USB Type-C: What it is and Why You’ll Need it

Guess you already know that Apple’s new MacBook has a single USB Type-C port, but this isn’t just a standard coming from the iOS giants. This is a world new USB standard, and — with time it’ll spread to everything that currently uses the older, larger USB connectors.

Built for improved speed and power delivery function, the USB Type-C is closely intertwined with other new standards, like USB 3.1 for faster speeds and USB Power Delivery for improved power-delivery over USB connections.

Here are Three things you should know about USB Type-C

Much improved data transfer and power capability

The USB Type-C cables offer a whooping data transfer rate of about 10Gbps, which obviously is a lot greater than the transfer speed of the USB 3.0 (about 5 Gbps). Also, these cables will feed 20 volts and 5 amps of power, greater than that of the 5 volts and 1.8 amps of the previous USB versions. Good news for data transfer and mobile charging, less time will be spent on doing these.

Plugs in with ease

Another greater feature of the USB Type-C is that both ends of the cable are the same and there’s no “down-side up”. No more scribbling around with the cord trying to ensure it is plugged in the correct way every time. Hopefully this means fewer scratches all over your device’s charging port area from trying to plug it in with the lights off.

USB dongles are going to be your new friends (for now)

The Type-C standard hasn’t reached widespread adoption (yet). In the meantime, you’ll need to collect some dongles to connect your favorite things together (like an HDMI screen, or a device with an older USB version). If you’re purchasing a new MacBook, there’s a multiport dongle available to make the transition less of a hassle.
USB Type-C is a worthy upgrade (about that time). It’s making waves on the new MacBook, but it’s not an Apple-only technology and it will shortly be appearing in devices from practically everyone.
Check out a post written by Dong Ngo’s on CNET’s tech column if you’d like to know a bit more about USB standards and the path to USB Type-C, “USB Type-C: One cable to connect them all.”