Apple iPhone 15 relegated to USB 2.0 unless you buy the Pro
Apple has dragged the iPhone kicking and screaming into the USB-C era, but with an embarrassingly antiquated USB protocol.
Relegated? The iPhone has always had USB 2.0 speeds…
That has been trash for pretty much a decade at this point
2 decades. Their previous proprietary monster was just as bad.
so very apple to punish it's own users because they have too many old components they need to use up, but if you're paying for PRO you get actual 2023 modern USB.
so very, very apple.
Lately the base model is usually last year’s old pro processors and micro controllers. Next year the base 16 will probably have the faster IO if the trend continues.
Completely agree. No company redesigns all of their products each year. They redesign the top tier and then its shifts downward the next year. GPU, CPU, Motherboard, hell even cars do this. Not all models included Carplay and Android Auto when it launched, just the high end cars did, but now all of them do.
USB IO speed aside, Apple's phones have gotten to the point where 3 and 4 year old chipsets are still VERY performant. They now have the wiggle room to put more bleeding edge silicon in top tier phones, be ok with smaller yields at first, and scale fabrication over the year.
That all being said, given that everyone was going to been eyeing this USB port, they probably should've taken one on the chin and changed the stupid IO speed. Although, the people complaining about this probably aren't Apple's core market anyway. So maybe they were right.
I suspect next year’s base will have a revised version of this year’s processor. The iPhone 15 Pro has an A17 Pro. This is the first A Series chip with a “Pro” label. I don’t expect something “Pro” to make it into the base model.
What will change between the A17 Pro and the A17? Who knows. It might include the upgraded USB controller though.
This is Apple at it again, do bare minimum and charge premium. They left USB2 because it required no work, but they had to put type C because EU regulation. Since USB is backwards compatible, solution is just solder half of the connector, charge premium price and fuck you customers. And they are right, people don't care. Instead they go defending it like "I don't need it anyway", "Am not a pro, I don't need it", etc.
Ah, yes last year. Usb 2.0 was invented in, like what, 2001? A shitty phone cpu from 2 years ago is probably at least as powerful as the pentium 4 I had back in the day. Come the fuck on.
Even USB3 is 15 years old already.
Just saying that I wouldn’t be surprised if they were reusing some boards or controllers with limited throughput that their manufacturing plants and fabs were already pumping out. Cook got famous for being an operational efficiency nerd that made sure Apple had very little spare parts and inventory on the books.
But yeah, iPhone physical IO speeds have been slow for a looong time. My guess is that so much of Apple’s install base is syncing over the cloud that it hasn’t been a priority.
The biggest applause at the in-person event was, no lie, for the larger cloud storage plans.
One last little 'f you for making us do this'
Whatever, still better than lightning.
It's funny (or sad I guess) that the current generation of laptops are back on mag chargers (I forget what they're called) instead of USB C. There was never a time when both iPhones and MacBooks used USB C charging.
This is why companies like Apple are malicious.
Or because the base iPhone 15 uses last year’s Pro chip which didn’t have a USB3 controller.
A Raspberry Pi from years ago has USB 3.1. Restricting the latest iPhone is just laughable.
More like standard capitalism. The usb c connectors are not slower then the lightning connectors so its not like they made it worse. They simply refused to make it better.
A bit like Nvidia continuing to maken better gpu chips but refusing to have them release with a more VRAM.
If course in a way, all for profit-companies are malicious. Extracting surplus value from workers and such.
So - in your opinion - any company shipping a USB 2 device is 'malicious'?
Apple's base model hardware usually uses last year's pro chipsets. They've been doing this for a bit now.
If the trend continues, next year the base model will get all the newer CPUs, micro controllers, etc.
Here's the rational answer, folks. Anything else is your emotional response.
If the aim of a company is to maximize profits then every company in Apple's stead would do the same thing. Not defending it but that's the world we created.
It does feel kind of spiteful. But honestly, it is surprisingly difficult to find USB 3 USB-C cables anyway. Most of them are USB 2 unless you spring for Thunderbolt cables.
No they're not? At least when I check amazon or any other online retailer, USB-C cables are almost always USB 3.0 or higher. Only the ultra cheap ones are not.
There's nothing more spiteful than not buying either of them
I swear I have a USB C cable that charges faster oriented one way. I haven't really proved it or anything but it really does feel like it. Maybe I'm crazy. Is it possible? It's "normal" USB on the other side.
