Jamie Balfour

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Is this the future USB-C promised?

Is this the future USB-C promised?

USB-C was supposed to be the one connector for all. It's definitely not lived up to that purpose well. USB-A is still by far the more popular connector for most devices and the wall chargers where USB-C aimed to take over. USB-C was delivered to us in 2015 by none other than Apple with their MacBook, which featured it (and only it), showcasing the port for the first time as a connector that does it all.

DisplayPort and HDMI are still outpacing USB-C on the A/V side of things. Sure, USB-C can carry DisplayPort and is much smaller than the big DisplayPort connectors. Not only that, but it can also carry data at the same time

Not many companies are pushing USB-C as Apple has been on their Macs and iPads, phone chargers and Watch chargers over the last few years, and they don't seem to care that the world hasn't caught up with them. However, Apple did continue to use their rubbish Lightning connector up until October of last year when the iPhone 15 was released. 

USB-C hasn't delivered. And I say that because of the inconveniences it now causes. For Mac users and many Windows Ultrabook users (which I have been), devices such as mice, keyboards, USB drives, webcams or printers all become a pain to use because of their USB-A connectors. I normally use my Windows machine to do anything with hard drives or USB drives simply because of its USB-A ports. 

My new MacBook Pro that I got in December is a fantastic little machine. It's a wee bit chubby, and that's what I like about it. It's not a chunky machine by any standard, but it's thick enough that Apple could have included some USB-A ports on it - even if just one. Though, as I have said in the past, Apple was the first company to ditch parallel and serial ports from their computers when they were the standard, they were the first to ditch floppy disks when they were the standard, they were the first to ditch the headphone jack and now the USB-A port.

To conclude, I do not think USB-C has made massive changes to everything it promised. It's lacklustre in some areas and has made things more inconvenient in other areas. I love the connector, and back in 2015, when I was invited to try out a USB-C product for a company, I was so very excited at the prospect of it.

Posted by jamiebalfour04 in General
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