The difference between Micro USB vs USB Type C is majorly about functionality and a few aspects of the physical construction. Many smartphone companies have shifted from Micro USB cables to USB C cables. This has come as a result of new advancements and changes that come with USB C. One of the biggest and most satisfying changes that come with the new cable is the fact that you can now plug in the cable on either side. This means that you won’t have to spend time figuring out the correct way to insert the cable.
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Design and speed
The design has changed and the new USB/C cable appears to be more circular throughout as compared to the Micro USB cable. The new cable also offers faster wire transfers and can deliver a power output of 20 volts (100 watts) this is a good advancement considering that a laptop requires around 65 watts of power. Charging speed will also be increased and for data transmission, 10Gbps is the maximum transfer rate which is double that of USB 3.0.
USB C Future
As we have seen that making the cables more versatile and modern also makes devices able to gain a significant amount of charge in a short span of time, I think the future of USB is bright. It has faster data transfers which lay another difference between Micro USB and USB/C.
USB-C can as well be termed as an emerging standard for charging and transferring data, which is currently included the latest laptops, phones, and tablets. This new type of connector has a smaller connector shape that’s reversible as explained earlier.
Type-C Features a New Connector Shape
It has a new tiny physical connector, roughly the size of a micro USB connector, and can support various new USB standard like USB 3.1 and USB power delivery, call it USB PD
The commonest USB standard we are all used to is USB Type-A, and we are very well aware that even when we advanced to USB 2 and USB 3 devices, the connector never changed throughout the advancing standards. But as devices became smaller and thinner, those massive USB ports just didn’t fit. This gave rise to lots of other USB connector shapes like the “micro” and “mini” connectors.
USB Type-C offers a new connector standard that’s very small. It’s about a third the size of an old USB Type-A plug. This is a single connector standard that every device should be able to use. That tiny connector is small enough to fit into a super-thin mobile device but also powerful enough to connect all the peripherals you want to your laptop. The cable itself has USB Type-C connectors at both ends it’s all one connector.
It’s reversible, which means there is no need of flipping the connector looking for the correct orientation. It’s a single USB connector shape that all devices should adopt, so you won’t have to keep other USB standard cables.
USB Type-C ports also support many different protocols using alternate modes. This shall allow you to have adapters that can output HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort, plus more of other connections.
USB-C, USB PD, and Power Delivery
As mentioned earlier, USB Type-C supports the specification of USB PD. This amplifies the power delivery to 100 watts. It’s bi-directional, so a device can either send or receive power. And this power can be transferred at the same time the device is transmitting data across the connection. This kind of power delivery could even let you charge a laptop, which usually requires up to about 60 watts.
USB-C, USB 3.1, and Transfer Rates
Although USB-C and USB 3.1 have the same connector shape, these two are totally different and the underlying technology could just be USB 2 or USB 3.0. However, these technologies are closely related. When buying devices, you’ll just need to keep your eye on the details and make sure you’re buying devices that support USB 3.1.
Backwards Compatibility
The physical USB-C connector isn’t backward compatible, but the underlying USB standard is. You can’t plug older USB devices into a modern, tiny USB-C port, nor can you connect a USB-C connector into an older, larger USB port. But that doesn’t mean you have to discard all your old peripherals. USB 3.1 is still backward-compatible with older versions of USB, so you just need a physical adapter with a USB-C connector on one end and a larger, older-style USB port on the other end. You can then plug your older devices directly into a USB Type-C port.
Realistically, many computers will have both USB Type-C ports and larger USB Type-A ports for the immediate future. So this allows you to slowly shift from your old devices, getting new peripherals with USB Type-C connectors.
Other USB standards available
USB Type-A
Type-A is the classic USB plug we are so familiar with. It has a rectangular plug design, and it remains the standard plug for use at the host end of the USB cable.
This type has so far gone through numerous changes to accommodate different versions of USB, with more pins added to allow faster speeds of USB 3.0. However, the fundamental design of the plug has remained the same, with the new connections added in such a way that all USB Type-A plugs and sockets are compatible no matter which version of USB they use.
USB Type-B
This is a tall plug with the sloping top corners like those of a printer, extended for the USB 3.0 standard so that it may support extra new connections.
It’s like a miniUSB and MicroUSB, which uses a normal micro-USB connection with an extra plug that carries more power connections.
Variations on Type-B have been adopted due to the need of having smaller plugs at the client device end. Indeed there are many devices that use entirely proprietary shape Type-B USB sockets, such as many of the odd shape plugs used on older mobile phones.