Apple's iPhone 15 finally switches over to USB-C. But to receive the fastest data transfer speeds on the port, it looks you'll need to upgrade to the Pro models and pay for the right cable.
The standard iPhone 15 can only offer data transfer speeds at up 480Mbps through the USB-C slot, according to the product’s spec sheet. That’s because Apple decided to settle for an old USB 2 port for the device.
As a result, the standard iPhone 15 is still restricted to the same data transfer speeds of the outgoing Lightning port. To get faster speeds, consumers will need to buy the iPhone 15 Pro models, which come with a USB 3 port, and offer support for up to 10Gbps data transfer rates.
The only problem? It appears Apple is merely bundling a USB 2 cable with the iPhone 15 Pro models, not the USB 3 cable needed to achieve the 10Gbps speeds.
The tech specs for the iPhone 15 Pro oddly contain a footnote that says: “USB 3 cable with 10Gb/s speed required” to reach the full USB 3 speeds. Meanwhile, the pre-order page for the product shows only a “USB-C Charge cable” is included. And according to Apple’s own store, the newly released USB-C Charge cable is limited to USB 2.
That said, the Apple store has begun selling a Thunderbolt 4 USB-C cable, but it costs $69. Of course, consumers could buy a compatible 10Gbps USB-C cable on Amazon for closer to $13. Still, the decision to seemingly cut corners around the USB-C data transfer speeds is bound to annoy users. We reached out to Apple for comment, and will update the story if we hear back.
For more, check out our hands on with the iPhone 15 from Apple's Sept. 12 event.