this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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I don't think it's fair to compare UWB and USB 2.
One is already an old ass standard. I don't even know what devices aren't USB 3 anymore. You actively have to go out of your way to be a dick and downgrade your phone to USB 2.0
Not to mention the price difference is literally negligible.
Apple is just being assholes here. They already downgrade the non pro by removing cameras and whatnot. Touching the USB speed is a special kind of fuck you.
They didn’t downgrade anything…
iPhones have the USB controller as part of the SoC. Not a separate controller like the iPads or laptops. They don’t have the space for it.
The non pro this year is using last years pro chip which didn’t have a USB 3 controller on it. For the non pro they are repinning the port to USB c to repurpose the controller on the chip. But they physically cant add USB 3 to it.
They also never removed cameras from the non pro model either. Idk where you pulled that from. The XS and XS Max both only had two cameras, and when they went to the iPhone/iPhone Pro model with the 11, the non pro still had two and they added a third for the pro.
The processor in de iPhone 15 doesn’t support 3.0 speeds. The one in de pro (different proc) does. The cable of the pro doesn’t support 3.0 speeds. But neither do the cables that come with other brand phones.
Companies are dicks. Or something…
At apple scale I wouldn't be surprised to hear that giving everyone the USB 3 chip would reduce overall cost, or that apple is doing the crippling in software or firmware.
I agree the comparison between the two in terms of use is not correct or fair even. It was more of a comparison of the chips being included on the phone. I clearly did not do a good job explaining that. I assumed most people would have understood that the A17 pro chip is what is the upgrade and is the controller for the USB vs the A16 that is last years model.
In a computer the price may be negligible but in a phone is the entire architecture of the chip so its not negligible. I don't think they are being assholes as much as not spending shit tons of money to redesign and manufacture new processors for the phone when they have old stock that can be used.
Its a similar model that a lot of companies do, take last years best chip and put it in this years second tier device. I am not saying its great for consumers I am just saying its what is done. Not upgrading a chip is not the same as downgrading it.
USB 3 actually has flaws that make some devices functionally useless with USB 3 devices around.
USB 3 notoriously emits noise in the 2.4ghz radio spectrum, requiring extra precautions and development cost in order to reduce the effect.
This is often why 2.4ghz mouse and keyboards specifically require USB 2.0 connections.
I'm not saying that's why Apple did it, but it isn't a solved problem in the least and USB isn't just a no-thought upgrade.