USB Type-C Connector Specifications Finalized

by
in hardware on (#3V1)
story imageThe newest specification for the USB 3.1 Type-C connector is now finalized, finally bringing improvements found in other cables (such as Apple's Lightning cable) to the USB standard.
  • Reversible plug orientation
  • Small size (~8.4 mm x ~2.6 mm)
  • Able to supply up 100 watts of power
  • USB 3.1 data rates (10 Gbps)
  • Durability of 10,000 connect-disconnect cycles
  • Improved EMI and RFI mitigation features
Although I know some people will undoubtedly whine about yet another USB connector, these changes are long overdue and very welcome in my opinion. Previous USB connectors have ranged from problematic (Mini-B) to unwieldy (USB 3.0 Micro-B) and badly needed replacement.
Reply 6 comments

Bad Example (Score: 3, Interesting)

by bryan@pipedot.org on 2014-08-13 20:06 (#3V2)

Example of previous generation USB connector brain-damage.
  • A single USB-A connector couldn't draw enough power, so they added a second USB-A on a Y cable to get extra power.
  • The Micro-B connector didn't have enough space for the extra pins for USB 3.0 speeds, so they added a kludge to the side of the Micro-B making this "micro" connector freaking huge.

Yay (Score: 1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-08-13 21:32 (#3V3)

This reversible plug is good news for USB-challenged people like me. I have a 100% failure rate, you know. Sometimes I try to be clever and think "I just thought that this side is up. I have a 100% failure rate, so the other side must go up". I flip the connector and bam! it's wrong again. After that I get all smug and think "you stupid, of course you chose correctly at first".

Good news & about time (Score: 3, Insightful)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-08-13 22:43 (#3V6)

I'd be willing to go with this standard even if it had lower throughput, at this point. I bitched and moaned about Apple abandoning USB [The Standard!!!] for Lightning, but then when I started using Lightning I realized how much an improvement in life it is when you can insert the plug without having to think about its orientation. So a reversible orientation USB plug is a good thing. I've personally dealt with, loathed, and laughed at the various kludges already listed here in the comments.

For the record, I miss Firewire though - never understood why they killed it when it seemed to work so damned well.

Power problems (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-08-13 23:36 (#3V9)

If I plugged in a USB cable upside down on my last HP laptop it rebooted immediately.