Last year, Apple finally ditched its beloved proprietary Lightning connector in favor of the more modern and ubiquitous USB-C. However, it’s a bit of a bummer that only the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max reaped the benefits of the faster USB 3. The non-Pro models are still stuck with the slower USB 2 speeds. And unfortunately, this unfortunate situation persists for this year’s models as well.
As can be seen on Apple’s official website, it’s only the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max that are adorned with the speedy USB 3 through the USB-C port. While the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus also have a USB-C connection, it’s limited to transferring data at a measly 2.0 speed.
A regular USB 2.0 connection can transfer data at a maximum of 480Mbps. On the other hand, USB 3 allows for data transfer speeds of up to an impressive 20Gbps (though the Pro iPhones’ port is restricted to 10Gbps). With USB 3, transferring those huge files like high-resolution videos from your iPhone to a computer or external storage becomes a breeze, as it’s significantly faster.
Thanks to the enhanced speeds of USB 3, Apple allows iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro users to shoot ProRes video directly to an SSD. But there’s one more thing to keep in mind.
With the iPhone 15 Pro at least, Apple didn’t include a USB 3 compatible cable in the box. This means that users who want to take advantage of the faster connection have to shell out and buy another USB-C cable. It’s not clear whether the iPhone 16 Pro still ships with a USB 2.0 cable.
Apple doesn’t offer a USB 3 cable on its own; they only have a Thunderbolt 4 cable that also works with USB 3, but it comes at a hefty price of $69. However, you can easily find plenty of USB 3 compatible cables at much more affordable prices on Amazon.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 start on Friday, September 13, and the official launch is set for the following week on September 20.
And that’s the rundown on the non-pro iPhone 16 models and their lack of USB 3. It’s a bit of a disappointment, but hopefully, Apple will address this in the future iterations.
Also, don’t forget to check out these related reads:
– What can you connect to the iPhone with USB-C?
– iPhone 16 vs 16 Pro: Everything different and buyer’s guide
– New AirPods Max with USB-C have exactly the same hardware as the original model
– 5G mmWave and eSIM-only iPhone 16 still only available in the US
– AirPods 4 no longer come with a USB cable in the box
– The entire iPhone 16 lineup adds support for faster Wi-Fi 7
– Here’s a look at the new Powerbeats Pro 2 with built-in heart-rate sensor
– Apple Watch gets new bands for Series 10, but Apple promises backward compatibility
