
Instructional tutorials he's written have been linked to by organizations like The New York Times, Wirecutter, Lifehacker, the BBC, CNET, Ars Technica, and John Gruber's Daring Fireball. The news he's broken has been covered by outlets like the BBC, The Verge, Slate, Gizmodo, Engadget, TechCrunch, Digital Trends, ZDNet, The Next Web, and Techmeme.
#Usb connector types windows#
Beyond the column, he wrote about everything from Windows to tech travel tips. He founded PCWorld's "World Beyond Windows" column, which covered the latest developments in open-source operating systems like Linux and Chrome OS. He also wrote the USA's most-saved article of 2021, according to Pocket.Ĭhris was a PCWorld columnist for two years. Beyond the web, his work has appeared in the print edition of The New York Times (September 9, 2019) and in PCWorld's print magazines, specifically in the August 2013 and July 2013 editions, where his story was on the cover. With over a decade of writing experience in the field of technology, Chris has written for a variety of publications including The New York Times, Reader's Digest, IDG's PCWorld, Digital Trends, and MakeUseOf. Chris has personally written over 2,000 articles that have been read more than one billion times-and that's just here at How-To Geek. Once it's widespread, you won't need different types of USB cables for different devices.Ĭhris Hoffman is the former Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. With USB-C, there will just be one standard USB Type-C port for all devices.
#Usb connector types full#
These are other smaller USB connectors that were used to connect USB Type-A devices (like laptops and chargers) with smaller devices (like smartphones) that had no room for a full USB Type-A receptacle. USB-C cables are smaller and eliminate the need for mini USB ports and the Micro-B connectors. This works because, underneath the physical connection difference, USB is still compatible. For example, a USB-A device could be connected to a Type-A-to-Type-C dongle, letting you plug it into a USB-C port. You can always use a "dongle" that functions as an adapter. A few even abandon USB Type-A and only have USB Type-C ports. Some modern devices even have both USB Type-A and USB Type-C ports so they're compatible with everything. The future belongs to USB Type-C, which is already common on new devices. While USB Type-A is still the connector in most widespread use, it isn't the future.

In other words, you can plug any USB Type-A plug into any USB Type-A port and it will "just work." If the devices are different generations-if you plug a 20-year-old USB drive into a modern PC, for example-they may perform slower, but they will work. It will work at slower speeds, but that same USB Type-A connector lets you plug your device into almost anything. However, if you have a USB 3 device, you can still use that same USB cable to connect it to an old computer that only supports USB 2.0 or USB 1.1.

if you have a modern computer that supports USB 3 and a modern USB device that supports USB 3, you can connect them with a USB cable that supports USB 3 speeds and get all the speed advantages. This longtime standard physical connection aids USB in backward compatibility.

However, while Type-A connectors have been around for a while, they still work with the latest modern versions of USB. USB Type-A connectors date back to the the original release of USB 1.0 in 1996, although USB only really became common with USB 1.1 in 1998.
