In the 15 years that I use iPhones now, I never needed the USB port for any data transfer except for one time when I used an external sound card to record things. Maybe I am a simpleton when it comes to mobile. I guess I deserve being LOLed at.

Don't worry, that one has the energy of <i>the guy that was fired for buying IBM</i>

Apple didn't continue to iterate on Lightning because of the obvious future migration to USB-C connectors.

I will die on the hill that the Lightning plug is superior to the USB-C plug. Lightning could some day have supported USB-3.2+ speeds, if they'd chosen to work further on it.

Still, I have never once transferred data to my iPhone over a USB cable. I have used an iPhone since the first generation. For me, it has only ever been a means to charge the phone and to connect it to CarPlay. With wireless CarPlay and MagSafe charging, they could remove the port and I wouldn't miss it all that much (except for fast charging).

Does the iPhone show up as a USB media device nowadays or do they still force you to jump through hoops?

I've had tremendous trouble trying to get my iPhone SE to show up as a USB device. Never did figure it out, but the macOS app iMazing has served me well as a workaround.

No clue. I have never needed it nor wanted it to. All my music streams from Spotify or Apple Music.

Agreed. I really miss lightning after getting a usb-c iPhone. The best part of lightning port was how easy it is to clean. You can get lint and sawdust out of the clogged port with a toothpick. With usb-c, I can’t find a rigid non-metallic pick small enough to clean dust out of a usb-c port.

Some iPad Pros used USB3 lightning that used pins on both side of the lightning cable.

I'm pretty sure Apple switched to USB-C to comply with EU requirements. I don't think the success of USB-C has much to do with it.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/26/iphone-us...

You would be demonstrably wrong.

Apple was already well under way on their USB-C transition. They literally shipped the first all-USB-C laptop in 2015. The iPad Pro switched to USB-C from Lightning in 2018. Every year since, fewer and fewer devices released with Lightning and more and more with USB-C.

If you need more evidence, literally just consider that Apple never bothered to invest further in Lightning. There were no further speed bumps. No updates in the USB protocol version supported. Even charging, USB-A to Lightning has been capped at a pitiful 12W.

The iPhone would undoubtably have been USB-C in a generation or two even without the EU’s involvement.

Apple is choosing to limit USB C to USB 2 speeds to encourage people pay for a more expensive model. The iPhone 16 pro max has USB 3 speeds after all...

No, it just shipped with a slower cable. You get high speed transfer with a thunderbolt cable

No, the device can only do USB 2 speeds. There’s no controller for anything faster.

No. The regular pro model (not max) supports usb 3 speeds. I’ve verified myself and its on Apple’s tech site:

https://www.apple.com/iphone-16-pro/specs/

For iPhones "Max" is basically irrelevant when it comes to SoC specs; the phones are differentiated by whether they are "Pro" or not. The Pro (and Pro Max) support faster speeds, and the regular iPhones do not.

Op specifically called out “Max”. Most people would find that technically incorrect. But go ahead and draw lines in the sand wherever you wish if it makes you feel like you’re winning an argument.

OP also specifically called out USB 2 speeds.

I gave the max as an example. I did not say it was the only model that could get USB 3 speeds so you are "technically incorrect" and just want to win the argument.

The two models combined account for half of all iPhone sales. And nobody refers to them as anything but iPhones.

It is not just technically wrong to say “the iPhone doesn’t support a thing” when it the statement only applies to a fraction of the product line and actual user experience.

You seem confused. I never said “the iPhone doesn’t support a thing”.

> Thunderbolt on iPhones are USB 2 speeds.

Thunderbolt on iPhones are USB 2 speeds. Just because Thunderbolt could go faster, doesn't mean Apple actually allows it on their phones.