It’s all however sure that Apple’s whole iPhone 15 lineup will make the long-awaited swap to USB-C this 12 months. Nonetheless, a collection of latest rumors has raised hopes that Apple could also be planning to transcend the naked minimal USB-C normal for its flagship iPhone Professional fashions, delivering quicker charging and knowledge switch speeds.
In November, when venerable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the 2023 iPhone lineup would make the swap from Lightning to USB-C, he added that we might count on “wired high-speed switch” on the iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max — probably “no less than” USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt 3 speeds. This is able to put the utmost throughput someplace round 10Gbps, a marked enchancment over the 480mbps USB 2.0 normal used with the iPhone Lightning port because it debuted over ten years in the past.
Sadly, even again then, Kuo predicted that the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus would retain those self same 480mbps USB 2.0 switch speeds within the transition to USB-C, which traces up with a report we heard this week that Apple will solely embody USB 2.0 cables within the field.
After all, the truth that Apple will solely embody a USB 2.0 cable doesn’t rule out the chance that the usual iPhone 15 fashions could also be able to knowledge switch speeds. In any case, Apple packed in slower 5W charging bricks for years after the iPhone gained 18W+ charging speeds.
Nonetheless, there hasn’t been practically as a lot buzz about quicker USB transfers on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. The closest we’ve heard is an evaluation of leaked images earlier this month that steered three iPhone 15 fashions might get even quicker Thunderbolt/USB4 ports, able to switch speeds of as much as 40Gbps.
The leaked images that presupposed to signify USB-C elements for the iPhone 15 lineup included three distinctive components, two of which had been supposedly for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. Nonetheless, it’s price noting that there’s no agency proof that these images are professional.
Nonetheless, a tweet by leaker Kosutami, who beforehand shared a report on color-matched USB-C cables for this 12 months’s iPhones, has revealed what they declare is a USB4 knowledge switch cable that Apple will promote individually for the iPhone 15 Professional.
The existence of such a cable, if true, would seem to verify that no less than the iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max will achieve quicker USB4 knowledge switch speeds. Kosutami also adds that the cable is capable of supporting up to 150W charging speeds, which might make it quicker than Apple’s 100W Thunderbolt 4 Professional cable, which sells for $129 and is available in at 1.8 meters in size. This iPhone Professional-specific cable is anticipated to come back in at 0.8 meters, which can additionally assist make it extra reasonably priced.
Earlier than you get your hopes up, it’s extraordinarily unlikely that the iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max will assist 150W charging speeds. Whereas that would definitely put it up there with the fastest-charging Android smartphones on the planet, most of these are nonetheless thought-about outliers, and plenty of aren’t even obtainable within the US.
One other report final week suggests some iPhone 15 fashions might attain 35W speeds, which appears way more affordable and would put it extra on par with its rivals. The iPhone Professional’s greatest competitor, Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Extremely, costs at speeds of as much as 45W, whereas Google’s Pixel 7 Professional, at 23W, is slower than the 27W most of the iPhone 14 Professional Max.
It’s price conserving in thoughts that Apple’s whole Mac lineup now helps Thunderbolt/USB4, with the higher-end fashions sporting full Thunderbolt 4 ports. So, simply because Apple is making a USB4 cable, this doesn’t imply it’s making it for the iPhone; it’s completely doable the sources of those leaks are misinterpreting what they’re seeing.
There’s little question that quicker switch speeds are sorely wanted, particularly for Apple’s iPhone Professional fashions, which might retailer large video recordsdata when capturing within the ProRes format, however full 40Gbps speeds may be hoping for a bit an excessive amount of. To place this in perspective, a five-minute 4K/60fps ProRes video would take round quarter-hour to switch over USB 2.0. At 20 instances quicker, USB 3.2 will already cut back that to below a minute.
It in the end comes all the way down to how “Professional” Apple desires to make this 12 months’s iPhone 15 Professional fashions. The M2-powered iPad Professional lineup features a USB4/Thunderbolt port, so it’s not outdoors the realm of chance that Apple might give the iPhone 15 Professional the identical remedy for folk who wish to use it for severe video work, however that’s a comparatively small fraction of the iPhone Professional’s goal market, so Apple has to stability including premium options like this towards driving up the prices for almost all of iPhone Professional customers who will probably by no means plug their iPhone Professional right into a Thunderbolt/USB4 port even to cost it, a lot much less have to switch large ProRes video recordsdata to a Mac.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]