USB-A is dead. Long Live USB-A

[rbp]

I have seen a bunch of panel designs recently that have  USB-A only, or USB-A + USB-C.

USB-A is going away, so are Micro, Mini, and Lightening.

All new iPads, Android phones, and the iPhone 15 will all have USB-C by the end of this year (or very soon after).

If you're putting in a new panel or adding USB ports to your panel, you're better off just getting 2 x USB-C ports like the Garmin GSB 15 (3W each, see photo) and buying new cables if you need them.

[ArtVandelay]

Or just have a tried and true cigarette lighter socket, then buy inexpensive USB plugs…and when USB-X comes out, you just buy a new plug.

[rbp]

7 minutes ago, ArtVandelay said:

Or just have a tried and true cigarette lighter socket, then buy inexpensive USB plugs…and when USB-X comes out, you just buy a new plug.

great idea for powering the portable ADF! 

[ArtVandelay]

great idea for powering the portable ADF! 

Otherwise known as a AM transistor radio. ;-)

[OR75]

USB-A is dying but its death will be very very very slow ...so slow that it will be around another decade or two 

you will be fine for decades with a USB-A and C box

[carusoam]

14 hours ago, rbp said:

great idea for powering the portable ADF! 

I think we still have one around the house somewhere….

Left over from boating in the 70s….  

I don’t think we ever saw it work back in the day either…

Best regards,

-a-

[RoundTwo]

USB-A is the ubiquitous de facto standard baseline USB jack and will still be around when USB-C becomes deprecated like all those that came before. The installed base is huge and it is by far, the sturdiest and most damage tolerant of them all. Yes, there are more modern designs, but USB-A is a beast that must be reckoned with.

[rbp]

All new samsung and huawai android phones/tablets, Kindles, GoPros, Bose consumer headsets, Stratus , Apple laptops  are USB-C only.

All dell laptops now come with USB-C (some also still have -A, but not for long).

iPhone / iPad / Airpods will all switch over (from Lightening) this year.

The EU has mandated USB-C for: “mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, handheld videogame consoles, portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, earbuds and portable navigation devices. Laptops will have to be adapted to the requirements 40 months after the law enters into force.”

You can continue to use USB-A to USB-C connectors to connect to power, but you will not get fast charging unless you use USB-C to USB-C cables. 

 

[N201MKTurbo]

The trend in laptops is to have no ports except USB-C, so to do anything useful with your laptop you need to hook up a docking station that is almost as big as the laptop.

I have tons of devices I need to use on my computer that are still USB-A. The new desktop I just got has 7 USB-A ports and I have something in every one of them. I'm working on an image processing app that will peg the CPU at 100% and the memory at 100% for 5 minutes to process all the images. It has an Intel I7 and 64GB of ram. I need to throttle the thread count to let the UI work. Windows is supposed to handle this, but it doesn't do that good a job if you hammer it to hard. I think some of the problem is HALCON, who knows what it is doing internally to process the images. 

I'm glad I'm about to retire. between the worthless Windows11 (If I wanted a Mac I would buy a Mac!) and the useless laptops, I look forward to getting out of the computer biz. 

I had to change the ethernet adapter settings on a windows 11 machine the other day. They have made it almost impossible to find. These things just keep getting harder and harder to use. I don't know what they are trying to accomplish. Windows peaked at XP and has been going downhill ever since.

I shouldn't post while working, you get non-aviation rants...

[rbp]

19 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

tons of devices I need to use on my computer that are still USB-A

So, there are no *devices* that use USB-A. The original USB spec (which includes USB-A) was asymmetric — USB-A for the computer / charger side of things, and USB-B (photo) for the device side of things. the -B form factor was so unwieldy, it was only used on printers and scanners, and devices like phones and cameras used mini- and micro-USB, which was much smaller, but served the same purpose as USB-B. and apple invented Ligtening-to-USB-A for its original phones/tablets (supplanting the iPod and Iphone 1 30-pin connector)

USB-C is symmetrical. you can use either side of the cable however you want, and its not polarized, so you don’t have to get the orientation

[JimB]

I had to get a USB-C adapter to power my Loran....

[N201MKTurbo]

36 minutes ago, rbp said:

So, there are no *devices* that use USB-A. The original USB spec (which includes USB-A) was asymmetric — USB-A for the computer / charger side of things, and USB-B (photo) for the device side of things. the -B form factor was so unwieldy, it was only used on printers and scanners, and devices like phones and cameras used mini- and micro-USB, which was much smaller, but served the same purpose as USB-B. and apple invented Ligtening-to-USB-A for its original phones/tablets (supplanting the iPod and Iphone 1 30-pin connector)

USB-C is symmetrical. you can use either side of the cable however you want, and its not polarized, so you don’t have to get the orientation

Let's see what I have hooked up now...

