What Is New In Tech? USB Type C Charging

What is USB Type C?

USB Type C is the next level of charging cable style, for phones, laptops, and headphones. Many newer devices are beginning to use USB type C for its ease of use, as well as faster speed for charging and data transfer. It is also recognized for its matching ends. Older style chargers would have one end as a standard USB plug. The other end would usually be a mini-USB, micro-USB, lightning, or other style cable end. The newer USB Type C has the same style cable end piece on both ends. This allows you to connect from either side of the cord.

 

The end piece is also an oval shape. This is different than the other style pieces, where you must have the plug with the correct side facing up to connect to your device. The Type C is reversible, where either of the long sides can be facing up and still connect to your device. This is similar to the lightning chargers that Apple currently uses. Here is some more information on USB Type C.

The Cable Speed

One of the biggest pros of the USB Type C is the fast speed of charging and data transfers. This being said though, not all USB Type C cables are created equal. USB C was originally designed in 2014. This was around the same time that that the USB 3.0 and higher were becoming popular. Many of the type C cords still use the USB 2.0 technology. This technology does not provides faster charging or data transfer speeds, even with the newer style connection.

 

USB 3.0 still does not provide the fastest charges, as it has since been replaced by USB 3.1 and USB 3.2. As of 2019, we now have USB4 as well. This is by far the fastest of the USB series with around 40 gigabits per second. In comparison, USB 3.2 only transfers at about 20 gigabits per second and USB 3.1 only does about 10 gigabits per second.

When it comes to charging speeds, this can get even trickier. The amp rating of the cord and the USB power source will factor into this as well. I have another blog written about this more in depth. Essentially a 1 amp charger will charge slowly. A two amp charger is pretty standard, and a 3 amp charger charges quite fast. There are now new charging devices that advertise a 5 amp charge. These work great if your device supports them. If not, you will be limited by how fast your device can take a charge.

The Future

Future projections are expecting many of the cables to move to the USB Type C cables in the near future. Many Samsung phones are already using the USB C technology. The new iPhone also uses a USB Type C to Lightning style cable. In conjunction with a quick charge box, this will provide you with fast charging technology on newer Apple devices, including iPads, AirPods, MacBooks and iPhones. Samsung also utilizes a quick charge technology with their USB C chargers as well. This is what the future is looking like. Standard USB rectangle chargers will be obsolete in the near future and replaced by USB Type C chargers.