Question Is it time for more USB Type-C ports?

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I see too many motherboards still released with only 1x port on the back. With more and more consumer products moving to USB Type-C does it make sense to add more and swap out legacy Type A ports? I kinda wished the motherboard manufacturers would just go all in or at least put in a larger number of ports (at least 3 - 4).

For instance the Crosshair VIII Hero has 7x USB A 3.2 Gen 2 ports and 1x 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port. Would it kill users if they split it 4x Type-C and 4x Type-A? Many people buy computer components and expect them to last for years now. 1x port is already limiting when it is often used by my phone. With cameras, iPads, and other peripherals going that direction it might make sense to equip users with more ports now.

 

[Furious_Styles]

Don't care personally. I like that the cases will have the front port for one but if they add another one to the back I doubt I'd use it.

 

[Chicken76]

More USB-C?

• on the back of the motherboard? No.
• on the front/top of the case? Yes, but not at the expense of USB-A ports.

 

[piokos]

I see too many motherboards still released with only 1x port on the back. With more and more consumer products moving to USB Type-C does it make sense to add more and swap out legacy Type A ports? I kinda wished the motherboard manufacturers would just go all in or at least put in a larger number of ports (at least 3 - 4).

You have to consider *what* products use USB-C and what's their target market.

Vast majority of DIY PC consumer base are gamers.
Things they connect to the mobo I/O: mouse, keyboard, speakers/sound card, monitor USB hub etc - mostly still rely on USB-A.
Things they may connect to the front: phone cable, external drive, card readers - often come with USB-C as standard or with an adapter/second cable.

That's it. We don't get more USB-C in the back because there's not much to plug in.

That said, later this year we'll get Thunderbolt 4, to be later formally renamed USB 4. It will use USB-C exclusively.
This may start the kind of unification Mac users already have behind them. We'll see.

 

[gorobei]

more typeC will come but there is a legacy issue.

until enough of the installed base of typeA peripheral mice/kb fail then the ratio of A to C ports/headers will hold. after that crossover point it should be all C.

in the future all mice should be daisy chained to kb which should be chained to monitors which should use typeC to connect to the gpu. older peripherals should hopefully be able to use a-to-c cables. ideally all devices should be female socketed and all cables male/male. apple and dell are pushing this with their laptop lines with typeC docking stations being the presumed default.

 

[bigboxes]

Don't care personally. I like that the cases will have the front port for one but if they add another one to the back I doubt I'd use it.

Are you a techie or not? It's time to move to one cable. One that can handle all legacy and all power requirements. Maybe you like slow transfer speeds and long charging times, but I do not. Maybe you like wondering if you have an HDMI cable or such. Wouldn't it be nice to have one cable that could do it all? Yeah, you'll get it. Someday...

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Are you a techie or not? It's time to move to one cable. One that can handle all legacy and all power requirements. Maybe you like slow transfer speeds and long charging times, but I do not. Maybe you like wondering if you have an HDMI cable or such. Wouldn't it be nice to have one cable that could do it all? Yeah, you'll get it. Someday...

That is definitely the future I want to live in. I have external SSDs, phones, and an Oculus Quest that all use C, and when you plug and unplug devices to systems all the time, its superiority as an interface is undeniable.

 

[piokos]

Are you a techie or not? It's time to move to one cable. One that can handle all legacy and all power requirements. Maybe you like slow transfer speeds and long charging times, but I do not. Maybe you like wondering if you have an HDMI cable or such. Wouldn't it be nice to have one cable that could do it all? Yeah, you'll get it. Someday...

Was it really necessary to make this comment so aggressive?
And a big LOL on that "being a techie".

What you mentioned: charging time, transfers, supporting video signal etc, is not magically provided just by the connector, but by the USB standard and actual implementation.
It may be that we'll move to USB-C connectors for everything, but just some of them will be USB4 / Thunderbolt. Most will be connected to a slower USB 3-something-something.
Most USB-C connectors on cheaper laptops are 5Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen1), without charging support - obviously.

We should absolutely move to USB-C, but we won't automatically get the fastest, most versatile ports.
I haven't seen a PC which offers just Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports (even Dell XPS laptops don't).
For this kind of comfort you have to go Apple - for example: Macbook Pro 16 has 4x USB-C and all are Thunderbolt 3 with charging support.

