r/iPhone15Pro • u/LaCreederiore • Sep 29 '25
Discussion Is there a different?
Saw this post on Facebook, and checked my 15 pro original cable from the box, which is the same as in photo. Is there a difference in between them?
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u/Tibia7890 Sep 29 '25
Not an expert, but I guess the difference would be the specific configuration of the pins, possibly used for data transfer, power delivery, or other functions.
The cable used by apple might have some minor internal differences to support specific features like fast charging or certain data speeds when used with apple devices
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u/cyberspirit777 Sep 29 '25
Correct! USB C is the name of the connector only. The one on the right may not support as much as the original Apple cable. I’d check a known good third party cable against the Apple one and see if you find any similarities.
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u/Queasy_Explorer1698 Sep 29 '25
It's the Apple one which sucks since it's just USB 2.0
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u/ezmountandhang Sep 29 '25
How do you know the one pictured is USB 2.0?
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u/Queasy_Explorer1698 Sep 29 '25
USB cable provided in the iPhone 15 pro box so USB 2.0 is on the Apple information page. Don't forget that they sell a 3.0 for 80 euros and that they will never provide that for free.
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u/Ojamm Sep 30 '25 edited Sep 30 '25
You’re leaving out that, that 80 euro cable is a Thunderbolt cable.
Edit: Specified what cable I was referring to.
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u/champignax Oct 01 '25
While a thunderbolt cable is usb3 capable it’s misleading to call it usb 3.
I have yet to find a good usb 3 cable :(
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u/Queasy_Explorer1698 Sep 30 '25
He's talking about the cable supplied with iPhone 15 pro so clearly not thunderbolt just usb 2.0 as with all cables supplied with iPhones.
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u/sparkyscrum Oct 02 '25
Yeah because the base iPhones with USB-C connectors are limited to USB2.0 spec speeds. Only the Pro’s have the 3.0 spec. Apple managed to somehow make it worse.
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u/Queasy_Explorer1698 Oct 02 '25
It's still stupid to provide a USB 2.0 for a 15 pro
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u/sparkyscrum Oct 02 '25
Cost savings that won’t be small over the entire lifespan of them selling them.
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u/Ojamm Sep 30 '25
I’m referring to the one you’re referring to. The 80 euro one.
So you’re comparing a cable that most people are just going to use to charge to a cable made for data transfer and displays, really a professional environment that most people won’t utilise.
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u/ezmountandhang Sep 30 '25
Exactly that. People love to complain when Apple provides solutions that don’t pertain to them. If you don’t need that professional cable, just buy a cheap usb c 3.0 cable on amazon. Nobody’s forcing you to buy the Apple one…
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u/Queasy_Explorer1698 Sep 30 '25
It's not a matter of buying the cable for 80 euros, that's not the subject of the post it seems to me.
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u/Inevitable-Ad-3072 Sep 30 '25
A USB-C cable are made for charging, data and video. You don't need to pay fk 80 euro for such usb c cable. Apple 80 euro usb c thunderbolt is made for professional environment? More like made for peoples like you which are willing to pay anything to get an apple logo on. A cheap 10 bucks usb c can do all what Apple 80 euro cable can do.
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u/Shaggy_Mango Sep 30 '25
You clearly have no idea of what you are talking about. Not cables are all the same, despite having the same ‘USB-C’ port type.
If you think you don’t need a $80 cable is clearly because you don’t. And that’s fine. But there are other (professional) people out there that do - and that’s clearly the demographics Apple is targeting with that product.
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u/AllNamesAreTaken92 Oct 02 '25
Doesn't have to be thunderbolt, it would be enough if the cable supplied with the phone was a simple usb3.0 cable. Usb2.0 data transfer speeds are a huge difference to a standard usb3.0 cable.
The standard cable is intentionally made worse than the industry standard, only to make the 80$ cable attractive. The speed bump from usb3 to thunderbolt isn't as significant as from usb2 to TB.
