USB is one of the most abundant cable connection standards. USB ports are built into everything from desktops, laptops and it's even making its way into mobile tablets and smartphones. This cable can be used for charging and powering mobile devices and connecting external accessories. You'd figure they would want to make it easy to understand and use. Ha, that definitely didn't happen.

https://youtu.be/cYOGB4H3hrs

Intro to USB

USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and is developed by the USB Implementers Forum, a group of member companies who create the universal standard. Some big members include Apple, Microsoft, HP, and Intel.

With that out of the way, let's take a closer look at USB.

USB is categorized using two different schemes. A letter is assigned to specify the shape of the connection, and a version number specifies the speed of the connection. 

USB Shapes

I'm going to start by running through the different shapes.

You're probably used to seeing the rectangular USB-A ("USB Type A"). It's been on every computer and the opposite side of almost every USB cable for the last 20 years. 

Up next is USB-B ("USB Type B"). You will probably find this USB port on larger peripherals like printers, scanners, and some USB hubs. USB-B doesn't stop there! There are two sub sizes, Mini USB-B ("Mini USB Type B", "Mini USB") and Micro USB-B ("Micro USB Type B", "Micro USB"). Mini USB used to be found on smaller peripherals such as cameras. Micro USB's small form factor made it great for almost every portable device. You can find Micro USB-B on Android smartphones, chargers, e-readers, and almost every other portable device.

What do USB-A and USB-B have in common? They are both massive. In an age when everything is trying to shrink, so is USB. USB-C ("USB Type C") is here to replace all previous forms of USB. Its compact size makes it easy to fit in any smartphone, laptop, or desktop, and it’s reversible so you don't have to worry about flipping the connector the right way. It truly is the cable to replace all cables.

USB Versions

Before we move to the different versions of USB here is one thing you need to know. I will be using megabytes, megabits, gigabytes, and gigabits per second to rate the speeds of each version of USB. I don't want to get too far into the technical mumbo jumbo, so here are the basics. The higher the megabytes, gigabytes, etc. per second the faster data can move between your devices. In most cases, this doesn't really matter it will all be happening in the background, unless you don't like waiting for your laptop to backup or waiting for a large file to copy to your thumb drive.

Now, we turn to the four iterations of the USB standard, starting with version 1 released in 1996. Version 1.0 could transfer data at 1.5 MB/s (12 Mbit/s) at full speed. Version 2, released in 2000, can transfer data at 60 Mb/s (480 Mbit/s). Version 2 is, unfortunately, still quite common today, but mostly due to technical restrictions. 

The three iterations of Version 3.0 brought speed improvements and more confusion. Version 3.0 can transfer data at 625 MB/s (5 Gbit/s), version 3.1 at 1.2 GB/s (10 Gbit/s), and version 3.2 at 2.4 GB/s (20 Gbit/s). To make things worse the USB group has rebranded each edition of version 3 multiple times, but I’m not going to get into that. 

With version USB 3, the ports got a bit of an upgrade. USB 3 can be typically be identified by a blue port and/or connector. USB-B was also redesigned with the USB 3 update.