Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

usb.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 88 posts

Re: USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

#71

Post by twoodfin »

X-Istence wrote: post #55
izacus wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, while Lightning connector is rather nice, I don't like MagSafe 2 at all... it keeps falling out from the connection, especially if I use the laptop on a bed or similar surface. The original MagSafe and the connector on my previous Dell M1330 were significantly more reliable while still providing enough protection.

MagSafe 2 works without issues for me, and is plenty strong. There should be no way that it is "falling" out!

The issue I've had with MagSafe2 is that it's very sensitive to vertical force: If there is any tension at all on the cable and I rotate my rMBP more than 15 degrees or so around the axis between my head and the screen (say, while using it on the couch), the connector disengages. Not so if it's rotated around the vertical axis. It's not clear to me that there's any safety or durability justification for this difference, only that they wanted a connector that was much thinner along one dimension than the other.

Re: USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

#73

Post by unwiredben »

pilif wrote: post #62
chipotle_coyote wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, you've got one out of two already. :) Apple laptops can be powered by Apple external monitors. It'd be nice to have a more "universal" standard -- where I'm sitting at work right now I see one coworker with a ThinkPad plugged into an Apple monitor, and another with a MacBook Air plugged into a Samsung monitor, and that means both of them need one more outlet than I do. But that's a meeting of the brands I would…

> Well, you've got one out of two already. :) Apple laptops can be powered by Apple external monitors. Well. Kinda. You still have to plug in two cables. This would allow to go down to one single cable powering the laptop and sending signals to the screen. Though, honestly, I don't trust USB to be a good protocol for transmitting a high bandwidth and very lie latency signal with it's inherently polling architecture.

Isn't that the whole point of USB's isochronous transfer mode, where a peripheral schedules part of the total USB bandwidth budget for a regular transfer of data? USB 3.1's got similar bandwidth to Thunderbolt and HDMI 1.3, so that could work for many video applications, although not for uncompressed 4K/60Hz, although VESA Display Stream Compression could allow it to work.

Re: USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

#74

Post by andmarios »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #57
shawnz wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you so sure that it is "across the board inferior"? I don't really know about the technical details, but the lightning connector is designed for pretty specific uses. Can it carry 10Gbps and 100W like this connector can? Perhaps the housing contributes to that ability.

Maybe not, but it can withstand multiple connections daily for 2+ years without failing, unlike the MicroUSB connectors I've had on my phones. Also, the connector is very sturdy, so it doesn't break off, even on cheaper cables. Additionally, I never plug it in upside-down, because there is no such thing. This is a good move for USB, and I personally can't wait until these become the new standard :)

I have my phone for 3 years, I charge it at least once daily and many times I use the cable to bring it to me, thus the phone ends up hanging from the micro USB connector. It still works perfectly, so I guess YMMV.

Re: USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

#75

Post by unwiredben »

makomk wrote: post #65
epochwolf wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That only works if 1. The cable has a logo. 2. You can see the logo. 3. The device and cable both conform to the standard. 4. The port is not vertical. 5. The device you are plugging in is not on it's side or upside down. 6. The user is sober and of a clear, calm mind.

The cable that came with my Moto G improves on this by making the top, logo side slightly concave and the other side slightly convex. You can literally feel which way up you've got the plug.

We did that on the cables for the Palm webOS devices too -- the top side all had a silver depression for easy finger feel.

Re: USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

#76

Post by andmarios »

astrodust wrote: post #68
heywire wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Lightning connector just seems so fragile to me. I haven't broken mine yet, but I have certainly seen a lot of broken ones on displays in stores. I can't say I've ever broken a USB connector. That said, there is something to be said for a reversible connector that doesn't require 3 rotations to plug in :)

If you work in tech support you'll see USB ports mangled beyond recognition, people force-plugging them in backwards or worse, and a horrifying number of cables that have ends that have been pinched or bent. The Lightning connector by comparison is a solid piece and would have to be smashed in half to fail.

I don't believe you can force-plug a USB connector backwards unless you use a hammer and a clamp.

Re: USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

#77

Post by georgemcbay »

andmarios wrote: post #76
astrodust wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you work in tech support you'll see USB ports mangled beyond recognition, people force-plugging them in backwards or worse, and a horrifying number of cables that have ends that have been pinched or bent. The Lightning connector by comparison is a solid piece and would have to be smashed in half to fail.

I don't believe you can force-plug a USB connector backwards unless you use a hammer and a clamp.

Depends upon the design of the receptacle, but I've seen badly designed ones where the USB cord (on the USB A side to a PC/laptop/whatever) almost fits in the wrong way, and can easily imagine someone attempting to force it in from there.

Re: USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

#78

Post by aidenn0 »

unwiredben wrote: post #75
makomk wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cable that came with my Moto G improves on this by making the top, logo side slightly concave and the other side slightly convex. You can literally feel which way up you've got the plug.

We did that on the cables for the Palm webOS devices too -- the top side all had a silver depression for easy finger feel.

And I still preferentially use my Palm Pre cables (back in the day, I dremmeled down the plastic housing of another usb-micro I had so it would fit in the touchstone, since I never unplugged that one, and could use the palm-pre one for other uses).

Re: USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

#79

Post by devindotcom »

izacus wrote: post #33
deckiedan wrote: post #11

I'm not an apple fanboy - but I do really like their magsafe & iPad mini connectors (whatever those are called officially). One thing I really like is the lack of "sticky-out-bit" in the middle of the connector, which all USB sockets seem to have, and which always feels kind of unstable or weak to me. Is there a reason why all USB sockets - including these new diagrams - have a feeble looking centre part rather than…

Hmm, while Lightning connector is rather nice, I don't like MagSafe 2 at all... it keeps falling out from the connection, especially if I use the laptop on a bed or similar surface. The original MagSafe and the connector on my previous Dell M1330 were significantly more reliable while still providing enough protection.

Not sure who's downvoting people for saying they have trouble with the much weaker MagSafe 2 connector, but I'm with you. Same problems, and reviewers noted it when it debuted too.

Re: USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production [pdf]

#80

Post by 300bps »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #46
MBCook wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what about the Lightning connectors on iPads and iPhones? They don't have that outside shield but they carry high speed signals.

The lightning connector is pretty cool isn't it? Apple figured out you could build the RF shield around the signal lines in a single planar unit. If you look at the original 30 pin connector they did, they used a very similar scheme to USB the shield around the outside of the connector, the signal lines on the inside in a separate piece. I actually think it was the lightning connector that got the USB group to go bac…

The lightning connector is pretty cool isn't it?

No. It's not. I haven't plugged my phone in since I originally bought it and I don't understand thinking that a connector is cool.

For charging, every major mobile phone company except Apple supports Qi wireless charging. Source: http://www.qinside.biz/en/support/qi-enabled-phones

For connectivity, every major mobile phone company supports wireless connectivity via Bluetooth or WiFi.

I had an iPhone for 6 years (3g, 4, 4s) and saw all the competition fly ahead of Apple in terms of real features and screen size. My next phone may be an iPhone 6, but really Apple has a ton of catching up to do.

Post reply on HN