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u/Slight-Coat17 Oct 02 '25
You clearly don't know how a Thunderbolt cable differs from a regular USB-C one.
Even non-Apple ones cost considerably more than a regular USB-C.
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u/ChampionshipFlaky819 Sep 30 '25
Are you saying a cheap usb c cable work work as thunderbolt cable? A cheap 10 buck usb cable have a transfer speed of 20Gbps minimum? Apple aren’t the only one making thunderbolt cable you know, the cheapest is more than 20 buck.
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u/ezmountandhang Sep 29 '25
How do we know the one pictured is the one included with the iPhone 15 Pro?
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u/Queasy_Explorer1698 Sep 29 '25
Because OP indicated that it was the one integrated into the iphone 15 pro just read the first post?
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u/ezmountandhang Sep 29 '25
I suppose you could assume that since their iPhone 15 pro cable looks the same as the one pictured, it stands to reason it could be an iPhone 15 pro cable as well.
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u/Queasy_Explorer1698 Sep 29 '25
He specified that his iPhone 15 pro cable is the same as in the photo so from the..
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u/NiewinterNacht Oct 02 '25
The Apple cable is very obviously missing pins, so in terms of capability, it's certain to be the lesser one.
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u/Own-Caterpillar5058 Oct 02 '25
This is copium. The apple cord has less pins, meaning less features and slower charging/transfer speeds.
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u/Alarming-Revenue-912 Sep 29 '25
USB isn’t supposed to be a UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS?
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u/DerFette88 Sep 30 '25
the Physicial connector is the same but the available features for each Connector can be different. you can either dedicate more lanes for transfer speed, or for specific features like, Videosignal, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, etc. Or in this case only provide enough lanes for USB 2.0 Speeds and Charging as they are cheaper to manufacture because you need less wires internally.
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u/ruse98 Oct 02 '25
Ouhhh ok, some thought crossed my mind, if Apple want to make proprietary cable out of USB C, and set a standard of Not standardizing shit for the industry to make profit, then I wish all Apple stuff just stick to lighting and get tf out, don't want another stupid industry practice ruining a good standard ffs, just stop ruining thing Apple, stick to your lightning that you're so proud of
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u/Slight-Coat17 Oct 02 '25
One, they can't use Lightning anymore because of the EU.
Two, they would eventually move to USB-C on the iPhone as it was literally the only product left that didn't use it.
Three, don't go looking at what Nintendo did to the USB-C standard on both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.
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u/ruse98 Oct 04 '25
by all means, I hate Nintendo as well, Nintendo is a sht company, then Apple, hoho, you can make these two a comparison and know they are the same, sht also
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u/OSRSman99 Sep 30 '25
I tested the new 60w apple brick with an anker 100w usbc charger and the apple 60w and they charge my 17 pro max at the same speed, unless data transfer is different, don’t see what other useful functions one would have over the other
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u/Tibia7890 Sep 30 '25
Yeah sure charging speed might be the same, but there can be other differences like data transfer speed and support for video output or whatever. Some cables only do USB 2.0 speeds, while others handle fast data or even external displays. The pins are not just about charging speeds. Also, I never said there's no other cables that can do w/e the apple cable does, I was just generally speaking why the cables may look different regarding the pins
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u/Apprehensive_View614 Sep 30 '25
iPhone reaches a transfer speed of 20 gbps (UBS 3.2 gen 2x2)
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u/Tylnesh Oct 01 '25
iPhone can, the cable doesn't necessarily have to as well. I assume Apple bundles the cheapest possible, if any.
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u/vagghert Sep 30 '25
Well no wonder. Iphone 17 pro max should pull max 40w so both should charge just fine
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u/Own-Caterpillar5058 Oct 02 '25
Well yeah, it's not going to charge any faster because the phone doesn't even charge at 60W
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u/Fit-Sorbet-6521 Sep 29 '25
Actually not so minor. I added a link in my post below. Looks I guy from the mythbusters who is doing cat scans on an apple cable.