You aren't crazy, but barring any defects or damage this shouldn't be happening
I had a cable which only charged plugged in one way up. I assume some of the pins were damaged.
Welcome to the Android world where even good smartphones worth 400 $ only support USB 2.0
My cheap android phones have had usb3 for like 5 years =\
Most Androids still only get USB2.0, but not the ones that are in the price range of the iPhone.
Edit: Feels like I'm back on Reddit with people not reading my comment, I just said that although most units of Android phones are budget to mid-range, mine being a mid-range (Poco F3), Android phones anywhere near the range of an iPhone in Cost is USB 3.0+
I don't use data on the USB port very often and when I do it's always to make an access point over USB so the USB2.0 bandwidth is enough for my use.
I wonder if people really have a use for USB3.
Apart from making phone more expensive, I don't see a real need for me
it's not universally true, there are plenty of cheap and expensive models with USB 3
I love how these articles happen and are posted and everyone flames at apple.
This isn’t that different than the Galaxy note 20 not having ultra wide band but the Ultra version does.
All companies do this, otherwise why have different tiers or different models.
Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled they are finally using USB-C. I enjoyed the lightning when if first came out. The only cord at the time you could plug in and there was no up or down, it just want in no matter what orientation. Apple just wanted to charge everyone to use it and they screwed up with that. Now there is a full standard for every device, this is good.
Apple fan boys and Android fan boys need to chill out. It’s just a phone, not an allegiance.
I didn't know what ultra wide band was because i never heard of it and...wow! Are you seriously comparing a very high tech stuff that only started to being added to high-end smartphones since 2019 (i still don't know what it's for) to apple forcefully crippling the speed of usb to what it was more than 10 years ago ? That's whack ! I can't even start to understand your thoughts process. Other famous company did something that can be considered similar if you tilt your head hard enough ( to stop blood from flowing to the brain that is ) so you see ? the company i love isn't fucking me sideways like y'all are saying. WTF !??
It seems to be that you are misunderstanding the entire tech concept. There is no "downgrading" the A16 chip from last year’s pro model is the USB controller. They simply aren't upgrading that chip.
The comparison was not about a cable vs wifi. It was about the chip on the device as that is the crux of the situation.
No need to be rude or insulting with the blood flowing to the brain comment. Again this seems to be fan boy attitude to shit on "the other side" and be insulting to win the argument. I have no stake in this other than pointing out that people are freaking out and getting upset because they didn't redesign the phone and architecture for $X to increase the speed of something almost no IOS user even uses.
An honest question, do you actually use your cord the transfer data from your phone or tablet? Personally I never use the cord on my Galaxy Tab, It easier to use Wi-Fi and a shared folder on my NAS.
I don't think it's fair to compare UWB and USB 2.
One is already an old ass standard. I don't even know what devices aren't USB 3 anymore. You actively have to go out of your way to be a dick and downgrade your phone to USB 2.0
Not to mention the price difference is literally negligible.
Apple is just being assholes here. They already downgrade the non pro by removing cameras and whatnot. Touching the USB speed is a special kind of fuck you.
They didn’t downgrade anything…
iPhones have the USB controller as part of the SoC. Not a separate controller like the iPads or laptops. They don’t have the space for it.
The non pro this year is using last years pro chip which didn’t have a USB 3 controller on it. For the non pro they are repinning the port to USB c to repurpose the controller on the chip. But they physically cant add USB 3 to it.
They also never removed cameras from the non pro model either. Idk where you pulled that from. The XS and XS Max both only had two cameras, and when they went to the iPhone/iPhone Pro model with the 11, the non pro still had two and they added a third for the pro.
The processor in de iPhone 15 doesn’t support 3.0 speeds. The one in de pro (different proc) does. The cable of the pro doesn’t support 3.0 speeds. But neither do the cables that come with other brand phones.
Companies are dicks. Or something…
At apple scale I wouldn't be surprised to hear that giving everyone the USB 3 chip would reduce overall cost, or that apple is doing the crippling in software or firmware.
USB 3 actually has flaws that make some devices functionally useless with USB 3 devices around.
USB 3 notoriously emits noise in the 2.4ghz radio spectrum, requiring extra precautions and development cost in order to reduce the effect.
This is often why 2.4ghz mouse and keyboards specifically require USB 2.0 connections.
