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New 10th-Generation iPad Has Slower USB-C Port Compared to Other Models

kwikdeth said:
Poster is speaking more to the overall mess that is USB-C. Is it USB 2? USB3? USB 3.2 Gen 1? USB 3.2 2x2? At least with the old A type connector you could look inside the connector and see the extra pins for USB3.
There's a fairly reasonable expectation that if it's got USB-C, it's a USB 3 capable device. It was reasonable to expect some devices were usb2 when the connector was new, but that was years ago at this point. It's not like USB3 is some kind of exotic technology at this point.
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Except Apple did the same thing with Lightning. Apple had a USB 3.0 Lightning iPad. Are you going to complain about Apple now? The reality is you have two choices when it comes to connectors. Either change it every time you upgrade the specification meaning everyone’s old cables are now junk or keep it the same and have some ambiguity as regards to what the port is capable of unless you look up the specs for the device. The biggest reason there are differences in capability among USB-C ports is because the standard has been improved multiple times since the connector launched. Look at HDMI as well for another port that has stayed the same since launch and now has myriad levels of capability. It’s simply a side effect of keeping the connector the same while technology is improved. I suppose the third option is to leave the standard to stagnate in decades old technology like Apple chose to do with Lightning. But hey, at least aside from one iPad we all know Lightning maxes out at garbage USB 2.0 speeds. Yipee… 🙄
 
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Premium1 said:
One more way for apple to "differentiate" the phones.
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This is why the number of SKUs matter: more SKUs, more confusing "differentiation." Arguably the most expensive gets everything. Then it is a crapshoot of trade-offs below that. The only places where this confusion does not exist is for the most expensive and the cheapest: the choice then becomes one of get everything or get the minimum.
 
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This is the first device Apple’s released ever with a USBC port on a host and only 2.0 speeds, and it’s in 2022. I wonder if this was originally intended to be released with lightning and was switched last minute, and because they’ve limited lightning they never bothered to put in 3.x compatibility. Swapping the port is probably an easier design change to do last minute than a board and chip update
 
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Unregistered 4U said:
The general public already knows. That’s why around the world Android outsells iOS by a wide margin. It just seems that, in the US, people just prefer iOS to Android, but even still it’s still roughly the same.
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I disagree. All the people I know who buy Androids do it because it’s cheaper and also because they never had the opportunity to compare theirs to an Apple device.
 
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Wahlstrm said:
USB-C wasn’t even around when USB2 was a thing..

So instead of just picking a cheap standard USB3 port of the shelf they showed currage and spent R&D money on creating an extra slow USB-C port just for Apple customers.

Can’t innovate my @$$..
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What on earth are you talking about?

USB-C is a connector, nothing more, there are plenty USB-C devices out there running at 2.0 speed.
 
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Lazy ass parts bin engineering. Absolutely no reason this iPad shouldn’t have 5Gbps USB-C to drives docks, monitors, etc. Clearly they want you to buy the iPad Air or back down to the iPad 9…no amount of apologizing and spin from Apple is going to fly with any consumer with a lick of common sense. Cheaping out in all the wrong places and then trying to cobble together solutions, but the audacity to sell a $249 keyboard with function keys others have had for a decade.
 
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seek3r said:
This is the first device Apple’s released ever with a USBC port on a host and only 2.0 speeds, and it’s in 2022. I wonder if this was originally intended to be released with lightning and was switched last minute, and because they’ve limited lightning they never bothered to put in 3.x compatibility. Swapping the port is probably an easier design change to do last minute than a board and chip update
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I have to wonder if this is also Apple to upsell customers to an iPad Pro? "Want USB 3 speeds? get the more expensive model." At this stage, Apple has the tech & resources to put USB 3 (if not Thunderbolt) in here, but chose USB 2. I get some people want different things, but do they really want something this old and slower? I also have to wonder what the difference in cost to Apple is for a USB 2 vs 3 controller (or whatever the component is called)? A few cents? A buck? I seriously have to wonder how much of a profit Apple will make by upselling a customer to an iPad Pro or something?
 
I saw an ad for this new iPad last night during prime time Thursday night football. It had 100% to do with colors and physical design, and 0% to do with specs or capability. It's pretty clear the target market for this product is not people who will be transferring large media files over USB. So, it makes sense for them to cheap out on this, just like they did with a few other features. Penny-pinching and profit-focused? Sure.

