Faster USB 3 charging & file transfers are exclusive to Apple's 12.9" iPad Pro

Apple's new USB 3 Lightning accessories offer faster file transfers and battery recharging abilities, but the only Apple device with a USB 3 Lightning port supporting those featuers remains the jumbo-sized 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Apple has launched a new Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter that features a standard USB port with USB 3 speeds. The company also offers a new Lightning to USB-C cable that is compatible with all Lightning-enabled Apple products for syncing and charging.

However, in the description for the camera adapter, Apple notes that USB 3 data speeds are only capable with the iPad Pro. Similarly, the Lightning to USB-C cable will not offer quick charging benefits for any other devices.

That means the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro lacks one key feature of the larger 12.9-inch model: It doesn't have a USB 3 capable Lightning port.

Still, the new Lightning to USB-C cable gives users the ability to plug their iPhone, iPad or otherwise directly into Apple's 12-inch MacBook, which features a single USB-C port for both syncing and charging.

25 Comments

AI2xxx 38 comments · 8 Years

About 8 years ago

Better late than never. I wonder if we'll see Thunderbolt 3 in the next couple of years.

sflocal 6133 comments · 16 Years

I can charge my iP6+ with my iPad 12w charger to 100% in about an hour. I can understand the file-transfer speeds with USB3, but I'm not understanding the charging times being implied with USB3.

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

AI2xxx said:

Better late than never. I wonder if we'll see Thunderbolt 3 in the next couple of years.

Thunderbolt means it's using an Intel chip. I doubt we'll ever see that on their iDevices.

Blaster 97 comments · 9 Years

sflocal said:

I can charge my iP6+ with my iPad 12w charger to 100% in about an hour. I can understand the file-transfer speeds with USB3, but I'm not understanding the charging times being implied with USB3.

The USB 2.0 standard provides up to 500ma per port. USB 3.0 standard provides up to 900ma per port. The "high power" USB ports found in some computers including Macs are actually nonstandard implementations.

focher 686 comments · 16 Years

However, in the description for the camera adapter, Apple notes that USB 3 data speeds are only capable with the iPad Pro. Similarly, the Lightning to USB-C cable will not offer quick charging benefits for any other devices.

That means the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro lacks one key feature of the larger 12.9-inch model: It doesn't have a USB 3 capable Lightning port.
Umm, is this accurate? The new 9.7 iPad is a "Pro" and during the event, Schiller even announced this adapter alongside the iPad Pro 9.7 so it's not clear whether that model supports USB 3. I think it's more likely that it does support USB 3 for data transfer and that this isn't just limited to the iPad Pro 12.9.

update: didn't see the last sentence in the description, so 9.7 is USB 2 only