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0 pointsJumpCrisscross2y ago0 comments

> cheap out by using USB 2.0

Could there have been other tradeoffs? Power consumption, silicon footprint, et cetera. Most people never use USB to transfer data to and from their phones. It would be slightly ridiculous to support 3.0 if it meant tradeoffs in anything practical just so they can say they support a new protocol.

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ochoseis2y ago

It’s obviously market segmentation.

masklinn2y ago

Well for now it's likely just the IP blocks (the non-pros uses the A16 which was certainly designed without since none of the 14s was shipped with support).

When the non-pros get the A17 we'll see if they disable the USB3 controller and it's market seg. I'd assume so but...

PennRobotics2y ago

or USB-C (and its order of magnitude complexity) isn't a SoC peripheral on the already-taped-out A16 but it is on the A17?

masklinn2y ago

On the other hand, the 6th gen Mini uses an A15, and has USB 3 speeds support (only 5Gb but still).

So apple might have had USB3 speeds support in the A15 specifically for the mini, or they might have included USB3 support for a while in all SoC and enable it selectively for segmentation purposes.

That would gel with the comparison between the iPad Air 5th gen and the iPad Pro 5th gen: they both use the desktop-class M1, but the Pro supports full TB3 and USB4, while the Air only supports 10GB.

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ochoseis2y ago

It’s obviously market segmentation.

masklinn2y ago

Well for now it's likely just the IP blocks (the non-pros uses the A16 which was certainly designed without since none of the 14s was shipped with support).

When the non-pros get the A17 we'll see if they disable the USB3 controller and it's market seg. I'd assume so but...

PennRobotics2y ago

or USB-C (and its order of magnitude complexity) isn't a SoC peripheral on the already-taped-out A16 but it is on the A17?

masklinn2y ago

On the other hand, the 6th gen Mini uses an A15, and has USB 3 speeds support (only 5Gb but still).

So apple might have had USB3 speeds support in the A15 specifically for the mini, or they might have included USB3 support for a while in all SoC and enable it selectively for segmentation purposes.

That would gel with the comparison between the iPad Air 5th gen and the iPad Pro 5th gen: they both use the desktop-class M1, but the Pro supports full TB3 and USB4, while the Air only supports 10GB.

3 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse