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USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

70 points| Deinos | 11 years ago |usb.org | reply

82 comments

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[+] deckiedan|11 years ago|reply
I'm not an apple fanboy - but I do really like their magsafe & iPad mini connectors (whatever those are called officially). One thing I really like is the lack of "sticky-out-bit" in the middle of the connector, which all USB sockets seem to have, and which always feels kind of unstable or weak to me.

Is there a reason why all USB sockets - including these new diagrams - have a feeble looking centre part rather than it being part of the outer ring?

[+] ChuckMcM|11 years ago|reply 

   > Is there a reason why all USB sockets - including these 
   > new diagrams - have a feeble looking centre part rather
   > than it being part of the outer ring?
The outer part is the RF shield. That increases reliability by protecting the low voltage (but high frequency) USB data signals from coupling to outside interference (50/60 hz stray emf from power lines, switching power supply noise, etc). The magsafe connectors are just pulling power so don't really need that level of shielding.
[+] izacus|11 years ago|reply
Hmm, while Lightning connector is rather nice, I don't like MagSafe 2 at all... it keeps falling out from the connection, especially if I use the laptop on a bed or similar surface.

The original MagSafe and the connector on my previous Dell M1330 were significantly more reliable while still providing enough protection.

[+] mvid|11 years ago|reply
Came to ask the same thing. Those little pins always break for me.
[+] heywire|11 years ago|reply
The Lightning connector just seems so fragile to me. I haven't broken mine yet, but I have certainly seen a lot of broken ones on displays in stores. I can't say I've ever broken a USB connector. That said, there is something to be said for a reversible connector that doesn't require 3 rotations to plug in :)
[+] hmottestad|11 years ago|reply
Comparing usb 3 to the lightning connector is very unfair, since the lightning connector doesn't go any faster than usb 2.0.

A much fairer comparison is to the thunderbolt connector. Which is non-reversible and also has a connector in the centre of the female.

[+] tekacs|11 years ago|reply
The USB Power Delivery spec is pretty interesting too - up to 100W @ 20V over USB (presumably with modified cabling, too :P)

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/172113-usb-power-delive...

(a link from a link on this comments page)

[+] melling|11 years ago|reply
Powering an external monitor from a laptop is appealing. One cord to the wall.

Even cooler, would be driving an external monitor from a smartphone.

[+] kenrikm|11 years ago|reply
100W @ 20V (5 Amps Max)- There are a few uses I would be interested in if it supported higher amperage, robotics is one.
[+] mankyd|11 years ago|reply
> Reversible plug orientation and cable direction

That's all I needed to read.

[+] Lifescape|11 years ago|reply
Now you only have to plug it in one time instead of three!
[+] bjackman|11 years ago|reply
Sounds great! For anyone not sure of the context, right now Type-A is the "host" end and type-B is the "device" end. However since OTG was introduced that correlation isn't concreted and can reverse during the connection. I might have misunderstood but it sounds like Type-C will be a symmetrical affair (the cable will be reversible). I guess this opens the door for totally new use cases for USB? With extensions to the OTG system we could be connecting two hosts for e.g. transferring files between laptops. Again I could be wrong about that.

Also 100W power is great - The power delivery capability of current USB is really limiting.

And reversible cable orientation? We are entering a glorious new era.

[+] ksec|11 years ago|reply
Um.. wouldn't the small piece in the computer's end break easily since it is so thin.. and small.

And how does it delivery 100W of power with cable that thin?

[+] seanp2k2|11 years ago|reply
I'm guessing it does 100w only at 20v, which is 5A, which, with proper engineering, could be carried over 22-24 AWG wire according to https://www.eol.ucar.edu/rtf/facilities/isff/LOCAL_access_on...

For an example of how thick 24AWG wire is (22 is thicker), your standard CAT5E wire is 8 strands of 24AWG, so with the current-standard USB wiring of VCC (5v DC pos), Data (neg), Data (pos), GND (5v DC neg), it'd be ~half as thick as CatV (but would probably have different shielding). However, according to http://pinoutsguide.com/Slots/usb_3_0_connector_pinout.shtml , the powered USB 3.0 connector has 11 pins, which would be ~lamp cord thickness, or probably comparable to those ~10ft USB printer cables.

Consider how thick overhead power lines are and how much power they carry in watts, and how thick + long your vacuum cleaner cord is with how much that carries (a Dyson DC33 takes 1190 watts): http://www.cockeyed.com/science/power_use_database/dyson_vac...

Here is a good primer on wire capacity and how it relates to volts, amps, watts, and wire diameter: http://www.rowand.net/Shop/Tech/WireCapacityChart.htm

TL;DR totally possible with 20vdc to use a wire thinner than a BIC pen to deliver 100w ~6ft in addition to high-speed data.

[+] yincrash|11 years ago|reply
They also said it supports the USB PD to up to 100W (@ 20V) which is enough current (5A) to support stuff like a Macbook Air.
[+] XorNot|11 years ago|reply
Its enough to support any laptop I know of. Very vew exceed 100W.
[+] rreay|11 years ago|reply
Oh joy, they still use that damn diving board design on the device side. I've broken 3 devices when that diving board breaks.
[+] dublinben|11 years ago|reply
Really? How aggressively are you plugging in your USB cables?
[+] PhasmaFelis|11 years ago|reply
One step closer to that glorious day when the back of my desktop has like 20 USB sockets and nothing else.
[+] ChuckMcM|11 years ago|reply
This will be interesting, and its needed to keep up with the evolving use of USB. The downside is that once this is everywhere you will be keeping a drawer full of USB adapters (kind of like those USB/PS2 keyboard adapters that are everywhere, or DVI/VGA)
[+] debian69|11 years ago|reply
Doesn't look at all like lightning connector :)