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Comment by scarface74 | Hacker News Reader

Lightning is capable of doing USB 3 speeds. The first gen iPad Pro had lightning ports and had usb 3 speeds.

Right. And likewise I doubt the USB-C iPhone is going to have USB 3 capability - given that Apple's had the opportunity to put USB 3 in those phones for a while now. For whatever reason it's not a cost they feel like paying, even on the Pro phones that shoot in ProRes and presumably could benefit from quick offload.

I agree. We already see that in the latest low end iPad that has USB C. But only transfers data at USB 2 speeds.

Maybe the Pro models will have the full USB C capabilities - video over USB C and full USB 3 speeds like the iPad Pro.

Rightly or wrongly, Apple is driving to pure wireless and portless devices.

Best hope for USB-3 will be an updated MagSafe connector on a portless phone, using 60ghz networking from phone to MagSafe and usb-C from MagSafe out.

Are they? The only device that is pure wireless is the Watch.

The AirPods Pro2 would have been the perfect opportunity to go wireless. It already works with both standard Qi chargers and the non standard Watch charger

I'm sure they are.

It reduces the attack surface (you can't break into the phone by plugging something into it)... which also means that jailbreaking will be a bit more difficult.

It also completely removes them from the debates and regulation of connectors. Lightening? micro usb? usb-c? All of that goes away.

By removing cords and cables it also removes the "my device doesn't work because I was using a flaky 3rd party cable" ongoing support questions.

Why would you think that the EU can't regulate whatever wireless standards Apple chooses to use in the future as they are doing with current wireless technology?

Mostly because because Apple is already able to be charged with the major technology (it's not something they're going off and doing on their own). The Qi wireless charging standard is one that a lot of phones and accessories are using ( https://makezens.com/phones-with-wireless-charging-technolog... )

> The MagSafe Duo Charger conveniently charges your compatible iPhone, Apple Watch, Wireless Charging Case for AirPods, and other Qi-certified devices. Just place your devices on the charger and a steady, efficient charge begins on contact. The charger folds together neatly so you can easily take it with you wherever you go.

They'd need to move the entirety of the wireless power transfer devices and accessories to some other standard.

It sounds to me like you described a situation where the regulations are working as intended.

In the scenario you describe, the EU wants Apple to remove a nonstandard lightning connector and replace it with a standard one for increased interoperability and decreased e-waste.

It looks like what you describe is exactly what happened, which is exactly what the EU wanted.

Don't put it past them to mandate that all phones must have a physical port, and that it must be compliant with a blessed EU standard.

You say this like it's a bad thing.

Why do you think it's a bad thing?

Do you think governments mandating that analog telephones used RJ-11 and twisted pair to be bad?

What about mandates on electrical receptical standards?

Did it require a special lightning cable (with more data pins) to use those speeds? If it was the standard cable, it's perplexing why Apple hasn't used that in every "Pro" iPhone/iPad.

So it’s more complicated than I thought.

When the iPad Pro was a host - ie you connect a usb 3 storage device to it via the camera connection kit - basically a lightning to USB adapter, you could get USB3 speeds.

But if you tried to connect it to your computer, it would be USB 2.

> But if you tried to connect it to your computer, it would be USB 2.

And I believe this is because all Lightning to USB cables (be it USB-A or USB-C) only support USB 2.0.

The Camera Connection Kit supports/supported USB 3.0.

Via a weird hack where they used the pins on both sides of the port simultaneously. I imagine they had some issues with it since, as a feature, it didn't last too long.

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