Daily use of mobile phones, computers, and other electronic products inevitably involves dealing with various interfaces. I spent some time on the weekend searching for information and summarizing my practical usage experience. I talked to everyone about the USB interfaces commonly used in our daily use of mobile phones, iPads, computers, and peripherals.

USB a: The most common interface

The USB A interface, also known as the USB interface, is still a very common type of interface. Many wired mice, keyboards, USB drives, and charging cables use USB.

Although they look similar in appearance, there are also different versions of USB. It's what we commonly refer to as USB 2.0, USB 3.0

The internal plastic of the USB2.0 interface is generally white, and the transmission speed is relatively slow (480Mbps).

The internal plastic of USB 3.0 is generally blue, with a speed increase of * * * (5Gbps).

Micro USB: Small USB

Because USB A has a slightly large volume, micro USB is available. Many Android phones, power banks, USB fans, and even Kindles in the past used this interface. This is actually a portable version of the USB 2.0 standard. So micro USB usually only has a speed of 2.0.

In addition, there is a mini USB, which is thicker than the micro USB and is now used less. Micro USB has gradually been replaced by USB type-c.

Lightning: exclusive to Apple

Everyone must be familiar with the Lightning interface, which is used on iPhones, iPads, and iPods. The Chinese name on Apple's official website is "lightning" (be careful not to confuse it with "lightning").

The characteristic of this interface is its small size and support for forward and backward insertion. When choosing a third-party Lightning cable, it is recommended to seek Apple MFi certification.

Lightning is not without its drawbacks. Although the theoretical transmission speed of Lightning can reach USB 3.0, in reality, the Lightning interface on iPhone and iPad series only has poor USB 2.0 speed (only the Lightning interface on iPad Pro supports USB 3.0 and requires USB c to Lightning cable to experience it).

Apple's software ecosystem is gradually being unified and integrated, and it will be a matter of time before the iPhone and iPad fully adopt the USB C interface.

USB C: Unified Trends

In recent years, more and more mobile phones, computers, tablets, and many digital products and peripherals have begun to use this interface. Flat, supports forward and backward insertion. People usually call it type-c, but a more accurate term is USB c or USB type-c.

Different devices with the same USB C interface use different data transmission protocols, resulting in significant differences. The USB C on your phone may only be USB 2.0, while the USB C on your computer may be USB 3.1 or even Thunderbolt 3.

Although there is no obvious difference in appearance, we still need to pay attention when choosing products.

For example, USB 3.1 Gen 1 is actually USB 3.0 with a bandwidth of 5Gbps. Many manufacturers use blind eye tactics to deceive consumers, saying that their wire is USB 3.1, and it is important to distinguish between Gen1 and Gen2. Only USB 3.1 Gen 2 is the authentic 10Gbps USB 3.1.

Thunderbolt 3: Everyone present is garbage

Thunderbolt 3, also known as Thunderbolt 3 in English, is commonly referred to by Apple as' Thunderbolt 3 ', but it actually refers to the same thing.

Although Thunderbolt 3 looks like USB C (which is actually compatible with each other), it is a different transmission protocol.

Thunderbolt 3 is very powerful. The speed is four times that of USB 3.1 (40Gbps), and it can support two 4K displays at the same time, with 100W bidirectional charging power, and can also be connected to an external graphics card. It can be said that it is currently the strongest king in the USB C interface.

In order to better distinguish between USB C and Thunderbolt 3, Apple's latest Thunderbolt 3 data line will have a lightning symbol.

The authorization fee for the Thunderbolt 3 protocol is very expensive. Generally, computers are not willing to be equipped with Thunderbolt 3, and mostly use USB 3.1. Apple has always been very fond of lightning interfaces. For example, there are four Thunderbolt 3 on MacBook Pro.

HDMI: video and audio transmission

The HDMI interface is generally used on monitors and televisions. It can support 4K resolution and can simultaneously transmit images and sound. This is the advantage of HDMI over traditional DVI and VGA interfaces.

HDMI also comes in different standard versions, mainly in terms of transmission bandwidth. The common ones are HDMI 1.4 and HDMI 2.0. 1.4 supports 4K/30p, and 2.0 can support 4K/60p. 2.1 can already support 4K/120p and 8K/60p.

So when choosing HDMI cable, try to choose 2.0 or 2.1 as much as possible.

There are also smaller mini HDMI interfaces and Micro HDMI interfaces in physical form, generally used on small devices.

DP: HDMI's former rival

DP (DisplayPort) is a competitor of HDMI. Many monitors have both HDMI and DP interfaces.

The latest DP interface has almost all the features of HDMI 2.1, and is even more powerful than HDMI 2.1 in some aspects (higher bandwidth, daisy chain support). But the penetration rate of HDMI is still a bit low.

DP also has a miniaturized version of Mini DP, which was developed by Apple in 2008 and later used on Mac laptops.

Afterwards, there were Thunderbolt 1 and Thunderbolt 2 interfaces that looked like mini DP. The lightning interface can not only transmit sound and images like DP, but also transmit data. Although the lightning interface looks like a mini DP, it can be distinguished by the identifier next to the interface, which is marked with lightning.

I believe that understanding these interfaces can help you improve the efficiency and experience of using digital products, and help you better know how to choose some digital products and accessories according to your own needs.