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USB-IF Confusingly Merges USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 Under New USB 3.2 Branding (macrumors.com)

Posted by msmash on from the what's-in-a-name dept.

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), this week announced a rebranding of the USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 specifications, under the USB 3.2 specification. USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 will now be considered previous generations of the USB 3.2 specification. From a report: Going forward, USB 3.1 Gen 1 (transfer speeds up to 5Gb/s), which used to be USB 3.0 prior to a separate rebranding, will be called USB 3.2 Gen 1, while USB 3.1 Gen 2 (transfer speeds up to 10Gb/s) will now be known as USB 3.2 Gen 2. What used to be considered USB 3.2 will now be USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 because if offers twice the throughput speeds of USB 3.1 Gen 2, now USB 3.2 Gen 2. If the swap between USB 3.1 Gen 1 and Gen 2 to USB 3.2 wasn't confusing enough, each of these specifications also has a marketing term. The new USB 3.2 Gen 1 with transfer speeds up to 5Gb/s is SuperSpeed USB, while USB 3.2 Gen 2 with transfer speeds up to 10Gb/s is known as SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps. The USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 specification with transfer speeds up to 20Gb/s is known as SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps.

10 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. And for those of us old enough to remember by the_skywise · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is par for the course -
    USB 2.0 full speed
    USB 2.0 high speed.
    Where USB 2.0 "full" speed was USB 1.1 speeds.

    1. Re:And for those of us old enough to remember by knarfling · · Score: 4, Funny
      But I want "Ludicrous Speed."

      Which USB spec will give me Ludicrous Speed?

      --
      Great civilizations have lived and died on false theories. Don't mess up mine with a few facts.
    2. Re:And for those of us old enough to remember by v1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's all that much worse when you closelycompare the names:

      usb 1.1 renamed to "usb 2.0 full speed"
      usb 2.0 renamed to "usb 2.0 high speed"

      And of course the names and logos were very similar and easily confused unless you read the fine print.

      Rumor was at the time that there were hardware manufacturers with warehouses full of PC motherboards they couldn't sell "because everyone wanted usb 2.0", so they muscled/bribed the standards committee to rename usb 1.1 off the books so they could empty their warehouses by hustling the public. So many people were posting at the time they couldn't understand how their computer they just built with a "good new usb 2 board" was running slow, where to find drivers to "fix" it, etc. It's easy to see what usb 2.0 was "full of".

      This probably is falling along similar lines. More bribes to help manufacturers not pay for their bad planning/overstock by robbing the public.

      What kills me is the irony. It's a standard, the purpose is to prevent confusion, and they're leveraging it to create confusion, that they can take advantage of.

      --
      I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  2. Huh by TimMD909 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Who's thinking this stuff up? XBox 360 to XBox One, please hand in your trophy for most confusing versions.

    1. Re:Huh by tsqr · · Score: 3, Informative

      Linux does alliterative animal names. You couldn't come up with something more senseless than that.

      No, Linux doesn't do that. Ubuntu does that.

  3. Re:USB - iffy by Megol · · Score: 5, Funny

    We'll C about that.

  4. I thought this was USB-C by DalM · · Score: 3, Funny

    I thought this was what USB-C was intended to accomplish.

    Oh, right. It's something else.

  5. WTF? by hoggoth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why not just USB 5GBS, USB 10GBS?! Would that be so difficult?!

    --
    - For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat /dev/random (may take some time)
  6. Are these people on drugs? by ilsaloving · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I mean, seriously, what kind of drugs does it take to think that this idiocy actually clarifies the situation?

  7. Re:Not Surprising by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Informative

    How are you struggling to find the right cable? Saying there's 22 is stupid. The reality is far simpler:

    The host side has 1 general style that always works, broken up into 3 if you need to pick your exact speed. Type A, Type A SS, and Type C. Other than iGarbage devices there's nothing being shipped that has Type C which also doesn't have Type A SS. All Type A connectors are compatible with each other.

    That leaves us with the other side:
    Type B hasn't been in common use for years and is only found on devices you won't typically plug and unplug very often (reads fixed devices)
    Type B SS is rarer than hens teeth, I've only ever seen it on a single device. A HDD docking station.
    Ultimately it leaves you with Type B mini, Type B micro, and Type C. The Type B micro SS is completely compatible with Type B micro.

    The A side is virtually non existent out there in mini and micro variants, and so is TypeA-B.

    If you buy a device right now it will come with one of only 3 different cables, all of which will connect to a modern computer and are device dependent. If you're juggling more than 3 cables for the "22" (purposeful use of quotes since there's not 22 different connectors) connectors then you're doing something horribly wrong.