USB Type-C: Explained

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and communications protocols used in a bus for connection, communication, and power supply between computers and other electronic devices.

USB was designed to standardize the connection of computer peripherals (including keyboards, pointing devices, digital cameras, printers, portable media players, disk drives and network adapters) to personal computers, both to communicate and to supply electric power. It has become commonplace on other devices, such as smartphones and video game consoles. USB has effectively replaced a variety of earlier interfaces, such as serial and parallel ports, as well as separate power chargers for portable devices.

In general, there are three basic kinds or sizes related to the USB connectors and types of established connection: the older "standard" size, in its USB 1.1/2.0 and USB 3.0 variants (for example, on USB flash drives), the "mini" size (primarily for the B connector end, such as on many cameras), and the "micro" size, in its USB 1.1/2.0 and USB 3.0 variants (for example, on most modern cellphones).

Unlike other data cables (Ethernet, HDMI etc.), each end of a USB cable uses a different kind of connector; an A-type or a B-type. This kind of design was chosen to prevent electrical overloads and damaged equipment, as only the A-type socket provides power. There are cables with A-type connectors on both ends, but they should be used carefully. Therefore, in general, each of the different "sizes" requires four different connectors; USB cables have the A-type and B-type plugs, and the corresponding receptacles are on the computer or electronic device. In common practice, the A-type connector is usually the full size, and the B-type side can vary as needed.

Initially developed in 1994, the USB and its derivatives have come a long way since.

Among the variety of the versions of USBs mentioned above, I'll be talking about the Type C connectors.

USB Type-C is a new, tiny physical connector. The connector itself can support various exciting new USB standard like USB 3.1 and USB power delivery (USB PD).

USB Type-C connector

USB Type-C port on MacBook 2015

The standard USB connector you’re most familiar with is USB Type-A. Even as we've moved from USB 1 to USB 2 and on to modern USB 3 devices, that connector has stayed the same. It’s as massive as ever, and it only plugs in one way — so you have to make sure it’s oriented correctly when you plug it in.

The collection of differently shaped connectors for different-size devices is coming to a close. USB Type-C is a new connector standard that’s very small. It’s about a third the size of an old USB Type-A plug. This is a single connector standard that every device should be able to use. You’ll just need a single cable, whether you’re connecting an external hard drive to your laptop or charging your smartphone from a USB charger. That one tiny connector can be small and fit into a mobile device, or be the powerful port you use to connect all the peripherals to your laptop. The cable itself has USB Type-C connectors at both ends — it’s all one connector.

Yes, this is many awesome things at once. Not only is it reversible, it’s a single USB connector shape all devices should adopt. No more messes of different USB cables with different connector shapes for all the various devices you want, and no more massive ports taking up an unnecessary amount of room on ever-thinner devices.USB Type-C ports can support a variety of different protocols using “alternate modes,” which allows you to have adapters that can output HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort, or other types of connections from that single USB port.

Verdict: As this technology is fairly new, it'll probably take a few years for all the manufacturers implement USB Type C ports and adapters across all their various devices and the transition is going to be very controversial. But the promise of reducing the number of ports on a device and having the same connection protocol across devices of various form-factor will make it worth the pain. The very idea of accelerating data transfers and making the connections is praiseworthy and it'll be exciting to see the possibilities open due to this new standard of connectivity.

What do you think about this developing technology? Leave your thoughts as comments below.

Thanks!