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iPhone 15 USB-C Cables Again Said to Be Limited to USB 2.0 Transfer Speeds

Yeah I don't think any mainstream Android phone has USB-C 3.x cables included in the box either. This has been going on for years, so let's say this outrage is a little...late. Same for iPads with USB-C, same for Macbooks with USB-C, though with Magsafe 3 that doesn't even support data transfer at all.

As for reducing e-waste, first off EU doesn't regulate the cable included in the box, just the port, and they don't even regulate the USB speeds of the port, they just forced it to be USB-C (they only cared about charging, not data transfer). And if you want to reduce e-waste you would include no cable at all in the box, since not everyone wants a new cable, they might already have all the cables they need. So within a few generations Apple might not even include a cable, hope you like that bit of e-waste reduction!
 
Hard to take e-waste seriously when you look at Apples containers the products come in. You have a container with more cardboard inside it at the bottom and sometimes under the lid too. The iPhone container should be just a little taller than what the warranty replacement phones come in so it has a little extra room for a cable. Box should be 1/2” tall at most. Look at all that paper product just for a small AirTag.
 
klasma said:
The reason might be that the iPhone 15 is reusing the A16-based design from the 14 Pro, and they are not redesigning its USB interconnect just for higher transfer speeds. A USB-C port doesn’t magically enable higher transfer speeds by itself.
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I don't see why this has to be the case considering the A15 Bionic in the iPad mini already supported higher transfer speeds.
 
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Lakersfan74 said:
Hard to take e-waste seriously when you look at Apples containers the products come in. You have a container with more cardboard inside it at the bottom and sometimes under the lid too. The iPhone container should be just a little taller than what the warranty replacement phones come in so it has a little extra room for a cable. Box should be 1/2” tall at most. Look at all that paper product just for a small AirTag.
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Paper and cardboard isn't e-waste. It can be sustainably sourced, recyclable, and biodegradable.

Apple's containers are designed to prevent product damage which would result in actual e-waste. A box just slightly bigger than the iPhone wouldn't provide enough protection.
 
People don't even realize a proper USB C cable that is capable of 5Gbps or higher is significantly more expensive.

Take Anker for example, they don't even make a USB-C 5/10Gbps cable. They do have a USB4 cable (Anker 515) that is capable of 40Gbps, but that cable costs 34.99 for 3 feet of length.

Meanwhile, a 6 feet 100W 480Mbps cable in the same series (Anker 543) costs 12.99, or a 2-pack for 17.99

Or if we look at Amazon:
- Pluggable 10Gbps costs 11.95 for 3 feet
- CableMatters 10Gbps costs 13.99 for 3 feet
- UGREEN 10Gbps costs 18.99 for 3 feet
 
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makitango said:
They aren‘t designing anything. They just regulate the amount of scamming customers and taxing the environment that they tolerate, in the area that they are being held responsible for.
Try to find some sleep when you‘re an environmental minister and this Lightning and MFI crap is bring executed on your premises. You don‘t if you‘re true to your word or task of taking care of it.
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That is a ridiculous argument. Governmental agencies are telling companies what technologies should be designed into their products without any understanding of what the ramifications and/or impacts are. Worse yet, they are codifying technology solutions with no way of ensuring they are updated as new technology is developed. They just sit back and say "All devices must have USB-C ports — FOREVER!"
 
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t0rqx said:
Anyone still believe Apple caring about user experience more than money? These are Android cheap a.. strategies.
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I am with you but I don’t get it. These are cheap cheap parts. I am not even sure there is a cost difference. My guess is it’s a motherboard difference and the law forced a change and they couldn’t add act the motherboard components at the same schedule as everything else.
 
G46&Fbnth5 said:
It seems obvious. Aren’t USB C charging cables that comes with iPads (or M1 MBA) limited to 2.0 too?
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I'll answer your question correctly unlike the other poster, yes the USB-C charging cables that came with iPads, as well as Macbooks that have USB-C and no Magsafe 3 were 2.0 as well. Macbooks with Magsafe 3 don't include a type-C cable and you can't send data over Magsafe 3.

And most Android phones I think come with 2.0 cables, even when their port is 3.x capable (some of the lower-end ones are 2.0 ports as well).

It's cheaper to use 2.0, the cable is thinner, and most people aren't heavily into transferring data from their phone, so it is what it is. And if you want the high speed data transfer you could use the Apple Thunderbolt 3 cable which has Thunderbolt speeds, allegedly the iPhone Pros will have Thunderbolt too, it'll be blazing fast data transfer if it has Thunderbolt.
 
