You omitted one (maybe the most important) point in your A to B to C comparison: USB-A is the name for the Host receptacle and USB-B the Peripheral receptacle, always. With USB-C on both ends that distinction is gone, if you have USB-C on both ends, then you can can use the cable both ways (and of course it's not polar, so the connector can be rotated by 180 degrees). But that means, that "devices" will only ever have a USB-A port if they're hosts (e.g. a charger or a laptop) but USB-B if they're a Peripheral. I believe your assertion that USB-C will become the most common connector in the near future is correct if you only consider smartphones but other than than very much wrong. Pretty much every vendor (with the notable exception of Apple) still includes USB-A ports, many of them even exclusively (good luck finding a public USB-C charging port for example, I haven't seen such a thing anywhere yet!). And a lot of products which don't come with a USB-C powersupply still come with a USB-A to USB-C cable in the box. USB-A will be with us for a *long* time. USB-B might become extinct in the near future though -- which is why it's important to make that distinction...
Uhh very wrong: USB Flash drives, webcams, keyboards, mice use USB-A, USB-B was used for devices such as Printer and Scanners, USB Micro-B is on older Android Phones etc See: en.wikipedia org/wiki/File:USB_2.0_and_3.0_connectors.svg What you're inferring to is the Male and Female connector heads. Also considering the EU Mandate for all Devices to be using USB-C by 2030, starting from 2025 and India, Saudi Arabia has also jumped on the same, manufacturers will not be wanting to waste money on other ports, at most will devices like laptops may have 1x USB-A 3.0 port for Legacy devices to connect. As more countries jump on in the next few years USB A will be phased out from public place to and replaced with USB-C and probably with USB3/4 PD3.0 as minimum. The public charging points follow once mass market has been adopted. ATM mass market is still on USB-A that's why it hasn't changed so in about 5yrs you'll see the change because it takes time from when a standard is set to manufacturers to implement to having global uptake. On top of that with removable battery (New EU Law for smartphones, cameras, tablets) and repair ability being pushed, by 2030 electronics will be in a different space than today.
@@scarletspidernz Sorry, but you're wrong. Male/Female has nothing to do with the type of port. The designation of USB-A/USB-B is defined in the USB specification and any standard compliant Host device will have a USB-A or a USB-C socket and and standard compliant Peripheral either has a USB-B or USB-C socket (or as you mentioned a USB-A or a USB-C *plug*). USB-B is already phased out pretty much but USB-A is (as I said) not going anywhere soon, specifically because Hosts and chargers everywhere still have them (and will continue to have them) and a lot of Peripherals (as you mentioned) still have built-in USB-A plugs and that's why I disagree with the statement that USB-A is going to be replaced anytime soon and even regulations are not going to change that. Most PC mothoderboards as of today still have zero(!) USB-C ports, most laptops (excluding Apple) have at least one and often more USB-A ports than USB-C ports. A lot of simple peripherals like keyboards and mice either have built-in USB-A plugs or have a USB-C socket but are shipped with a USB-A to USB-C cable. Usable USB-C hubs are unobtainium.
I should add: I've been a die-hard USB-C fan for many years and have worked very hard to completely erradicate USB-A/USB-B from my daily live (including converting devices myself). It has been a hard journey and is far from over yet, also encountering the usual setbacks from time to time like traveling abroad without my laptop and only packing USB-C cables and only one travel charger with a single USB-C port... 🤷♂
@@danielegger6460 Yes but this is a Layman's explainer video and what ChargerLab is referring to at 1:05 is the common terminology that people use vs what USB-IF specs is and manufacturers and people really into details use. If you're talking about 1:25 then yes thats an additional point in your initial comment but the avg person won't care about "USB-A is the name for the Host receptacle and USB-B the Peripheral receptacle" to them USB-A is the everyday one they use with most things and USB-B is printer ports USB-MicroB is old phone connectors. Also again Type C is "new" regarding adoption; Manufacturers didn't want to adopt it quickly because A/B was cheaper and the cables are cheaper. It's a cost/profit thing, now that technology is moving forward with the need to charger bigger batteries, higher speed devices such as nvme ssd's needing better transfer speeds and the ports are being mandated for many devices, the No. of A ports will drop not straight away but it will eventually, USB-A will be around just like USB2.0 is still more common being used it'll take 10-20yrs at least. Until the last few years Type-C was mostly relegated to high end due to cost/profit factors and but now days even entry level phones are coming with Type-C ports though equipped with 2.0 spec speeds, The Mandates by countries will push the transition to USB-C faster, because until now it was only more based on needs (ie data transfer for NVME's), Differentiation ( buy our product over others), or cost/profit ratios decided by manufacturers and product makers more vs what consumers want. Production of the Ports and cables will increase meaning it will become high volume low margin, rather than high margin low volume. Midrange boards and better have 1 USB C maybe not on the back but a connector for the front panel, budget boards won't, again cost/profit factor and pcie lanes dedication (like having 4x USB 3.0/3.1 ports vs 1x3.1/3.2 Type C), no of consumer devices that connect (which changes as mass market adopts new standards ie VGA/DVI are most gone on GPUs which in turn means monitors don't have them either, it's chicken/egg situation) etc (docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-cw7A2MDHPvA-oB3OKXivdUo9BbTcsss1Rzy3J4hRyA/edit#gid=2112472504) this will also change in time due to the Mandates and technology improves, as consumers upgrade to newer devices. Another example like VGA/DVI is When Bluetooth LE hit with BT4/5 we got mass amount of wireless earbuds using it and then because of that + the need to be more water resistant 3.5mm ports started disappearing on phones. Right now it's a wild west for Type C but in the next few years it'll standardize and companies that make subpar implementations like using USB2.0 with a type C port (for devices that could use better transfer speeds) will be looked down upon as reviewers compare and notify the public about such things. Expecting things to stay the same as it is today is silly considering the above.
