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iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 pro - USB-C definitely NOT operating at USB 3.2 gen 1 speeds (10gbps) data transfer is still just as slow as USB 2.0 / lightning cable.
- Thread starter MrRom92
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Windows you use USBView in Windows SDK or USBTreeView on GitHub
This is also something I am fighting on my new iPhone 15 Pro Max, so I did some testing. My setup:
Windows 11
ASUS ROG Strix Z690-G Gaming WiFi
Core i9 12900K
Samsung SSD 980Pro 2TB
BIOS on latest version (ver 2703)
Cable: AINOPE USB C to USB C Cable 10ft, 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 (amazon link)
Test steps:
1. Connected the iPhone to my PC's USB C 3.2 gen 2 port
2. Copy a directory of pictures from the phone to my PC's SSD using Windows Explorer
3. Time the transfer & log the time, file count, and bytes transferred
4. Unplug the iPhone & plug in a SanDisk Extreme Portable 500GB SSD
5. Copy the files to the SanDisk SSD
6. Time the transfer & log the time
7. Do the math to figure out Mbps
Timing was done by hand, so isn't perfect.
I ran the test four times. In each case the SanDisk completely destroyed the iPhone. Same PC, same USB-C port, same cable. The ONLY difference was the phone and the SanDisk.
Here are the results:
Observations:
1. The iPhone 15 Pro is somewhat faster than USB 2.0 speeds (480 Mbps)
2. The number of files being moved has a big impact on the iPhone's speed. Not so much for the SanDisk
Conclusion: The new iPhone is nowhere near the 10Gbps advertised, at least on Windows. This is a) totally unnecessary and b) not surprising for Apple
Windows 11
ASUS ROG Strix Z690-G Gaming WiFi
Core i9 12900K
Samsung SSD 980Pro 2TB
BIOS on latest version (ver 2703)
Cable: AINOPE USB C to USB C Cable 10ft, 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 (amazon link)
Test steps:
1. Connected the iPhone to my PC's USB C 3.2 gen 2 port
2. Copy a directory of pictures from the phone to my PC's SSD using Windows Explorer
3. Time the transfer & log the time, file count, and bytes transferred
4. Unplug the iPhone & plug in a SanDisk Extreme Portable 500GB SSD
5. Copy the files to the SanDisk SSD
6. Time the transfer & log the time
7. Do the math to figure out Mbps
Timing was done by hand, so isn't perfect.
I ran the test four times. In each case the SanDisk completely destroyed the iPhone. Same PC, same USB-C port, same cable. The ONLY difference was the phone and the SanDisk.
Here are the results:
Test | Files | Size | iPhone Time | iPhone Speed | SanDisk Time | SanDisk Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 172 | 2.56GB | 29.1 secs | 703 Mbps | 4.3 secs | 4,757 Mbps |
2 | 273 | 1.5GB | 38.24 secs | 313 Mbps | 3.53 secs | 3,396 Mbps |
3 | 294 | 4.46GB | 47.02 secs | 759 Mbps | 7.86 | 4539 Mbps |
4 | 1 | 902.56MB | 7.75 secs | 931.7 Mbps | 2.25 | 3,209 Mbps |
Observations:
1. The iPhone 15 Pro is somewhat faster than USB 2.0 speeds (480 Mbps)
2. The number of files being moved has a big impact on the iPhone's speed. Not so much for the SanDisk
Conclusion: The new iPhone is nowhere near the 10Gbps advertised, at least on Windows. This is a) totally unnecessary and b) not surprising for Apple
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Well I have a a pro USB cable from Apple and my phone it taking ages to sync 60,000 photos, I do have a lol of folders and photos are from 2007 to now… says copying photos and after that no photos are copied says wait to copy…. Step 4 of 4 this was for 8 hrs
Thanks for sharing. Do you have stats about backing up your iPhone 15 Pro Max as a local copy into your Mac OS hard drive. This is where i struggle with. Transfer of large files seem fine.
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It certainly felt this way in my recent test. Backing up phase was slow at 60MBps but sync stage was faster at 200MBps. Slower copying from phone vs copying to phone when syncing with a computer?
Some more tests on M1 Air connected to IP15PM
For some reason my Apexsun short 40Gbps cable is now recognized w/ the iPhone as 10Gbps. It was only recognized as 480Mbps before.
1) downloading mp4 video files using image capture yields 400MBps speeds (10GB in 3 files)
2) importing mp4 video files directly into the Photos app on the mac I also get 400MBps speeds (10GB in 3 files)
3) backing up w/ finder yields 70MBps only (the backing up phase)
4) syncing photos w/ finder yields 200MBps (the sync phase) (same 3 videos as above)
Speeds were measured using activity monitor
Overall I think the process of Sync'ing is just a slow one.
For some reason my Apexsun short 40Gbps cable is now recognized w/ the iPhone as 10Gbps. It was only recognized as 480Mbps before.
