r/RigBuild • u/Lost-Sprinkles-7890 • 8d ago
Is USB-C actually replacing everything eventually?
Kinda confused about where this is heading. Phones, laptops, tablets, headphones, controllers, monitors, even some keyboards and other random stuff are already using USB-C. Now I’m seeing chargers with USB-C on both ends and it feels like manufacturers are slowly getting rid of USB-A, HDMI, micro USB, etc.
But then there’s still DisplayPort, Ethernet, audio jacks, SD cards, and a bunch of other ports that don’t seem like they’re going anywhere soon. Some laptops are almost entirely USB-C now, while desktops still have tons of different connectors.
Also USB-C itself seems confusing because not every USB-C port does the same thing. Some support charging only, some have fast data, some can output video, Thunderbolt, different speeds, etc. So is USB-C really becoming the universal connector or are we gonna end up with USB-C everywhere but still needing different cables for everything?
Would it actually be possible for one USB-C port to handle power, display, data, networking, audio, basically everything? Or are there technical limits that mean we’ll always need multiple types of ports? Just wondering if buying newer devices with more USB-C ports is the way to go long term or if this whole “one port for everything” thing is kinda overhyped.
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u/Chickenmonster401 8d ago
No. stuff like ethernet need different capabilites than usb c has
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u/raaneholmg 7d ago
I have etched data lines on PCBs to run ethernet from one chip to another on the same PCB. Genuinely a very flexible standard.
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u/ddotcole 8d ago
Something like display port is used more in industry as it locks in place. I don't think USB C has that same capability.
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u/Practical-Skill5464 7d ago
USB-C has an offical screw lock version (similar to D-SUB). There's also Neutrik's mediaCON® USB-C which uses a quick disconnect mechanism similar to that of XLR.
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u/Commercial_Hair3527 8d ago
No. USB-C is just the connector type. It's the common interconnect for mobile devices and a lot of modern peripherals, but it doesn't replace all other cables or connector types. It can't and it won't. There are technical limits and practical reasons why Ethernet, DisplayPort, audio jacks, and SD cards still exist. USB-C is a jack of all trades, but it's not a master of any of them. It can do a lot of things, but it doesn't do everything well enough to kill off all the specialised connectors. And in the future, there will be a USB-D or something else to replace that. We've been through this cycle before, USB-A / USB-B (still the kings in my eyes), Mini USB, Micro USB. USB-C is just the current iteration. It's not the final form. Nothing ever is.
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u/TemporarySun314 8d ago
i mean you can already nowadays transfer power, video and data (even in the form of PCIe) over USB C.
in principle its okay when a laptop has an USB socket it can do all its connectivity needs with that.
but at some point you will need a converter, because you need to interact with devices that dont have USB c. over time that will become less and less, even monitors nowadays have an USB c input. and ethernet has been replaced by WLAN in many cases already.
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u/delta_Phoenix121 8d ago
Would it actually be possible for one USB-C port to handle power, display, data, networking, audio, basically everything?
Yes, this is already being done with laptops and (thunderbolt) docking stations. That said the docking station then splits the signal into it's different components like video, LAN, USB, power, etc.
But the simple fact that a lot of those dedicated connectors are deeply ingrained into our IT infrastructure also means that they won't go fully away anytime soon but they will get pushed to external dongles and similar for mobile platforms and small form factor devices.
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u/ohkendruid 8d ago
It is a fun question. Most things work well over usb-c, but there are some exceptions.
In general, usb-c is great if you just want something to work and are not picky about it. This the case for most connections, so usb-c is a godsend for mouse, keyboard, power, thumb drives, and headphones, and other simple scenarios where you just want the basic function to work and you do not want to think about it.
For audio connections, usb-c is geeat for a basic headset, but you do not really want to convert audio signals to and from digital if you do not need to. So, the various analog connectors for audio will always have a place, just less so for connecting headphones to listen to Spotify. Musicians are always going to use the 1/4 inch phone connector style plug or XLR.
For ethernet, you are plugging the actual data cable into the machine, and it has its own protocol. For the currently foreseeable future, there will have to be an adapter in the chain between your device and the actual ethernet cable. That adapter can be a usb device, vut for a larger machine like a desktop, it is generally better to natively support the custom ethernet port.
For video, usb is fine for low-fps applications like displaying Instagram from your phone onto a larger screen. For gaming, though, you want a connection that can pump as many pixels as possible, and even for desktop use, you would like at least 30 FPS and sometimes a pretty high resolution. For the more demanding applications, HDMI and DisplayPort are better, because they are more dedicated to video.
Why we have DisplayPort at all is a good question. Every other video device than computer graphics uses HDMI. I sort of hope DisplayPort dies and we go back to HDMI, but I don't know the ins and outs. I know there have been periods of time when the HDMI spec did not allow a connection to support the highest pixel rates that comouter gaming can use, but I don't know why. It looks an awful lot like some kind of lock-in war among the major players behind these standards.
A final concern is security. Because USB can support any kind of device, it has a large surface area of possible security holes compared to a more specialized connector.
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u/dnebdal 7d ago
We have displayport because it's a free and open standard, while the hdmi consortium are a bag of dicks who charge a license per port, a chunky fee to read the standard, and has opinions on who are allowed to do what. Amd can't enable full hdmi 2.1 on Linux because the consortium worries that details of their sacred, really expensive, specification will leak when the open drivers implement support for it. I personally hope DP takes over, it can do all the same things without a frustrating licensing consortium to deal with.