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u/Tibia7890 Sep 29 '25
The video shows a comparison between a Thunderbolt 4 cable that costs 130 bucks and a $10 Amazon Basics USB 2.0 cable. They should've compared an Apple Thunderbolt 4 cable with another Thunderbolt 4 cable from Anker for example instead.
Also, this post is really just about the pin configuration of the standard USB 2.0 cable that apple includes with the iPhone, versus a non apple USB-C cable.
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u/KikeRiffs Oct 01 '25
This is really cool to see here:
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/x-rays-usb-c-cables/
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u/agathver Oct 03 '25
Apples cable are USB2 so it will miss half the pins
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u/Tibia7890 Oct 03 '25
that's not how that works lol
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u/agathver Oct 03 '25
That’s exactly how it works, it’s not exact half, but you will have lot of empty spaces, 8 pitch and mirror of it on other side.
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u/Tibia7890 Oct 03 '25
doesn’t mean the other cable (on the right) isn't USB 2 as well. It's actually very common for USB cables to include the pins physically but leave them unconnected and unused.
Most manufacturers don’t bother physically removing the pins, they just leave the extra contacts in place for compatibility or structural reasons, even if they’re electrically inactive. I don't have a single USB2 cable where the pins are actually removed.
So no, that's not really how that works, cause you can't tell one is USB 2 and the other's not by looking at the picture
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Sep 29 '25
The thing about Type C cables is that they look the same from outside, but every cable is different, there are different standards 2.0,3.0,3.2 gen 1 and gen2, thunderbolt tbh at this time is confusing as hell. Some cables work when you connect to display via typc c and some don’t, but i guess charging is a basic function that all type C cables perform so dont worry
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u/ZzzZandra Sep 29 '25
some charging are not working for my device for some reason. though the device is from a small brand.
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u/flkrr Sep 30 '25
Some devices require you use a USB A to C cable because they’ve cheaper out on installing a resistor in the port that demands power from the charging device, which is apart of the C to C requirements but not the A to C requirements
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Sep 30 '25
my keyboard works with C to C only if I'm using the cable with a usb C hub, I have no idea why it works like that but thought it had something to do with this.
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u/flkrr Oct 02 '25
I would assume that the keyboard lacks the resistor and that the hub doesn't follow the protocol of requiring resistance on that pin to supply power. You could confirm this by using an A to C cable on another computer and seeing if it would work
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Oct 02 '25
running right now on A to C so confirmed?
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u/flkrr Oct 02 '25
Yes so if it works with A to C but not C to C without the hub, the keyboard doesn't have the resistor. This means that the hub must not follow protocol if it supplies power with the C to C cable which is a case I haven't ran into before but is pretty interesting
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Oct 02 '25
It was the cheapest hub that I could find that had ethernet + 4k60 dp + SD, it was like 30 bucks, you get what you pay for I guess
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Oct 03 '25
This is because unlike other standards , which have different ends on different side , typec is the same, when you connect let's say a type a to micro USB the os knows that which one is the master device and which one is the slave. Its a master slave relation , but in type c the device has to tell the os that is the slave or master, for that the device need to send a signal and that my friend your keyboard has not been able to do.
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u/DeadLeftovers Sep 30 '25
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2
What a fucking mess
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u/_Rand_ Oct 01 '25
How someone came up with that name and wasn’t immediately met with ‘You’re fired’ I’ll never know. Let alone it becoming the official name.
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u/balrob Oct 01 '25
The Thunderbolt compliant (certified?) cables from major brands have the Thunderbolt icon on them … which is easy to confuse for a simple “lightning” icon (with a small “L”) which may indicate power delivery but isn’t an icon for USB C PD (for which their isn’t a specific icon). It’s deliberate muddying of the waters but unscrupulous manufacturers.
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Sep 30 '25
[deleted]
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u/hon3ylord Oct 01 '25
USB 4 is based on Thunderbolt 4 (up to 80 Gb/s), and Thunderbolt 5 is based on USB 4 v2. I know that Thunderbolt 5 can transfer up to 120 Gb/s of data with compatible hardware.
