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Comment by hjnilsson | Hacker News Reader

And finally, the future has arrived. If the iPhone 7 (doubt the 6S) sports USB-C as well, there will be a truly universal connector. Imagine screens, laptops, TVs, phones, mp3 players, docks, hard drives and toasters all using the same plug (well, maybe not the last one). There will be a painful time of transition until we are there, but hopefully it will be the last one.

(Conveniently this also saves Apple on the new MPBs, they can now have both USB A and USB C ports without it being weird)

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> they can now have both USB A and USB C ports without it being weird

I’m expecting them to kill off USB type A ports entirely on future laptops. We’ll see what happens to Magsafe, HDMI, and SD card slots. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a Macbook Pro with 4–6 USB type C (Thunderbolt 3) ports, a headphone jack, and nothing else.

> Imagine screens, laptops, TVs, phones, mp3 players, docks, hard drives and toasters all using the same plug (well, maybe not the last one)

I don’t think toasters are a good fit, but USB Type C with its 100W DC could be great for powering other small appliances (LED desk lamps, small fans, printers, scanners, video cameras, small TVs, routers, modems, electric toothbrushes, ...), if USB Type C starts showing up in outlets in homes/cars/airplanes/airports/classrooms/...

I could even see them ditching the head phone jack eventually. I can't imagine it will be long before someone starts making USB C headphones.

USB Type C actually includes a special mode allowing analog audio output specifically to allow "USB C" headphones (and adaptors).[0] Whether anyone will actually implement it is another question.

[0] See pages 24-26, 29, 34 of this PDF: https://intel.activeevents.com/sf14/connect/fileDownload/ses...

I hope they don't do that, I don't want to go around with a DAC hanging off my headphones. And making them more expensive.

It wouldn't need a DAC, just a special plug. Type-C connectors support an analog audio mode.

Nice, I wasn't aware Type-C could route anything analog besides power. I assumed it just piped digital serial protocols.

Well, considering that USB A headsets are already pretty common...

You can do DP to HDMI, DVI, or VGA. So a USB-C DP plug supersedes all other display ports.

I agree on SD cards though, just because most SD Card slots can impress the card into the frame of the machine for portability.

On the balance, having one connector and hand-waving everything else as "it's all software" is probably better than the bewildering combination of ports and protocols we have now. But it will come with its own new and interesting issues as well.

For example, when can/can't you plug your USB-C webcam into your USB-C monitor and expect your computer to detect it? If I plug my USB-C toaster into a USB-C computer, will it power up? Does a USB-C hub (like the ones we use with USB-A when you don't have enough ports) necessarily support every possible protocol, or can you only plug a subset of computer peripherals into it? Will all USB-C cables have the amperage ratings to safely power my laptop from the wall, or will there have to be different cable types for different uses?

That's already the case with USB ( and to some extend Bluetooth and NFC )

What do you get when you plug you USB phone in your USB computer ? What about the tablet ? Why can I read files from my phone via USB but my phone can't read file from my USB HDD ?

Why is my Bluetooth headphone mono with the computer, but stereo with the phone. Why can's my NFC yubikey work with my NFC phone.

Right now, people mostly ignore it because there is generally broad support in devices provided by manageable number of generic protocols. So you mostly only have to care about the few cases when stuff don't work rather than thinking what works.

There is no reason to be overly pessimistic about USB-C, it is an incremental improvement over technologies already suffering from the same issue.

I was hoping the USB-C would actually fix this issue - after all, USB was mostly universally compatible for vast majority of devices and I think people started to expect that if you can plug it in, it works.

> there will be a truly universal connector

Well, the connector will have a universal shape. But the cables won't work universally (you need special ones for high-speed Thunderbolt), and two things sharing a connector won't mean they'll work together due to different protocols (USB 3, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, others).

> Imagine screens, laptops, TVs

I have no doubts they will continue to have VGA ports until 2025...

Intel's upcoming Skylake architecture is rumored to not support VGA. That might speed along its demise somewhat.

I actually use the VGA port on my ThinkPad somewhat regularly—it's still the most common display connector in many offices. However, I do carry dongles for HDMI and DVI (adapting from the built-in DisplayPort) just in case. I'm looking forward to having USB-C replace all of them.

