iPhone 8/Plus iPhone 8 - USB 3 speeds?

[ItalBoy]

I think that for an iPhone one big problem for supporting Usb 3 is also the total amount of necessary power. The Apple Lightning to Usb 3 Camera Adapter with extra lightning port for charging solves this problem. Some people reports that 1000 Mbit of speed can be reached connecting an iPhone to a wired Ethernet network with an Apple Lightning Usb 3 Camera Adapter permanently powered via lightning port with a 12w or 30w power charger for iPad (not the standard power charger for iPhone) whith plugged in an high speed USB to Gigabit Ethernet adapter (es. Linksys) .

 

[CLCMH]

I think that for an iPhone one big problem for supporting Usb 3 is also the total amount of necessary power. The Apple Lightning to Usb 3 Camera Adapter with extra lightning port for charging solves this problem. Some people reports that 1000 Mbit of speed can be reached connecting an iPhone to a wired Ethernet network with an Apple Lightning Usb 3 Camera Adapter permanently powered via lightning port with a 12w or 30w power charger for iPad (not the standard power charger for iPhone) whith plugged in an high speed USB to Gigabit Ethernet adapter (es. Linksys) .

I have and iPhone 8 Plus, the Linksys USB3GIGv1, a Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, an OEM 12W iPad charging cube, an official USB to Lightning cable, and a gigabit (1000/50Mbps) internet connection. I get 70/50Mbps regardless of test site or app.

I have an Aukey USB 3.0 hub with gigabit Ethernet port and I can get between ~85Mbps and ~125Mbps download. I hit my maximum upload speed of ~50Mbps.

I’m not sure how to tell if I’m getting gigabit speeds on the LAN portion of my network because I can’t seem to transfer any files to or from my iPhone.

This isn’t really an indicator of a USB 3.0 port though. I’m seeing adapters advertising network speeds of ~225Mbps which is roughly half USB 2.0 physical limitations.

Does anyone know of a way to transfer files to and from a server or network share? If that can be done then I’d be willing to transfer files back and forth.

 

[CLCMH]

Update:

I tested with two routers. Netgear R7800 and an ASUS GT-5300AC. All of my Ethernet is CAT6a STP. My generic Aukey USB 3.0 hub has a Realtek gigabit network controller chip.

The Linksys adapter is uselessly slow for even running internet speed tests and worse at file transfers so it was not used.

I’ve chosen to utilize the generic Aukey USB 3.0 hub. It gives me ~925Mbps when connected to my MacBook Pro using the same Ethernet cable and routers so I know it can handle gigabit speeds.

I found a file that is 1.05GB in size and downloaded it to my server then on my iPhone I used the FileBrowser app (Business version) to mount my SMB share and moved the file from the share to the local folder called “On My iPhone”. My transfer speed bounced between 12.90MB/s (103.2Mbps) and 13.09MB/S (104.72Mbps).

My file server runs on a Samsung NVMe 960 Pro drive and reads at a theoretical maximum of 3,500MB/s (28,000Mbps) so it can saturate my network when transferring files.

I’m going to venture a guess and say the iPhone 8 Plus is software throttled, the storage device on the iPhone’s mainboard has super low R/W speeds, Apple is misleading us about the Lightning port being USB 2.0, or a combination of each since every part of my connection is at least gigabit capable and uses USB 3.0 adapters.

At full speed, minus overhead, on a USB 2.0 port you should get 35MB/s (280Mbps). That was not the case during any of my trials.

 

[NiggaPhil]

Hello,

I'm a new french user.

Thanks a lot for all these testings.

I'm an IT guy and I noticed in many case that SMB shares often don't allow the fill the bandwidth.
FTP transfer are often better...

My iPhone 7 can reach between 40 and 50MB/s (400Mbits/s) on Wifi AC for a FTP transfer.
SMB only gives me 12-13MB/s speed.

May I ask you to try a FTP transfer please ?

Best regards,
Philippe.

Update:

I tested with two routers. Netgear R7800 and an ASUS GT-5300AC. All of my Ethernet is CAT6a STP. My generic Aukey USB 3.0 hub has a Realtek gigabit network controller chip.

The Linksys adapter is uselessly slow for even running internet speed tests and worse at file transfers so it was not used.

I’ve chosen to utilize the generic Aukey USB 3.0 hub. It gives me ~925Mbps when connected to my MacBook Pro using the same Ethernet cable and routers so I know it can handle gigabit speeds.

