Everybody knows what a USB Cable is, and everyone knows the frustrations that come along with it. Well worry not my friends our saviour is on the way as the USB Implementers Forum has been busy showing off the next generation of the connection standard.
The hype is about the Type-C connector which eliminates the tiresome problems of conventional USB’s, it’s somewhat like Apple’s Lightning connector which means we can connect it blindfolded if we have to. The Type-C is also geared up to replace Micro-USB connectors in mobile devices which means the traditional USB ports will be done away with quite soon.
USB 3.1 is said to have faster data transfer speeds of up to 10GBbps, which means it will be twice as fast as the USB 3.0 standard. Also, USB 3.1 is also designed to accommodate higher power requirements from connected devices. USB 3.1 will support up to 2 Amps at 5 Volts (for 10 Watts of power), as well as 5A at either 12V or 20V, although smartphones won’t be using the latter.
USB 3.1 is also backwards compatible with 3.0 and 2.0, which means you’ll have no issues with the new and existing port types.