Any theories on when TVs will use USB-C over HDMI?

They will find a way to ruin it. Don't worry

Apple using a standard connector, dream on.

> Apple using a standard connector, dream on.

Apple is clearly pushing heavily behind the scenes in both the USB-IF and with Intel/Thunderbolt to drive USB Type C ports. Reportedly their engineers did much of the work designing the port. Looking at their one-port Macbook, they’re obviously heavily invested in USB Type C’s success. I assume every future Mac is going to be mostly USB Type C ports. Can you clarify what you mean with your comment?

I’m guessing iPhones will stick with Lightning on one end for at least the near future though.

I just want to thank you for qualifying your description of Apple's contribution to USB-C in a correct manner, as opposed to perpetuating the myth that Apple invented USB-C. It's initial conception having come out of the USB 3.1 development by AMD, HP, Intel, and Microsoft. It is refreshing to see someone not spreading the revisionist history that has been popular on this subject.

My external non-expert impression (which could be totally off-base; I don’t have inside sources) is that folks making devices like phones and tablets were jealous of the reversibility, faster battery charging, and size advantage Apple could obtain with Lightning jacks, compared to the ridiculous extended USB 3.1 Micro-B jack, and started clamoring for a better connector sometime in ~2012. Once Apple realized such a new connector would be coming with or without them, they decided to throw their weight behind it and make sure that the connector met all of their own needs.

Apple certainly isn’t the only party (or even the main party) responsible for the new connector, but from what I’ve read they do deserve some applause for putting their resources in and making sure the new connector is the best it can be.

That all agrees with how I understand the situation as a fellow external non-expert. I just got really frustrated a while back by all the 'Apple invented USB-C' and even the 'Apple basically invented USB-C' headlines. So wanted to applaud someone for choosing the phrasing 'much of the work' which I believe to be a correct statement, and if incorrect only errors slightly on the side of too much credit.

I have literally never seen anybody claim that Apple invented USB-C, and I read a lot of stupidity. Was this really common?

I saw an awful lot of of articles similar to these search results a while back, and found it a tad annoying. Then again I guess I must of fallen in with a bad crowd if this is the type of stuff I was exposed to. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e...

I admit i'm not super clued-up on this, but i just looked up the new MacBook. Does that mean i have to choose between charging, connecting a video projector, and using some USB hub i'll have to lug around to be able to read someone's presentation of a USB key? I wouldn't want to be in a position where i'm forced to run on the battery in certain circumstances (i'm a bit paranoid about the battery running out -- this is not impossible if one is giving a presentation after having spent a few hours on a train [in a backwards country without power outlets, of course] working hard)...

In the short term, yes, except adapters with multiple ports like apple's USB-c To HDMI adaptor that has both an HDMI port and another USB port to plug in power. Long term.. I would expect projectors/displays to supply power to their connected laptop.

> Can you clarify what you mean with your comment?

For several years Apple has been the one phone company using a non-standard connector on their phones. I mean, if they switch to USB-C then great - but it's worth saying that Apple is already the one problem company in this area. Everyone else has switched to standard USB and got on with it.

Apple led the way with the original USB in the late 90's. PC companies and users dragged their feet. "We don't like change." It took almost 5 years to gain traction.

A couple months ago on HN I asked about PC's getting the new USB C connector and no one seemed in a hurry. It won't be a standard until PC's ship with at least one port.

Apple wasn't even involved in the creation of the USB spec. Every major PC manufacturer was, and had committed to the spec already. Apple did "lead the way' by shipping a computer with no legacy ports, but the PC industry hardly "dragged their feet". It takes years to churn so many PCs with (legacy ports) which dominated the market.

> It won't be a standard until PC's ship with at least one port.

Phones (and tablets) getting a Type-C port may very well coerce the PC market into faster adoption.

Apple replaced its proprietary MagSafe with USB-C for the latest MacBook, so there's precedent.

(Aside: but I wonder if magnetic connectors are even appropriate for a cable that can transmit data as well as power. With MagSafe, if the cable was disconnected, the laptop battery would take over and you'd be fine, but with thew new MacBook you'd potentially have data loss if you had a hard drive daisy-chained in. So perhaps that's a factor in why they got rid of magnetic connectors?)

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