iPhone to USB C transfer Speed?

[JHZR2]

I have a 1TB iphone 15 pro, love it. I run a MBP from 2013, 11.7.10

I use my iphone camera a lot. I like to pull the photos off of it onto an external HDD.

Until maybe six months ago, Id just connect the phone to the computer, and use image capture to pull the latest photos off. I use my iphone for kids, cars, etc., so I take a decent number of photos. Any more, image capture will not load my camera roll (it wasnt working on my older iphone 12Pro either, so its not a matter of the new phone). I have well over 50k images and videos, I guess it has hit its limit.

Some of it Im sure is that my old computer, which works perfectly, only has USB A ports. I would theorize that USB C ports would allow more data to transfer faster, and help this whole thing... Maybe.

The workaround Ive found is to get a USB C flash drive, which I can write the files to from my phone.

But it is SLLOOOOOOWWWW. For an iphone to a USB C flash drive, Id bet its only moving photos at a rate of 1-2 MB/s. So when I have a backlog of a few thousand photos from a period of time, its next to impossible to get them off. I think they may also only write when the phone is unlocked. This is a BIG step backwards.

Lots of folks all over have similar issues with image capture. I cant tell if there is a similar third party SW to use (anyone know of any that will access the iphone camera roll?). I dont want to use something like photos that puts it in a big database.

But my real ask is, whats the deal with it being so slow? Like I just tried to move 286 photos, and it took ten minutes. Some were videos, sure. But it was slow. And is there a way to speed it up?

Very frustrated with this...

 

[Jetronic]

the usb port has nothing to do with the transfer speed, it's just the shape of the connector.

What is important is what version of USB both components are using ie: USB 3.1

 

[Pew]

I have an iPhone user with the same issue. He takes dozens of pictures for project sites and this entire year it's been painstakingly slow to upload.

Supposedly most of the factory lightening/usbc cables are still only usb2 speeds unless you get a real thunderbolt cable.

 

[Hall]

Use AirDrop

 

[BrendanC]

all you need is atleast a USB 3.0 rated usb A to usb C cable.

 

[JHZR2]

the usb port has nothing to do with the transfer speed, it's just the shape of the connector.

What is important is what version of USB both components are using ie: USB 3.1

I have an iPhone user with the same issue. He takes dozens of pictures for project sites and this entire year it's been painstakingly slow to upload.

Supposedly most of the factory lightening/usbc cables are still only usb2 speeds unless you get a real thunderbolt cable.

all you need is atleast a USB 3.0 rated usb A to usb C cable.

View attachment 209946

OK, so first, I am NOT using a cable. Right now Im using a Sandisk flash drive conencted straight to the iphone. It is this model:

So USB 3.1, 150MB/s. I cant say Im getting that between the phone and the flash drive. That's whay caused my frustration and the request. Is it worth getting the 400 MB/s version? Or something faster? Id like something that can connect to the ports on my laptop.

My computer supposedly has USB 3, FWIW. it claims 5 Gbps. Does this imply that even my "good" cables, arent??!?

Thing is, I know from even back on my iphone 12 Pro, when image capture worked, once it started transferring files and writing them to by USB HDD, it went FAST. And, the new higher resolution, but better compressed HEIC files are smaller than the older lower res JPEGs!

Im willing to try to find another USB cable if it makes my existing USB ports more usable... It would sure beat buying another computer! And burning down my battery trying to backup files to the USB C flash drive. I have Anker USB A-C cables, and theyre really nice and well made... But in looking at my prior purchases, I can see that at least some are only rated as USB 2. I also had some cheap short patch USB A-C but when I looked it up, it was only 480Mbps.

So I need to find a USB A-C that is rated for something faster, right? 5-10 Gbps? Any recommendations? I see that the Anker Powerline II USB A-C is USB 3.1, gen 2, and 10000Mbps. I also see the Cable Creation brand that claims USB 3.2 Gen 2, 10Gbps.

Use AirDrop

I tried that with just a few pics sometime back and it was cumbersome. I dont think it will work when the numbers are in the thousands of files...

 

[Pew]

I use the Anker power lines for work, those should be good to go.

