{"id":124899,"date":"2022-05-05T16:05:07","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T14:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=124899"},"modified":"2022-05-05T16:05:07","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T14:05:07","slug":"usb-is-anything-but-universal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/hardware\/124899-usb-is-anything-but-universal","title":{"rendered":"USB is anything but universal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>USB is short for Universal Serial Bus, which is an industry standard for cables and ports that make it possible to transfer data and power between devices, among other things.<\/p>\n<p>Since its initial development in the 90s, USB has progressed a long way from the initial USB-A standard to the increasingly popular USB-C.<\/p>\n<p>However, keeping up with technological innovation has made it challenging for everyday consumers to remain up-to-date on the latest USB features.<\/p>\n<p>Considering this, here\u2019s everything you need to know about USB technology.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Transfer speeds, port colours, and power delivery<\/h3>\n<p>Before USB 3.1\u2019s launch, USB colour schemes were simple: white for USB 1.1, black for USB 2, and blue for USB 3.<\/p>\n<p>As USB 3 improved, other colours had to be used to differentiate the transfer speeds:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>USB 1.1 \u2014 white; 12 Mbit\/s transfer speeds<\/li>\n<li>USB 2.0 \u2014 black; 480 Mbit\/s transfer speeds<\/li>\n<li>USB 3.0 \u2014 blue; 5,000 Mbit\/s transfer speeds<\/li>\n<li>USB 3.1 \u2014 teal; 10,000 Mbit\/s transfer speeds<\/li>\n<li>USB 3.2 \u2014 red; 20,000 Mbit\/s transfer speeds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, as USB technology improved, manufacturers started to use colours to indicate not just transfer speeds, but power delivery capabilities too.<\/p>\n<p>For example, red and orange could also indicate that a port supports fast charging, while yellow could indicate always-on functionality that can charge devices even when the PC is powered off.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the colour used to show fast charging capabilities can also depend on the product manufacturer, like Qualcomm using green to show fast charging support.<\/p>\n<p>Since there is no standardisation regarding port colours, some companies do not follow convention and use colour purely for aesthetic purposes.<\/p>\n<p>For example, anyone who has seen a Razer laptop or peripheral knows the company\u2019s obsession with green.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Form factor<\/h3>\n<p>Although the EU has proposed <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/commission\/presscorner\/detail\/en\/ip_21_4613\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new legislation<\/a><\/strong> requiring all relevant devices to come with USB-C ports, the standard is still far from being homogenous.<\/p>\n<p>USB-C transfer speeds can range from 5Gbit\/s to 40 Gbit\/s \u2014 but the former is far more common.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, plenty of cheap USB-C cables don\u2019t comply with standards and can damage your devices.<\/p>\n<p>If you are an Apple user, you also have to consider the company\u2019s proprietary Lightning standard.<\/p>\n<p>You cannot use a Lightning cable with a USB-C port and vice versa \u2014 even though they appear similar, you will need to use an adapter.<\/p>\n<p>To top it off, the USB Implementers Forum <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2019\/02\/usb-3-2-is-going-to-make-the-current-usb-branding-even-worse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">changed the branding<\/a><\/strong> of every device using USB 3 and above to be called USB 3.2.<\/p>\n<p>This has led to even more confusing branding like USB 3.2 Gen 1 for devices that were previously called USB 3.0.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily for us, the new <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomshardware.com\/news\/usb-4-faq,38766.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USB 4 standard<\/a><\/strong> might eliminate many of these inconveniences, as it will require standardised speeds, backwards compatibility, and apple device support.<\/p>\n<p>So, before you buy new cables or devices, be sure to research the specifications to ensure you get the right product that will be compatible with your other tech.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/hardware\/124892-amds-dragon-range-and-phoenix-mobile-processors-are-coming-in-2023\">AMD\u2019s Dragon Range and Phoenix mobile processors are coming in 2023<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Confusing naming conventions and proprietary technology are just some of the problems that prevent the USB standard from becoming universal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249,"featured_media":124901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,7],"tags":[26124,26126,5144,26123,26125,19709],"class_list":["post-124899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-hardware","tag-lightning","tag-standardisation","tag-usb","tag-usb-4","tag-usb-implementers-forum","tag-usb-c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/249"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}