this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
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Windows 11 now supports USB4 at 80Gbps, also known as USB 4 2.0 | Faster USB4 devices could start appearing in 2024::undefined

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[–] [email protected] 138 points 9 months ago (6 children)

“USB 4 2.0”… someone should really do something about the incredibly goofy naming scheme.

[–] [email protected] 69 points 9 months ago (2 children)

With a version number like that they should have throttled the throughput to 69 Gbps.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

Oh damn, I didn’t even catch that!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

1985Mbps/1.21GW

[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago

Someone was high.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I never bothered to check, but are there multiple organizations making different names? Or just one that has no consistency whatsoever

[–] [email protected] 32 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They name by committee. So every corporation that is in the USB standards group will argue for whatever benefits them, with no consideration for consumers.

I fucking hate it. Buy a USB C cable and it's a crapshoot whether it's USB 2 with no power delivery, or poor quality with power delivery. Just trying to find a good quality USB 3 cable is difficult, with 3.1 or 3.2, x2 or not, shitty control chips, etc etc.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 9 months ago (2 children)

It is absolutely infuriating. It blows my mind that you can have a USB 3.2 Gen2 cable that does everything you need it to, except for the fact that it doesn’t support Power Delivery and a lot of the time you won’t even know, so if you’re sending high wattage through it there’s a real possibility you’re gonna burn some to kind up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

In theory, compliant devices can detect the voltage drop over shitty cables and request a lower charging rate.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

if you’re sending high wattage through it there’s a real possibility you’re gonna burn some to kind up.

Anything over 3A or 60W requires the cable to have an e-marker. A little chip inside one of the connectors that indicates what the cable is capable of. No USB certified device should try to pull 60W or more through a cable without e-marker or anything above what the cable can handle if it does have a marker.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

I know, it is a never ending source of minor comedy that “Universal” is right there in the name.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Dammit elon. The 420 ‘jokes’ aren’t as funny as you think they are. /s.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

It's like they just throw darts and see what hits

[–] [email protected] 90 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

These are all equivalent, which is dumb as fuck:

  • 3.0 / 3.1 Gen 1 / 3.2 Gen 1
  • 3.1 Gen 2 / 3.2 Gen 2 / 3.2 Gen 2x1

I suspect the corporations that influence USB did this specifically to confuse consumers (increase sales) when they could have told them exactly what they were getting e.g:

  • USB3 5Gb
  • USB3 10Gb
  • USB4 500Mb/100w
  • USB4 20Gb/100w
  • USB4 40Gb/20w
  • USB4 80Gb/240w

The jump from 3 to 4 could've indicated the change to USB-C ports, which should be the greatest breaking change for USB (otherwise it's no longer USB). The "/Xw" could've been used to indicate PD max watts.

This can also continue indefinitely, like "USB4 10Tb/500w", "USB5 5Pb/2kw", etc.

What I'd really like to see are regulations that require manufacturers to specify the actual speeds the specific component(s) model/batch have achieved under real world testing — both best case scenario and averages — as the theoretical limit is completely irrelevant; with wild variation between cables of the same specs.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Actually the naming scheme you propose e.g. USB4 80Gb is the real naming scheme! It's officially what the specification demands manufacturers label their products. "USB4 version 2" and so on are explicitly only the names of the internal standards that only concern people writing drivers or designing chips.

I have no idea what tech journalist are smoking. This has been a problems for so many years but they keep using the internal names. I mean nobody is complaining about having to always say "IEEE 802.11bn" instead of WI-FI 8

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago

Lol. Can't say I'm surprised. But why do you blame tech journalists instead of the manufacturers and marketers who promote their products using internal spec names?

I just looked at the last 5 USB enclosures and cables I bought. All of the boxes and marketing display the internal spec name prominently. 3/5 boxes only mention the speed once, as a bullet point in the features section...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Undoubtedly the best naming scheme. The x2 suffix should not be dropped tho, because it shows that USB and the alt-DP mode can be used at the same time.

[–] [email protected] 66 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Can't wait for USB 4.0 Gen 2 revision 1.1 version b.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They really seem hell bent on making their version numbers look like user agent strings.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

USB/2.0 (4.0; Gen 2; rv:1.1) USB4.1 Gen 3x3 (FIREWIRE, like RS232)

[–] [email protected] 55 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Great.

Can we start having enforceable standards for the fucking cables?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago

No, we're going from "a different cable for every device" to "a different cable for every device but you need a label maker because they all look the same", and you're going to like it

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

No, but I can get you USB4.1 Gen 3x3

[–] [email protected] 44 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I'll wait for USB4 2.1x3 Plus

[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That's all wrong, it's going to be USB4.2 2.1x2.1 gen 2 plus

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

eye twitch

At least thunderbolt cables are somewhat straightforward.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If only thunderbolt wasn't Intel proprietary BS lmao

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Nintendo suggests "New USB4 2.1x3 Plus". Good luck shopping online...

[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If I learned anything then it‘s to trust manufacturers to sleep on this for the coming years until Microsoft stops supporting old USB completely or something.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Microsoft is kinda obsessed with backwards compatibility so no, that won't happen.

Floppy disks will probably get dropped before USB.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

Can't wait for USB 4.20 ayyy

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But which connector? A, B, C, Micro, Mini?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago
[–] [email protected] 27 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Can we please have some form of colour system or something

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ok but why are there two of them the same?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

The single phase line is the same thing as the first phase of a three phase line. In either case, you know it is carrying one of at least one phase of the current.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Linux already supports this right?

[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Yes, but it is now on a platform with a lot more support.

Linux got it by adapting the Thuinderbolt kernel support of Intel.

Though not sure if every distro actually supports it.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If USB4 is so good, why isn't there USB4 2?

USB-IF:

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (3 children)

They were this close to fixing the whole USB 3.X mess.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

*rolls usb 4 2.0

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If I were Mr Monk, I would be distressed with their choice of writing 80 Gbps, when they could have written 10 GBps. Just a nice round 10.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago

It's standard to write speed in bits and space in bytes

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Man I can’t wait for those faster USB4 services!

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