 

[Hall]

I tried that with just a few pics sometime back and it was cumbersome. I dont think it will work when the numbers are in the thousands of files...

I've never used it for a lot of photos but it's blazing fast. Let me test it....

Well, that's lame... Tried the 236 photos I have in my phone (I routinely off-load them to Google Photos), told it to AirDrop them and picked my MBA. It said "Preparing..." for a second, then it went back to the Share screen and nothing happened. Tried it again and it didn't do the "Preparing..." but it did say "Waiting..." but nothing happened. Tried it with ~10 photos and it worked quickly and took 2 seconds maximum.

 

[BrendanC]

buy a known good usb 3.0 cable. the anker cables are my go to. as far as the flash drive, they get heat soaked and slow down and to add, if the phone can’t supply the current it wants it will also throttle.

 

[JHZR2]

I've never used it for a lot of photos but it's blazing fast. Let me test it....

Well, that's lame... Tried the 236 photos I have in my phone (I routinely off-load them to Google Photos), told it to AirDrop them and picked my MBA. It said "Preparing..." for a second, then it went back to the Share screen and nothing happened. Tried it again and it didn't do the "Preparing..." but it did say "Waiting..." but nothing happened. Tried it with ~10 photos and it worked quickly and took 2 seconds maximum.

I forget why I didn’t like airdrop. I think in addition to some connection reliability, there was something clunky with dealing with large numbers of files, and it may have affected the dates which are important for archiving.

I use the Anker power lines for work, those should be good to go.

I just bought a powerline II. Will be here between 4-8am tomorrow.

 

[JHZR2]

buy a known good usb 3.0 cable. the anker cables are my go to. as far as the flash drive, they get heat soaked and slow down and to add, if the phone can’t supply the current it wants it will also throttle.

I think I read that my phone can provide 4.5W. It was slow from the first file. Maybe it did slow down more but it wasn’t impressive.

It was eye opening that I had slow USB C cables. Doesn’t matter for charging, but it’s good to know! Now I have one coming. Thanks!

 

[chris719]

OK, so first, I am NOT using a cable. Right now Im using a Sandisk flash drive conencted straight to the iphone. It is this model:

View attachment 209951

So USB 3.1, 150MB/s. I cant say Im getting that between the phone and the flash drive. That's whay caused my frustration and the request. Is it worth getting the 400 MB/s version? Or something faster? Id like something that can connect to the ports on my laptop.

My computer supposedly has USB 3, FWIW. it claims 5 Gbps. Does this imply that even my "good" cables, arent??!?

View attachment 209952

Thing is, I know from even back on my iphone 12 Pro, when image capture worked, once it started transferring files and writing them to by USB HDD, it went FAST. And, the new higher resolution, but better compressed HEIC files are smaller than the older lower res JPEGs!

Im willing to try to find another USB cable if it makes my existing USB ports more usable... It would sure beat buying another computer! And burning down my battery trying to backup files to the USB C flash drive. I have Anker USB A-C cables, and theyre really nice and well made... But in looking at my prior purchases, I can see that at least some are only rated as USB 2. I also had some cheap short patch USB A-C but when I looked it up, it was only 480Mbps.

So I need to find a USB A-C that is rated for something faster, right? 5-10 Gbps? Any recommendations? I see that the Anker Powerline II USB A-C is USB 3.1, gen 2, and 10000Mbps. I also see the Cable Creation brand that claims USB 3.2 Gen 2, 10Gbps.

View attachment 209954


I tried that with just a few pics sometime back and it was cumbersome. I dont think it will work when the numbers are in the thousands of files...

Most flash drives are total garbage in terms of write speed and even read speed. The only good flash drives are using UASP protocols, which may or may not work with an iPhone. The USB transfer rate is a theoretical limit which you can’t get closer than about 90% of, but most importantly any flash storage short of SSD quality is really very slow.

I can achieve a little over 250 MB/s sequential write on this drive indefinitely. It’s one of the better normal sized drives out there. There are many drives that can write faster in bursts but slow down once their cache is exhausted or thermally throttle.

