New iPad Pro 11 USB-C Data transfer speeds

[Jailbreaking Bad]

No I can't, because I don't use a stopwatch or something like that when I restore a new iPad from a previous backup. I would estimate that file transfer was at least 2x-3x faster than before. And mp3/mp4 are small files, right? I transfered over 23000 of them …

Oh, it doesn't have to be exact. If it's 2x to 3x as fast then that'd be 100% to 200% in percentage percentage will allow for a more granular numbers but just multiplication is okay.

Anyway, when I asked for a speed difference on small files I mean like text and picture files. It could be anywhere in range of 1KB to 10MB. If you don't feel that 1000 files will give you accurate answer, then maybe try 10k or so. I think random read/write of NAND will have big influence on transfer speed of small files but I don't think there's a way to benchmark it, so I'd like to see comparison of small files over USB as a fallback question. There might be a bottleneck in USB itself too. I don't know, but I know with 10.5" it took a while for the sync on the ten thousands of "small files" I have.

 

[stylinexpat]

My Anker USB C cable arrived today so i was able to back up my iPad 11" and sync to my MacBook. It was lightening quick. I also downloaded some movies from the cloud down to the iPad and it synced everything in less than an hour...two hours quicker than when i synced to my 10.5. This is one quick machine.

1 hour to sync What did you sync and how much did you sync?

 

[nippyjun]

My Anker USB C cable arrived today so i was able to back up my iPad 11" and sync to my MacBook. It was lightening quick. I also downloaded some movies from the cloud down to the iPad and it synced everything in less than an hour...two hours quicker than when i synced to my 10.5. This is one quick machine.

Which Anker cable did you get?

 

[Kal-037]

A lot of manufacturers try to cut cost when manufacturing cables. Inside the main cable there are other cables inside. One for charging and one for syncing. Most try to keep them thin to cut down on cost. They have different gauges of cables for charging and syncing.

Do you know of a cable that has this that I can buy so I don't have to buy 2 different cables? Thanks for your post BTW.


Kallum.

 

[mazepad]

Can you please do the percentage difference for that "much faster" speed? Also I'd like to see the comparison with 1000 small files. I'm currently on 10.5" iPad Pro and my condition for next iPad is to have a much needed "significant" read/write speed improvement for small files. Though this is perhaps more relevant to NAND than USB but I'm still curious.

Maybe I can help you with that. Just tested the difference between the “in box usb-c cable vs Nomad 3.1 usb-c gen.2 100W cable (purchased at Hellonomad), so here the results:
- 1 file (Movie) 19.3Gb transfer from my PC (3.1 usb-c slot) to iPad Pro 11 using STOCK USB-C cable - 12.35 min.
- the same file (same conditions) using Nomad USB-C 3.1 100W cable - 4.29 min.
That’s what I’ve got in real life. Now you can count more property.
P.S. Small files transfer will try tomorrow.

 

[d5aqoëp]

Maybe I can help you with that. Just tested the difference between the “in box usb-c cable vs Nomad 3.1 usb-c gen.2 100W cable (purchased at Hellonomad), so here the results:
- 1 file (Movie) 19.3Gb transfer from my PC (3.1 usb-c slot) to iPad Pro 11 using STOCK USB-C cable - 12.35 min.
- the same file (same conditions) using Nomad USB-C 3.1 100W cable - 4.29 min.
That’s what I’ve got in real life. Now you can count more property.
P.S. Small files transfer will try tomorrow.

That’s roughly 80 MBps which is definitely not impressive for USB-C with Nomad cable
I expect it to be 200-300 MBps.

Make sure the source machine has the file on SSD or NVMe capable of 500MBps.

 

[mazepad]

That’s roughly 80 MBps which is definitely not impressive for USB-C with Nomad cable
I expect it to be 200-300 MBps.

Make sure the source machine has the file on SSD or NVMe capable of 500MBps.

Unfortunately that’s the max limit of the iPad itself… on my PC I’ve got core i9 & NVMe Samsung which can provide speed transfer up to 2500 mb per second, also Nomad cable can handle 800 mb/second easy. The conclusion is simple - there is nothing to slow down the data transfer speed except iPad!!

 

[Jailbreaking Bad]

Maybe I can help you with that. Just tested the difference between the “in box usb-c cable vs Nomad 3.1 usb-c gen.2 100W cable (purchased at Hellonomad), so here the results:
- 1 file (Movie) 19.3Gb transfer from my PC (3.1 usb-c slot) to iPad Pro 11 using STOCK USB-C cable - 12.35 min.
- the same file (same conditions) using Nomad USB-C 3.1 100W cable - 4.29 min.
That’s what I’ve got in real life. Now you can count more property.
P.S. Small files transfer will try tomorrow.

Nice! That's about 2.8x as fast (180% faster). Can't wait to see the speed difference with small files too. But, um, don't you have older device to compare? I actually don't think USB is the bottleneck for the transfer of small files, but let's try and see I guess...