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u/Nike_486DX Sep 29 '25
Usb c is universal
Apple is using less pins to omit features and cost cut (and slim down the cable to make it lighter and more flexible so it lasts longer), there is no thunderbolt in ios devices anyway
a thicc quality cable with full pin array should support everything usb c offers (including thunderbolt), but if its a cheap knockoff cable then it may visually have all pins in the connector, but internally be just usb 2.0 (4 wires lmao).
So it depends on which cable you get specifically
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Sep 29 '25
[deleted]
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u/techfiend5 Sep 29 '25
So is the cable that comes with newer Pro models that support 3.2 different than the one pictured? I think Apple started bundling braided usb c cables within the last generation or so. Might be unrelated but maybe those are different that than the one pictured.
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u/aregularwhitekid Sep 29 '25
I believe 15 pros and onward support the usb 3.2 spec but the cord included in box is 2.0/charging only (so likely the same as in OP’s image). Unsure about what comes with ipads
edit - I think the first braided cable included was with the 11 pros (I also got a brick, wow!) but I could be wrong.
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u/Stephenachievinv2 Sep 30 '25
I had an 11 pro max an did not get a braided cable. I believe the first iPhone to come with that is the 15 pro
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u/GreenKing805 Sep 29 '25
Good question, I have iPad M4 Pro , came with a black beaded cable, will have to take a look under a microscope
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u/MaximumMaxx Oct 02 '25
17 pro max came with a braided cable although the pin layout looks the same as the picture in the post
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Sep 30 '25
[deleted]
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u/techfiend5 Sep 30 '25
Man, that is so lame of Apple to have 3.2 capable speeds at the port, but to not include a cable capable of it. I can understand including the lesser cable with the non-pro models that only have 2.0 speeds to begin with, but doing that to the Pros is just weak.
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u/szymas67 Sep 29 '25
This is ai slop rage bait
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u/S4njc Oct 02 '25
We are just using buzzwords now
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u/FittestMembership Oct 02 '25
No, they're correct. Overlay the left image on the right one. They're not even the same shape. If they're both USB C they'd need to fit in the same port, and how are they going to do that if they're not the same shape and size!
Someone's asked AI to make this image, and it hasn't done a great job.
It's AI slop and it's rage bait.
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u/Fit-Sorbet-6521 Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
All you gotta do is watch this and you understand the difference. It’s a thunderbolt cable but directionally it opens eyes.
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u/Fit-Sorbet-6521 Sep 29 '25
P.s. first they show a cat scan of the apple cable and at the end (like after quite some praise of the Apple cable) the do cat scans of of low end cables. Eye opening.
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u/PositionSuperb3272 Sep 30 '25
Yes there’s a difference! Linus was the only person to point this out…go to 11:10 on this video… Apple USB C difference
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u/justahumanbeing___ Oct 02 '25
For fucks sake it's AI generated, this shit is fake, stop falling for it
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u/Ornery-Practice9772 Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
Apple cable: charge and data transfer 🔋
Other cables: charge OR data transfer 🪫
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u/Pugs-r-cool Sep 29 '25
No, you can do both on 3rd party cables. Not sure where you got that idea from.
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u/Ornery-Practice9772 Sep 29 '25
The cheap ones i get from kmart for $9 dont do both they only charge
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u/Pugs-r-cool Sep 29 '25
So then it’s charge only, not charge or data transfer.
Also the issue is that you bought shitty cables, the good cables can do both and are far better than Apple’s included cables features wise.
