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Apple has now integrated the more modern and universal USB-C port into pretty much every Mac and iPad (with the exception of the entry-level iPad). As for the iPhone, the device continues to rely on the reliable Lightning port. However, this is supposedly going to be revised this year.
A new rumor claims that the iPhone 14 will keep the Lightning connector for another year – so far so good. We haven’t read anything to the contrary so far anyway. But some models will supposedly get faster speeds. The report comes from iDropNews, who learned from unnamed sources that the more expensive iPhone 14 Pro models will have a faster USB 3.0 Lightning port.
iPhone 14 Pro could offer updated Lightning connector
The Lightning port normally operates at USB 2.0 speeds, but is not technically limited to that. Apple engineers are working on 3.0 speeds for the iPhone 14 Pro port. This would solve the main problem that creatives now have.
When Apple introduced the first iPad Pro in 2015, it came with a USB 3.0 Lightning port, as users could buy Apple's camera adapter to transfer photos and videos directly to the iPad. For some reason, however, Apple never introduced the updated Lightning port for the iPhone. The iPhone's current Lightning port is still based on the outdated USB 2.0 technology, which only allows a data transfer rate of 480 Mbps. For comparison, USB 3.0 delivers speeds of up to 5 Gbit/s. For professionals, this is a problem, as transferring 4K ProRes videos via the Lightning cable takes a long time. Of course, it remains to be seen whether the report will prove correct in the end. (Photo by Unsplash / Jeremy Bezanger)