Honestly, if they had been able to keep the price to $349, or $379, heck even $399, most of this could have been forgiven. Bottom of the parts bin, bottom of the barrel prices... and there are a few redeeming features here, plus inflation, which warrant a small price bump from the old 9th gen. The $449 price reminds me of the original HomePod costing $349. It just doesn't quite add up, and I think the market already knows that. I am 99% sure these things will hit sales below $400 before the end of the year. When it comes down to it, the market has the final say on the price of an item. Also, many of the people who buy budget/basic iPads just might be same people who are lured most by markdown pricing strategy, and would jump at the chance to get this brand new iPad for $50 off just in time for Christmas...
 
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Wahlstrm said:
USB-C wasn’t even around when USB2 was a thing..

So instead of just picking a cheap standard USB3 port of the shelf they showed currage and spent R&D money on creating an extra slow USB-C port just for Apple customers.

Can’t innovate my @$$..
Click to expand...
Not trying to defend Apple too much here, but the port is just hardware, and has almost nothing to do with transfer speeds. The speed is determined by the bus and the controller chip, among other things. No R&D money was wasted on finding ways to create an extra slow port, I promise. For instance, your ISP doesn't have to spend any R&D money to use an older and slower fiber converter that limits speeds to 1Gbps even if the fiber optic connection itself could easily handle 10Gbps.
 
seek3r said:
This is the first device Apple’s released ever with a USBC port on a host and only 2.0 speeds, and it’s in 2022. I wonder if this was originally intended to be released with lightning and was switched last minute, and because they’ve limited lightning they never bothered to put in 3.x compatibility. Swapping the port is probably an easier design change to do last minute than a board and chip update
Click to expand...
I'm fairly certain the USB-C port was always a part of this design. It has been a part of every squared-edge iPad (pro, air, mini, and now this one), so they probably just recycled as much design from the air as possible to save cost, then looked for ways to get it even cheaper. It's not hard to imagine they always planned to gimp this one with slow speeds because the market research probably tells them most people don't use wired transfer anymore.
 
iZac said:
Imagine Samsung makes an advert rightly eviscerating it for needing a cable and a dongle to connect a pen.
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If they did, then you can bet that in 6 months they’d implement it. They only advertise against the things they’re getting ready to do. :)
 
Blue Hawk said:
I remember the time where Apple devices where premium devices. Now you have stupid restrictions like these.
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It's just market segmentation, don't be too dramatic. They've been doing it like this for a while now, especially since the days of the original iPhone SE. I do miss the times when it seemed like every Apple device was premium, but now that belongs to the "Pro" lineup. I don't hate Apple for moving downmarket as well though. I'd still rather have a budget Apple device than a mid-range android/windows/whatever.
 
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Return Zero said:
I saw an ad for this new iPad last night during prime time Thursday night football. It had 100% to do with colors and physical design, and 0% to do with specs or capability. It's pretty clear the target market for this product is not people who will be transferring large media files over USB. So, it makes sense for them to cheap out on this, just like they did with a few other features. Penny-pinching and profit-focused? Sure.

Honestly, if they had been able to keep the price to $349, or $379, heck even $399, most of this could have been forgiven. Bottom of the parts bin, bottom of the barrel prices... and there are a few redeeming features here, plus inflation, which warrant a small price bump from the old 9th gen. The $449 price reminds me of the original HomePod costing $349. It just doesn't quite add up, and I think the market already knows that. I am 99% sure these things will hit sales below $400 before the end of the year. When it comes down to it, the market has the final say on the price of an item. Also, many of the people who buy budget/basic iPads just might be same people who are lured most by markdown pricing strategy, and would jump at the chance to get this brand new iPad for $50 off just in time for Christmas...
Click to expand...
I agree. Sometimes I don’t like Apple’s pricing and I understand product differentiation. My solution: don’t buy.
 
This does not bode well for the USB-C iPhone 15…
I hope they will at least have the decency to give the iPhone Pro proper bandwidth.

It’s embarrassing, even mid spec Android phones have fast storage access now
 
Nautilus007 said:
My question is, WHY? Is it cheaper to put gimp the product?
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It's the same plan as the iPhones. Make the lower model so you can say you did, but it's such a barely noticeable upgrade, everyone is like it's only $###.## to go to the next level. Why do they keep falling for it? It's still the same amount for the next level whether or not anything exists below it
 
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