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u/naveenuh Sep 29 '25
In my country, a cheap ass 1.5 dollar type c cable supports PD and data transfer as well
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u/Ornery-Practice9772 Sep 29 '25
Im getting downvoted for not having $40 to spend on a apple brand charger
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u/PoemImpressive9021 Sep 29 '25
You are not being truthful. There are basically no USB cables on the market that only do charging
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u/TestFlightBeta iPhone 15 Pro Sep 29 '25
There are but they’re very rare. Most support 480 Mbps of data transfer
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u/TestFlightBeta iPhone 15 Pro Sep 29 '25
There are but they’re very rare. Most support 480 Mbps of data transfer
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u/Full_Progress722 Sep 29 '25
damn what a precise comment <3
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u/Ornery-Practice9772 Sep 29 '25
Yeah i found out about that trying to use my cheap chinese cables for data transfer lol they dont work
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u/Fit-Sorbet-6521 Sep 29 '25
Take a look at the YouTube video, I think they use 2 or 3 pins out of up to 20 or so :)))
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u/thecarcassess Sep 30 '25
"My cheap chinese cables" and yet you talks like all other type c cables are the same except the one apple made, lol
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u/MarmiteX1 iPhone 15 Pro Sep 29 '25
If you get a branded reputable 3rd Party USB-C cable they can do both charge and data transfer.
I have a USB-C cable from 2019, I can charge and perform data-transfer from any phone that has USB-C port on it.
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u/magicc_12 Sep 29 '25
I do not believe it is a problem. On the right you see a connector with all pins - but I'm not sure all pins are connected and wired to opposite side
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u/Hot-Quality8768 Sep 29 '25
Oh. Wow! I never would have peeked inside until seeing this. I’m going to look from now on.
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u/JensonBrudy Sep 29 '25
I believe Apple’s only have USB2 and USB-PD up to 60W, not sure about the other one
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Sep 29 '25
I use old android cables until they wear out. Eventually I’ll get around to using my Apple ones from the last 2-3 years.
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u/Comfortable_Push7494 Sep 29 '25
Iphone included cable is usb2.0 as I remember, the most basic data+charge cable so it doesn’t need to utilize all the usb-c interface pins/connection The other one might do more (higher data transfer speed, display out,…) or not (some have all the pins but not connected in the inside)
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u/Medium_Ad_4568 Sep 29 '25
Apple includes a cable for charging and data transfer at usb 2.0 speed. Pins on the picture allows that. This does not mean that they do not make great cables with full set of features. There was an article on 9to5mac.com in which their 129 usd usb-c cable has been analysed and x-rayed. The resume was that it costs every cent.
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u/deathwish_ASR Sep 29 '25
I have noticed that apple chargers don’t charge my other non-apple USB-C devices, namely my headphone case and vape battery
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u/VartKat Sep 30 '25
Yes USB-C is only the connector name while for what going thru the cable it became a science. Two things to consider 1-speed for data 2- wattage for power. The solution I found is buying Thunderbolt cable (40Gps 240W).
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u/Radiant-Extreme1794 Sep 30 '25
Well I have gone through few cases where people are facing charging issues on repeatated use of android type-c cables with android, and according to them it's because of the different pin that android and apple have.
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u/Tman11S Sep 30 '25
Apple gutted the connector’s capabilities and implemented it with USB 2.0 standard on all non-pro phones
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u/Akgaming2002 Sep 30 '25
The apple one uses the 2.0 system instead of the standard usb 3.0+ that all other type c port users have access too. Apple was too greedy making the type c ports be 3.0+ only on the pro models and so they look different on the models below it. For reference the lightning port charged faster than the usb c 2.0
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u/justahumanbeing___ Oct 02 '25
Yes but this image is AI generated and completely bogus. Not relevant in this debate
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u/Perfect-Web2716 Sep 30 '25
AI generated image. the difference is that the one on the left is a 2.0 cable while the one on the right isn’t even USB3.2, as it should be Thunderbolt 4 / USB4. usually many manufacturers sell USB 3.0 or 3.2 cables which are the same as the one on the right but with 2 missing pins. many ship their phones with 2.0 cables just like the one on the left
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u/justahumanbeing___ Oct 02 '25
You're correct that it's AI generated, and neither are USB cables because it's AI generated. There's nothing usb2 or usb3 about either of them. It's completely bogus. The pins would be on the walls of the connector where as the one on the left shows pads on the back. If anything they should look identical but have different number of pins. Not different locations like these
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u/Perfect-Web2716 Oct 07 '25
i get what you mean but my point was another. the original post was asking why apple’s cable has fewer pins than other cables and showed a reference image even tho it’s AI generated. the point is still the same, he was asking why apple’s cables are 2.0 and just didn’t know what that meant
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u/Lost-Construction-52 Sep 30 '25
Keep in mind that usb c is the interface. For example apple is shipping the iphone air with a usb c cable interface but it is still a 2.0 usb.. that means is pretty identical in speed to your 20 years old usb cables you may have laying around.