And of course it's really sad that we still get USB 2.0 ports in 2020.

 

[piokos]

That is definitely the future I want to live in. I have external SSDs, phones, and an Oculus Quest that all use C, and when you plug and unplug devices to systems all the time, its superiority as an interface is undeniable.

So buy/upgrade a system to have more USB-C ports.
There are PCIe cards for desktops, hubs for laptops... and of course adapters.

 

[HerrKaLeu]

I assume the power requirement is a problem since USB-C can charge at much higher rates. I have USB-C from my monitor to power my wireless charger and I think the manual said it is rated to 35W, or 60W. Having multiple from a board would require added power wiring, like for graphics cards.

Other than that, with adapter cables (to get the normal micro-USB) I'd be OK. I'm still surprised they still have USB 2.0 instead of all of them being USB 3.0 since they are fully backwards compatible. I assume mice and keyboards will be USB 2/3 for a long time.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I assume the power requirement is a problem since USB-C can charge at much higher rates. I have USB-C from my monitor to power my wireless charger and I think the manual said it is rated to 35W, or 60W. Having multiple from a board would require added power wiring, like for graphics cards.

Other than that, with adapter cables (to get the normal micro-USB) I'd be OK. I'm still surprised they still have USB 2.0 instead of all of them being USB 3.0 since they are fully backwards compatible. I assume mice and keyboards will be USB 2/3 for a long time.

C is electrically compatible with USB 3.x, and is why I can use my stuff in any type A port with an adapter. Do you know if your monitor is thunderbolt 3 compatible? Because C is the only USB that has that capability, and can do up to 100W. Or is it Gen 2x2 which is 20Gbps, which only C does as well.

@bigboxes nailed it. USB 4 will merge C with Thunderbolt 3, and C will also be used as an interface for DisplayPort 2.0. Then C can be the lord of the ports.

 

[HerrKaLeu]

C is electrically compatible with USB 3.x, and is why I can use my stuff in any type A port with an adapter. Do you know if your monitor is thunderbolt 3 compatible? Because C is the only USB that has that capability, and can do up to 100W. Or is it Gen 2x2 which is 20Gbps, which only C does as well.

Monitors are the Dell U4320Q and has the below USB. one of them up to 90W. I always assume if a port physically fits, someone will put in the highest rated device. The other USB-C is only for 15W. Not sure if it explodes if I put a 90w device in. You have to enable the 90W port in the menu and it says that makes it lose EnergyStar certification. I know newer tablets charge via USB-C, so there for sure will be more than 15W draw. So besides the obvious licensing for the Data transfer, there will be some power-related design for the motherboard and it needs protection.

1 x USB Type-C ( Alternate Mode with Display Port 1.4, USB, 3.1 Upstream Port, Power Delivery upto 90W)
1 x Analog 2.0 Audio Line out ( 3.5 mm Jack)
2 x USB A , USB 3.1 Gen 1 ( 5 Gbps)
1 x USB 3.1 with B.C charging Adaptability of 2 A ( Max)
1 x USB Type-C Downstream( 15W), USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Mbps)

 

[Furious_Styles]

Are you a techie or not? It's time to move to one cable. One that can handle all legacy and all power requirements. Maybe you like slow transfer speeds and long charging times, but I do not. Maybe you like wondering if you have an HDMI cable or such. Wouldn't it be nice to have one cable that could do it all? Yeah, you'll get it. Someday...

lol. I just gave my opinion. I guess I'm a realist and don't think we're going to this magical "one cable" scenario. It would be nice and maybe it will happen.

Also I don't know if I qualify as a "techie" or not, do I need to own lots of Apple products to be one?

 

[bigboxes]

lol. I just gave my opinion. I guess I'm a realist and don't think we're going to this magical "one cable" scenario. It would be nice and maybe it will happen.

Also I don't know if I qualify as a "techie" or not, do I need to own lots of Apple products to be one?

Owning Apple products would make you a hipster. Type C is well established now. By one cable means I can use one cable for many purposes. It's not magical. It's high transfer speed, high power to quickly charge phones, tablets and laptops and a reversable durable connector. I'm always disappointed to see microUSB on new products. What we really need to we really need to see is an adoption of type c in peripherals.

 

[KentState]

Have plenty of things that have USB-C connectors but don't really care what's on the other end of the cable, but with a few exceptions.

