Reply to post: Re: Usuually when you hear about hardware standards you expect a bunch of mfgs signed up

Re: Usuually when you hear about hardware standards you expect a bunch of mfgs signed up

> USB 2 is good enough for most peripherals but USB 3 allows for more power which means it can also drive machines. Of course, this just means that Apple can save money by reducing the number of ports they provide…

That's a perfect example of the confusion all this produces.

USB 2, USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 are essentially line protocols, at 480Mbps / 5Gbps / 10Gbps respectively. (The latter two also known as USB 3.1 gen1 and USB 3.1 gen2, and also or "SuperSpeed" and "SuperSpeed+", just for additional confusion)

USB A, B and C are connector types; there are many variants of A and B. You can have USB 3.0 or 3.1 on a USB A connector, but you can also have USB 3 on a USB C connector (not sure if it's only 3.1 allowed)

At the other end, the familiar B connectors are USB 2 only. There are special connectors for USB 3 (e.g. "USB 3.0 Micro-B SuperSpeed", often seen in USB 3 external drives)

USB A can only be a power output, and USB B only a power input.

It's the USB C connector which lets Apple reduce the number of ports, rather than USB 3. (A Macbook Pro 2015 has USB 3, but uses USB A connectors).

It's also because the USB C connector can do multiple duty as a Thunderbolt 3 port. Or as a Displayport port. Or HDMI. Or as a power input. Or as a power output.

If you plug your USB C phone into a USB C laptop, it's anybody's guess whether the phone will charge the laptop, or vice versa.