Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > News > Tech News > USB governance group ratifies Type C connector, USB 3.1 specification

USB governance group ratifies Type C connector, USB 3.1 specification
Thread Tools
NewsPoster
MacNN Staff
Join Date: Jul 2012
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 13, 2014, 09:20 AM
 
The USB 3.0 Promoter Group has ratified the new USB Type-C connector. Initially revealed in December, the new connector is symmetrical, smaller in size, and has scalable power charging. Additionally, the new specification supports faster speed, and is still backwards-compatible (with adapters) to previous versions of the spec.

The receptacle opening is 8.3mm wide by 2.2mm high, and is expected to have a durability of 10,000 cycles. The new cable will support up to 3A of power, up from the 2A of today's cables.

The new standard will replace full-size USB and Micro-USB connectors, and offers bandwidth at 10Gbps, about twice the speed of the existing USB 3.0 specification.


( Last edited by NewsPoster; Aug 16, 2014 at 06:12 AM. )
     
OldMacGeek
Forum Regular
Join Date: Aug 2010
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 13, 2014, 12:09 PM
 
Symmetrical again?! Sigh. Don't know how many times I blindly insert a USB cable one way, it doesn't work so I flip it. That doesn't work, so I flip it again . . .
     
DiabloConQueso
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2008
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 13, 2014, 02:22 PM
 
You probably mean "asymmetrical," which this isn't.
     
gprovida
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 13, 2014, 02:31 PM
 
So will the European Union ban these or require old connectors to ensure endurance of obsolete technology? Or will they simply drop the whole everyone use USB old style connectors which allows Apple to continue its 2012 Lightning connector which is symmetric, smaller, faster, is backward compatible (for some functions e.g., power and music) as well as "smarter."

By the way, anyone note Apple innovation lead implicit in this situation just like 64 bit. Oppsy not following the tech journalist and investor analyst narrative.

I can't wait to (not) hear everyone p@@sing and moaning about new USB making their old device investments obsolete like they did when Apple (went USB on the iMac, got rid of floppies, ....) Lightning.
     
OldMacGeek
Forum Regular
Join Date: Aug 2010
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 13, 2014, 04:41 PM
 
Nope. I meant symmetrical. A rectangular connector that will - kinda - fit in either way. Yes, it will only go in *all* the way in one orientation. Finding that orientation when you can't see the connector, however, . . .
     
prl99
Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: pacific northwest
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 13, 2014, 05:44 PM
 
The openings for the connector measure roughly 8.4mm by 2.6mm (different site), which makes the width roughly the width of Apple's old 30-pin connector. Both connectors have the same problem, a slender circuit board mounted inside a small slot--the perfect size to catch a bunch of lint. Lint is what messed up my wife's iPhone4 and something that doesn't happen in the properly constructed Lightning connector. Put the circuit connectors on the top and bottom of the jack and connector, getting rid of the tiny circuit board inside the slot as well as the equally tiny slot in the connector. Apple did it correctly, the USB consortium messed everything up and time will show how bad of a connector it is.
     
DiabloConQueso
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2008
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 13, 2014, 11:09 PM
 
OldMacGeek, the new USB 3.1 Type-C connector here is "symmetrical" like the Apple Lightning Cable, in that it will fit into the jack "all the way" no matter what the orientation.

Prior USB jacks, I think you mean, were "symmetrical" in appearance on the outside, but the jack itself was "asymmetrical," meaning it would only go into the jack if it were oriented the same way each time. This new USB 3.1 Type-C connector is "symmetrical" both on the outside and inside, just like the Lightning Connector.
     
Inkling
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Seattle
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 16, 2014, 04:19 PM
 
Ah, yet another reason to delay upgrading to a MacBook Air. I'll wait until it ships with these connectors. That and a Touch ID power switch.
Author of Untangling Tolkien and Chesterton on War and Peace
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:35 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,