iPhone 15 Pro will have faster USB-C speeds, analyst claims • The Register

Ming-Chi Kuo, the analyst with the uncanny ability to predict everything about Apple, has said that while the iPhone 15 will ditch its Lightning ports for USB-C over the next year, only the two high-end Pro and Pro models will Pro Max supports higher wired transfer speeds.

He writes today on Twitter said (translated from Chinese): “My last survey indicated that all 2H23 new iPhones abandoned lighting and switched to USB-C, but only two high-end iPhone 15 (15 Pro & 15 Pro Max) with wired high-speed equipped are transfer specs, and the two default wired transfer speed specs of iPhone 15 (15 & 15 15 Plus) are still the same as Lightning (USB 2.0).

He further claimed that the transfer speeds of the Pro and Pro Max will “improve significantly” due to support for “at least” USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt 3. Thunderbolt 3 supports up to 40Gbps.

The Apple fortune teller claimed that this “spec upgrade and new trend is fueling Apple’s ecological demand for high-speed transmission chips and mimicking the competition (almost all Android phones only support USB 2.0)… and the growth of [the] High-speed transmission IC design industry.”

If Ming-Chi turns out to be correct, it’s a cynical move by Apple, which was forced to switch from its proprietary Lightning standard to USB-C by the European Union’s attempt to standardize the spec. since Apple would push more people to move to pricier options with the carrot of higher performance numbers.

The EU’s reasoning was to reduce e-waste – a position Apple has repeatedly challenged as the millions of Lightning charging cables in circulation gradually become unusable as people upgrade. But surely it can’t complain too much when its MacBooks and iPads have already made the leap?

The iPhone is Apple’s last bastion of control. The vendor wants to be in control of how people use its products and who can make Apple parts, and doesn’t want to compete with others on products for its own phones (a Lightning-to-USB cable costs up to $1,000 via Apple’s website). $19). But with the law changing in Europe, a market too lucrative for Apple to abandon, the wall surrounding this “walled garden” may have a small crack.

Apple executive Greg “Joz” Joswiak confirmed and shared the transition last month The Wall Street Journal: “Of course we have to stick to it, we have no choice.”

None of this has been or will be evidenced by Apple until official launch events, likely in the second half of 2023. But Kuo, who works as an analyst for TF International Securities, has a network of contacts in Apple’s Asian supply chain whose information he includes in customer research notes.

While he’s not always right, he’s widely considered one of the most reliable sources for what’s coming up Apple’s pipeline. ®