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iPhone 15's USB-C Port Remains Limited to Lightning Speeds

HobeSoundDarryl said:
Just dazzling. This required a corporate decision... to choose to keep the speed USB2/Lightning while adopting USB-C in devices priced towards $1000 in typical configurations. Dazzling!
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As Tim Cook famously said previously, "...it takes courage to...[do this]"
So it took courage -- and a lot of balls -- to introduce a USB-C cable that runs at USB 2.0 speeds.

USB 2.0 has a quoted maximum of 480 Mb/s with a quoted maximum theoretical speed of 53 MB/s. Which means only in a lab, only under certain absolutely totally ideal conditions. Real life max speed of 43 MB/s. In my own real-life experience, I've never been able to see any speed higher than 29 MB/s for USB 2.0.
So SAD. Apple INTENTIONALLY using year 2000 USB 2.0 technology in 2023. Just to keep up the differentiating factor of slower for the 'cheaper' $799 and $899 iPhones.
(For $800, in 2023, you should reasonably expect USB 3.0 speeds...)
 
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sideshowuniqueuser said:
Of course not, because data transfers over Lightning cable are excruciatingly slow.

Intel just announced Thunderbolt 5 at 80 Gbps.
Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C 4 runs at 40 Gbps (available on my MBP)
Apple just announced USB-C 3.0 at 10 Gbps for iPhone 15 Pro
And USB-C 2.0 at 0.48 Gbps for iPhone 15 (same speed as Lightning).

iPhone 15 and older:
160 times slower than the just announced Thunderbolt 5.
80 times slower than data speeds available on my MBP.

iPhone 15 Pro:
4 times slower than data speeds available on my MBP.

THAT is why you don't bother with data transfers via cable on your iPhone.
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In my humble opinion, your post is the best one I've read on this thread. I love how you expressed in quantifiable terms just how awful of a decision it was to limit the iPhone 15 to USB 2.0. For me, that shows the extent of how poorly Tim Cook makes decisions.

Perhaps you might find the thread in the link below to be of interest:
forums.macrumors.com

Will iPhone 14 be USB 2.0? Probably, since Cook is mediocre.

Apple computers have had USB 3.0 since mid-2012. That is 10 years ago. Despite that, Tim Cook, being the mediocre beancounter MBA suit that he is, has still not done anything to upgrade the connectivity on the latest iPhones. The latest iPhones use the same USB 2.0 connectivity that shipped with...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
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Were the apple employees responsible for hardware given a 6 month vacation?? They didn’t need more than a month to refresh the new iPhone and Apple Watch.
 
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Toratek said:
Heck, I’ve already seen a post where the nutcase at the keyboard proclaimed his exit from the entire Apple ecosystem over this one “issue”. 🤣
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That would be me. And those with any kind of life experience will understand that it’s not just this one “issue.” Rather, this “issue” is the last straw in a long line of disappointments stemming from Apple’s tone-deafness, arrogance and cynical view of its customers. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is, by definition, not that big of a deal on its own.
 
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UAL, I got the 2023 iPhone Pro USB-C 3.0 controversial. It's that in 2024 the USB-C 4.0 with all the ripe. And will be the ultimate revolution and disruptive new feature. What a bad joke Apple. So let's wait!!'
 
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psxp said:
The problem is the masses won’t care…
They’re the ones the devices are made for
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This. All that people have to do, is see “USB-C now available” (or something similar) & they’ll easily fork over the money for a newer iPhone.

It will especially help with people who will want to just get away from Lightning.
 
USB 2.0 - the cutting edge technology of early-mid 2000!

Seriously though, it’s pretty cool of Apple to include a USB 3.0 controller in the Pro model, for those power users who need the higher speeds that a device from late 2008 could achieve 🤦‍♂️
 
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Apple used to be pioneers of speeds. Now they leave speeds low on purpose like not giving Wifi6e, USB 3 (at least 5gbps) or even latest SOCs to non-pro models. When they started this, there was chip shortage and factories in China and Taiwan couldn’t churn out as much as Apple wanted. Now we are in this situation where Apple does HARD upselling of their Pro models by deliberately botching down their non-pro models.
 
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B4U said:
This is so Apple's way of giving EU the middle finger. 😂
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Then why didn't they do the same with the Pro models? It clearly affects the customers, not the EU.
Regardless, iPhone 16 will have the same 10gbps transfer speed as the Pro 15 currently has. So why bother with some petty "middle finger towards the EU" for a few months when you know you will give in anyway? Makes no sense.
 
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Tagbert said:
They obviously expect most people to just use the cable for charging.

The USB Power Delivery spec assumes 2.0 speed. Other specs have higher data speeds.

USB hardware - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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The gave the iPhone 15 a 48mp camera, 4 times more data than on the previous iPhone but kept the transfer speed the same.
I get it, just use the wifi.. but still, makes no sense. Probably they still had A16 inventory or something.
 
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Loads of people on this thread - who would never dream of buying the regular iPhone 15…

…Are nonetheless, bitterly complaining about its data transfer speed.

When most regular people who WILL buy the regular iPhone 15, will never use the cable for data transfer.
 
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Machspeed007 said:
Then why didn't they do the same with the Pro models? It clearly affects the customers, not the EU.
Regardless, iPhone 16 will have the same 10gbps transfer speed as the Pro 15 currently has. So why bother with some petty "middle finger towards the EU" for a few months when you know you will give in anyway? Makes no sense.
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They know they have to differentiate the "Pro" model in some way in order not to piss off the customers.
 
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So much whining. If you need faster transfer, get the Pro, which uses the new A17 SOC with the new USB 3 controller. Obviously the prior A16 doesn’t have this built in.
 
pugxiwawa said:
It takes courage to throttle down the speed
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It's not "throttling". The USB-C connector doesn't come with 40 Gbps speed on its own. That comes with the USB4 / Thunderbolt protocol. You can have any combination you want. There's even several protocols, for example, USB4 is the data transfer protocol, and USB-PD is the charging protocol.

The iPhone, even before the 15, used USB-PD as a protocol. On a Lightning connector.

To make it even funnier, several Android phones used USB-C connector with QuickCharge as the charging protocol.

Yeah, it may look confusing, that's exactly why you shouldn't make statements based on baseless assumptions. The 15 simply doesn't have a Thunderbolt controller needed to support the higher speeds, because it'd bump the price. End of story.
 
svish said:
Was expecting this. Only the Pro models will have faster speeds
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Of course. Want faster speeds, more features, more storage, or better quality? Simply pay for it.

It's like that with everything your purchase in life (homes, cars, audio systems, shoes, computers, laser printers, microwave ovens, TVs, computer displays, table saws, binoculars, and on and on.
 
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