iPhone 14 Pro USB 2 (released in 2000) on iPhone 14 Pro is a disappointment (Lightning speed)

[hellosil]

Lightning with USB 2 speeds, what a disappointing choice Apple.

USB 2.0 was released in the year 2000. 22 years ago, 7 years before iPhone 1 came out (!!)

Now we have 1 TB storage and ProRes recording.

For example, ProRes in 4K (10 bit) creates 6GB files for every minute recorded.
Let's record a 10 minute video, couple of takes, let's say 20 minutes of recordings in total.

Let's now transfer that 120 GB to my Mac through the Lighting port.

• USB 2.0 transfer speed = 37 minutes, 32 seconds

That's longer than it takes to create the recordings.
That destroys professional workflows.

Is this a high-end premium device that is marketed an 'Pro' and costs like $1,099 - $1,599 excluding taxes. (€1.459 - €2.129 including taxes in Europe) ? I'm confused.

The latest Macs supports Thunderbolt 4, 40 Gbps, (26 seconds for 120 GB) roughly 80 times faster than current Lightning implementation.
At least support 5Gbps on iPhone like iPad USB-C, its about 10 times faster than iPhone 14 Pro.
(With USB 3.0 speeds it would take 3 minutes, 31 seconds.)

How do people deal with this ridiculous limit?

What went wrong at Apple that this is the end result in a product?

Data sources used
speed calculator https://techinternets.com/copy_calc

 

[TurboJobo]

i do understand your point of view, but most people would probably air dropped anyways, i went from the 13 to the se because of no touch id and the fact new phones didnt get usb c

 

[hellosil]

i do understand your point of view, but most people would probably air dropped anyways, i went from the 13 to the se because of no touch id and the fact new phones didnt get usb c

Yeah, the lack of USB-C is so disappointing too.

AirDrop is only about twice as fast as as USB 2.0.

For most people recording and transferring the default 265/HEVC format is probably fine in terms of speed, but we a talking about a Pro feature: ProRes is aimed at professionals.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I assume USB-C will be one of the major selling points next year.

 

[SmugMaverick]

I assume USB-C will be one of the major selling points next year.

This.

That’s why they kept 8K off the 14 line up because the media backlash for data transferring videos of that size would have been hilarious.

I hate lightning, slow, old and needs its own wire.

Bring on type C at long last.

 

[hellosil]

I assume USB-C will be one of the major selling points next year.

This.

That’s why they kept 8K off the 14 line up because the media backlash for data transferring videos of that size would have been hilarious.

I hate lightning, slow, old and needs its own wire.

Bring on type C at long last.

I agree and media backlash should already be here, but not enough people care.
ProRes + USB 2.0 is a joke.

USB-C could have been a major selling point every year for the last 5 or so.
Apple is not a leader in this department.
It just waits until EU forces them to adopt USB-C and comes up with an excuse for why it is now a great time to adopt it.
Just sad really.

 

[RobinNL]

For me it’s mostly consistency. Everything is usb c (including apples own iPad!). It stinks that it’s so obvious they would rather earn money from licenses than provide a better product to their users.

 

[nicho]

The latest Macs supports Thunderbolt 4, 40 Gbps, roughly 100 times faster than current Lightning implementation.
At least support 5Gbps on iPhone like iPad USB-C, about 80 times faster than iPhone 14 Pro.

How do people deal with this ridiculous limit?

With messed up math?

 

[hellosil]

With messed up math?

Ah you mean people believe its faster than it is, because the bath math they do?
Also probably.

My math in the original post about iPad & Thunderbolt speed was messed up / too positive. 😅
Update: fixed.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Be nice to have everything on the same USB-C connector, but as far as speed, does not matter to me as the only thing I use the lightning port for is charging.

Apple intends to make the iPhone port less one day, not sure if that is good.

 

[Wolfson]

It would be nice to have consistency across devices with only one connector but I'm really sad it will be USB C. The ligtning connector is a lot better in a physical sense. The thinner part on it is on the connector and not on the port, for example. So if it breaks you can just replace the cable. With USB C you are screwed. Also it has a very satisfying click when inserting it, USB C feels mushy.

 

[Starscape]

I thought for sure Apple was going to wake up and add USB-C to iPhone. Good grief, Apple. The iPhone 14 series seems more like an incremental upgrade than an entirely new phone line. And Apple probably has a lot of their users believing that the notification bubble they're calling 'magical' really is some innovation.

 

[PeteBurgh]

It is a bit silly that Lightning is getting one last hurrah. There was an almost identical thread about this issue last year, which shows how nothing has changed.

