5 issues you may plug into your iPhone 17’s USB-C port (that are not chargers)

Looking back, it is superb how tooth-and-nail Apple was in its battle to hold on to the Lightning port. The corporate waited till 2023 to modify iPhones over to USB-C, regardless of the very fact the expertise first debuted in 2014, and Android telephones started adopting it in 2015. The one factor that pressured Apple’s hand was a European Union regulation standardizing USB-C on gadgets like smartphones. In any other case, there’s an actual likelihood we might’ve been caught with proprietary cables once more for the iPhone 17.

Since Apple has lastly embraced the business commonplace, that is additionally opened up the variety of equipment iPhones will work with. The iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max — in addition to the iPhone Air — can do a shocking quantity of issues by way of USB-C. You will solely get probably the most out of the expertise with a Professional or Professional Max, for causes that’ll turn out to be clear in a second.

SSDs and card readers

Thoughts the efficiency hole

Due to each USB-C and adjustments to iOS over time, nearly any exterior SSD or card reader might be linked to an iPhone. You possibly can’t set up apps to an exterior supply, or make one the default location for saved recordsdata (with one notable exception beneath) — however it may be a helpful approach of importing and exporting content material, say when you’ve been capturing images on a professional digital camera however wish to rapidly edit and add a few of them for social media. You possibly can import images and movies instantly into the Photographs app. For many different content material, you may be transferring issues out and in of Recordsdata.

There are a selection of different catches concerned. Some SSDs require their very own energy provides, that means you may want to attach them by way of a powered USB hub if they do not have a wire of their very own. And whereas storage might be formatted in APFS, HFS+, exFAT, FAT32, or FAT, playing cards and drives can solely have a single information partition.

The most important challenge is pace. The bottom iPhone 17 and the iPhone Air are restricted to USB 2.0 bandwidth, which peaks at 480Mbps. That is high-quality for small transfers — however you will not max out the pace of an SSD, and huge video transfers may take some time. At 480Mbps, it might take about 14 minutes to repeat 50GB of 4K video, whereas the 10Gbps ports on the 17 Professional and Professional Max may deal with the identical course of in 40 seconds.

That is why you want a Professional to shoot 4K ProRes video on to exterior storage. And exterior storage is important at that high quality, since even a 1TB iPhone would possibly refill quickly.

Wired keyboards

A final-ditch productiveness choice

Credit score: Clicks / Pocket-lint

Realistically, you will not get practically as a lot out of connecting a keyboard to an iPhone as you’ll to an iPad. Most iPhone apps aren’t very complicated, and even those which might be do not have a lot room to work with. However when you completely must get one thing achieved and your iPhone’s onscreen keyboard is not chopping it, a USB mannequin will dramatically pace up your typing. I do know I would not even try to put in writing an article in Google Docs if I could not plug in a desktop keyboard.An organization referred to as Clicks sells devoted keyboard circumstances. I am not selling the product, however I do know some persons are nonetheless hellbent on recreating the BlackBerry expertise. If nothing else, the case ensures that you will at all times see an app’s fullscreen interface, as a substitute of getting it obscured by a pop-up software program keyboard.

Screens and TVs

Who wants an Apple TV?

When you must put one thing on a much bigger display screen, iPhones can mirror their content material to a monitor or TV. You possibly can join on to some displays by the use of a USB 3.1 or Thunderbolt 4/5 cable, and an additional subset will even cost your iPhone whilst you’re plugged in. For TVs, in addition to displays that do not help DisplayPortover USB-C, you may want some type of USB-C to HDMI adapter.The key phrase right here is mirroring. In contrast to a Mac or iPad, you may’t lengthen an iPhone’s homescreen, so it is not like you can arrange a transportable workstation. At finest you can exploit the “second-screen” choices in some apps, equivalent to video gamers. Apps that do not help second-screen tech will proceed to reflect all of iOS, so you could wish to activate Do Not Disturb when you’re sitting down to look at Jurassic Park.Talking of films, you may output 4K HDR video as much as a 60Hz refresh rate. That features help for Dolby Imaginative and prescient. Word that any HDMI adapter you utilize might want to help HDMI 2.0 or later.

Microphones and headphones

Most constancy

A outstanding phenomenon to me is that numerous reporters do not hassle utilizing separate microphones, cameras, or recording techniques anymore. As an alternative, they’re going to function primarily from their cellphone, connecting equipment as crucial. I’ve seen some journalists shove a naked machine in entrance of somebody to get commentary. Naturally, USB microphones can be utilized not only for journalism, however to take calls, or document music and podcasts. The standard of your mic goes to matter quite a bit right here, nevertheless — if you wish to sound skilled, do not use the most affordable mannequin you will discover on Amazon.USB-C headphones aren’t particularly widespread lately, however there’s at the very least one cause to make use of them: lossless. Bluetooth merely would not have the bandwidth to deal with the best high quality of companies like Apple Music and Spotify. I discover that lossless is overrated, personally — you in all probability will not discover a distinction versus high-quality compressed audio — however for purists, USB-C is the one option to fly.

Different gadgets that have to be cost

Largely Apple equipment

I might nearly forgotten reverse USB charging was an choice, if I am trustworthy. It is no surprise, although, since Apple would not point out the expertise fairly often, and it is not fairly clear what gadgets will work. Formally, absolutely anything might be charged along with your iPhone as lengthy it helps USB Energy Supply (USB-PD) as much as 4.5W — however some gadgets will robotically ship energy the opposite approach as a substitute, equivalent to a laptop computer.What you may safely assume is the power to cost an Apple Watch or an AirPods case. Watch out about this — whilst you would possibly like the thought of topping off your equipment at any time when and wherever you want, absolutely charging one thing like an Apple Watch goes to take an enormous chunk out of an iPhone’s battery. It is best to make use of this as an emergency backup, say when you’re in the course of a PEV group rideand your AirPods immediately give out.