I have a Microchip ICD3 with USB-B, the cable is USB-B to USB-A

Peak CAN adapter with just a cable coming out of it with a USB-A

IXXAT CAN adapter with just a cable coming out of it with a USB-A

20MP USB3 camera which has USB3 connection cable has USB-A

My Teams headphones which just has a cable with a USB-A

My Mouse which just has a USB-A

My Keyboard which just has a USB-A

HALCON license dongle USB-A

Flash drive USB-A

 

I have quite a few devices which have USB-A only connections.

[rbp]

If it just has a cable, then yeah it could be -A.  

If there’s a connector on the actual device it’s not 

 

[N201MKTurbo]

I have designed some USB stuff in the past, it can be mind numbing...

If you are a real USB geek, you know of this place:

https://www.usb.org/documents

 

[EricJ]

The PSEngineering PMA450B in my panel has a 5A USB-C socket, which is nice.   My newest Galaxy tablet uses a USB-C connector for charging, etc.   It's nice because it isn't polarized, supports higher charging current, and has the hooks for the better smart chargers, decent future-proof, etc.    There are almost no downsides to USB-C and lots of advantages.

I think most things will ultimately wind up being USB-A (including 3.0+) and USB-C.   Given the European mandates (which I think are a good idea and good for consumers and industry), and other industry pressures these will wind up being the most prevalent. 

[Joshua Blackh4t]

Until you have one random old device that you want to charge in a plane, and it has its original usb a to mini (or proprietary cable) and you try finding a usbc to mini usb to recharge an old camera/cheap bluetooth speaker (you might want it if you camp under-wing) etc.

So yeah, you will probably be ok with usb-c, but definitely with usb a, or a cigarette lighter socket.

[McMooney]

all the devices i still use are usb-c. samsung phone, ipad, galaxy tab, hp laptop, usb drives, power bricks, blah blah blah.  

have adapters for an older ipad and the darn action cam.

would be nice to have native ports but for the price can't beat cigarette lighter adapters.  

pretty sure i can buy 20 or 30 adapters for the price of a mid con or garmin built in

Edited April 3, 2023 by McMooney

[rbp]

 I don’t know about the older mooneys, but I bought a very shallow adapter and it still wouldn’t fit in my M cigarette lighter

 

[jlunseth]

I hope they come up with something better. USB-C does not make a secure connection like A does. The short connector is too prone to moving around. I have had two laptops go bad because the USB-C port deteriorates. It’s a general problem in our firm.

[Yetti]

did you hear when the inventor of USB died....  They had to put the coffin in and then turn it around, then turn it around again...  Finally it fit.

[hais]

8 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Let's see what I have hooked up now...

I have a Microchip ICD3 with USB-B, the cable is USB-B to USB-A

Peak CAN adapter with just a cable coming out of it with a USB-A

IXXAT CAN adapter with just a cable coming out of it with a USB-A

20MP USB3 camera which has USB3 connection cable has USB-A

My Teams headphones which just has a cable with a USB-A

My Mouse which just has a USB-A

My Keyboard which just has a USB-A

HALCON license dongle USB-A

Flash drive USB-A

 

I have quite a few devices which have USB-A only connections.

Yours must be an interesting-looking panel ... oh wait, you were referring to your desktop?

[jkgyr52]

There are tiny inexpensive USB-C to USB_A adapters available. For example: https://www.amazon.com/Syntech-Adapter-Thunderbolt-Compatible-MacBook/dp/B07CVX3516/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3KUDO9XPXI9YA&keywords=usb-c%2Badapters%2Bfor%2Bmacbook&qid=1680572971&sprefix=USB-C%2Badapters%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-4&th=1

[Joshua Blackh4t]

10 hours ago, Yetti said:

did you hear when the inventor of USB died....  They had to put the coffin in and then turn it around, then turn it around again...  Finally it fit.

Niiice. You can get usb a plugs that fit both ways. 

[PT20J]

Every cable has two ends, so you have to specify connector types for each end. There is so much USB-A out there for charging devices (chargers, clock radios, even 120 V wall receptacles with built in chargers) that I think USB-A will be around for a long time even though the device end of the cables are all going to USB-C.

[rbp]

55 minutes ago, PT20J said:

Every cable has two ends, so you have to specify connector types for each end. There is so much USB-A out there for charging devices (chargers, clock radios, even 120 V wall receptacles with built in chargers) that I think USB-A will be around for a long time even though the device end of the cables are all going to USB-C.

so for your 91.205 clock,you use a plug a clock radio in to your panel? :):):)’

 

i’ll repeat the point for all the naysayers out there — things you want to plug into your airplane — phones, tablets, gopro, stratus, etc — are all going to be USB-C by the end of the year.  this has nothing to do with clock radios, keyboards, mice, etc that you might be using at home