You may have heard something about this new single USB Type-C port on the new MacBook. The new Chromebook Pixel has 2 of them. So what is this new port and why are all the new laptops switching to this new format?
While at first glance, it can be frustrating that manufacturer are trying to push yet another cable port (and many have vented their frustration about it), USB Type-C is actually a fantastic thing that will eventually solve the problem of having too many types of cables and ports.
USB Type-C and USB 3.1 is the future of cables and ports. It’s universal, fast, powerful, tiny, reversible, open, and backwards compatible. Let’s take a look…
USB Type-C is Truly Universal
This new USB-C standard is actually using the new USB 3.1 and supports data, power, and video all in one cable!
Finally, the holy grail of ports! When you travel with your laptop, phone, and tablet, no longer will you need to bring 12 different cables with you. Let’s think about all the possible cables that will be replaced by this one cable…
- USB
- Mini USB
- Micro USB
- Legacy iPod
- Thunderbolt
- Lightning
- Laptop power
- Tablet power
- HDMI
- DVI
- VGA
- DisplayPort
- Mini DisplayPort
Just imagine a future where your laptop bag just has one cable in it and that’s all that you need!
USB Type-C is Fast and Powerful
Data: USB-C can transfer data at speeds up to 10 Gbps. That’s a ridiculously fast data transfer speed.
Power: USB-C can deliver up to 100 watts of power to charge even the biggest of laptops of today and future devices for many years to come.
Video: USB-C can be used to display 4K video.
USB Type-C is Tiny and Reversible
I’m telling you, this new port is the best of all worlds. Knowing that USB-C can deliver data, power, and video at tremendous volumes, you would think it would be a big heavy-duty plug… nope! USB-C is really tiny, about the size of any phone charging cable.
What’s more, it’s also reversible. No more having to check if you’re plugging it in the right way. It doesn’t matter anymore. The engineering of the pins of this cable and port baffles me. How can they get it to transfer such huge amounts of information, yet the pins are symmetrical, allowing you to plug it in upside down?
USB Type-C is Open and Backwards Compatible
USB Type-C is an open standard. It won’t be exclusive to any one company. No royalties, no patent infringement. Great news for manufacturers and for consumers.
It’s also backwards compatible, but you will need to get an adapter to convert USB-C to which ever plug you need.
It will definitely take a while for USB-C to roll out, and in the mean time, we’re going to be having adapters all over the place, but eventually those old devices will get upgraded and everything will have a USB-C port on it.
That day can’t come soon enough!
Videos About USB Type-C
Devices that use USB Type-C
Ready to get your hands on some “future tech” that has this all-in-one port to rule them all? I’m going to try to maintain a list of first devices released with USB-C.
If you find a new device that should be added to this list, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!
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New 2015 MacBook (coming soon)
Upcoming Android phones (coming soon, according to Google)