I didn’t notice any mention that the plug and cable specifications are different and they can be mixed/matched. Also, an important clue re voltage drop is the wire size in the cable.
port/connector - the way pins are layed out - usch as USB-C protocol - the way the pins are used - such as Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, USB 4, USB 20 Gbit/s, USB 10 Gbit/s - and in the future Thunderbolt 5 See also: RJ 45 - and 10/100/1000, 2.5 Gb/s and 10 Gb/s. I needed to change my router because of the protocols, not because of the plugs or cables. Not called a mess. Or WiFi - that's only a protocol - or at least not a connector - I don't get why people find it confusing.
Some day there might be one universal USB that takes care of every need from cheap product to the very high end because what's the point of continuing on this merry go round of numerous cables that either work or don't work for some products but not others? 4 pin, 8 pin, 16 pin, 24 pin and so on and so on. It seems that the more forward we go, the more backward we find ourselves.
I have now my first USB-C PD laptop, a Lenovo L14 Gen 2 AMD. I have 3 old power banks for laptops with the usual 5.5 mm plug and adapter plugs. Output voltage at all power banks, 20 V. Now is the question of how to use this old power banks for my new USB-C PD laptop?
You can't, since your laptop would need to see the USB PD device before it started pulling power into any USB C port. To charge a laptop, you can only use a USB C - C cable and a compatible charger (excluding laptop power bricks that hard wire a USB c cable, like Dell). I'd recommend getting a charger that has a port capable of 100W+, as that is almost guaranteed to charge your laptop.
@@GeekyGamer167 I solved the problem in the mean time by an DC to USB-C converter. For what 100 W? I purchased in the mean time a 20 W power bank able to power my laptop.
USB PD does not function with any USB A connection. There are alternative charging protocols (like SUPERVOOC) that use USB 2.0 and one additional pin on the USB A port to enable higher power modes, but these are not USB PD. USB PD is entirely based on communication thru the CC1/CC2 pins, which are only present on USB C, so anything other than a USB C to C connection cannot utilize PD.
I just received a digital camera that uses a USB C cable to transfer photos from the camera to my laptop. However, my laptop does not have a port that will accept the USB C. What can I do to solve this problem?
probably, we should know that USB is a nightmare. USB 3.2 version 2x2 is effective only on the certified USB-C cable its length is 1m at most because of signal wave deterioration. that is, you cannot use 4K with long USB-C cable at the present. USB 3.2 ver.2x1 is also. In addition, USB alt-mode is ultra confusing. DP alt-mode? HDMI alt-mode? even DP alt-mode in Thunderbolt3 working as USB 3.2 is different from USB 3.2 DP alt-mode! Versioning of USB is also seriously a nightmare. USB3.0 = USB 3.1 ver.0 = USB 3.2 ver.0. USB 3.1 = USB 3.1 ver.1 = USB 3.2 2x1 or USB 3.2 1x1. How many people can understand these unreasonable versioning! And, USB PD often becomes a dangerous feature because thin wires try to carry over 100W! (please think how a cable with diameter 1.5mm~2mm including 22~24wires could deliver over 100W!) I think it's impossible to explain USB within 1 hour.
USB C supports 48v 5A which gives 240W charging. Due to the fact that the EU is to be everywhere, the USB C connector is, for example, 48V, they have all battery construction equipment, drills, screwdrivers, lawnmowers, etc. So such a cable will come in handy :) Of course, a laptop computer can be charged via USB C