 

[macduke]

Things like DUET, which is badly broken with (without hacks) recently. Somebody needs to use a good 'data' cable directly to a MBP and see what kind of monitor emulation we can get.

I bought a 10Gbps 3.1 g2 cable and am not noticing much improvement in Duet Display. I hadn't used it in a while and it's not even filling the entire iPad display with the image and I'm not sure what is going on. Still seems kinda laggy when doing retina at 60Hz and the image quality could be better. Between the fast connection and the fact that my iPad Pro is now decently faster than the 2015 MBP that it is connected to, I'm going to blame the software.

I think random read/write of NAND will have big influence on transfer speed of small files but I don't think there's a way to benchmark it…

I found an app that can test it. Here is the result for the iPhone XS 256GB and the 12.9" iPad Pro 3rd gen 256GB. The top label on the iPhone is cut off since I was trying to get the "score" in the view at the bottom, but the top label is just "Sequential" like the iPad screenshot which fits it all. Seems pretty good. I'll have to test this on my 10.5" sometime, which my wife is now using. I used to use another app, but it was removed from the App Store and curiously I couldn't redownload it.

 

[stylinexpat]

I bought a 10Gbps 3.1 g2 cable and am not noticing much improvement in Duet Display. I hadn't used it in a while and it's not even filling the entire iPad display with the image and I'm not sure what is going on. Still seems kinda laggy when doing retina at 60Hz and the image quality could be better. Between the fast connection and the fact that my iPad Pro is now decently faster than the 2015 MBP that it is connected to, I'm going to blame the software.


I found an app that can test it. Here is the result for the iPhone XS 256GB and the 12.9" iPad Pro 3rd gen 256GB. The top label on the iPhone is cut off since I was trying to get the "score" in the view at the bottom, but the top label is just "Sequential" like the iPad screenshot which fits it all. Seems pretty good. I'll have to test this on my 10.5" sometime, which my wife is now using. I used to use another app, but it was removed from the App Store and curiously I couldn't redownload it.

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Thanks for sharing. Looking for more info from people here sharing transfer speeds for new iPad Pro versus previous version.

I am wondering if the new 1TB Flash storage that is built into the new iPad Pro is any faster compared to previous 256GB storage on previous model for read and write speeds. This may also affect data transfer speeds

 

[jasonefmonk]

Thanks for sharing. Looking for more info from people here sharing transfer speeds for new iPad Pro versus previous version.

I am wondering if the new 1TB Flash storage that is built into the new iPad Pro is any faster compared to previous 256GB storage on previous model for read and write speeds. This may also affect data transfer speeds

Larger CTO SSDs often fill the same space as smaller ones and are more memory-dense, so it should be at least a bit quicker.

I just got my 12.9-inch 1TB today and I am iTunes transferring hundreds of large (~2GB) TV show episodes to it now. My 27-inch iMac (Late-2015) also has a 1TB SSD and is being read between 95-125MBps, leaning more into the high range as the transfer has gone on. I did purchase the cheaper ($11CAD) Anker PowerLine USB-C to USB 3.0 Cable (3-feet) because I'm pretty sure my iMac only supports USB 3.0 specification.

I'd like to hear if there is much to be gained from newer Macs with faster USB and SSDs.

 

[stylinexpat]

Anyone here know of any good apps or hardware for testing that they would like to share? I looked inside the System information on the MacBook Pro and did not see anything that would show what the USB C Cable connected to the Thunderbolt 3 on the MacBook Pro would be capable of transferring at..

 

[jasonefmonk]

Anyone here know of any good apps or hardware for testing that they would like to share?

There could be better tools for the job, however I was just checking the read speeds of my iMac SSD through iStat Menus.

 

[stylinexpat]

There could be better tools for the job, however I was just checking the read speeds of my iMac SSD through iStat Menus.

Let me know if you come across any good tools. I am looking for some

 

[brewmonkey]

I just noticed this thread now after posting earlier today about very slow transfers (like less than 1 MB/sec) with a new AmazonBasics USB C to USB A cable. So the Anker equivalent will go much faster?

 

[Hym tix]

I just noticed this thread now after posting earlier today about very slow transfers (like less than 1 MB/sec) with a new AmazonBasics USB C to USB A cable. So the Anker equivalent will go much faster?

you can buy USB-C to USB-A cables that are still rated for slow USB2 speeds. So if that is what you have, then yes the Anker cable is rated at USB3 speeds and will therefore transfer much faster.

 

[dwig]

I just noticed this thread now after posting earlier today about very slow transfers (like less than 1 MB/sec) with a new AmazonBasics USB C to USB A cable. So the Anker equivalent will go much faster?

You can't rely simply on the brand name. You must check what data types and/or power levels are supported.

In general, longer cables sold as "charging" cables will not support higher speed data, often being limited to USB2 speeds, while cables that support the various USB3 specs and TB3 will generally be shorter (~1m and less).

