When will USB 3.0 become commonplace?

[dismas]

You can expect any new USB device today to at least support USB 2.0. When will USB 3.0 become the expected minimum?

 

[Campy]

probably in 2011 when intel starts supporting it.

 

[Murloc]

nowadays you just can't find usb 1.1 devices anymore except from your old crates.
It will take longer than 2011 to not see any usb 2.0 devices as commonplace.
In fact, they are fast enough for small .doc files transfer. USB drives don't cost anything and people owns lots of them.
I don't think that back in the usb 1.1 to 2.0 transition there were so many of them around.
I think this will be new history.

 

[corkyg]

The driver will be the consumer. When the market demands USB 3 in off-the-shelf machines in places like Best Buy, that is when it will become a standard. I don't see that happening until late 2011 - more probably 2012.

 

[RavenSEAL]

When mainstream manufacturers start including it in their builds? It's really all about the mainstream. Us(computer builders/enthusiast) have early access to them just because the product is on demand rather than "Wait til we retire this line of systems" sorta thing manufacturers have going.

 

[frostedflakes]

probably in 2011 when intel starts supporting it.

Unfortunately I think Intel pushed things back even further and won't be releasing any chipsets with built-in USB 3.0 until 2012 (!). AMD is supposed to have USB 3.0 chipsets in 2011 I think, but it won't really matter IMO, Intel will need to be on board before USB 3.0 becomes mainstream.

 

[RebateMonger]

Unfortunately I think Intel pushed things back even further and won't be releasing any chipsets with built-in USB 3.0 until 2012.

Earlier this year, an Intel technical representative implied to me that Intel doesn't find USB 3.0 reliable enough at this point. And, of course, there's always "Light Peak".

 

[dangerman1337]

Intel recently said that they want USB 3.0 back into their chipsets sooner:

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2010/09/07/intel-usb3-will-be-in-sandy-bridge-chipsets/1

 

[Modelworks]

The issue is cost right now. USB 3 chipsets are more costly than USB2 and provide nothing new for most devices. I can add a usb2 chip to a device for 25 cents. The things that benefit for usb 3 are storage, everything else it makes no difference so it isn't high priority for most devices.

 

[zerogear]

Earlier this year, an Intel technical representative implied to me that Intel doesn't find USB 3.0 reliable enough at this point. And, of course, there's always "Light Peak".

I actually do prefer Light peak to USB 3.0.. but to be honest with the amount of USB 2.0 stuff out there, it'll hard to force LP on people since USB 3.0 is backwards compatible.

 

[CurseTheSky]

It's not useful enough at the moment. The only thing I can think of that really needs the bandwidth of USB 3.0 is external storage; everything else can make due with USB 2.0 (which is already widespread and very cheap). And for that matter, we already have eSATA on a fairly large number of machines to cover the storage problem.

If most laptops and desktop cases came with an eSATAp port (power-over-eSATA, combines eSATA and USB 2.0 so only one cable is needed for a 2.5" external hard drive to get eSATA speeds), USB 3.0 would be virtually useless in the current market. Unfortunately, eSATAp is fairly rare, and even regular eSATA isn't included on most laptops. Hell, we only started seeing eSATA included on the I/O ports of motherboards a few years ago.

 

[Throckmorton]

Just like every damn standard it won't be common until it's halfway obsolete already. Remember how long it was until devices started coming in PCIE instead of PCI?? For years, PCIE ports were just space wasters.

 

[corkyg]

If most laptops and desktop cases came with an eSATAp port (power-over-eSATA, combines eSATA and USB 2.0 so only one cable is needed for a 2.5" external hard drive to get eSATA speeds), USB 3.0 would be virtually useless in the current market. Unfortunately, eSATAp is fairly rare, and even regular eSATA isn't included on most laptops. Hell, we only started seeing eSATA included on the I/O ports of motherboards a few years ago.

Very good point. I have been using eSATA on desktop and laptop for almost 2 years now. In the laptop, it is via an Express Card adapter. My new Lenovo T510 has the dual USB/eSATA port, and it is terrific. USB 3 brings very little to my party. I'm in no hurry.

The cost factor to OEMs is not insignificant. Margins are pretty thin these days, so it becomes an important business decision. Like you said, it took almost 2 years to see built in eSATA ports on notebooks.