The USB-A ports are not going to disappear so please, manufacturers, stop eliminating them from their equipment

My Logitech keyboard has a wireless receptor in the form of USB-A adapter. The same goes for the Anker webcam that I use, which is great and that connects to my equipment with its cable with a USB-A connector. The wired mouse I use to play, surprise, also uses that port.

In fact, the Mac Mini M4 that I use daily to work has a great paste: It has no USB-A connectors. On its front there are two great USB-C ports, but I do not use them as such: I have long bought two USB-A (female) adapters to USB-C (male) to be able to use my peripherals easily in that equipment.

That has long been the constant appearance of the front of my Mac. It is no longer as stylized as they conceived in Apple, but I don’t care, because what is is practical.

I have some USB-C peripherals, yes, but they are the least, and despite the advantages of the USB-C connector, the reality is that today many peripherals-trays, keyboards, webcams, pendrives, etc.— They are still betting on the well-known, old and good USB-A connector.

The dichotomy of the industry: do we kill the USB-A, yes or no?

It doesn’t matter if it is more speaking, more rough and zero reversible. In his favor he has played the fact that he is recognizable and that he managed to give a simple answer to the problem of differentiation. In USB-C there is no easy way to know if a cable offers better transfers and supports better load capabilities than another. In USB-A connectors, look if The inner color of the connector.

	Color	Standard	Speed	Special characteristics
	White	USB 1.x	1.5 – 12 Mbps	None
	Black	USB 2.0 Hi-Speed	480 Mbps	None
	Blue	USB 3.0 Superspeed	Up to 5 Gbps	None
	Red	USB 3.1 Gen 2 & USB 3.2	10-20 Gbps	Always on
	Yellow	USB 2.0 & USB 3.0	480 – 5 Gbps	Always on, Power Liabilities Delivery
	Orange	USB 3.0	Up to 5 GPBS	Always on, Power Liabilities Delivery

The connector USB-C has been imposed In the mobile devices segment. The same European Union chosen it as the standard of iure that They had to use all manufacturersincluding an Apple that surely did not like the idea.

The funny thing is that this same company has been an ultranza defender of the USB-C connector in its Mac and MacBooks. Apple went through a terrible stage in which the number of connectors minimized to the maximum –The infamous MacBook He only had a USB-C port— and that made many complain about The #Donglelife condemnation although in the end it was not so much.

The funny thing is that Apple ended up reconciling with connectivity, and both the Mac Studio and the MacBook Pro are an example of it. The first to They tell With USB-A ports (surprise!), While the latter include SD card reader and HDMI port but, pity, no USB-A ports.

The laptops loved (alone) to the USB-C connectors

That unique obsession with not including USB-A ports in laptops is common in the segment and is not limited to Apple’s MacBook. You have to search well among the available models of HP, Lenovo or Dell to find equipment that has USB-A ports.

Even “big” teams like the Dell XPS 16 They pass olympically from that port. The manufacturer goes further and, anticipating the complaints, gives us the option of buying a USB-C adapter to USB-A (additional 25 euros) to be able to connect peripherals of this type to their laptop. Arch.

Fortunately those ports Yes they are available For example, in its gaming laptop alienware range, something logical if we consider that it is much more normal to connect gaming peripherals that usually use the USB-A connector.

There is no doubt that the USB-C connector has important advantages. Murphy’s law is usually complied with the USB-A connectors: We often try to connect on the side that is not. That does not happen with the USB-C connectors, wonderfully reversible, but it is also possible to combine data transfer with the video signal.

But with everything and with that, the USB-C connector and those cables have their own problems, among which it stands out the chaos of variants that exist. That is a separate problem that does not especially affect that other reality we are talking about: the USB-A connector is still used by all types of manufacturers for all types of peripherals.

And that is why it is striking to see how most portable manufacturers (and some desktop equipment, such as the Mac Mini) continue to be obtained with a forced update that has not been produced. Some brands have been trying to forget the port and USB-A connectors, but again and again the peripheral market prevents it.

It is true that adapters and the Dongles They solve the problem acceptably. But it would not be to see from time to time no gaming teams that recovered those ports. That, I’m afraid, it’s going to be difficult.

Image | Bram van Oost

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