1) downloading mp4 video files using image capture yields 400MBps speeds (10GB in 3 files)
2) importing mp4 video files directly into the Photos app on the mac I also get 400MBps speeds (10GB in 3 files)
3) backing up w/ finder yields 70MBps only (the backing up phase)
4) syncing photos w/ finder yields 200MBps (the sync phase) (same 3 videos as above)
Speeds were measured using activity monitor
Overall I think the process of Sync'ing is just a slow one.
I don't know...I bought a Thunderbolt 3 Cable before I got my iPhone 15 Pro Max I pre-ordered and I noticed a SIGNIFICANT different in restoring my iPhone 12 Pro's backup. It took easily less than 45 minutes to restore it, it still had to download the apps (I don't understand why it's can't do that while connected) but as far as getting it to the screen where I had my home screen and it had to download apps still...yeah less that 45 minutes. I was using a Macbook Air M1 with 16GB of RAM and the original M1 processor (late 2020). So not sure what to tell you besides...always using Apple branded cables if you want to guarantee yourself the transfer speeds they show.
Mine isn't some random USB-C cable even through Apple themselves, it's a Thunderbolt 3 Cable specifically...and once again ZERO issues. Anyone that read at least some of the rumors knew that the new phone would only support the Thunderbolt 3 or 4 on the PRO and the cable included would not be the cable for it despite supporting the faster transfer speeds. I never get mad about Apple not including something, it is what it is. I got an Amazon used Thunderbolt 3 cable (2m) for less than $35 bucks, so that's the way to go...Amazon Certified used Apple Thunderbolt cables. Also my understanding was that you couldn't use Thunderbolt 4 on this iPhone Pro or Pro Max (what I have) and it topped out at the 10gb/s...hence Thunderbolt 3. So to me it seemed pointless to get a Thunderbolt 4 cable; also I need to get a new Macbook regardless to have Thunderbolt 4 since my Macbook Air was the last one produced before Thunderbolt 4 was added ironically). But ya 40gb/s is not supported to my knowledge, unless they unlock it through a software update like IOS 17.2 or 17.3 in the future. Which honestly wouldn't surprise me, at which point I'll have a Macbook Pro M3 Pro laptop by then.
Mine isn't some random USB-C cable even through Apple themselves, it's a Thunderbolt 3 Cable specifically...and once again ZERO issues. Anyone that read at least some of the rumors knew that the new phone would only support the Thunderbolt 3 or 4 on the PRO and the cable included would not be the cable for it despite supporting the faster transfer speeds. I never get mad about Apple not including something, it is what it is. I got an Amazon used Thunderbolt 3 cable (2m) for less than $35 bucks, so that's the way to go...Amazon Certified used Apple Thunderbolt cables. Also my understanding was that you couldn't use Thunderbolt 4 on this iPhone Pro or Pro Max (what I have) and it topped out at the 10gb/s...hence Thunderbolt 3. So to me it seemed pointless to get a Thunderbolt 4 cable; also I need to get a new Macbook regardless to have Thunderbolt 4 since my Macbook Air was the last one produced before Thunderbolt 4 was added ironically). But ya 40gb/s is not supported to my knowledge, unless they unlock it through a software update like IOS 17.2 or 17.3 in the future. Which honestly wouldn't surprise me, at which point I'll have a Macbook Pro M3 Pro laptop by then.
When trying to sync music from my MBP to my 15 Pro Max it doesn't always work on the first try so have to unplug the cable and insert it again to work. I used a TB4, 2.0 and 3.0 cables and they all do it. 5000 songs still seems to take as long as my lightning phone.
I'm going to chime in with my experience with the 1TB 15 Pro with a certified 10GBit/s cable connected to a 10GBit/s USB port which seems to transfer Pro Res footage at a max sustained throughput of just 180MB/s - equivalent to a 1.5GB/it link not the 10Gbit throughput touted by Apple (factoring in overhead) should be at around 800MB/s and - Understandably there's overhead, but no where near that much - somethings bottle-necking performance
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I know when you attach the iPhone to windows pc, it only shows the folders that contain photos and video. I'm wondering, is that actually a separate partition? Cause if it is, the partition itself could be the culprit.
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I’m glad I saw this thread. This has been driving me nuts. So I did a new backup on my 15 pro Max. M2 15” 16gb 1TB running latest Ventura as the host computer. Symlink to external Samsung T7. Checked connection for 10gbps on the drive in sys info. Non of my usb 3.xxx cables register past 480mbps connected to the iPhone 15 Pro Max in system info. This is even though the cables work fine with everything else and are full speed for all my other usb3.xxx stuff including the Samsung drive. Decided to backup anyways and it took 3 hours roughly. 420GB backup created and averaged 40 MB/s looking at activity monitor. Oddly enough, I plugged my satechi usb 3.0 hub and one of the incompatible usb 3.xxx cables into the hub and connected the iPhone…. Now it’s connected 5gbps. Did a test backup and it’s averaging 80MB/s. Curious now if I got a fully 10gbps cable what the backup transfer speed is? 120… 160MB/s? I assume the small file writes during backup gives lower transfer rates. Not sure what I make of this but here are some extra data points. There is definitely something going on with cable compatibility connecting to a Mac.