In that thread, I tried to point out that although these slow speeds such, they are probably a really niche concern:

I imagine the vast majority of iPhone users are simply not interested in moving large files around in this way, and wouldn't be interested in doing so even if they were made aware of the possibility. They just aren't interested in shooting lengthy ProRes videos (or perhaps do it only very rarely, so that slow transfer speeds are an occasional annoyance, rather than a significant constraint).

Nevertheless, it's annoying we have to wait another year for USB-C.

 

[SanderEvers]

I assume USB-C will be one of the major selling points next year.

USB-C doesn't automatically make it USB 3.0, or 4.0, or thunderbolt, though. You can have USB-C with USB 2.0. (You can even have USB C with USB 1.1 - which is the lowest supported spec)

You CAN have USB 3.0 with Lightning. The first gen iPad Pro could do USB 3.0 over lightning for the full 5 gb/s

 

[stu.h]

USB-C doesn't automatically make it USB 3.0, or 4.0, or thunderbolt, though. You can have USB-C with USB 2.0. (You can even have USB C with USB 1.1 - which is the lowest supported spec)

You CAN have USB 3.0 with Lightning. The first gen iPad Pro could do USB 3.0 over lightning for the full 5 gb/s

Do we know for definite that Apple haven't upgraded the lightning connector to USB 3.0?
I mean, they don't mention it, and probably want to keep the selling point for USB-C, but it has been rumoured in various places in recent months.

Not a problem for me, as like others, I only (seldom) use the port for charging, and have a few MagSafe chargers around the house when sitting (or sleeping) for long periods..

 

[bhall110]

I want thunderbolt on the iPhone 15.

 

[teohyc]

i do understand your point of view, but most people would probably air dropped anyways, i went from the 13 to the se because of no touch id and the fact new phones didnt get usb c

Airdrop is sooooooooooooooooooooooo slow. Not very usable for GBs worth of files unless you don't mind waiting of course, and pray that the wireless transfer doesn't cut off for some reason.

 

[nathan_reilly]

Airdrop is sooooooooooooooooooooooo slow. Not very usable for GBs worth of files unless you don't mind waiting of course, and pray that the wireless transfer doesn't cut off for some reason.

yeah mine like to stop mid way, especially with really large/important transfer.

 

[NikkoTuason]

I still have hope that the 14PM has USB 3.0 Lightning. Please….

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

i do understand your point of view, but most people would probably air dropped anyways, i went from the 13 to the se because of no touch id and the fact new phones didnt get usb c

AirDrop doesn't work well for everything, especially files that are in gigabytes. The process of me trying to move ProRes footage from my iPhone 13 Pro to the Mac was an absolute nightmare as the AirDrop failed so many times that I said "**** it" and plugged it in. I had to deal with Lightning's slow ass speeds just to get the files on the Mac. Wired provides a solid stable connection unlike wireless, which is why pros keep asking for USB-C especially since USB-C is miles faster. Moving gigabytes of footage only takes a few minutes on USB-C versus the amount of time it takes on Lightning.

 

[SanderEvers]

Do we know for definite that Apple haven't upgraded the lightning connector to USB 3.0?
I mean, they don't mention it, and probably want to keep the selling point for USB-C, but it has been rumoured in various places in recent months.

I doubt they would change it right now.

Honestly, I see them next year just replacing the Lightning port with a USB-C port. Which would still limit the speed to USB 2.0 (you'll need a different controller for USB 3.0 or faster)

 

[magbarn]

The thing is that the last ipad pro's with lightning did have usb 3.0 speed with the appropriate adapter. Still don't understand why a device that can record in prores still doesn't have this feature.

 

[aajeevlin]

This.

That’s why they kept 8K off the 14 line up because the media backlash for data transferring videos of that size would have been hilarious.

I hate lightning, slow, old and needs its own wire.

Bring on type C at long last.

The funny thing is it’s been so long now all my devices are on USBC. Hell even my rechargeable flashlight has USBC…

 

[SanderEvers]

The thing is that the last ipad pro's with lightning did have usb 3.0 speed with the appropriate adapter. Still don't understand why a device that can record in prores still doesn't have this feature.

Apple doesn't want to. They are pushing iCloud for a reason. iCloud with a lot of storage brings them a lot of money, so offering a "free" option is a problem to them.

The faster camera adapter was there to get more content onto your device. (Even Apple knows Pros aren't using iPads as a camera replacements). So it was a smart move to allow people to import photo's. This is why iPads also got their USB-C when they did.

 

[hagjohn]

Transfers seem quicker using a USB-C to lightening cable for transfer when you can but yes, Apple should switch to USB-C on everything.