Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#1

Post by dchester195 » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 8:36 AM UTC

Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?
electronics.stackexchange.com

Re: Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#2

Post by simias » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 9:29 AM UTC

This is a great answer, but IIRC there's an other reason to prefer micro over mini: the moving parts in the micro-USB connection are in the male plug, not the female one like the mini.

Since those parts tend to break easily, it's cheaper to replace the cable rather than the smartphone/device having the female port.

That being said I'm still a bit mad at Apple for ditching their old large port, only to replace it with an other proprietary standard.

Re: Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#3

Post by moreentropy » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 9:46 AM UTC

Another point: AFAIK the Mico USB connector is designed so that if you apply force from the side to a plugged in connector, the plug will deliberately break and the socket/pcb will stay functional.

Edit: I can't relate to those who say Mini USB is more reliable than Micro USB. I've had a lot of trouble with Mini USB connectors and especially cables, especially if I move a connected device i've had lots of short disconnects. This never happened with Micro USB. So.. go Mico USB!!1!

Re: Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#4

Post by mistercow » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 10:01 AM UTC

I only ever had one mini USB cord go bad, and that was a minor pain. But I have had the micro USB port on a cell phone become unreliable, which is insanely frustrating. The post holding the contacts no longer wants to push them against the cord, so it frequently loses the connection.

I can solve the problem temporarily by pushing the post back with a small screw driver, but "temporarily" here is measured in minutes or hours.

Re: Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#5

Post by jlengrand » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 10:06 AM UTC

mistercow wrote: post #4

I only ever had one mini USB cord go bad, and that was a minor pain. But I have had the micro USB port on a cell phone become unreliable, which is insanely frustrating. The post holding the contacts no longer wants to push them against the cord, so it frequently loses the connection. I can solve the problem temporarily by pushing the post back with a small screw driver, but "temporarily" here is measured in minutes o…

same here, I can´t charge my s+ anymore. But it is the main standard nowadays, and is really thin, so . . .

Re: Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#6

Post by seanmcdirmid » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 10:10 AM UTC

simias wrote: post #2

This is a great answer, but IIRC there's an other reason to prefer micro over mini: the moving parts in the micro-USB connection are in the male plug, not the female one like the mini. Since those parts tend to break easily, it's cheaper to replace the cable rather than the smartphone/device having the female port. That being said I'm still a bit mad at Apple for ditching their old large port, only to replace it with…

Apple's port, which doesn't have an up/down direction, is much easier to plug in than the micro USB port, which does. It is an innovation, like it or not, that USB doesn't have.

Re: Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#7

Post by msoad » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 10:14 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #6

simias wrote: post #2

This is a great answer, but IIRC there's an other reason to prefer micro over mini: the moving parts in the micro-USB connection are in the male plug, not the female one like the mini. Since those parts tend to break easily, it's cheaper to replace the cable rather than the smartphone/device having the female port. That being said I'm still a bit mad at Apple for ditching their old large port, only to replace it with…

Apple's port, which doesn't have an up/down direction, is much easier to plug in than the micro USB port, which does. It is an innovation, like it or not, that USB doesn't have.

Although Lightning Cable is not the first to be bidirectional I am mad at Apple for not making Lightning an open standard.

Re: Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#8

Post by devx » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 10:17 AM UTC

Can Micro-USB support USB 3.0 speeds?

Re: Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#9

Post by moreentropy » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 10:23 AM UTC

devx wrote: post #8

Can Micro-USB support USB 3.0 speeds?

Yes, it's this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Connector_USB_3_IMGP6033_w...

The socket is compatible to normal Micro USB plugs while the plug is not.

Re: Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB?

#10

Post by unwind » Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 10:24 AM UTC

devx wrote: post #8

Can Micro-USB support USB 3.0 speeds?

USB 3.0's highest speed (termed "SuperSpeed" to easily separate it from the previous, equally clearly labelled, speed grades "LowSpeed", "FullSpeed" and "HighSpeed") requires more pins than USB 2.0 speeds, so the connectors are different.

Here's a link, picture of USB 3.0 micro plug on the right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Cable_plugs_.28USB_3.0.29.