I can 100% confirm with you that the USB3.2 speed on iPhone 15 Pro Max is not fully utilized.
On a MacBook Air (M1), I performed the following tests:
1. Copy a single 14G file from my WD Portable SSD(SATA) to the MBA through its original C2C cable (handshake at 5Gbps per System Information), it took me 34 seconds.
2. Copy the same file from the MBA to the iPhone 15 Pro Max through a c2c (USB3.2, 20Gbps) cable (handshake at 10Gbps per System Information) in iTunes and the destination of the file is under an app (VLC). It took me 221 seconds.
The MBA is on power supply, the screen saver is set to 20 mins (so no interference), the phone is fully charged at 100%.
I am guessing that this is either a firmware/software issue, or Apple is lying.
On a MacBook Air (M1), I performed the following tests:
1. Copy a single 14G file from my WD Portable SSD(SATA) to the MBA through its original C2C cable (handshake at 5Gbps per System Information), it took me 34 seconds.
2. Copy the same file from the MBA to the iPhone 15 Pro Max through a c2c (USB3.2, 20Gbps) cable (handshake at 10Gbps per System Information) in iTunes and the destination of the file is under an app (VLC). It took me 221 seconds.
The MBA is on power supply, the screen saver is set to 20 mins (so no interference), the phone is fully charged at 100%.
I am guessing that this is either a firmware/software issue, or Apple is lying.
Funny thing is that now I realized the iTunes is still treating the iPhone 15 Pro Max as a USB 2.0 device, the maximum transfer speed I observed was about 65MB/s, which is close to 480Mbps.
Transferring through iTunes is still limited at 480Mbps regardless of cable/handshake protocol, tested and can confirm.
Thank you for sharing your test and with results!
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This is still the only Apple sanctioned method of transferring data back and forth between PC and iPhone, so where does that leave anyone which bought an iPhone that didn’t work as advertised and doesn’t conform to standards? We have to buy a $2000 Mac computer to use our phones now too?
Apple not disclosing that their advertised/supposed pro USB 3 10gbps speeds are useless/blocked from windows users they are going to have a problem on their hands. I am genuinely surprised this has not received any attention yet from the media or tech news outlets. Maybe a sign that not enough people are actively using cables to transfer data in order to notice, but for the pros and power users - this absolutely is a big deal.
I used this cable, IMO it does seem to be USB 2 speeds. I wish Apple made it 40gbps instead of 10mbps.
Belkin Thunderbolt 4 Cable (2M, 6.6ft Power Cable), USB-C to USB-C Cable w/ 100W Power Delivery, USB 4 Compliant, Compatible with Thunderbolt 3, MacBook Pro, eCPU, & More - Intel Thunderbolt Certified
A smarter, faster charging cable. Meet the next generation of Thunderbolt technology – the Belkin Thunderbolt 4 Cable. Made to be 8 times faster than USB 3.0, this power cable makes multitasking across multiple devices effortless. Charge your MacBook Pro, Samsung smartphone, Galaxy Tablet, eCPU, ...
www.amazon.com
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Confirming the same issue with my Iphone 15 Pro Max. I tested transferring a 6GB mp4 a number of times to my 2020 iMac. Using a 3.1 10gbps rated cable from Amazon. OSX system report confirms I am using a 3.1 10gb connection. Using Image Capture to transfer, average speed in Activity Monitor is 250-280mbps and took 24 seconds. Tested transferring the same file from the iMac to my Samsung T7 using the same cable and average speeds were ~980mbps. The iPhone 15 Pro Max certainly is not transferring at 10gbps to the Mac.
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I have the same speeds w image capture.
I can actually get to almost 400MBps (capital B).
It is backups and getting content back into the iPhone is slow for me. Backups at USB 2.0 speeds and syncs of pictures or videos at most 2xUSB 2.0 speeds.
This is using any 10Gbps recognized cable including apple’s thunderbolt 3 cable with an IP15PM and an M1 Air to the internal drive of the Mac.
Actually, the "official" method for transferring photos/videos on Windows, directly from Apple's support website, is to use the Windows Photos app (although I've found it to be pretty unreliable):
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...ne-to-pc-2e4e4db4-4c3d-041c-b88f-3ee4358dd95e
Another option: You can also open the photo folders directly on your iphone in Windows explorer and copy/paste them to your PC from there. Doing it this way, I'm getting 1.9gbps transfer speeds, which still aren't great, but better than USB2 speeds.
But the fastest option is to just copy files/photos from your phone to a fast USBC drive, and then copy from there to your PC. That way it avoids whatever overhead Windows is adding to the transfer.
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