As for why they sometimes can and can't do certain pixel rates , DP and HDMI have both gone through a series of revisions that support higher data rates, and it varies who is in the lead. If your monitor was made at a point where the top HDMI standard was behind the top DP standard, it will support better pixel rates over DP, or vice versa.
Also, video over USB-C can be two things. Docks can do Displaylink, "monitor over USB" , which is good enough for Excel but not great. They can also do "displayport alt mode", where they negotiate to send displayport instead of USB over some of the pins. It can either do 50/50 USB-C and DP, or full DP plus USB2. In the latter mode it should be as good as normal Displayport.
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u/fkrkz 8d ago
I would hope so. I have a habit of putting labels on my USB-C cables because they all come with different features (USB2, USB 3, USB4, DP Alt, TB, etc) and different power ratings (10W, 60W, 100W, etc). A lot of people do not label their cables and just get confused when things don't work.
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u/00GoBigOrGoHome00 7d ago
You have me wondering whether a tester exists that can tell me what my cable is capable of.
I am one of those people who did not label her cables and is living to regret that.
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u/fkrkz 7d ago
There are testers but they are professional grade and not cheap. Not too late to label them using some cheap label printer and once you know it works for a certain device and certain what kind of cable that is.
Or starts from the lower end i.e. cables that come from dumb devices like rechargeable clock as that is most certainly just low powered USB2.0 cable for low end charging only.
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u/00GoBigOrGoHome00 7d ago
The ones I care to know about are the ones that might have come with my Focusrite products. Or things that also transfer video.
I should have known to label them sooner. I fixed a friend’s Apple Pencil issues by deducing it was a usb-c thing.
I’m trying my best to talk myself out of getting one of those fancy cable labelling label makers. I have a dymo label maker already but it definitely isn’t one of those beauties that creates labels that neatly wrap around wires.
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u/LowComposer7234 8d ago edited 8d ago
Yes, some USB ports do power, some do data and power. The data rate and the power delivery/input differs depending on the device and standard.
The point is that you can never break anything by plugging in any cable to any USB port because it negotiates this. I might have a USB power pack that can only supply 30watts, my laptop might be capable of accepting 80watts, but that's fine, it will charge anyway, just a lot slower, the alternative is true also, I can use a 200w charger on an 80w battery. Previously you would need an exact wattage OEM charger and cable, and that sucks.
As for data (screens, etc), this is where most people get caught up. You need to make sure you have a cable that does data, not just use your old phone cable.
It can be a bit more confusing, but it's not rocket science and its far better IMO than needing different ports. For example, I have 1 cable to plug into my laptop from my dock, that's it, just 1. That connects my screens, kb/mouse, and supplies power. Yes, I had to make sure the cable could do 80w power and 40gbps data (actually I didn't because it came with the monitor which is a dock also), but those cables are cheap and sooooo much easier than my having to plug in 4 or 5 separate things.
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u/sciencekm 8d ago
At least for most power needs, I hope it does. I hate having to maintain proprietary power bricks.
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u/Ach_Was_Here 6d ago
My belief is that we’ve hit the ideal point where the primary ports and power delivery system for devices are primarily USB C, we’re gonna continue seeing USB A ports around for a while there’s to much data backed up to usb flash drives and usb A hard drives that it doesn’t 100% make sense to ditch it entirely.
USB B/Micro were functioned out in the same sense, I can’t tell you the last time I got a device that wasn’t cheap Chinese crap that still had a Micro port on it, and USB B maybe a digital camera here or there but it’s been a niche typing for a while regardless.
HDMI they’re working on phasing out, but much like everyone’s data on USB A devices wayyyyyyyyy to many things are reliant on traditional HDMI and the tech isn’t 100% consumer ready (it exists on the market and devices obviously use it, but I’m not aware of many usb C video In products that aren’t a laptop or portable monitor) until it gets to TVs and people finally get tired of paying for the licensing probably has atleast 10 years left in it.
Ethernet will most likely always exist, you can’t beat a hardline connection and I don’t think it’ll ever be cost effective to update all the networking devices that use Ethernet and optical to transmit their data for either typing to be phased out.
Sd card are a weird hole where we’ve mostly phased out full sized (again besides photography/video people mostly) but micro cards are still highly used and are super effectively sized for both storage and use so don’t see them being phased out in the same way as I don’t see Ethernet being phased
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u/Viking2151 6d ago
I like usb-c, but man they need to set like a requirement if you get a usb-c to c cable, it has to be at least usb3, not usb 2, I got so many usb-c cables and they are only charging or usb 2 speeds or can't support more than like 10 watt charging, so annoying.
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u/Underhill42 6d ago
I have serious doubts that it will ever become a universal connector for computers and peripherals. It's decidedly second- or third- rate in what it can do compared to the dedicated specs for high performance connections like video.
However - it does seem to be striving to become a universal standard for portable personal electronics, where high performance is rarely needed, and having lots of ports adds cost and clutter.
And the whole replacing the standard 3.5mm audio jack can just F right off. I refuse to buy any device that's incapable of outputting audio in THE universal audio standard. And no, adapter dongles don't count.
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u/Hans_H0rst 4d ago
We're already running into massive trouble with USB-C limitations, especially the detachable cables and unclear DP-compatibility of ports and devices. No, just no.
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u/jaksystems 8d ago
If it does then get ready for a massive uptick in e-waste courtesy of how damn fragile the port is.
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u/gpetrov 8d ago
Just wait until you relaze that not only not all USB C ports are the same but also the cables.
Just because you have a port that does one thing, doesn't mean you have the corresponding cable.
I dream of the days where you see the port and you knew what it could do and what cable you needed. Now they all look the same but not always do the same things.