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Jun 21, 2023

Apple to Limit iPhone 15 USB

Apple's propriety Lightning cable may offer cross-device compatibility, but it's never been a particularly fast interface. It's been stuck at USB 2.0 speeds since its inception, and the hope was that

Apple's propriety Lightning cable may offer cross-device compatibility, but it's never been a particularly fast interface. It's been stuck at USB 2.0 speeds since its inception, and the hope was that its transfer speeds would get upgraded now that the company is being forced to adopt USB-C as the interface for the iPhone 15. According to a new report with some numbers to back it up, that's not going to happen. Instead, the company will limit the transfer speeds on the base model iPhones to just 480Mb/s, the same as Lightning and USB 2.0. It will, however, reportedly allow faster transfer speeds on its Pro models.

The latest report, which is both surprising and unsurprising at the same time, comes from a reliable leaker named Majin Bu, who Macrumors says has previously provided details on Apple's upcoming cables. The newest info says the base model phones will operate at USB 2.0 speeds, which the power figures displayed on a testing device seem to confirm. This isn't the first time Apple has done this, as the regular iPad features USB-C with the same sluggish transfer speeds. On the bright side, the new cables are reportedly color-matched, thicker, and longer than the white cables that come with every phone.

Although the new info doesn't state what kind of speeds the Pro phones will offer, it's anticipated they will be in the neighborhood of USB 3.2, which tops out at 20Gb/s. At the same time, Apple currently uses a Thunderbolt 3 port on its iPad Pro, which can hit 40Gb/s. Even if Apple went with USB 3.0 for the base model (4.8Gb/s), it could still quadruple that by offering USB 3.2 on the Pro phones. But it sounds like the company isn't interested in providing fast transfer rates on its standard models.

This is part of a new pattern for Apple, where it's trying to differentiate its phone lineups more to spur upgrades. It's reportedly tripling down on this philosophy for the iPhone 15 Pro, as it's been leaked previously that it will create an even wider chasm between the two lineups by loading the Pro phones up with exclusive features. Those will include a titanium chassis, thinner bezels, and all-new 3nm silicon as exclusive features. We can now add faster charging to that list as well.

The news is disappointing, but we don't think most people will care too much. Few sync their phones to a computer with iTunes these days. Now you can just back up your phone to iCloud and buy anything you want over LTE or Wi-Fi, so you don't need to use iTunes like you used to back in the day when we left our phones plugged in all the time at our computers.

Still, it's disappointing to see Apple deliberately neutering technology just to make people want to upgrade. Also, given this new information, Apple will likely offer different charging speeds for its iPhone 15 models, with only the Pro models offering the fastest rates.