Apple presented its new iPhone 16 series, Apple Watch Series 10, new Titanium Black Apple Watch Ultra 2, AirPods 4 models and updated AirPods Pro Max. It was a star-studded event where we saw significant upgrades across all products. The new iPhone 16 arrives in style with some huge upgrades across the range. This includes new A18 and A18 Pro chipsets, an improved 48MP Fusion camera, an all-new camera control feature and much more. While the upgrades seem great, there is one thing that bothers me, and that is the USB-C port on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus with the ridiculously outdated USB 2 speeds.
What your iPhone 15 USB-C port can & CAN'T!
Yes, you heard right. Apple did not improve connection speeds with the USB-C port on the iPhone 16 models. With the iPhone 15 series launched last year, Apple finally moved on from the Lightning connector they've been using since 2012. Well, Apple didn't let go of its Lightning connector happily. Rather, it had to adopt the USB-C standard to comply with the EU's DMA. Apple has been slow to adopt the USB-C standard. It first introduced the USB-C port on MacBooks and iPad Pros, then moved it to iPhones in 2023.
However, the USB-C port on the iPhone 15 was not a complete transition, as it was only capable of USB 2.0 speeds, which is the same as the 23-year-old iPad circa. On the other hand, the iPhone 15 Pro models support USB 3.1 Gen 2 transfer speeds of up to 10 GB/s. I expected Apple to offer USB 3 transfer speeds across its entire lineup with the iPhone 16, and it made perfect sense given the upgrades we have.
Unfortunately, Apple isn't ready to give up on this, just like its 60Hz refresh rate obsession. iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus still have the same USB 2 transfer speeds of up to 480 Mb/s, which is the same transfer speed that the Lightning port (RIP) supports. This means that Apple is basically using the same port, but calling it a different name to make it look modern and "compliant" with EU regulations.