I found a file that is 1.05GB in size and downloaded it to my server then on my iPhone I used the FileBrowser app (Business version) to mount my SMB share and moved the file from the share to the local folder called “On My iPhone”. My transfer speed bounced between 12.90MB/s (103.2Mbps) and 13.09MB/S (104.72Mbps).

My file server runs on a Samsung NVMe 960 Pro drive and reads at a theoretical maximum of 3,500MB/s (28,000Mbps) so it can saturate my network when transferring files.

I’m going to venture a guess and say the iPhone 8 Plus is software throttled, the storage device on the iPhone’s mainboard has super low R/W speeds, Apple is misleading us about the Lightning port being USB 2.0, or a combination of each since every part of my connection is at least gigabit capable and uses USB 3.0 adapters.

At full speed, minus overhead, on a USB 2.0 port you should get 35MB/s (280Mbps). That was not the case during any of my trials.

[doublepost=1544458721][/doublepost]I just made a test with my USB3.0 Camera Connection Kit and my ANKER Gigabit hub. As it drains a lot current, it made my lightning port stop saying that the peripheral was to power demanding...

But just before it crashed, you can see the top speed at 27.7MB/s (on the left) for my FTP transfer with FileBrowser application on my iPhone and FileZilla Server on my computer.

I'll give it a second try with my powered USB3 Camera Connection Kit.

[doublepost=1544459077][/doublepost]Here is a second try at 26,4MB/s...
The transfer remained a longer time...

My lightning port crashed just after I took this screenshot on my iPhone... Which is a 7 Plus, not a 7.

 

[stylinexpat]

Anyone with an iPhone 8 or 8 Plus done any recent data transfer speeds tests? New iPhones such as XS and XS Max still transferring data at same speeds?

 

[CLCMH]

Anyone with an iPhone 8 or 8 Plus done any recent data transfer speeds tests? New iPhones such as XS and XS Max still transferring data at same speeds?

My XS Max transfers files at the same speed as my 8 Plus did. No change using the same setup as before.

Edit: My 2018 iPad Pro transfers about twice as fast. So I still think the transfer speed is throttled on the lightning port devices but the limit was increased with USB-C devices.

 

[stylinexpat]

My XS Max transfers files at the same speed as my 8 Plus did. No change using the same setup as before.

Edit: My 2018 iPad Pro transfers about twice as fast. So I still think the transfer speed is throttled on the lightning port devices but the limit was increased with USB-C devices.

Which iPad Pro do you have and which cable are you using?

 

[CLCMH]

Which iPad Pro do you have and which cable are you using?

I have the 11” iPad Pro with cellular.

The same cabling and setup as in my previous post in this thread. I use a USB-C adapter for the Ethernet adapter so that might throttle a bit but not much.

 

[stylinexpat]

I have the 11” iPad Pro with cellular.

The same cabling and setup as in my previous post in this thread. I use a USB-C adapter for the Ethernet adapter so that might throttle a bit but not much.

By any chance did you try this cable with the new iPad Pro?

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb‑c-cable-08-m

 

[CLCMH]

By any chance did you try this cable with the new iPad Pro?

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb‑c-cable-08-m

No.

Unless I missed something there are no USB-C ports on consumer routers or switches for Ethernet connectivity.

 

[crashnburn]

So we're guessing until an iPhone shows up with USB-C we wont see USB 3.0 / 3.x data transfer speeds over cable?
Cause Apple seems to not add that to the LIGHTNING devices?

 

[Coffee_Time]

So we're guessing until an iPhone shows up with USB-C we wont see USB 3.0 / 3.x data transfer speeds over cable?
Cause Apple seems to not add that to the LIGHTNING devices?

USB-C 3.1 since 2017, on 2 phones, here. Max speed 5Gbps. Didn't do a test, but from what I remember an 2GB 4k movie takes less than 10 seconds to transfer. Maybe 3-4 seconds. My laptop has Crucial SSD drive with 550MB/sec speeds and first gen USB 3 port. I think I'm limited by the UFS 2.1 storage on the phone. USB-C 3.2 with 10Gbps speeds will be nice for HDMI output in the future. No phone has this port right now. But USB-C 3.1 also is ok. I can play 4k 60 Hz on my TV with USB-C 3.1 and have enough speed and quality. USB-C 3.1 is a minimum to have. This is why I stay away from phones like Oneplus 6 or other chinese brands. LG G7 here, fully enabled USB-C 3.1 with 5Gbps.
Beware what you wish from Apple, cuz it might just give you an USB-C 2.0 like on the Oneplus 6. It costs money to buy USB-C 3.1 or 3.2 ports from the providers, and Apple may just want to save some costs.

