What is the Type-C interface? What are its characteristics?

If we want to summarize the key words of the mobile phone industry in 2016, interface will be one of them. Since Apple has equipped Type-C interface on the New Macbook, various mobile phone manufacturers have followed up, and more and more smart phones have begun to be equipped with Type-C interface. In order to reduce the complexity of life, the interface is developing in the direction of "unification", and the thin, portable and extensible features of Type-C provide a good foundation for the unification of interface standards.

What is the Type-C interface?

Type-C is a connection interface of the interface, which can be inserted on both sides, with the size of about 8.3mm × 2.5mm, like other interfaces, supports USB standard charging, data transmission, display output and other functions. Type-C was developed by the USB Implementation Forum and became popular after it was supported by Apple, Google, Microsoft and other manufacturers in 2014.

What are the characteristics of Type-C?

1. Thin and thin

Type-C is very light and thin. The size of about 8.3x2.5mm is not abrupt on mobile devices. It saves two-thirds of the space when applied to laptops.

2. Both forward and reverse insertion are OK

Don't worry about plugging in because of the wrong direction. In the past, "plug and play" was said, but the premise is "don't plug in the wrong way". Now don't worry about this problem.

3. Support different levels of charging or power supply

In the future, you can connect a monitor without connecting to the power supply on the wall. You can directly connect a Type C cable to the monitor. You don't need to go anywhere to find the power supply on the wall; There is also speed. It supports Thunderbolt 3.0. A Type C interface supports data rates of up to 40Gbps. Not only does it kill all existing high-speed digital interfaces, but even USB 3.1, which is not yet popular, is only 10Gbps.

It is different from USB 3.1

Strictly speaking, USB 3.1 is a transmission standard. After the development of USB 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, USB 3.1 has made great progress in all aspects. USB Type-C is an interface standard. There are three interface standards for USB 3.1, namely USB Type A, USB Type B (Micro USB) and USB Type-C. At present, the Type A interface is mainly used as the connection port for computers and other equipment. Micro USB is widely used in small devices such as smart phones. As for USB Type-C, due to its various characteristics, it is called the interface standard that has the hope of unifying all interfaces.

It is worth noting that there is no correlation between USB 3.1 and USB Type-C. You should know that the USB Type-C interface does not necessarily mean that it supports the USB 3.1 standard. The USB 3.1 standard is not necessarily a USB Type-C interface. In this regard, do not be deceived by bad manufacturers.

Popular with mobile phone manufacturers

It is understood that the Type-C interface is adopted by LeTV Super Mobile Series, Xiaomi Series, Moto Z/M, LG G5, Jinli M5 Plus, ZUK Z1, P9 Series, ZTE AXON Sky Max, Yijia Mobile 2, Jinli S8, Meizu Pro 6S/5. There are more rumors that Apple 8 will also adopt Type-C interface.

Whether Apple 8 will adopt Type-C interface will not be mentioned for the time being, but as far as the mobile phones on the market are concerned, Type-C will become the mainstream. Type-c interface accounted for 25% of China's top 20 mobile phones in November. The five mobile phones with Type-c interface, with the exception of LeTV 2 Juejie, all sell for more than 2000 yuan.

Why the Type-C interface is popular with mobile phone manufacturers? Let's analyze it. Because the Type-C interface can support data, audio, video and charging at the same time, it can also be compatible with many mainstream HD video interface standards such as Display Port, MHL, etc. The Type-C compatible with Thunderbolt3 can provide up to 40Gbps speed, making double 4k HD transmission possible. Therefore, Type-C will undoubtedly become the future video interface choice. High-definition display, flat panel TV and/AR equipment will bid farewell to the coexistence of multiple interfaces and realize the unification of audio, video and power supply with the help of Type-C. On mobile phones, you can replace the 3.5-inch headphone connector.

In addition, the Type C interface can bring the convenience of positive and negative insertion, and the flow defined by the Type-C interface connector is 5A, and the flow definition of 10A is reserved to meet the requirements of fast charging, which is also what the terminal manufacturer is looking for. At the same time, Type-C, which integrates the functions of charging, data and audio and video interfaces, is very powerful, and the establishment of this ecosystem will form a situation where the interface will be used all over the world. In view of this, from the top to the bottom of the industrial chain, the industry giants of USB Association, standard formulation, interface chip, foundry and consumer terminal have spared no effort to promote the popularization of USB-C.

Type-C industrial chain

According to the TYPE-C standard released by USB IF, contributors can see the lineup of its industry chain, from the upstream chip link (processor and chipset, interface control chip), to the system platform (Microsoft, Google, Apple), to the system factory (mobile phone, computer, tablet lamp), to the connector/cable manufacturer (terminal, wire, etc.), and to the storage and test link, all are promoted by the leading companies in their respective links.