Amazon.com

 

[Rand]

a usb C ssd should be pretty fast too.

Most flash drives even the ones that say +100MB/s is read speed and the write speed and creating files is pretty slow.
so if you have 500 little files its considerably slower than 1 big file.. which still might top out at 20 or 30MB/s

 

[JHZR2]

a usb C ssd should be pretty fast too.

Most flash drives even the ones that say +100MB/s is read speed and the write speed and creating files is pretty slow.
so if you have 500 little files its considerably slower than 1 big file.. which still might top out at 20 or 30MB/s

I have USB C SSDs and love them. I’ve had a Samsung one for years. I think it actually would also mount to my iPhone.

Ideal is for a higher speed USB A to C cable to solve this…

 

[Rand]

I have USB C SSDs and love them. I’ve had a Samsung one for years. I think it actually would also mount to my iPhone.

Ideal is for a higher speed USB A to C cable to solve this…

Well the SSD would also double as secondary backup for those important photos.

 

[JHZR2]

Well the SSD would also double as secondary backup for those important photos.

I keep all my photos archived on a regular HDD.

Transferring to any drive is clunkier than image capture transferring them properly. It is not a desired approach.

The photos also live in my backed up archive of my iPhone. But I like having them on a real HDD too.

Knock on wood the fast USB C cable solves all of it.

 

[chris719]

I keep all my photos archived on a regular HDD.

Transferring to any drive is clunkier than image capture transferring them properly. It is not a desired approach.

The photos also live in my backed up archive of my iPhone. But I like having them on a real HDD too.

Knock on wood the fast USB C cable solves all of it.

I have never tried it with a phone, but for maximum external storage performance I use a Thunderbolt to M.2 NVMe “dock”. Pretty sure no phone supports TB (which is PCIe based) but they should fall back to USB.

There are several good external M.2 to USB 3.2 Gen 2 enclosures with type C connector also. You just then add a good SSD like a Samsung Pro/Evo or SK Hynix Platinum etc.

 

[Rand]

Hope it works out at full speed. if it defaults down to usb 2.0 speed try reversing the usb c connector.
not sure why that is a thing but I've had it happen in the past... (oculus quest 2 is faster one way vs the other) when using a usb A to C

 

[JHZR2]

I have never tried it with a phone, but for maximum external storage performance I use a Thunderbolt to M.2 NVMe “dock”. Pretty sure no phone supports TB (which is PCIe based) but they should fall back to USB.

There are several good external M.2 to USB 3.2 Gen 2 enclosures with type C connector also. You just then add a good SSD like a Samsung Pro/Evo or SK Hynix Platinum etc.

Interesting. I’ve never used any of the Thunderbolt ports on my computers.

Maybe it’s worth it, but I think I’d rather save the money to buy a new MBP at some point with an M3 pro or whatever. Mine is absolutely perfect, but it is a 2013 model…

 

[Carmudgeon]

It was eye opening that I had slow USB C cables. Doesn’t matter for charging, but it’s good to know! Now I have one coming. Thanks!

Despite Type-C being designed as the spiffy new, ultra-modern, do-it-all connector, the USB IF made a dumb decision -- it didn't require Type-C cables to support USB 3.x as the minimum data transfer speed, only USB 2.

Practically speaking, most users' cables do serve only as charging cables, and the cost savings was undoubtedly welcome by the manufacturers, but it sets up a trap where when the need arises to transfer data, the result is not the good, modern user experience promised by the fancy new specs.

It's akin to equipping Porsches with S-rated tires standard, because in real life, most owners won't exceed the 65-mph speed limit (by much) anyway. All that potential would need higher speed rated replacement tires to be utilized.

As a result, the majority of cables on the market are really only "charging cables," figuratively-speaking, and one has to specifically seek out the cables that support USB 3 data.

That has made them harder to find, a smaller part of the market, and more expensive to buy, albeit not as much as TB cables.

But anyone who needs or desires TB likely knows, and can justify those circumstances, and TB pricing.

For the average users who do wired data transfers, and don't want cables gimped at USB 2, it adds some challenge, because the majority of Type-C cables one finds on places like Amazon will only support USB 2.