I'm not saying that's why Apple did it, but it isn't a solved problem in the least and USB isn't just a no-thought upgrade.
This isn’t that different than the Galaxy note 20 not having ultra wide band but the Ultra version does.
Are we considering that UWB is as prominent as USB and you'll be using it almost daily with a multitude of devices?
No, that's a fair point. The Ultra Wide Band is not the same in terms of use and known like USB is. My comparison was meant to be of the chips on the phone. People are arguing that apple is "downgrading" to USB 2.0 but in reality they just aren't upgrading the A16 chip that is the USB controller. This is similar to the Galaxy Note 20 not having the upgraded chip like the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. There may be other comparisons that would be more accurate but I remembered this one specifically when I was looking to upgrade Galaxy.
I get the point you're trying to make, and while it's not a 1:1 correlation, some of the responses you're getting indicate that non-Apple users can be just as fervent in their views as what would be called "fanboys".
I would like to think there is some middle ground here, with Apple having to modify their production timelines to comply with EU mandates, but still keeping in line with past hardware releases. That is to say - yes it sucks that non-Pro models will not have all the latest features, but this is pretty much consistent with the past few production releases.
UWB is 2019 technology which has a very very limited use and even more limited range. USB 2.0 predates iPhones by 4 years and USB3.0 is at this point 15 years old. You've been sold polished turd at premium prices and everyone is now stuck with their mouths full defending the move when it reality it's last years pro hardware shoved into this year's "new" device with USB type C hacked in to avoid EU ban.
This has nothing to do with when people last transferred files from their devices or what you like or what you think everyone else will need. This is the case of Apple selling you wheelbarrow at the price of a car and people saying it goes fast downhill and they never wanted to go uphill anyway.
Exactly I can’t remember the last time I transferred anything to my phone via a cable. Just nice to have one cord for charging.
Good thing you represent everyone in this case then.
My Nothing Phone 1 is USB 2.0
Really apple? And they did all that mother nature bullshit with octavia spencer while it was europe who forced them to use a universal connector and stop polluting the world with useless pathetic cables
A $5 Pen drive transfers data faster. Some day, Apple will be able to figure how to do this in a multi hundred dollar phone. Need more MBAs.
Apple gonna Apple.
The only people who need the USB 3 transfer speeds are going to be Pro users. For everyone else, it doesn't matter.
What? Do you realize how insanely slow USB 2 is? Good luck transferring even a tiny ass video. I don't think you need to be a pro user to want to transfer some media from your phone and not take all day..
Apple has been pushing users away from transferring data over cable for years anyway. Most users will sync files over wifi.
Annoying, as that should be the users choice, but I doubt the average iPhone user will even notice. Iirc the lightning connector was also limited to USB 2.0 speeds and only some particular power users ever complained about that.
It's not that slow, how'd you think I transferred stuff off a CompactFlash card with raw files off my DSLR before USB 3.0? I'd regularly dump several GBs worth of files out after a shoot. It'd take a few minutes but it's not the end of the world.
USB 2 can transfer 1 gigabyte in about 20 seconds
The fact that the Pro (or any device) supports a newer USB protocol doesn't necessarily mean that it will be able to take advantage of the full speed. It might just be as slow as the non Pro with USB 2.0.
iPhone 15 Pro tech specs page: “USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s)” with a footnote that says “USB 3 cable with 10Gb/s speed required.”
A regular need for high-speed data transfers is legitimately a “pro” use case. You need the Pro model and you need to buy a thick, stiff high-speed cable.
I'm pretty certain that the USB IF decided to use the max possible Gbps as the cable rating, rather than the mess that was
USB 3.0 USB 3.1 USB 3.1 (Gen 1) USB 3.1 (Gen 2) ...
So it's more likely apple are just being specific in the type of cable you need.
The pro can stream a 4k60 ProRes video to an external drive via the usbc port. Idk what kind of bandwidth that uses. But should give some clue as to the actual speed capable with the port.
Also, onboard storage is limited to 4k30 ProRes, possibly indicating the speed of built in storage.
Are they really this spiteful? Wow
So, how do you sell this to a regular user? We’re probably getting new phones in this round and I want the Pro but still trying to sell that choice. My kid’s Mom has never used the data connector so how can I sell her on that as one of the features she wants?