 

[WelshBloke]

I haven't seen a PC which offers just Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports (even Dell XPS laptops don't).

XPS laptops absolutely do. I mean there's not enough ports on them but the two USB ports on mine are both USB C and thunderbolt 3.

I have mixed feelings about USB-C. Its great that I now have a port that lets me charge my laptop at full speed and I can use that same cable to charge my phone or connect my laptop to a monitor or a high speed external drive.
On the other hand I have never had as many leads fail as I have USB-C leads fail.
I've given up using them on my phone and I just wirelessly charge and use the cloud for data transfer. On the laptop I just use them for charging.

The theory of them is great, I just need them not to crap out every time I try to use one.

 

[bigboxes]

XPS laptops absolutely do. I mean there's not enough ports on them but the two USB ports on mine are both USB C and thunderbolt 3.

I have mixed feelings about USB-C. Its great that I now have a port that lets me charge my laptop at full speed and I can use that same cable to charge my phone or connect my laptop to a monitor or a high speed external drive.
On the other hand I have never had as many leads fail as I have USB-C leads fail.
I've given up using them on my phone and I just wirelessly charge and use the cloud for data transfer. On the laptop I just use them for charging.

The theory of them is great, I just need them not to crap out every time I try to use one.

I've never had one fail. However, I have thrown away cheap ones that were garbage. I buy quality ones. I mean who wants to continue to carry Type A, microUSB cables any longer? I do keep a few on hand when traveling. I've tried to buy type C products. I got a new portable speaker and it's microUSB. It was disappointing. It's the year 2020.

 

[KentState]

I've never had one fail. However, I have thrown away cheap ones that were garbage. I buy quality ones. I mean who wants to continue to carry Type A, microUSB cables any longer? I do keep a few on hand when traveling. I've tried to buy type C products. I got a new portable speaker and it's microUSB. It was disappointing. It's the year 2020.

Yeah, that extra ounce when travelling is going to be the killer of me.

 

[mxnerd]

Unfortunately , the "magical" one cable world will never be realized, ever.

 

[WelshBloke]

I've never had one fail. However, I have thrown away cheap ones that were garbage. I buy quality ones. I mean who wants to continue to carry Type A, microUSB cables any longer? I do keep a few on hand when traveling. I've tried to buy type C products. I got a new portable speaker and it's microUSB. It was disappointing. It's the year 2020.

What brand are you buying? I've been through many, many types, some of them too expensive for a cable and none of them seem to last any time.

C to microUSB adapters are tiny and useful to have around as a lot of stuff is still coming with microUSB. I don't think that USB A will go away for a long time.

 

[WelshBloke]

Unfortunately , the "magical" one cable world will never be realized, ever.

I guess USB C with thunderbolt 4 would be good enough (is that good enough for uhd video?), the main issue is that sometimes you want the connection to be a bit more robust. I can imagine things getting disconnected all the time if its all USB C.

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm not a huge fan of 'one cable to rule them all'. IMO it's a case of 'do one job well and properly' or 'do all the jobs not particularly well'. USB disconnections has already been raised, another is something I was reading recently about the vulnerabilities of USB-C rolling in because there's a crapload of stuff that can be done over the same connection (including graphics-related stuff being a quick shortcut to system-level privileges).

 

[WelshBloke]

I'm not a huge fan of 'one cable to rule them all'. IMO it's a case of 'do one job well and properly' or 'do all the jobs not particularly well'. USB disconnections has already been raised, another is something I was reading recently about the vulnerabilities of USB-C rolling in because there's a crapload of stuff that can be done over the same connection (including graphics-related stuff being a quick shortcut to system-level privileges).

Thunderbolt is pretty hideous from a security POV. I still ended up getting a laptop with it as the laptop in every other aspect suited what I wanted and I'm not really doing anything on it that needs high levels of security, if it was a laptop for a business that had trade secrets on it I'd probably think differently.

 

[WelshBloke]

Addressing the OP though, you dont really need a lot of USB C connections on the back of your PC. You need a hub on your desk that has the ports you need and have that connected to a USB 3.2 connection at the back of your PC. Unless you like reaching behind your PC every time you want to connect something.
A couple on the front of the PC is nice though but thats not up to the motherboard manufacturers.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Unfortunately , the "magical" one cable world will never be realized, ever.

Of course not, there is more money in selling consumers many different cable types.