The new iPhone Air is limited to USB 2 transfer speeds and it does not support faster USB 3 transfer speeds like the iPhone 17 Pro models. Apple also didn’t update the USB port that it’s using for the iPhone 17, so USB 3 continues to be a Pro-only feature.
With USB 2 support, the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 support transfer speeds of up to 480Mb/s. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max support transfer speeds of up to 10Gb/s, like the iPhone 16 Pro models.
480Mb/s is the same transfer speed that Lightning offered, so the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 models are still limited to the speeds of the now-outdated Lightning technology.
Apple did not make any changes to USB-C transfer speeds this year, and it is a bit of a disappointment to see the $999 iPhone Air limited to USB 2.
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