Since the 2.0 update a lot of people have been complaining about the long sync times for the iPhone and iPod Touch… me included. Good news is it seems there is a work-around.
This wonderful article at ukmac.net (originally covered by Ars Technica and John Gruber) explains how connecting your iPhone or iPod Touch through a USB hub actually causes the sync to slow down, but connecting directly to your computer the sync will complete in 5 or so minutes.
This is a simple fix until Apple addresses the problem… But still handy to know if you’re experiencing slow sync times!
TwisterMc // 09/09/2008 at 4:46 am
I had mine linked though a USB extender cable and once I removed that it synced so much faster. Either that or because I turned off the Mail sync. Not sure which one.