What is USB 3.2 and why is it extremely important?

Several days ago, a new term appeared in the world of data transfer, which is USB 3.2. If you are not familiar with this term yet, you probably know that the fastest data transfer port is USB 3.1, which can transfer data at speeds up to 10 gigabytes. However, these numbers were surpassed a few days ago when the announcement of the fastest data transfer ports was made, which is USB 3.2. In this article, we will try to explain what the USB 3.2 port is, why it is important, and what the difference is between it and other data transfer ports, especially the previous generation port.

At the beginning, you should know that the new generation USB 3.2 cables will only work with USB Type-C cables, as they are the only ones capable of transferring such large amounts of data. Therefore, if you have any cables or ports from the older generations, you will not be able to benefit from this new technology, which is considered the best and fastest one after the Thunderbolt 3 data transfer port.


– What is the history and specifications of USB ports

In fact, I will not mention the old USB ports because they are gradually becoming less relied upon, and most recent devices rely on the modern USB ports. I will start with the USB 3.0 port, which had a data transfer speed of about 5 gigabytes, then it was updated to the first generation USB 3.1, which had a speed of 10 gigabytes. If you want to know more about previous generations of USB ports, you can refer to one of the previous articles titled “Types of USB Ports and Their Features”.

I remind you once again that when USB 3.2 ports are available, you will need USB Type-C cables to take advantage of the high speed. You may ask an important question after reading the previous paragraph: what is the difference between USB 3.2 and USB Type-C? The first term, USB 3.2, refers to the port used or more precisely, it indicates the data transfer speed of that port. The second term, USB Type-C, is one of the USB cable types used for data transfer between devices. Therefore, when the USB 3.2 port is launched, you should use a USB Type-C cable to fully utilize the port and get extremely high speeds of up to 20 gigabytes. This type of cable is the only one capable of handling such a large amount of data.


– What’s new in the USB 3.2 standard and why is it important!

In fact, all the previous paragraphs only mentioned one thing new in the USB 3.2 standard, which is that the data transfer speed reaches up to 20 gigabytes. However, it was necessary to explain this and clarify the difference between the two terms. One of the key features of the new USB standard is the doubling of the linear data transfer rate. The older generations used two lines to transfer data at the same time, each with a speed of 5 gigabytes. This speed has been doubled in the new standard to 10 gigabytes per line, without changing the design of the ports or cables. The main goal was to improve the latest generation of USB ports as well. When these new standards become available, the use of Micro USB cables will be discontinued, which is a common occurrence as older generations disappear when newer ones become available. However, one of the remarkable features of this new architecture is that it will work with previous generations without any problems, such as USB 3.0 or USB 3.1, but it requires the use of USB Type-C ports. In that case, you will get the speed of the previous generation, not the new one. This architecture is very important in the face of significant technological advancement and the need for high data transfer speeds to save a considerable amount of time.