this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2023
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Apple to Limit iPhone 15 USB-C Cables to USB 2.0 Speeds: Report::undefined

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[–] [email protected] 115 points 1 year ago (7 children)

ITT people pretending this is a spite based move, when realistically it is probably cutting costs by reusing the same hardware they used for lightning ports just soldering on a USB-C port instead of a lightning one.

[–] [email protected] 158 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A shining example of cutting edge Apple innovation

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are you trying to suggest the company that invented rounded corners isn't innovative enough?!

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

Next they will claim they invented cutting corners...

[–] [email protected] 76 points 1 year ago (3 children)

dude usb 3.0 is 15 years old by now, and they're a trillion dollar company. They'll manage, this is 100% by choice

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

On a thousand dollar phone

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One could argue that you don't become a trillion dollar company by leaving money on the table.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One could argue, greed is a subset of malice, and spite isn't mutually exclusive with any of it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Public companies aren't really driven by spite. At least not for its own sake.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The SoC lacks the hardware. Even the USB C iPads with A series chips operate at 2.0 speeds. They can only do 5Gbit in host mode, like with an external SSD. Plugged in to a computer they are 2.0.

I would imagine future chips will have the capability, once the Pro chips trickle down to the base models.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yea, well, there you go. Pretty much straight up supports my original claim. If they need to full on change the SoC why in the hell would they fork up to support thunderbolt on iphones.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Thunderbolt seems excessive for most, but 3.0 would be welcome.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You think this more likely than just creating a bigger artificial difference between the standard and normal model?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think that is most likely a lot of what drives that divide, but this almost certainly the case for the port. Some shit undoubtedly is software locked, and that is in fact scummy, but new hardware will always be more expensive than hardware you have already designed and maybe even have lying around.

To get thunderbolt in there they probably need a new board specifically for the iphone, while they can just cram in the lightning version with a new solder job and call it a day.

At the end of the day 95+% of the people who will use their phones will only use the port for charging anyway.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Well we don't know yet what port the pro model we have, so once we do, we'll know whether it's just scummy behavior once again, or if Apple decided to use low to midrange hardware on all their models

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Someone else commented that the SoC literally lacks the capability to run above 2.0. If this is the case it would be very hard to call this even scummy adjacent.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Can't find any confirmation on this claim, but their Ipad pro model uses USB c with far higher speeds.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Doesn’t that run M2 SoC?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

by reusing the same hardware

I'm sure their engineers are competent enough to repurpose she iPad Pro's TB4 hardware.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Two factors. Do they still have lightning hardware sitting on shelves? Do they need to design to fit the iphone form factor? If the answer is yes to either of these, designing for TB this release cycle seems non-sensical when most people only use the cable to charge their phones.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That, and also, how many iPhone users do you think will actually notice slower USB speeds? One percent? They literally do not need 3.0 to keep their customers happy. And they're not going to poach many Android fanboys with this change, so who cares?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm going over... that's literally all I needed from them. Consumer choice is all lesser evils atm.

RIP Firefox phone and Samsung Pure.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I'm with you, people use the cable for power, it's pretty rare to use them for data transfers. He'll moving to a new phone is all wireless, just set them next to each other.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I believe it's both. Apple said that they'd be compliant with the EU regulations of having usb-c as a port for any cell phone with a charging port. I don't remember the exact wording, but a valid interpretation was that usb-c is not required if the device has no charging port. I believe apple is moving towards exclusively QI-charging and wireless connection. Reducing the capability of wired connections would in that case just be a way to move the users towards the planned infrastructure.

So it's both a spiteful move regarding the regulations, but also a move which reduces costs and pushes users their desired way.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I believe apple is moving towards exclusively QI-charging and wireless connection.

I sure hope not. I'd have to take off my case every time I wanted to charge my phone.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I charge my samsung just fine with a decently fat case. Does apple have a weaker QI receptor?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have a wallet case. It's really really thick. It holds all my credit cards and drivers license and stuff.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I see. I believe that Apple's vision is that payment cards and drivers licence will soon be fully integrated in the phone, eliminating the need for a wallet case. Not that I'm an Apple user, but I am pretty much at the point of never using physical payment cards, and my drivers licence has a digital version in my country.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'll still need my health insurance card, my driver's license, etc. That won't work on a phone.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

My health insurance is fully digital and my country has an official app for driver's licences. This varies from country to country, but I think we're all heading in that direction.