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People were upset about Apple being forced to switch to USB-C, but just look at how the market moved on without them. Apple Lightening: 480 Mbit/s Thunderbolt

People were upset about Apple being forced to switch to USB-C, but just look at how the market moved on without them. Apple Lightening: 480 Mbit/s Thunderbolt 5: 120,000 Mbit/s

SomeoneOnTheWeb 2y ago
To be fair, most phones with USB-C are 2.0 only, which means they're limited to 480 Mbps.
- morsch 2y ago
  Most phones sold, maybe, flagship phones had USB 3.x five years ago.
masklinn 2y ago
Wat
n42 2y ago
Regardless of the fact that Apple’s laptops were shipping with Thunderbolt years before they were “forced” to add USB-C ports to iPhones, or that Thunderbolt and USB-C are orthogonal, Apple was involved in the creation of Thunderbolt in the first place.
- InsomniacL 2y ago
  And yet they're still producing and selling iPhone 14 Plus 512GB on apple.com for £1000 in 2025 with USB2.0 speeds from the year 2000.
  - goosedragons 2y ago
    The iPhone 16 is also USB 2.0 (not the Pro though). While it's kinda crummy for a phone of it's price, it's not alone. A lot of lower end Android phones/devices are still USB 2.0 with C ports.
Lio 2y ago
Apple was selling laptops with Thunderbolt before it used a USB-C connector and were among the first to sell them with Thunderbolt over USB-C. They were, as far as I know, the first company to sell 27" monitors over Thunderbolt back in 2011. So Apple has been all in on Thunderbolt for years, they just persisted with the Lightning connector on iPhones. Phones mostly don't really make use of Thunderbolt bandwidth like laptops. They make use of the common charging standard of the USB-C connector. I've never been a fan of the Lightning connector but given they've been making use of Thunderbolt on laptops before most vendors considered it, saying the market has moved on without them is silly. The market moved to catch up with Apple.
- jiehong 2y ago
  Phones now record 8k at 120Hz, so that thunderbolt bandwidth is important, else you will wait ages to transfer that to your computer.
  - Lio 2y ago
    Oh I'm with you on that. I think it was a great improvement to get Thunderbolt over USB-C on iPhone Pros. I just think it's a mistake to talk about the very latest Thunderbolt 5's bandwidth vs legacy Lightning as if Apple were still promoting it. It's like comparing Thunderbolt 5 to Firewire.
    - InsomniacL 2y ago
      > I just think it's a mistake to talk about the very latest Thunderbolt 5's bandwidth vs legacy Lightning as if Apple were still promoting it. Apple are still promoting it https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-14/6.7-inch-display-512gb-blue https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-14/6.7-inch-... Apple also argued against EU regulation forcing USB-C adoption by the end of 2024. > It's like comparing Thunderbolt 5 to Firewire. I don't think it's fair to make that comparison. Given that we're only 10 days past the end of 2024, i don't think we would have iPhones with USB-C and 'non-legacy lightening' speeds like we do today.
- 2y ago

People were upset about Apple being forced to switch to USB-C, but just look at how the market moved on without them. Apple Lightening: 480 Mbit/s Thunderbolt 5: 120,000 Mbit/s

SomeoneOnTheWeb 2y ago

To be fair, most phones with USB-C are 2.0 only, which means they're limited to 480 Mbps.

morsch 2y ago
Most phones sold, maybe, flagship phones had USB 3.x five years ago.

masklinn 2y ago

Wat

n42 2y ago

Regardless of the fact that Apple’s laptops were shipping with Thunderbolt years before they were “forced” to add USB-C ports to iPhones, or that Thunderbolt and USB-C are orthogonal, Apple was involved in the creation of Thunderbolt in the first place.

InsomniacL 2y ago
And yet they're still producing and selling iPhone 14 Plus 512GB on apple.com for £1000 in 2025 with USB2.0 speeds from the year 2000.
- goosedragons 2y ago
  The iPhone 16 is also USB 2.0 (not the Pro though). While it's kinda crummy for a phone of it's price, it's not alone. A lot of lower end Android phones/devices are still USB 2.0 with C ports.

Lio 2y ago

Apple was selling laptops with Thunderbolt before it used a USB-C connector and were among the first to sell them with Thunderbolt over USB-C. They were, as far as I know, the first company to sell 27" monitors over Thunderbolt back in 2011. So Apple has been all in on Thunderbolt for years, they just persisted with the Lightning connector on iPhones. Phones mostly don't really make use of Thunderbolt bandwidth like laptops. They make use of the common charging standard of the USB-C connector. I've never been a fan of the Lightning connector but given they've been making use of Thunderbolt on laptops before most vendors considered it, saying the market has moved on without them is silly. The market moved to catch up with Apple.

jiehong 2y ago
Phones now record 8k at 120Hz, so that thunderbolt bandwidth is important, else you will wait ages to transfer that to your computer.
- Lio 2y ago
  Oh I'm with you on that. I think it was a great improvement to get Thunderbolt over USB-C on iPhone Pros. I just think it's a mistake to talk about the very latest Thunderbolt 5's bandwidth vs legacy Lightning as if Apple were still promoting it. It's like comparing Thunderbolt 5 to Firewire.
  - InsomniacL 2y ago
    > I just think it's a mistake to talk about the very latest Thunderbolt 5's bandwidth vs legacy Lightning as if Apple were still promoting it. Apple are still promoting it https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-14/6.7-inch-display-512gb-blue https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-14/6.7-inch-... Apple also argued against EU regulation forcing USB-C adoption by the end of 2024. > It's like comparing Thunderbolt 5 to Firewire. I don't think it's fair to make that comparison. Given that we're only 10 days past the end of 2024, i don't think we would have iPhones with USB-C and 'non-legacy lightening' speeds like we do today.
2y ago