this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2024
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USB-C doesn't have speeds, it's just a connector type. USB 1, 2, 3-3.2, 4 etc. is the protocol responsible for speed. You can have a USB-C connector with any implementation (except maybe USB 1). It can even do DisplayPort stuff.
So for USB-C to become irrelevant we need to come up with a better connector form factor. Which is unlikely to happen soon. But also, same thing happened with USB-B Micro connector (colloquially called micro USB), it was designated as a standard (but Apple managed to get an exemption) and manufacturers had no issues moving to a better connector, which is USB-C.
On the downside, you canβt tell what the port supports by just looking at it.
Even with this graphic, I still don't know what they support. Is circle-20 also 20gbps? What is the speed when there's no number? Do the non-DP ones not support displays at all? And there appears to be no such thing as USB4-DP?
And good luck getting your grandmother to identify any of this over the phone. "Is it marked SS-subway diagram-20, or circle-20-subwaydiagram? Yes it's etched gray on slightly different gray, go put on your strongest glasses first, grandma."
Also, who's at reading distance from a USB port half the time? Sometimes they're on the front of a device, but they're just as often hidden behind something or in a hard-to-reach place. Monitors and PCs come to mind.
It's not like they're going to change when you're not looking.
USB4 supports DP and TB3.
My phone doesn't have any kind of marking anywhere on it so I'm guessing it's USB DP
Googling for it, my phone (pixel 9 pro fold) has USB 3.2, so it shouldn't be able to drive a DP display
Was wondering about thunderbolt. Found this, which I interpret as
usb 4 40 = thunderbolt 4
Wow what a marketing ~~scum~~ trick to show all compatible older generations as separate products
I liked the magnetic apple connectors.
I hate Apple though.
You can have both, like MacBooks do
The original MagSafe is great. I still have it on my laptop.
Very much in favor of the mag induction charging! That should be a standard for wall plugs as well
MagSafe/Qi2 is definitely convenient, but you have to be wary of its downsides. 2 of which are:
But the good news is, it's basically the defacto standard. Since Apple opened up this standard it pretty much killed all the competition. The adoption is expected to increase in the coming years.
I wouldnβt have even known what to google to learn this. Thanks for sharing! I actually love the C form factor I didnβt realize that was kinda what made it C and not what it could do. I appreciate your response.
Wikipedia is a good resource
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB
What I don't understand is what was wrong with mini-USB.
Too thick? Just why do people want a portable computer to be thinner that their wallet, or their notebook, or their damned pen, or that Snickers bar in their pocket which nobody made thinner. Who the hell told them that "miniaturization being the future of tech" has anything to do with the box inside which that tech is mounted being just a bit thinner? I mean, were it thin enough to put computers into printed magazine pages, maybe (I think I've read that someone did this, with a computer kinda as powerful as ZX Spectrum). Why do they specifically need it? Not to appear "modern", but really?
The question is, because for me personally mini-USB was very convenient. It held well, was easy enough to stick the right way (and not ruin it trying to stick it the wrong way).
Now, I guess USB-C is fine if it can do the same and go both ways. I actually like it, except RPi 4 is the only device I have needing it.
It's just ... how can one try so many connector types for one group of standards?..
If I were to guess, it would be the additional pins. USB-C PD is capable of decent power transfer while also having enough data transfer capability simultaneously. USB-C docks are a good example, seeing that you can hook up a display, charger, other USB devices, ethernet, etc and have it all go through a single cable and (compact, convenient) connector. The reversibility is an added bonus
Mini-USB sucked, big time. Not so bad as micro, but yea it was bad.
The main advantage of C over all previous versions is that it's reversible, you can't plug it in wrong. The shape is also... "flat"?, so it's easier to fit into the socket, mini had that wavy like thing going on.
My data source is my small kid: he's broken 3 (and counting...) usb-~~mini~~ micro connectors by tugging the charging PS4 controllers, and he has to ask me to connect the cable to charge them, he's unable to do it himself yet. With his tablet, 0 usb-c connectors broken and he can plug it in himself.
I think you guys are taking about micro USB. PS4 controllers have micro, PS3 controllers had mini USB.
They were both equally terrible the only improvement micro had over mini was it was slightly smaller.
I stand corrected, thanks. The mini was bad, the micro in the PS4 controllers is god awful.
That is correct.
Sigh. OK. About breaking stuff - my mom managed to break an RPi charger of all things.
USB micro (not sure if you're getting micro confused with mini, but doesn't really matter) only supported data transfer, not video transfer (like HDMI). Some USB-C ports are data only, but it theoretically supports more than USB micro was ever capable of.
For example you can buy a USB-C to HDMI cable for a few dollars, which could theoretically plug your phone directly into your TV (if your phone supports that). But a USB micro to HDMI cable was called an "MHL adapter" and was expensive and only worked on specific MHL capable phones like this one. It has a separate box that requires its own power cord in order to work, it's not just a simple cable. USB-C should, in theory, eliminate the need for such a thing.
I do have that adapter, but you immediately realize phone screens suck when you mirror them on a big TV. Unfortunately it didnβt want to use it as a secondary screen - I donβt know if that has changed with modern iPhones/iPads: I should dig that up and try again
At the risk of sounding like Blizzard, don't you have a phone? Even my previous phone, Galaxy S8 had USB-C. Or do you have an old iPhone?
Pretty much all electronics that came out in the past 4 years use USB-C. Just an example, here's a non-exhaustive list of things that I charge with C:
All of these are, on average, at least 4 years old. So I'm pretty sure the average consumer has already switched to primarily USB-C
When I think about it, my phone is like 2 years old. Micro-USB.
What phone is that? Genuinely curious. Was it actually manufactured in 2022 with micro USB?
2020, my bad. Checked. In any case it's BQ-5046L, sort of what you buy when you don't like the whole idea of Android, but need some stuff for work.
Even for a 2020 release, it must be an outlier. Actually never heard of BQ Mobile until now. Apparently, they released their last phone in 2020, and in 2021 completely ceased operations. They were probably trying to use up all the remaining micro USB port modules to cut costs or something.
LOL. Wrong BQ. The one you've read about is dead, yes. The one I have a phone from is a Russian noname.
Could you link, please?
https://bq.ru/
I see. Looks to me that they just rebrand cheap Chinese phones and sell them in Russian-speaking countries. I doubt they offer anything extra compared to the phones they rebrand, except maybe Russian translation for the UI.
Likely that, yes.
Funny I didn't hear about it. I think they tried releasing something with Ubuntu Phone a few years before, so not a completely worthless company.
Kinda sad even, pretty normal vanilla Android.