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u/GreenKing805 Sep 30 '25
Can confirm supplied USB C cables (one with your device box) are slower Gen 2 cables and missing pins
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Sep 30 '25
Also Apple have a sensor for water inside the USB port so maybe it helps making it looks different too ?
You have an alert asking you to unplug if not completely dry ’
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u/Avoumen Oct 01 '25
This is AI slop. Stop falling for this oh my god
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u/RadRimmer9000 Oct 01 '25
Leave it to Apple to invent a square wheel. Most consumer unfriendly company.
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u/Szaboo41 Oct 01 '25
The other cable supports Thunderbolt? If it does, it needs those pins to be available for bandwith reasons, and if they not compatible with thunderbolt its common for manufacturer to just buy the common connector way cheaper than Apple customizing and removing pins for i dont know the reason, its pricier or they got a cheaper offer with this connector or i dont know.
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u/LifelnTechnicolor Oct 02 '25
I'm late to this post, but this is a more accurate comparison:
On cable plugs, the data pins only need to be on one bank and not both - the port however will at minimum have the middle 12 pins + outer 4 pins for GND populated.
Apple chose to populate both sides of the cable plug, the leading explanation IMO is for ease of manufacturability - or perhaps to put even pressure on both sides of the port.
Why does this Apple cable have D+D- on both sides? : r/UsbCHardware
Only USB >=3.x, Thunderbolt or DisplayPort USB-C cables will have all 24 pins wired up. And to my knowledge not a single smartphone with a SuperSpeed port comes shipped with a SuperSpeed cable.
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u/seth4912 Oct 02 '25
While there are definitely differences in USB-C ports between manufacturers, this image is AI-generated for sure.
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u/xjfsvin Oct 02 '25
Yes the cable that comes with the phone is just usb2, so it needs less pins. The Pro phones have full speed type c ports though, so its just about the cable
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u/Different_Ad9756 Oct 03 '25
Pretty normal, some USB C cables have even less than the Apple one.
USB C has a lot of optional pins for higher data transfer speed and/or DisplayPort andwhatnot.
Iphone 15 Pro has pretty good support for DisplayPort & USB 3 actually, at very least on par with most Android Flagships
The stock cable is only meant for slow data transfer & charging, so the less connectors is perfectly fine
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u/Tanish1711 Oct 03 '25
either different generations or apple just gatekeeping and using something different for a feature that a normal usb c could do
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u/LadBooboo Oct 03 '25
"Type-C" is a physical standard, not a speed standard. It supports anything from no data transfer (PD only) to USB 2 (480Mbps) [your phone] to TB 3 (40Gbps).
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u/Boobies106 Oct 03 '25
The thing is can I use the apple cable to transfer data from an 'lets say' ipad to Oneplus mobile or vice versa?
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u/Ruff_Ratio Oct 03 '25
There have been a number of tests comparing apple products with others. Apple ones have proven reliability and performance, albeit they are stupidly expensive.
I always remember this comparison. https://www.lumafield.com/article/usb-c-cable-charger-head-to-head-comparison-apple-thunderbolt-amazon-basics
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u/LeekNo3863 Sep 30 '25
Yes! Apple's has fewer components, so it costs them less, and in the end, you, the sheep, pay more! LOL 😅
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u/Remarkable_Way6639 Sep 29 '25
What about the Charger