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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Everything you need to know about USB Type C
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Everything you need to know about USB Type C

A new USB standard is now available, with the new MacBook championing its cause. And it is most certainly the future

The Type C cables are running on the USB 3.1 standard, which offer a transfer rate of 10Gbps—a straight double over the transfer speed of 5Gbps, that USB 3.0 is capable.Premium
The Type C cables are running on the USB 3.1 standard, which offer a transfer rate of 10Gbps—a straight double over the transfer speed of 5Gbps, that USB 3.0 is capable.

Phones, laptops, tablets, hybrid computing devices, the GPS navigator in your car, and the smart TV sitting in your living room for that matter, all have some sort of USB ports on them. Universal Serial Bus (USB) is the preferred (and in some cases, most convenient) method of connecting a peripheral device to another (a wired keyboard to the computer, for example) and also for charging certain gadgets (smartphones, for example).

Over the years, the USB standard has evolved to offer better compatibility, speed and support. But before we get down to dissecting Type C, we must understand what Types A and B are.

The Type-A, or the Type A-male connector, is the most commonly seen flat and rectangular connector—the kind you would see when a USB pen drive is connected to a computer. Over the years, there have been evolutions of these USB versions—USB 1.1, USB 2.0, USB 3.0. The shape remained pretty much the same, but transfer speeds improved. So much so that the latest Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro laptop does away with a separate charger, and one of the USB 3.0 (Type A, at the moment) ports doubles up as the charging port as well.

Type B are connectors that plug into peripherals such as printers, phones and tablets. Standard-B connectors, micro-USB and mini-USB are the common examples.

What exactly then is Type C? We take a look at how it will make a difference.

Easier to plug in

Since Type-A USB connectors can be inserted only one way, all of us have ended up fiddling with them at some time or the other. With Type C, that problem has been taken care of—the cable can be plugged in any which way. This is similar to Apple’s Lightning port on the newer iPhone and iPad range. This will also mean fewer broken ports and fewer scratches on the laptop.

Great power, great responsibility

The Type-C cables are running on the USB 3.1 standard, which offers a transfer rate of 10 Gbps. This is double the transfer speed that USB 3.0 is capable of. The power rating has gone up as well, and these ports allow power pass-through of 20 volts and 5 amps. This is also considerably more than USB 3.0’s 5 volts and 1.8 amps, and means quicker charging of bigger capacity batteries in laptops, etc. All in all, less time wasted, and enhanced productivity.

One dongle saves the day

The Type-C standard isn’t anywhere close to widespread adoption across laptops at the moment. Presently, the new MacBook is the only laptop targeted at consumers that has used the newer standard. So how do you connect an external hard drive to your new MacBook, or hook it up to a TV or projector? Apple is selling a multi-port dongle ($79, or around 5,000, plus shipping charges) which plugs into the USB Type-C port on the MacBook, and offers one USB 3.0, one HDMI out and one Type-C connector extension.

It will take many years for the Type-C connection to become as common as the Type-A connector. But this is the start of a journey towards a new standard, which will reduce the number of cables needed, make data transfers quicker, and enable fast charging. The fact that it’s multi-purpose means laptop users can make do with fewer ports on the machine, which could in turn mean thinner, lighter and less power-consuming laptops.

It will still take many years for the Type C connection to become as common as the Type A connector that we use with computers today. But, this is a start of a journey towards a new standard, that will reduce the amount of cables needed, make data transfers quicker, enable fast charging and the multi-purpose nature means laptop users can make do with lesser ports on the machine, which could in turn mean thinner, lighter and more frugal laptops.

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Published: 27 Apr 2015, 06:53 PM IST
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