 

[Mike Boreham]

I have just bought a 12.9" Gen 3 iPad, and I am using it with a 27" 2017 iMac.

I am finding that if I use any of my USB-C to USB-C, USB 3,1 rated data cables (I have a few different ones, by Caldigit, Lacie, Samsung, Maplins) I get a "USB accessory disabled, drawing too much power" message on the iMac after a couple of minutes.

The only way I can avoid this is to use either the USB-C (USB 2 for data) charging cable which came with the iPad, or a Maplins USB-C to USB-A cable, which is USB 3,1 for data.

I have also had the message on the iMac about software needing to be downloaded to use this iPad....but when I click install it says no longer on the server. I only get this after using one of the cables which gives the too much power message.

 

[masotime]

If you really want to be safe regarding the ideal cable, I'd recommend getting the Apple Thunderbolt 3 once

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb‑c-cable-08-m

That will have maximum data transfer and power transfer capabilities.

 

[Mike Boreham]

If you really want to be safe regarding the ideal cable, I'd recommend getting the Apple Thunderbolt 3 once

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb‑c-cable-08-m

That will have maximum data transfer and power transfer capabilities.

Thanks...I may do that but will see how I go with the USB-C to USB-A one before getting yet another cable.

 

[stylinexpat]

I have just bought a 12.9" Gen 3 iPad, and I am using it with a 27" 2017 iMac.

I am finding that if I use any of my USB-C to USB-C, USB 3,1 rated data cables (I have a few different ones, by Caldigit, Lacie, Samsung, Maplins) I get a "USB accessory disabled, drawing too much power" message on the iMac after a couple of minutes.

The only way I can avoid this is to use either the USB-C (USB 2 for data) charging cable which came with the iPad, or a Maplins USB-C to USB-A cable, which is USB 3,1 for data.

I have also had the message on the iMac about software needing to be downloaded to use this iPad....but when I click install it says no longer on the server. I only get this after using one of the cables which gives the too much power message.

Which iMac do you have?
[doublepost=1551986044][/doublepost]

If you really want to be safe regarding the ideal cable, I'd recommend getting the Apple Thunderbolt 3 once

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb‑c-cable-08-m

That will have maximum data transfer and power transfer capabilities.

I have the Thunderbolt 2 Cable which is 2meters long. That
[doublepost=1551986077][/doublepost]Good article here on USB 4

https://gizmodo.com/usb4-is-going-to-revolutionize-the-usb-standard-all-ove-1833059622

 

[brewmonkey]

So, the Amazon cable is USB 3.1 Gen2, which is why I wondered why it was so slow. It turned out to be quite an odd thing: when I transfer from a network share (gigabit wired connection) to the iPad (drag/drop via iTunes file sharing), it's super slow as I mentioned. When I first copy the same file to MBP's local drive instead and then to the iPad, the same transfer completes as fast as I would expect over USB 3. So, there's something funny about that SMB share "in the middle". FWIW, transfers from the share to local drive are as fast as you'd expect over a gigabit wired connection.

If anyone knows the issue involved, I'd love to hear it...hah.

You can't rely simply on the brand name. You must check what data types and/or power levels are supported.

In general, longer cables sold as "charging" cables will not support higher speed data, often being limited to USB2 speeds, while cables that support the various USB3 specs and TB3 will generally be shorter (~1m and less).

you can buy USB-C to USB-A cables that are still rated for slow USB2 speeds. So if that is what you have, then yes the Anker cable is rated at USB3 speeds and will therefore transfer much faster.

you can buy USB-C to USB-A cables that are still rated for slow USB2 speeds. So if that is what you have, then yes the Anker cable is rated at USB3 speeds and will therefore transfer much faster.

 

[stylinexpat]

Looking at all these I would assume that only the 0.5 meter cable purchased separately offers the higher speeds? Correct..?

https://www.cultofmac.com/586972/ipad-pro-usb-c/

https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...bolt-3-mac-is-still-a-nightmare-for-consumers
and a 0.5 meter passive 100W Thunderbolt 3 cable capable of 40Gbps.

 

[masotime]

Looking at all these I would assume that only the 0.5 meter cable purchased separately offers the higher speeds? Correct..?

https://www.cultofmac.com/586972/ipad-pro-usb-c/

https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...bolt-3-mac-is-still-a-nightmare-for-consumers
and a 0.5 meter passive 100W Thunderbolt 3 cable capable of 40Gbps.

The Apple Thunderbolt 3 cable is 0.8m in length and supports both 100W and 40Gbps. As far as I know, the Apple cable is the longest cable to support both passively.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb‑c-cable-08-m

 

[stylinexpat]

The Apple Thunderbolt 3 cable is 0.8m in length and supports both 100W and 40Gbps. As far as I know, the Apple cable is the longest cable to support both passively.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb‑c-cable-08-m

I have this which I use with my iPhone 8 Plus and iPad Pro 10.5 which is very very slow