going to be in next week.
I could really use some fast charging options when I'm on out and about.

 

[GrindedDown]

@GrindedDown: This night and I tried it with iOS 9.3 beta's and the official release. Original apple usb-c 29w charger and a non original cable and it didn't work. I guess there is a tiny little chip in the lighting connector telling the iPad Pro that it can charge really fast. Anyway, I ordered one and hope it's going to be in next week.
I could really use some fast charging options when I'm on out and about.

Ok thats good to know then that it is a modified lightning chipset enabling it. That would also explain why the apple pencil can charge super fast (it was built with this enhanced lightning chipset).

If that is the case, then i would presume that this new OEM cable is what is needed, but that a 3rd party 29w usb-c brick would suffice since they are much cheaper than apples $50 unit.

 

[alecgold]

[doublepost=1458685864][/doublepost]

Ok thats good to know then that it is a modified lightning chipset enabling it. That would also explain why the apple pencil can charge super fast (it was built with this enhanced lightning chipset).

If that is the case, then i would presume that this new OEM cable is what is needed, but that a 3rd party 29w usb-c brick would suffice since they are much cheaper than apples $50 unit.

The tiny chips are just me thinking being smart, but I could be right (or wrong), time and ifixit et al. will tell.

I would not buy a cheap charger as they are cheap for a reason: a very dirty output. The power fluctuates all over the place. There is a guy that dissects power adapters and there is really a big difference between a good and a bad charger. Have a look:
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/21/macbook-charger-teardown-counterfeit-dangers/

 

[GrindedDown]

[doublepost=1458685864][/doublepost]

The tiny chips are just me thinking being smart, but I could be right (or wrong), time and ifixit et al. will tell.

I would not buy a cheap charger as they are cheap for a reason: a very dirty output. The power fluctuates all over the place. There is a guy that dissects power adapters and there is really a big difference between a good and a bad charger. Have a look:
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/21/macbook-charger-teardown-counterfeit-dangers/

Fair enough. Ill have to reconsider using a cheap charger.

Yeah it almost certainly the chipset within the lightning portion of the adapter that is causing power regulation.

 

[alecgold]

Yeah, the apple chargers are expensive, or at least for me. But with money I paid for the iPad Pro LTE 128Gb I didn't want to risk charging it with a cheap charger. But expensive it is nonetheless.
Then again, I was really spooked at th internals that I saw at the cheap chargers. Not just the Macbook's, but also cheap non-brand 5w iPhone chargers and counterfeit MacBook Pro chargers are horribly made.

Yeah, I read an interview with a former Apple engineer that showed the internals of the lighting HDMI adapter. It's pretty amazing what goes on inside. That adapter is bloody expensive, until you know what is happening inside. Lighting looks really like a simple serial port with not much going on. It's the adapters that get smart.

Edit: typo's and a bit clearer texts (I hope)

 

[iAppl3Fan]

When was the last time you tried it? Do you have 9.3 on your iPP?

I ask because what I am now curious about is if 9.3 helped to 'unlock' faster charging speeds or if instead these new cables have built-in chipsets that enable faster charger. Hopefully it's the former, or else I'll be spending the $80ish for this new fast charging combo, which is a little absurd if you ask me.

Yeah it is absurd. Tried on 9.2.1 a week ago. It would be nice if it's software.

 

[alecgold]

Apple did give a shipping/status update, THE CABLE should be here on the 30th!

I'm really curious what it will do to charging times. 1/2 of what it used to be?
Dumb/simple calculation would suggest 38.5W/29W --> 1h22min or something like that.
So in reality it would be able to charge it a bit over 2 hours. Knowing Apple is careful with charging speeds, I guesstimate it will take 2.5 hours. Still only half the time it used to be. Most useful will be charging it when it's down to about 20% and charge it quickly back to 70-80%.

 

[awer25]

If that is the case, then i would presume that this new OEM cable is what is needed, but that a 3rd party 29w usb-c brick would suffice since they are much cheaper than apples $50 unit.

I just ordered the cable, and was thinking of getting a high-quality 3rd party USB-C charger (e.g. Anker), however I found that they all max out at 3A on the USB-C port (and reviews say that it does in fact charge the new Macbook at a slower rate than the Apple charger). Apple's 29W charger should be around 5.8A, so currently there is no 3rd party charger that I see that has >5A on the USB-C port.

That said, I ordered an Apple charger too.

 

[GrindedDown]

I just ordered the cable, and was thinking of getting a high-quality 3rd party USB-C charger (e.g. Anker), however I found that they all max out at 3A on the USB-C port (and reviews say that it does in fact charge the new Macbook at a slower rate than the Apple charger). Apple's 29W charger should be around 5.8A, so currently there is no 3rd party charger that I see that has >5A on the USB-C port.

That said, I ordered an Apple charger too.

Good point. Yeah i did some digging on amazon and ebay to see what i could find and it didn't seem that there were any real alternatives unfortunately.