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spcopsmac21 said:
I could see the EU setting a fine for every cable thrown away. The EU doesn’t play around with this sort of thing. And it’s hilarious Apple assumes they can out play the 2nd largest governing body humanity has ever seen.
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It’s just downright greedy. We all know MFI only exists to line apples pockets, and the fact the iPhone has resisted type c for this long, especially now that ALL their devices have it, is atrocious. Apple always prides themselves on their green impact, but when you look below the surface you have crap like this and deliberately hard to repair devices
 
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jimbobb24 said:
I am with you but I don’t get it. These are cheap cheap parts. I am not even sure there is a cost difference. My guess is it’s a motherboard difference and the law forced a change and they couldn’t add act the motherboard components at the same schedule as everything else.
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Where are you getting the idea that the cost difference is negligible? I'd imagine licensing and material costs increase significantly based on the difference in pricing for devices and cables.
 
timmodugdale said:
That is a ridiculous argument. Governmental agencies are telling companies what technologies should be designed into their products without any understanding of what the ramifications and/or impacts are. Worse yet, they are codifying technology solutions with no way of ensuring they are updated as new technology is developed. They just sit back and say "All devices must have USB-C ports — FOREVER!"
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You‘re saying they have no understanding, as if they don‘t have groups who do the deep dives. That‘s just speculation and the fact that you have numerous people here NOT being on Apple‘s side with this tells me you just try to move their posts away from the recent ones.
USB-C is a connector standard, and by everyone using that standard which does not limit anything that Apple does or wants to do this is by definition the best for everyone, because everyone can use said cables for at least charging, and data as well unless some greedy companies like Apple intentionally f*** up the cable like with the MFI ramifications. Or by being cheap with going back to 2001 USB speeds based on their decision.

This could also get regulated and every consumer could benefit from it, yet they leave that freedom to the companies and here you see clearly what you get when you let Apple do whatever they want. People get upset and the apologists come to the rescue and say „yeah but others do it too/no one uses the cable for data“.
If that were the case, maybe just remove the data part. But maybe that‘s actually not the case.

You could just as much say „no one uses the iPhone mini“.

Also, no one is codifying anything, and no one says that all iPhones must have x. No one is saying this is forever. You just invent scenarios to inflate your argument.

All the EU does is say that if you want to sell your device on their premises, the cable has to have a certain form factor, just like a power adapter. You‘re not getting an EU power adapter in your NA iToy and you are not getting an NA power adapter in your EU version, and it makes totally sense. We are having the advantage that the cable world already has a compatible standard which is why they acted. And they acted because people in the EU want the nonsense cable production and waste gone. If you are at any given social event and someone has a phone, the question is always whether or not you have an iPhone or else, and that nuissance will be gone.
If I invite you into my home, you also can‘t do everything you want. It‘s just the same.
 
While this is ridiculous (if the rumor is true)... people are still using cables to transfer data to/from iPhones? That is news to me!
 
Nimrad said:
And that has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with Apple staying at crappy speeds.
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We don’t know the whole story but it is possible it has a lot to do with it. Apple buys bulk components sometimes a year in advance or more. What if the EU forced apple to change one component but apple still had a contract for another component. You could end up with exactly the situation we are facing. Apple had to make a change earlier they were anticipating and so things are mismatched.
 
Wish they would just start including just the iPhone as default, lower the price by the cable price, and then prompt you during the order if you need a cable/charger
 
mongobongo said:
It's enough for me but it shouldn't be enough for Apple. That's not even pocket change. If you're Apple $2.3 million is what you find underneath a seat cushion when you're cleaning out the couch.
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I want to be like Gus Gorman and funnel all those excess pennies into my bank account
 
tripsync said:
Agree to disagree
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In my post you quoted I said it’s not the EUs fault Apple didn’t transition iPhones to USB-C at the same time as their MacBooks. Do you disagree with that? I can agree to disagree on opinions, but not on basic facts like that. Apple's first Mac with USB-C was the 12" Macbook in 2015. Apple could have switched the iPhone to USB-C anytime between then and now. It's not the EU's fault they didn't.

Nor is it the EUs fault that these rules are going into effect before Apple makes a move that they haven't even announced yet. Your whole premise is based on conjecture that Apple will go portless in the next couple years. You don't have any real evidence to support that. Even if they do go portless, that will be Apple's decision again. Everything Apple does is on them. Including going with USB 2 for data. I don't know why you're so focussed on blaming the EU for Apple's mis-steps.
 
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headlessmike said:
I can’t even count how many device I have that came with USB cables that cannot carry any data and are only wired for power. Apple shipping USB 2.0 speed cables is not the end of the world if the device still supports faster speeds. The actual percentage of iPhone users that use their cables for data transfer must be very small.
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I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max that I got at launch. I don't think I've ever transferred anything over the cable. Back in 2010? Yeah I did it all the time. Now? Nope. AirDrop, iCloud, Dropbox, GoogleDrive and pretty much everything else all sync through the web. I bet the percentage of users who would actually benefit from 3.0 speeds is less than 1%.
 
makitango said:
USB-C is a connector standard, and by everyone using that standard which does not limit anything that Apple does or wants to do
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Of course it limits what Apple can do, because it limits them to a specific 10-year old connector. Maybe they would benefit from a different connector. Maybe not. We'll never know.

makitango said:
this is by definition the best for everyone, because everyone can use said cables for at least charging, and data as well
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That's hardly the definition of best for everyone. Maybe good enough for now.
 
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