Note on our weird situation but we have two teens and our pattern is to buy new, and give our 2-4 year old phones to the kids. For this to work, we really need to have identical phone models
I feel like not many people actually use the data port on their phones anymore, I know I haven't used my android USB port for anything other than fast charging for I feel like 10 years. Do you even use the data connector on your phone?
I use it. I plug my phone into a dock and use it in desktop mode on occasion. I actually have an old phone running an FTP server with an external hard drive connected.
Guess you'll have to change bubble colors.
⬛
I know it sounds awful but on the other hand Linus explains why it's like that in this video https://youtu.be/7KuLMe6KSVQ?si=DAdNH3JlZ4HShIYZ
Not trying to justify it, just it's good to know why.
Frankly, who even uses the USB port on their phone for data transfers unless it's an emergency? I just stream media from my NAS using Navidrome and Jellyfin, use Syncthing to back up my photos and sync files I need, and mount the SMB shares I need to access. The eMMC and SD cards are slower than USB 3 speeds, anyway. Most SD cards don't even max out USB 2.
The only sensible real life use case for USB 3 for phones would be external monitors.
Why would any average person use a usb cable for data transfer when they can just use this specialist equipment that takes more know-how than the average user has to not only spec but build and configure too. Something that most people have never even heard of. People that in most cases barely know how to use their phones or a computer.
Search me... i cant think of any reason whatsoever for that.
People must be crazy.
Transferring large amounts of 4K ProRes video off the phone and onto a computer. But someone who’s seriously doing that is buying the Pro anyways and that’s faster
IPhone doesn't have a sd card and the internal storage is decently fast nvme.
Well, not an iPhone user myself, but I use the port because it just gets to be straightforward.
I can appreciate the self hosting of Jellyfin, but then I'm at a place in the mountains without adequate cell signal nor other decent internet. One day I was doing the Jellyfin thing then of course my music stops. Turns out there was an outage near my home.
It dawned on me that I went through a lot of trouble to have my media remotely accessible, when plugging into USB let me just dump the files and the on-device media players were really good at handling it. Besides, the latency on seeking the media was sooooo much better than streaming it (the streaming seek latency isn't bad, but it isn't instant either).
Fair point about perhaps not needing USB 3 speeds, but USB 3 has been a thing for 14 years now. Phones that cost half as much as the iPhone 15 toss in USB 3 speeds without a thought. Sure, there are budget Android type-c that only have 2.0, but any phone that costs anywhere near as much as the iPhone seems to have USB 3 speeds on the port.
Like gambling, buying Apple products is a stupid tax
I'd wager that owning an iPhone is cheaper than a Samsung Galaxy or likely any premium Android.
An iPhone is typically getting 6 years of iOS versions, plus an additional 1-2 years of security updates. For instance, the iPhone X, announced in Fall 2017 was on latest iOS until iOS 17 comes in this month. iPhone 6S, released in Sep 2015, is still getting security updates.
If you are someone who runs their phone into the ground until the end of security updates, iPhone wins hands down. If you are someone who wants the latest and greatest, iPhone hold resale value like no other and its not even close.
It feels really stupid having the industries longest support length and highest resell value.
That's like saying foot fungus is a great investment because it's hard to get rid of. Also you conveniently left off that longest support is often required because of cost cutting measures Apple loves to do. How many product recalls were there? And even then they sometimes make them so that no one fits the criteria.
Oh good, the weekly “Apple is the worst company in the world” post.
Apple makes sure there's no shortage of reasons why we have these weekly posts
Apple:
We had two children. Conner (yay! so handsome!!😍) and....erm, ugh...Billy. We don't play favorites! Conner gets driven to private school, plays lacrosse, and has a tutor. Billy takes the bus to public school across town, has a sack lunch, and we broke his legs when he learned to walk because he was smaller than Conner.
You’re literally describing every product line ever.
Wait til this guy finds out about CARS
Well there's your problem. You think smartphones are like children.
In this world of yours, do Android phones take the short bus?
No, that’s relegated to Huawei.
More clickbait bs. Oh right, Apple bad!
Where's the clickbait? Apple is bad for using an outdated standard out of spite.
![[HN] Apple finally put USB-C in new iPhone, but limited to 23-year-old USB 2.0 speeds](https://lemmings.world/pictrs/image/395e2f31-a244-4827-acbd-e8f6c16ca96e.png?format=webp&thumbnail=196)
