- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2024 11:40 pm
- Real Name: Johnny Noble
Thu Mar 21, 2024 11:44 pm
Like many others online, I bought an iPhone 15 Pro Max because of its advertised 10Gb/s transfer speeds over USB-C. Like many others, I was disappointed when ProRes shot in Blackmagic transferred at USB 2.0 speeds. Interminably, unusably slow.
There are ways around it, but I think I've found the best. This post is just in case anyone else has this issue.
The issue
When connecting an iPhone 15 Pro Max to a Mac and viewing the 'Files' on the phone via Finder, copying those files from Blackmagic to the Mac was very slow.
You can eliminate the hardware/cables as the cause of the issue:
- Connect an SSD directly to the phone using the same cable and test transfer by saving directly to the drive. ✅
- Connect that SSD to a Mac and test transfer speeds. The cable is capable of 10Gb/s. ✅
This is a bad workaround for me because it involves constantly dis/reconnecting that external SSD. Every time you do this Blackmagic seems to need to be told to save files to this external drive. It's just a pain.
The workaround
1. In Blackmagic, select your video file(s), invoke the share sheet, and 'Save [x] Videos'. This saves them to your Photos library.
2. Connect your phone via known-good cable. (See note below.)
3. On the Mac, launch Image Capture.
4. Select your videos and download to your chosen location.
5. You might as well use Image Capture to immediately delete the videos from your Photo library while you're here.
Note that a known-good cable (fast data transfer with an SSD) still caused slow transfers using this method. I know it's ridiculous but I just bought the Apple Thunderbolt 4 'Pro' (lol) cable. I need it to Just Work. At least it's a nice cable...
---
This is clearly a macOS bug: the Finder interaction with 'Files' on your phone is broken.
I've done every test every which way and nothing else makes sense. I was just in the Apple Store trying it with their cables, their laptops: same result. I've eliminated everything else as the cause. Photos.app synchronises across the same cable at 10Gb/s.
It's the software. We just have to wait for a bug fix. I'm gonna log feedback, who knows if it goes anywhere.
There are ways around it, but I think I've found the best. This post is just in case anyone else has this issue.
The issue
When connecting an iPhone 15 Pro Max to a Mac and viewing the 'Files' on the phone via Finder, copying those files from Blackmagic to the Mac was very slow.
You can eliminate the hardware/cables as the cause of the issue:
- Connect an SSD directly to the phone using the same cable and test transfer by saving directly to the drive. ✅
- Connect that SSD to a Mac and test transfer speeds. The cable is capable of 10Gb/s. ✅
This is a bad workaround for me because it involves constantly dis/reconnecting that external SSD. Every time you do this Blackmagic seems to need to be told to save files to this external drive. It's just a pain.
The workaround
1. In Blackmagic, select your video file(s), invoke the share sheet, and 'Save [x] Videos'. This saves them to your Photos library.
2. Connect your phone via known-good cable. (See note below.)
3. On the Mac, launch Image Capture.
4. Select your videos and download to your chosen location.
5. You might as well use Image Capture to immediately delete the videos from your Photo library while you're here.
Note that a known-good cable (fast data transfer with an SSD) still caused slow transfers using this method. I know it's ridiculous but I just bought the Apple Thunderbolt 4 'Pro' (lol) cable. I need it to Just Work. At least it's a nice cable...
---
This is clearly a macOS bug: the Finder interaction with 'Files' on your phone is broken.
I've done every test every which way and nothing else makes sense. I was just in the Apple Store trying it with their cables, their laptops: same result. I've eliminated everything else as the cause. Photos.app synchronises across the same cable at 10Gb/s.
It's the software. We just have to wait for a bug fix. I'm gonna log feedback, who knows if it goes anywhere.