 

[CLCMH]

So we're guessing until an iPhone shows up with USB-C we wont see USB 3.0 / 3.x data transfer speeds over cable?
Cause Apple seems to not add that to the LIGHTNING devices?

That’s what I’m assuming.

 

[Coffee_Time]

Beware what you wish from Apple, cuz it might just give you an USB-C 2.0 like on the Oneplus 6. It costs money to buy USB-C 3.1 or 3.2 ports from the providers, and Apple may just want to save some costs.
Then we will see here a lot of threads like usbc 2.0 vs 3.1

 

[cynics]

Apple will need a good reason that helps sell the investment of a faster bus controller. For example with the iPad Pro there is a need for wired transfers from capture devices for editing (DSLR, SD card reader) or 4k playback to an external monitor. The whole "pro" thing.

Consideration of not leveraging the entire spec is something too. USB 3.x can exceed NAND speeds in smartphones especially write speeds plus this is highly effected by the size of NAND when it comes to smaller storage amounts (iPhone 8 64gb = 100-200 MBs write, 256gb = 300-500 MBs write. Admittedly it would be much better but on phones it has limited use in ecosystem that Apple is trying to make wireless.

They need to be weary of the negative effects that uninformed users may experience too because then it becomes some sort of scandal or MASSIVE oversight. Mirroring the display can be a massive battery hit via HDMI depending on transcoding, 4k h265 can kill battery. USB 3.2 can still be a bottleneck for video at higher resolutions, color bit depth, and/or frame rates especially when combined. Honestly I think the video limitation could be understood by a professional dealing with those formats but mostly experienced by them as well.

Also I think Apple would add limitation to their host support to prevent universal support like the 2015 iPad Pro (USB 3 via Lightning connector). And while Lightning connector is irrelevant the current cables are USB 2.0 which would be an annoying transition.

 

[Coffee_Time]

Mirroring the display can be a massive battery hit via HDMI depending on transcoding, 4k h265 can kill battery. USB 3.2 can still be a bottleneck for video at higher resolutions, color bit depth, and/or frame rates especially when combined. Honestly I think the video limitation could be understood by a professional dealing with those formats but mostly experienced by them as well.

Also I think Apple would add limitation to their host support to prevent universal support like the 2015 iPad Pro (USB 3 via Lightning connector). And while Lightning connector is irrelevant the current cables are USB 2.0 which would be an annoying transition.

Don't worry, if you put a decent USB c port on a phone, it will be capable of power delivery trough Hdmi.

 

[stylinexpat]

The new Huawei P30 Pro is also supposed to come with USB C 3.1

 

[30YrsMac]

From the disaster finder delays in 10.8 to un fixable Macs to iphones so thin the battery doesn’t last a full day.. to a new iOS or OS every six months it seems.. many making new issues. To Mac mini going from
“can’t upgrade the damn ram” in 2014 to..
“Can’t upgrade the damn hard drive.. which would be proprietary anyway if you could.. “

To every other laptop dying due to video cars and now basic capacitor or diode issues of using the wrong power capacity.. many with no fix.
To no support for gaming so my kid wonders why we are still mac.
To slowing down the phones.

to crushing free speech which wasn’t that bad really.

to using near slave labor and enriching slave dictators who incompetently handle this soon to be pandemic.

to “sorry that screaming sound on the Mac mini 2018 is normal..”

to iMacs being so thin they get video cards issues also..

Tim Cook will dp more damage for Apple than that Pepsi salesman.

And if he calls me.. a mac guy for 32 years.. I’ll tell him it straight.

hire me.
I’ll run Apple right. This is a disaster.
mac a Mac mini that can take a video card. Make it a htpc which can mount behind the damn tv or under it. We don’t need tiny. Or thin. Make it work.

remember the damn cube? Brackets for a fan.. and no fan? Engineering over form people. It’s the os stupid. We come for the damn os.

maybe we should open source make a similar os and where would apple be then? Done. That’s where.

I’m inches from dumping this company totally. I keep having to defend it to clients and family. No more.

 

[ksec]

So we're guessing until an iPhone shows up with USB-C we wont see USB 3.0 / 3.x data transfer speeds over cable?
Cause Apple seems to not add that to the LIGHTNING devices?

90%+ of iPhone user dont connect to their Computer anymore. So from Apple's perspective it isn't very important.

There are cost concern. Basically you want 5/ 10Gbps controller that shrink to the current controller chip used in iPhone "and" cost similar. Currently it cost a multiple times more, USB 2.0 is very cheap.

 

[stylinexpat]

90%+ of iPhone user dont connect to their Computer anymore. So from Apple's perspective it isn't very important.

There are cost concern. Basically you want 5/ 10Gbps controller that shrink to the current controller chip used in iPhone "and" cost similar. Currently it cost a multiple times more, USB 2.0 is very cheap.

So reduction of cost at the cost in reduction of end user options and privacy?? Force people to use iCloud by making syncing to a computer more difficult perhaps...

 

[ksec]

So reduction of cost at the cost in reduction of end user options and privacy?? Force people to use iCloud by making syncing to a computer more difficult perhaps...

I would not be surprise if that was one reason to push people towards iCloud.

But I think Fully Encrypted iCloud Backup or iOS Time Capsule would still have been a better solution.

 

[stylinexpat]

I would not be surprise if that was one reason to push people towards iCloud.

But I think Fully Encrypted iCloud Backup or iOS Time Capsule would still have been a better solution.

External storage device hooked up to MacBook is best in my opinion. The iCloud option should exist though. Actually both should exist as options for customers. Let the customers choose themselves

 

[Jimmy James]

I must be a minority that has lots of offline content to sync.

 

[crashnburn]

I must be a minority that has lots of offline content to sync.

USB-C 3.1 since 2017, on 2 phones, here. Max speed 5Gbps.

Didn't do a test, but from what I remember an 2GB 4k movie takes less than 10 seconds to transfer. Maybe 3-4 seconds.

My laptop has Crucial SSD drive with 550MB/sec speeds and first gen USB 3 port. I think I'm limited by the UFS 2.1 storage on the phone.

USB-C 3.2 with 10Gbps speeds will be nice for HDMI output in the future. No phone has this port right now.

But USB-C 3.1 also is ok. I can play 4k 60 Hz on my TV with USB-C 3.1 and have enough speed and quality.

USB-C 3.1 is a minimum to have. This is why I stay away from phones like Oneplus 6 or other chinese brands.
LG G7 here, fully enabled USB-C 3.1 with 5Gbps.

Beware what you wish from Apple, cuz it might just give you an USB-C 2.0 like on the Oneplus 6.

It costs money to buy USB-C 3.1 or 3.2 ports from the providers, and Apple may just want to save some costs.

90%+ of iPhone user dont connect to their Computer anymore. So from Apple's perspective it isn't very important.

There are cost concern. Basically you want 5/ 10Gbps controller that shrink to the current controller chip used in iPhone "and" cost similar. Currently it cost a multiple times more, USB 2.0 is very cheap.

I can imagine as I prefer using Wired - esp USB-C / USB 3.x speeds I was hoping for.

Who knows if & when we might see it. Sad but True.

Did anything change with the newer iPhones that are non-USB C ?

 

[ksec]

Did anything change with the newer iPhones that are non-USB C ?

You could theoretically have Lightning supporting up to 5Gbps. As with Previous iPad. But unlikely to happen.

This thread is very old. And those comments were written in the context at the time. Judging from the new iPhone 12 and foregoing Charger. It seems Apple is moving towards MagSafe as a connection. And do Wireless Sync with WiFI 6. Which is still a respectable 1Gbps+ connection speed assuming your computer support WiFi 6.

And would be even faster when WiFi 6E comes ( along with all the missing features from the original WiFi 6 / 802.11ax spec ) you should be getting close to 2Gbps.

I mean it is very clear Apple want port-less iPhone. A whole phone that is completely sealed. With eSim only. But we are 2-3 years away from it. When the first reply of this thread I was skeptical of this future, because I sometimes play games and I prefer to have constant charging. I think Mag Safe solves this problem. And new iPhone's battery are getting ridiculously good. I would not be suspried if rumours will go rampant in the next few months for a port-less iPhone.

At least that is the roadmap looking ahead and how things are going at the moment.